So I went back to the doctor, and she wasn't there, but one of the other people looked at me. She said that I couldn't dance until August 11th! I cried like a baby right there in the doctor's office! I'm so worried that those five weeks of intensive hard work will all be lost when I sit at home and deteriorate! I don't feel like there are any excersizes I can do at hone to work the same muscles. i literally can't even tendu! I very scared because I worked my butt off this summer, and my extension is like going to fall back down from my shoulder to my waist again! Will I lose all that I worked hard for?

Bebounce, my dear young friend....let me assure you that all is not lost...trust me. <P>I am an old lady, and when I came back to ballet class about 18 months ago - after THREE YEARS OFF - this old body still responded and improved. <P>You have two ways to look at this - in total despair and heartbreak ....or an as opportunity. An opportunity, first of all, for your knee to REALLY heal and therefore the possiblity that the problem will be taken care of.<P>You can also use this time for other kinds of growth. There is so much to learn about dance outside of the studio. There are books about history, dancers, their lives, theirs successes and trials. You can learn about different styles and ways of doing things. All this will enhance your own dancing when you resume. Learn how to mime - ballet mime. That is very valuable.<P>Find out who were the great dancers, how they changed history and why. It will lend depth to your own dancing. Study the beautiful pictures of Pavlova, Fonteyn, Makarova, and others. Work on your arms, based on those pictures. Try out the different styles on your arms. <P>Learn the stories of the ballets - how and why - and who are the great interpreters of the roles. The great teachers, and what made them great.<P>The choice is yours - to use this time to advantage - or not. When you come back you will find that your increased knowledge of the history of the ballet will add immeasurably to your dancing. You will end up far ahead of the others in your class who did not have this opportunity. Think of it as an opportunity...for healing and learning.<P>And, your body will come back. That's a promise.

Bebounce - I broke my foot and was in plaster for six weeks and I was in tears the whole day it happened because I wouldn't be able to dance, and I made my living from it.<P>It is heartbreaking at the time but you must rest and get better. A few weeks is nothing compared to a lifteime of not being able to dance because of an injury that hasn't healed properly.<P>Please heed your doctors advice and use this opportunity to read up and watch dance and do all the other things you don't normally have time to do. Convalescence can be a positive experience too.<P>Take care.

Bebounce, I know August 11th sounds like it's centuries away. But really it is not such a long time in the overall scheme of things. That is a good sign to me, too, that your knee needs some time to heal properly, but a few weeks indicates to me that the injury was not that serious (knees can take months and months to heal). So if you take this seriously, and let nature do what is needed here, you will probably be in good shape when you return to class in a few weeks.<P>This will be a great time for your body (passively) and your mind (actively) to integrate all the wonderful things you learned during your intensive. When you go back to class, your extensions may not be up to your ears immediately, but they will come back, quickly. <P>I had many injuries in my career, and I feel that I came back after every one of them stronger than I had been previously. I learned from each of them, and that made me a better dancer, and, later, a better teacher.<P>Patience is one of the hardest things to learn in dance (and life, too...). Have faith and hang in there!

When we are forced because of injury to take time off from dancing to heal, several things happen to us. Certainly we fear that "things might never be the same". But that is untrue.<P>However, we are also addicted to doing this physical thing we call dance. We literally are chemically addicted - used to pumping out a great deal of energy and sweat. That is a chemical component. And, then suddenly we aren't dancing and the body's chemistry is struggling with that. <P>There is also the fact that the structure to our day has suddenly been altered - against our wishes. "What do I do with all this time? I should be in ballet class right now." That is why it is very important to find something worthwhile - something connected with dance - to occupy that time. Something that will give us the feeling that we are still on the road to dance.<P>I think that an injury is more difficult to deal with psychologically than illness, in one respect - we still have lots of energy and WANT TO DANCE. When we are sick, we don't feel like dancing - and there is a lack of extra energy. Two different problems.<P>So, the solution is to fill that time in a positive way.

Bebounce, i totally agree with the above posts. i know that each summer, i usually take a month off. there just aren't any classes the month of June. but when i get back into class, my body springs right back into the routine. let you body rest, and remember, when you DO come back, you'll be better, and stronger. there are too may dancers who don't heed the doctor's warnings and now aren't dancing. and i agree with besheva's suggestion about studing other dancers. this is what i do inbetween my times off, and i sure does help me ALOT. so hang in there my dear. the time will fly by.<BR>kim