Friday, January 22, 2010

Sidelined!

It's Sunday afternoon and I feel like I've been run over by a truck. In actuality, I have been run over by a set piece. A small one, but the impact to my achilles was enough to warrant an ice pack and a painkiller. I sat down backstage left to assess the damage and fought back tears while the stage manager asked if I wanted the swing to go on. I declined, but did decide to sit out part of the next scene, the one where I just sit on the dune as part of the set. The rest of the act went pretty well, hobbling a little here and there- but right about the end of act one I remembered what I had to do in act two. It entailed jumping around in heels on slippery surfaces, and I decided my ankle didn't need any of that.

In my experience, it's always been hard to call out of the show. I hate doing it. You feel like you're letting everyone down. Then you feel like some sort of a wimp for not being able to tough it out. That's old school. The show must go on. Then after all that guilt, you feel like everyone's judging you for calling out. I once had a stage manager say to me, "It's only your toe". At the tender age of 22 in my first Equity show, I took that to heart and tried to tough it out and prove something. Years later, the chronic pain and injury that resulted from that tiny toe injury taught me firstly that dancers need their toes. Secondly, your health comes first. You are the ONLY one who can take care of yourself and know what your limits are. That stage manager whose name I can't even recall gave me some very bad advice, but now I've learned: Unfortunately it was the hard way. Down the line, you are the one that has to live with injuries you don’t take care of.

So now I sit waiting to see how serious this thing is. At this point, I’ll just gage it by pain. If I stop limping by dinner time, I’ll do the second show. If not, then I wait it out. After all, one day out of the game is better than weeks on the sidelines.

1 comment:

  1. Aw I am sorry you got hurt. Wishing speedy recovery. I love your outlook and you are absolutely right....

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