DANCING OUR KITCHENS WAS FUN – UNTIL IT BECAME THE NEW NORMAL.

How Dancers Motivate Themselves

I’m creating a small series for my blog to give my favourite dancers the opportunity to talk about their experiences, motivation and daily routines nowadays. As you all know, it must be so tough for dancers to train hard every single day in isolation and stay in top shape, not knowing when the next performance is going to be.
When you consider the short life span of the typical career of a professional dancer, it has been a waste of time. A typical career spans just 15 years within the dancer’s prime, usually from age 19-34, and that’s assuming there are no serious injuries or other health problems along the way.

Statement of Lou Spichtig

Let’s start with Lou Spichtig, a Swiss dancer being a member of the Queensland Ballet company in Brisbane since 2016.

„Dancing our kitchens was fun – until it became the new normal. 
In my case, my balcony became my ballet studio, my living room my gym & class taught through Zoom, a daily routine. From day 1 of isolation, Queensland Ballet made sure we were well taken care of – from portable ballet barres delivered to our door, squares of marley flooring cut to fit our living space, workout programmes and check-ins provided by our health teams and most importantly, ensuring all dancers remained connected, despite being apart. I’ve never felt more fortunate to live so far removed from the rest of the world, in Queensland, where we were able to return to both the studio and the stage far sooner than the rest of the world, in these unusual times.“

Link to my interview with Lou in 2017
https://balletloversblog.com/2017/02/02/eine-schweizerin-in-brisbane/

CV of Lou Spichtig

Introducing Lou

Lou was born in the Netherlands and started dancing at the age of 4. She was accepted into the Dance Academy of Zurich at 10 years old, where she studied for 7 years. Prior to graduating, she performed with Ballet Zurich, and went on to become a member of its Junior Company. Lou joined Queensland Ballet as a company artist in 2016.    

Repertoire Highlights  

• Cygnet and Soloist swan in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan lake (Ballet Zurich)  
• Clara in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker,   
• the 3rd soloist shade in Greg Horsman’s La Bayadere,   
• spring fairy in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella,   
• A Cygnet in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake,   
• Victoire in Liam Scarlett’s Dangerous Liasons 
• Koschei’s attendant in Liam Scarlett’s Firebird.   

Professional Accolades  

• 27th Varna International Ballet Competition in 2016 – Gold Medal, Emil Dimitrov Award for Young Talent and Sylvia Award for Promising Young Dancer  
• Friends of Ballett Zürich: Outstanding Dancer Junior Company Season 15/16  
• Prix de Lausanne 2015 - Audience Favourite Award and Best Swiss Candidate Award  
• Migros Kulturprozent Scholarship in 2014 & 2015  
• South African International Ballet Competition 2014 – Silver Medal  
• Youth America Grand Prix, NYC Finals 2013 - Gold Medal and Dance Europe Outstanding Artistry Award  
• Tanzolymp Berlin 2012 - Gold Medal   

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