A few weekends ago I travelled up to Birmingham to attend the International Dance Festival Birmingham. I was on a mission to see a woman perform. A woman who is fifty three years old and the mother of twins.
Her name is Louise Lecavalier; a prominent contemporary dance artist from Canada. Formerly of the company La La La Human Steps. Well known for her kinetic, feral energy on stage and her triple barrel horizontal spins.
I travelled alone, feeling the gap widen between myself and the demands of a 13 month toddler. I luxuriated in the ability to read, think, dream, gaze unhindered. I stayed in Birmingham the entire weekend, during which I read books and papers and magazines. I read as if I was starving for words.
Before the show, I enjoyed the time in the foyer alone; people watching over a glass of wine. Inside the theatre, the dancer from Canada showed that age and artistry are excellent companions. Her partner onstage was Patrick Lamothe who had a bit of a pot belly and looked like he'd been up drinking all night. He looked like a regular guy. I like it when dancers look real and then surprise you with what they can do on stage with their real looking bodies.
When the weekend was over, I returned to the squalling embrace of my pissed-off toddler and my relieved husband. We were all exhausted. He was exhausted by our child. She was exhausted (not really) because she is a non stop machine. I was exhausted by all the freedom I'd had .
Yet the outcome of all this exhaustion was that something in me had been reclaimed. Through my trip to Birmingham, I had also made a trip back to me.
Her name is Louise Lecavalier; a prominent contemporary dance artist from Canada. Formerly of the company La La La Human Steps. Well known for her kinetic, feral energy on stage and her triple barrel horizontal spins.
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| Does she look 53 to you? |
I travelled alone, feeling the gap widen between myself and the demands of a 13 month toddler. I luxuriated in the ability to read, think, dream, gaze unhindered. I stayed in Birmingham the entire weekend, during which I read books and papers and magazines. I read as if I was starving for words.
Before the show, I enjoyed the time in the foyer alone; people watching over a glass of wine. Inside the theatre, the dancer from Canada showed that age and artistry are excellent companions. Her partner onstage was Patrick Lamothe who had a bit of a pot belly and looked like he'd been up drinking all night. He looked like a regular guy. I like it when dancers look real and then surprise you with what they can do on stage with their real looking bodies.
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| Where did his pot belly go in this photo? Photoshopped? |
Yet the outcome of all this exhaustion was that something in me had been reclaimed. Through my trip to Birmingham, I had also made a trip back to me.
