Offering Therapeutic & Restorative Ballet I'm thrilled to be launching Blue Sky Ballet, offering restorative & therapeutic ballet classes online!
I invite you to join me if you're interested in doing ballet for good. �
My goal is to remove the negative components of ballet training while sharing more of the good: self care; body appreciation; meditation & living in the present; musicality; art appreciation; plus improved memory, balance, proprioception, strength, & flexibility. Additionally, with Blue Sky Ballet, you'll be doing even more
12/21/2021
Are you lucky enough to enjoy an appreciative companion animal audience when dancing at home? I am! Jebediah seems to sincerely enjoy my ballet practices. Sometimes he "helps" by standing motionless right in the middle of my dance floor. He so cute tho. 😍
06/18/2021
Blue Sky Ballet has received many new visitors and friends recently. Welcome! I'm thrilled to meet you. I hope to be dancing with you soon.
05/26/2021
May is Ehlers-Danlos awareness month. EDS remains a constant demon in my life. When my EDS is at its worst, I describe it as having pain in every fiber of my being - even my eyelashes hurt. And it comes with a slew of other symptoms and challenges. Thank you, , for helping to drag EDS out of the shadows. It's considered rare, but really, it's just misunderstood and predominantly affects women IMHO. For more information, please visit www.ehlers-danlos.com.
from Instagram :
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I was diagnosed 26 years ago and little improvement has been made in our medical system since then. The research has not progressed enough. There isn’t much funding even though we continue to learn that this condition is nowhere near as rare as they used to think it was.
Every day that you get up and get out of bed, you’re a FU***NG LEGEND. Even if you stay in bed. If you were even arsed to open your eyes today... 🙌🏽. Because it is an ongoing condition of “f**k this sh*t.” We are so strong mentally and emotionally for having to carry the burden of this condition without anyone understanding or believing us. Try a single *morning* in our shoes bi***es...
Love to my zebras 🦓 and to those who support us.
**kthissh*t
12/03/2020
As a vegan, tattooed, zebra, potsie myself, I really admire (IG) & their beautiful advocacy. Also, I have yet to let someone photograph me with my cane.... Goals. The 2020 theme for is "Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible & sustainable post COVID-19 world."
The Blue Sky Ballet endeavor I'm currently most jazzed about is further developing my seated ballet class & making it available to more dancers. 💙
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Repost :
Happy international persons with disability day 🦽 🧡 this was my first time using my wheelchair in public. This was the first time I was able to enjoy the beauty around me without being trapped by pain. Constantly looking for somewhere to sit or sitting on the ground because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I realized that assistive devices are for exactly this purpose. If I want to enjoy my life and be in the moment I must use my assistive devices and stop feeling shame for them. Stop thinking about what everyone thinks around me.
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11/15/2020
The unusually flexible joints that gave her a boost in gymnastics portended a malady that took years to diagnose A New York handbag designer has struggled to cope with her confusing condition.
11/02/2020
"Blue skies" is a common skydiver salutation. So, why instead of the plural, "skies?" Because skies aren't always blue in real life. Life requires navigating clouds, both internally and externally. If we can find just a little piece (or peace) of blue sky though, it's energizing and healing. Gentle and therapeutic ballet provides just that - blue sky in one's day to forget about clouds. Because ballet can be very meditative too, this video from Headspace (HUGE fan!) is fantastic...even though a cartoon sky ballerina would've really jazzed up the message. 😘
Remember the Blue Sky - YouTube The blue sky is a perfect metaphor for the mind. And no matter what happens in life, it's always worth looking for it. Find more mindfulness and meditations...
10/12/2020
It’s Indigenous Peoples Day!
But every day is a good day to remember the many contributions Ms. Maria Tallchief made to the ballet world and beyond. An electrifying dancer, she was the original Firebird, and it was she who made the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker” iconic. She accomplished many firsts in her career, all while resisting pressure to erase her Indigenous heritage, including her name.
Maria, born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief, was an Osage tribal member. Throughout her career she broke down barriers. She was one of the first Americans recognized in a ballet world long-dominated by Russian and European dancers. She was the first American to dance with Paris Opera Ballet. She also danced with Ballet Russe, American Ballet Theatre, and she was the first star of the New York City Ballet.
“In 1996, Tallchief became one of only five artists to receive the Kennedy Center Honors for their artistic contributions in the United States. That same year, the dancer was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Tallchief was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government, which honors individuals who ‘are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.’ (Other recipients of the award include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Harry Belafonte and Cab Calloway.)” -Biography.com
She passed away in 2013 at age 88. Read more about her life:
Maria Tallchief, ballet star who was inspiration for Balanchine, dies at 88 Acclaimed dancer of rare talent broke down ethnic barriers and performed with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
This seems like an excellent time to show you Marlen Fuerte Castro's very cool . Good luck! 🤩
🎥 Video by Ms. Marlen Fuerte Castro.
09/28/2020
Uh, oh.... I just found a video that is giving me ideas. Someday in Blue Sky Ballet’s future maybe? 😂 🙃
Breathtaking: Wingwalkers dance on flying planes Two members of the UK-based Breitling Wingwalkers stole the show on the opening day of the AOPA-China Fly-In 2017 air show as they performed daring stunts on...
Yesterday was my best day of 2020 yet! (I'm hoping 11/3 beats it.... 🇺🇸) Illustrating the world is your stage, here I am dancing at the beach for my college bestie. Sound on so you can hear the waves crashing and me at 22 seconds, "Ugh. I'm not ready for this one." 😂
Here's the story: I was still rehabbing from a June 2018 car accident when I stress fractured my left tibia in ballet class in July 2019. (Note - It was 100% my fault. I had no business grand jeté-ing on a hard floor. 🦓) Then, I fell on a slippery deck & dislocated my left patella in November 2019. HEDS actually prevented that injury from being worse, but it angered my POTS and general dysautonomia badly. Btw, I was only finally diagnosed with hEDS and HPOTS in August of 2018. It's been a rough couple of years to say the least.
So, while this video shows me off-balance, weak, struggling with neuropathy, unable to even think about my arms, and favoring my right leg, it also shows huge progress. I couldn't walk on sand without assistance when pandemic started. Now this little improvisation includes the biggest jump I've executed since July 2019! Whaaaat? Champion!!
I'm glad I wisely realized my present limitations and erred on the side of caution by abruptly ending my "performance."🤣 I'll be paying for my free-spirited fun for days now, but it's okay. I'm celebrating. Please join me, and please share what you're celebrating, if you'd like. It could be anything.
09/23/2020
Hiyee! I'm Laura. I also go by my longstanding nickname, Lola. I answer to either. I'm so excited to launch Blue Sky Ballet, and I'm grateful for your support. Thank you! I wanted to tell y'all a bit about myself, but I wrote too much. So, please check it out in Blue Sky Ballet's 1st blog post. Cheers!
https://www.blueskyballet.com/post/introductions
