Dancing through Christmas

It's okay to take your foot off the gas and relax a little over Christmas. If you're performing over the festive season you're still going to be active, if you're not performing you can allow yourself a break. Drop in classes tend to tail off for a couple of weeks so use it as time to go to the gym, exercise outside or do something different. Your body will thank you for the change of pace.

With this period being one of the busiest for most performers, it's important that if you get a chance to relax and see your family and friends that you make the most of it. Don't overdo the work, let yourself unwind for a day or two, don't worry too much about the amount of food or alcohol consumed - the damage of a day is negligible and the damage of a few days will be cancelled out in no time. When you've been going flat out since September there's always a risk of running yourself down or burning out. There's no harm in taking some time out and enjoying yourself and you'll be in a better state to continue with the rest of the season.

If you are performing over the festive period still take time to enjoy your day off. If you're on tour, make a point of having a day that breaks the grind on Christmas, even if you can't make it back home. It's important both mentally and physically to feel you're not being worn down; even just for a day, a change of pace will make the rest of the run easier.

Vitamin D and training in winter

So vitamin D is pretty much my favourite thing in the world to talk about right now. Seriously. 

Without going into a full thesis on the reasons you need it (and probably a lot more of it than you're getting) if you work inside, train inside, rehearse inside or live anywhere above 40 degrees north of the equator (that's most of Europe and about half of the USA) you're likely to have insufficient levels of it. A huge number of people, even those living in countries with long hours of sunlight have been shown to have insufficient, if not deficient levels. You're more likely to be at risk if you have a low calorie intake and low levels of body fat, so it won't come as a surprise that 70% of dancers tested have been shown to have below acceptable levels.