This weekend I spent around fifteen hours at my dance studio working with one woman on one piece of choreography. Her name is Keri LeGrand and she is a master teacher from California. I have done pieces with her before, but this is my favorite of them all so far. I wish I knew what the song was called, but I don't. I'm not going to sit here and make you read about everything we did, how many times I fell on my face, or even how many new bruises and tears in my skin that I have now...
At the beginning of our work yesterday, Keri sat us down to talk about fully committing to our choreography every time we tried it and then began talking about how everything in life should be like that. That each time we attempt something, we shouldn't hold back at all and should not be afraid of falling. I'm used to getting these kinds of "inspirational talks" from master teachers, but this one that Keri gave us is going to stick with me for a while. The reason for this is because she connected it to a personal story. Five years ago, Keri was dancing with a company out in Georgia. On November 5th, 2006, she was dropped by her partner and crashed to the floor. This fall broke her neck. The break was 4 millimeters away from paralyzing her from the neck down and she could have very easily died. Now she is back to choreographing for studios and workshops. Keri kept talking about how life was way too short to not preform to your best ability all of the time, especially when people are counting on you to be there for them.
It might sound cheesy, and the story might not impact you as much as it did me, but I just thought it was such an awesome story that I needed to share it. It was such an honor to work with her this weekend. I posted a link to one of her pieces that she choreographed for a studio below.
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