https://sally-wolf-5yha.squarespace.com/allposts daily 0.75 2018-09-28 https://sally-wolf-5yha.squarespace.com/allposts/2017/11/3/dancejourney monthly 0.5 2018-09-28 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a0464990d9297d31695702b/1510237347850/Sally_3_20_17_171.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." – Plato I think the same can be said in getting to know oneself, too. Part of what I fell madly in love with about S Factor was the ability to reconnect with my inner child. Although I’ve excelled at many things throughout my life, I wasn’t particularly great at being a kid. In fact, in some instances, I was particularly bad at it. At a parent-teacher conference my second grade teacher suggested that I needed to learn to “play more” because, well, I spent all our free time doing bonus work. In the two decades that followed, I dabbled in play but never truly learned to fully embrace this side of myself until I discovered S Factor. It’s a deep journey, yes, but it’s also an incredibly fun one. We bring clothing or “creature gear” that inspires us to move in new and different ways. I bought my first tutu about 2.5 years ago and, within the year that followed, I quickly amassed the colorful collection you see here. I think I have 7 or 8 now. Sometimes I play with them, other times I wear them, but in all cases, they make me smile. I also smile when I think about my classmates’ favorite outfits. We all get to know each other in a fantastically fun and unique way; playfully dressing up, dancing wordless conversations, and ultimately sharing deeply intimate parts of ourselves with one another as we move. Our bodies often reveal our truths far faster and more directly than our words, and that openness inspires a beautiful sisterhood of community and connection which I deeply treasure. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a0464bee2c4838e3f27bdfe/1510237387490/Sally_3_20_17_065.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene Last year, three days before my surgery, I recorded some video of me dancing. I vividly remember the anxiety I felt that week, surgery imminent, although my concerns were probably not the most common ones expressed by a breast cancer patient. I knew I had a surgical dream team and was confident that cosmetically my reconstruction would look phenomenal. I was however deeply concerned that my movement, which had grown to be a treasured form of self-expression, might never be the same. That concern proved unwarranted. This picture was shot about 3 months after my second surgery, a few weeks after I’d been cleared to try to climb the pole again. What had become easy over the course of a decade was once again challenging as I rebuilt strength and, with the first surgery, entirely retrained the pectoral muscles my surgeon had moved within my chest. Having movement I love as much as this was a huge gift in recovery, because I had a clear set of physical skills to rebuild. It was a slow process, baby steps of patience and trust, neither of which come easy to me, but I am almost back where I started, and I am grateful. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a04641371c10b1577d781a5/1510237238238/Sally_3_20_17_118.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” – Brene Brown I vividly remember what I wore to class the very first time we learned to strip: two tank tops. That way, I reasoned, when I stripped one, I’d still be fully dressed. Eleven years later, I’ve learned how much my body loves being naked in the studio. Not literally naked, of course, but a big reason that physical reveal is so deeply satisfying is because of the emotional strip it represents. My dance teachers haven’t simply taught me how to dance; they have taught me how to feel, how to open my heart, and how to shed the layers and crack through the seemingly concrete walls I’d developed in the three decades before I ever set foot in the studio. Learning to be emotionally naked has been an incredible gift, and breakthroughs from class often inspire me far beyond the walls of the studio. Last April, in class merely hours after having my head shaved, I felt more vulnerable than ever before. By moving meditation, the point when everyone else began moving freely around the room, I felt paralyzed and lonely in my baldness. But I looked up and quickly realized I was far from alone. My teacher, Erin, sat facing me and encouraged me to touch my head, never breaking eye contact, holding space for me to explore my changing body, staying put and fully present until I found the courage to comply and strength to surrender. A full year later, I still remember the power and beauty of that moment. I am certain I was able to accept my temporary baldness far faster than would have otherwise been possible because I had such a safe space to immediately explore it. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a04647371c10b1577d79059/1510237315744/Sally_3_20_17_060.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey “Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves.” – Cheryl Strayed This trick, the layout, scares me intensely. Always has and probably always will. For whatever reason, it simply doesn’t feel comfortable in my body. I don’t feel quite as sturdy in my grip as I’d like and, with my back to the pole, I don’t feel confident that I can catch myself if I fall. But part of what I love about this picture is that it confirms what I intuitively already know, that my body isn’t scared. In fact, far from it. She is entirely secure. The fear I feel while in this position only truly sets in once I think about the fact that I’m scared. It’s my brain telling me something may be unsafe. That I may fall or may get hurt. In my journey at S Factor I’ve learned to confront my fears, repeatedly, to break them apart and face them until they aren’t quite so frightening, not only on the pole but also in life. I have long called the studio my lab because it represents a safe space to confront fears I may not yet have found the courage to face outside. From the earliest days after surgery, S Factor gave me a safe space to reconnect with a body that no longer felt like my own. I am convinced I gained comfort touching my scars and truly feeling my reconstructed breasts much faster because of the safety provided in that sacred studio space. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a0464f1ec212def7a0512c6/1510237433398/Sally_3_20_17_002.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey “There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.” – Rumi This is probably the most revealing of all the pictures being published. For me, it feels far more intimate than the pole pictures. Every class brings the opportunity to have a solo dance, and this is how I frequently begin mine. The dances are never choreographed, so depending upon the song I’ve chosen and how I’m feeling, the dance can go in any direction from here. But “here” is where I’m usually most comfortable beginning. My body feels incredibly grounded against that sturdy and supportive hardwood floor. My face is down and my eyes are closed. In that moment, I can somehow quiet all the distractions, to-do lists, responsibilities and any other noises of the day to go inside myself in a way that is constantly a struggle. For the next 4 minutes, I will dance the authentic story of my body. Learning to speak with my body, to eloquently communicate how I feel without a single word, has transformed me. I never know exactly where any dance will take me; it may, for example, feel courageous and triumphant or deeply painful and raw. But this moment, this photo, shows the coveted stillness before the proverbial storm. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fcb1a4cf81e0ba158f953c/t/5a04632771c10b1577d75cee/1510237046540/Sally_3_20_17_037.jpg All Posts - An Unexpected Journey “What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” – Alfred Mercier Of the dozens of pole tricks I’ve learned, this is my absolute favorite, a polecat. At its core, it’s a pushup. While upside down. On a pole. I learned the first part of this trick, called a snake, on my birthday in 2006. Merely 2 months into my S Factor journey, our class was still prepping to learn to flip upside down. Inverting was scheduled for week 7 of that second session, which was still a month away, but it was my birthday and my teacher gave me the best present this eager student could receive: the chance to learn my first inversion. Having loved gymnastics as a child, I quickly felt at home going upside down. It felt fun, daring, and even a little dangerous. The earlier spinning tricks remained elusive to me for a while, but my body’s muscle memory recognized this pull up and flipping motion onto the pole from the playful uneven bars of my childhood. With this birthday gift, I had found my trick. I was hooked! Still am. 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