With Vicki Lawrence in "Hello Dolly," at Glendale Music Theatre
I started dancing late. At age 19 I took my first ballet class, and I immediately knew I had a lot of catching up to do.
Luckily, my mother had introduced me to, "Body Design By Gilda," when I was 15. Gilda Marx had been a chubby child who loved to dance. She learned to use her dance training to get to the level of health and fitness she desired.
Gilda's method included strength, balance, flexibility, and staying power. I owe the fact that I had only one serious injury in 40 years of dancing to Gilda. That injury happened when I came down out of a Grand Jete' on the side of my foot and broke it in four places.
In the course of treating my injury, I found out that I was insulin resistant and pre-diabetic. The steps I took to heal started me on a fitness path that I never left.
Now at age 59, I am stronger than ever, and I dance nearly every day. I combine resistance training, intervals, dance practice, and a whole food Ketogenic way of eating in order to stay in excellent health.
Years ago I read the book, "How To Dance Forever," by Daniel Nagrin, and I knew that was my goal. I discovered Shuffle, Electro Swing, and Solo Jazz dance over the past three years. Shuffle can be very high-impact, and it definitely hurst my knees until I learned to alternate it with low-impact dancing. This led me to apply the principles of Electro Swing and Solo Jazz to the Waltz.
The smooth nature of the waltz makes it a perfect low-impact way to move. By basing my movements on the balance' instead of the box step, I was free to glide anywhere I wanted without a partner. If you've ever seen the Waltz of the Flowers in, "The Nutcracker," you'll have an I idea of the kind of movements we use in Solo Waltz.
Perhaps the best part of Solo Waltz is the beautiful music we use as our inspiration.
I can't wait to get example videos up on my TikTok and YouTube channels to demonstrate.
I will definitely let you know when I do.
Until then, Keep Dancing.
Catherine
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