Although many of us have not been able to leave our homes for a while, Viking’s dance instructors are finding ways to keep moving and prepare for our upcoming virtual recital! Keep reading to find out how all of your favorites are dancing through life at home!

Ms. Lynn B. is keeping extremely busy filming virtual dance classes and planning choreography for all of our students. Although it’s a lot of work, it has also been a refreshing and creative time. She continues to lead rehearsals for Dance Company members on Zoom each week and plan our upcoming virtual recital!

Ms. Lynn has made it a priority to implement self-care into her regular schedule by making sure to move each day. Self-massages and light stretching has kept her spirits high on less active days. When Ms. Lynn has a more active day, she notes the remarkable improvement in her overall mood. Movement helps her to navigate the mental and emotional trauma she is feeling with the current state of our world. Her best remedy to the blues is to put on music and improvise to release stress. In that moment, her heart feels lighter, her spirit brighter, and she continues to remind herself this is just an intermission!

Ms. Jessica has stayed active with bike rides through her local park. The park is enormous, has winding paths, small bodies of water, and lots and lots of grass and trees! Ms. Jessica loves the sunshine and connection she feels to nature on her rides, and it breaks up the time spent stuck indoors. In addition, she is taking virtual dance classes that keep her moving and feeling great!  

Ms. Jessica notices a definitive difference in her mood and how her body feels when she is staying active consistently versus being inactive for a few days. Filming Viking Virtual Classes and teaching Virtual Recital Classes helps to keep her body and creativity flowing by crafting new choreography for our dancers. Some days, she will do a short at-home workout to start her day on a positive note! While it has been a challenge to stay motivated during this time, Ms. Jessica shared that getting started is the hardest part. Once she takes a step to start something, she gets in the groove and feels so much better than when she began.

Ms. Cat works day-to-day with the elderly through chair-based exercises, dancing, and stretching. This keeps her moving and helps encourage others to dance and stay healthy. Ms. Cat also goes through a short core routine in the morning along with her own stretches to help energize and work out some kinks in preparation for the day ahead. She has found that dancing to music that reflects her mood each day helps her to de-stress and revitalize. Sometimes the improvisations are heavily technique based, and other times it’s like she is having her own dance party!

Ms. Cat enjoys looking up new stretches to motivate herself to start a new stretching routine. This allows her to obtain a new range of flexibility she’s never had before! She encourages everyone to dance a little bit every day, whether it’s practicing specific moves, or free styling and having fun; if you are happy, sad, or anywhere in between, it helps to keep your energy flowing.

Mr. Jairus is known for his cool moves, and what better way to create your own style of movement than through freestyle? He spends 2 to 3 hours every day freestyling! This is extremely helpful for when he has to choreograph. When you’re in tune with your body, the more confident you are to explore outside of your comfort zone and push yourself to create something innovative. 

In addition, Mr. Jairus does a 10-minute stretch each morning while his coffee brews. Stretching is a great form of self-care and essential in order to execute physically demanding moves that dancers perform. After his morning stretch and coffee, he takes a walk around the block. Taking a daily walk is a wonderful low impact way to get your body moving.

Ms. Kathleen keeps herself moving with a daily ballet barre practice. She gives extra attention to her shoulders and neck during her technical work because of the extra time we spend looking at our screens. Ms. Kathleen encourages herself to participate in bursts of mini exercises whenever she has been inactive for a long period of time.  For example, she will run through a piece of choreography for a few minutes. She believes a set routine is wonderful, but having mini dance breaks is a great way to brighten your day. Ms. Kathleen even has nightly dance parties with her family!

In order to stay motivated, Ms. Kathleen keeps a small list of things to accomplish each day. She creates lists that aren’t overwhelming, consisting of little tasks that are achievable. This gives her a sense of control and accomplishment every day, which is something she feels has been lacking since quarantine. While inside, Ms. Kathleen is using her time to educate herself on new things such as trying new recipes, learning about operas, and streaming free dance performances online. 

Ms. Kathy is doing her best to stay active during this time.

One of her favorite ways is through filming our Virtual Viking Classes. She loves filming stretch classes because it helps her own body feel great and keeps her moving. It’s amazing to see how wonderful your mind and body feel by exercising a few times a week.

Ms. Kathy is truly missing her students, and her usual teaching days do not feel the same without them. However, through filming Virtual Classes and segments for our social media, she is able to connect with her students in a new and exciting way. She cannot wait to be back in the studio but will keep herself busy until that time comes.

Ms. Lynn A. has been working hard to find ways to stay active during quarantine by taking advantage of the accessibility of digital dance classes. While virtual dance classes are not an entirely new concept, the dance community has been working tirelessly to provide workshops, classes, and sessions to stay connected. Dance is one of the strongest communities filled with people coming together to support each other through tough times.

Since Ms. Lynn normally has a full schedule of working on her demanding college studies, coaching gymnastics, and teaching dance, she hasn’t always had the time to attend classes that interest her. With this time, Ms. Lynn has benefitted by participating in the classes of her dreams and picking up yoga as a new practice.

 

Ms. Molly built a daily routine of various cardio and strength training workouts to stay active. Her new favorite classes are HIIT, which consist of 20-minute high-intensity interval training exercises to get her heart rate sped up in a short amount of time. These are real “one size fits all” workouts. Ms. Molly has been taking advantage of online classes with some of her favorite dancers such as New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck.

Ms. Molly is motivated to keep pushing herself while staying at home. She knows it will pay off once she returns to the dance studios. Ms. Molly believes in taking advantage of her training time, as many dance steps become easier through hard work. For example, if you want to improve your pirouettes, you can work on strengthening your core in combination with your hamstrings and glutes!

Mr. Tony’s weekly routine keeps him active. Before working with his students in preparation for our virtual recital, he starts his day with bedside morning stretches. This awakens his body and prepares it for a long day of moving around and accomplishing tasks. Although crafting engaging dance content is mentally and physically demanding, Mr. Tony works to provide classes that are entertaining and educational for all of our dancers.

In his free time, Mr. Tony enjoys going for short jogs or runs to work on his stamina. Dance tends to happen in short jolts of energy, but during a longer class, it’s vital to keep your body moving without getting exhausted. Cross-training, weight lifting, and pilates can all help to build up the endurance you need to perform dance choreography without feeling fatigued.

Ms. Tori loves having a full schedule and dancing every day. Although being at home has been hard for her, she finds all kinds of new ways to stay active and creative. In between planning and creating Viking Virtual Classes, and social media posts, Ms. Tori is participating in workout challenges on YouTube and staying active through pilates, HIIT, PIIT, and yoga. She is also able to continue her dance training with weekly ballet and contemporary classes.

During this time, Ms. Tori is working to improve herself and her teaching methods. She finds that long walks provide mental clarity, help tap into her creativity, and inspire her to complete her goals each day. Additionally, Ms. Tori is an avid improviser and tries to let go and let natural movement take the burden of her stress whenever she is feeling down.  Reminding herself that this is temporary and finding gratitude in what she has helps Ms. Tori to stay strong. She is looking forward to the day she can go back to teaching her students!