I started dancing when I was three, thanks to my mum who was a ballet teacher and couldn’t afford a babysitter, and I haven’t stopped since… I have now been dancing in a professional company in Germany for the past six years, and although ballet is very much art, I consider myself an athlet. 

That said, my body is my work instrument and therefore I try and take good care of it (as much as it’s still fun), I try and eat a little healthy, although I love my cheeseburger and I try to be as fit and strong as I can, that is… Until life sends an unexpected injury your way.

After a hard six hour rehearsal, and a glass of wine (I was on my way to have more but I swear I had only had the one) I was running home to pick up my wallet and twisted my foot on the sidewalk. I am used to injuries and pain, so I walked the rest of the way home, it felt a bit painful but still ok, had a shower (I still had high hopes for those other glasses of wine) and decided to finally have a look at the demage. Needless to say, there was no more wine for me that night.

I made my way to the doctors the next day with a very swollen and extremely blue foot, to find out there had been no ligament or bone damage, but the hematoma was so big that I would have to sit out of work for a few days, until I could slowly get back into it…. This is where the biggest dilemma in any athletes life kicks in. Whenever you are fit and full speed at work, you are eager to get some time off, maybe call in a sick day and stay on the couch watching movies all day feeling satisfactorily rebellious, but as soon as you are not allowed to work… That’s all you want to do. So after a little argument with my doctor we compromised on two weeks off with Fisio.

And here is how things get a little complicated… Although I am working professionally (that means I have a ongoing contract with a theater) I am still an average dancer, I have a position in the group, with almost no prospects to get promoted, and even though I dance a little solo everyone and than, I can be very easily replaced, specially on the production we have been creating right now. So… The longer I stay off, the least I will be dancing in the near future… 

So let’s try and get this ankle healed as fast as possible so I can get back to feeling good about my sick days 🙂