I Took A Break: Injury, Loss

Hey everyone, Jana here.

I have been silent around Ballerinas By Night for the past month, and I'm sharing all about that today in my new vlog. You can watch it here. Though if you only have time for a written, condensed version, keep reading.

If you saw my sad Instagram post from last month where I shared how I was feeling distant from ballet you'll know I was already in a weird mental place with things. That following week I went to a class that was wonderful and I was feeling so good - I ended a combo across the floor with chaines turns and felt a stinging pain in my first metatarsal in my right foot. This happened to me last spring and I knew immediately that I had another stone bruise :( I stopped dancing immediately. I was mentally feeling okay about it at the moment, though, because I was so proud of how I had been doing in class.

Then two days later I was informed that my mother-in-law had passed instantly from a heart attack while she was at her second home in New Mexico with my father-in-law (you guys would have seen them in my Hiking in Taos vlog this summer). We went out there for a week to help with things and it was from that point I realized what a huge shift we were in for with the family dynamic.

So, I decided to put a hault on all things ballet. Clearly my body needed the break and my family needed me. It's been a rough time though and selfishly I worry quite a bit about getting back to full dancing strength even though there are more important things going on. Class helps me keep my sanity!

Right now I am going to one class a week, but only dancing until jumps, and I'm modifying what I need to keep the metatarsal pain at bay. I'm avoiding pirouettes and any releves that involve a quick change of direction as that tends to cause pain. I share quite a bit of class footage in the vlog of me trying to modify and get through the best I can!

Thank you guys, as always, for your support. And if you have any advice for me in losing an in-law and/or healing from a stone bruise/metatarsalgia, I'm all ears :)

- Jana