*This post was written by Danielle Baskerville, one of CADA-ON's current board members. Danielle just finished a project where she played a duo role as both dancer and producer in Jackie Burroughs is Dead &
what are you going to do about it?
See how one of CADA-ON's Professional Discounts at H20 Float Spa came in handy...
Photo of Robert Kinsbury, Danielle Baskerville and Luke Garwood by Jeremy Mimnagh
I have been doing some very
difficult research for you, dear reader, you CADA-ON member or soon-to-be-er. I
am reporting back. And the news is good. Very good. In case you haven’t
realized it, there are remarkable perks in belonging to this exceptional organization
that go beyond the Training Subsidy Program, the Professional Standards for
Dance, and overall support CADA-ON provides us as dance artists. These perks
extend to the unique businesses that are supporting CADA-ON through our
Professional Discounts, and the experiences they are offering.
I recently took a visit to H2O
FLOAT SPA, a spa on the Danforth that offers all CADA-ON members a
discount. A float at H2O is 60 minutes spent floating in
water that has more than 1000 lbs of mineral-rich Epsom Salt (magnesium
sulfate). You can float in a covered pod (like a very large eggshell) or in an
Open Concept float room, which is a private room with very large open
bathtub. You can be in complete
darkness and silence, or choose soft lighting and sounds of your choice. And
you just….float. I recently did three floats
as a way of reporting back to you how I experienced it as a dancer.
I choose complete
darkness and silence in an Open Concept float room. The physical experience is
one of weightlessness. Weightlessness of an almost unimaginable sort unless you
are one of those lucky enough to have the kind of night dreams that take you to
visceral, altered states. Or maybe you have floated in the Dead Sea, Lake Assal
in Djibouti or, er, less likely, Don Juan Pond in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of
the Antarctica, the saltiest body of water in the world. Allowing the muscles
of the neck to completely give way to the water was the biggest challenge for
me, but 60 minutes is enough time for your entire body to surrender.
The feeling of weightlessness
is quickly accompanied by a sense of expansion. Muscles used to sustaining verticality
let go, and joints expand with an almost audible sigh of relief. I felt my own
watery, salty insides as almost inseparable from the water I was floating in,
and my own outline became deliciously blurry. After the second and third float,
this expansive quality in the joints stayed with me, and I was able to imagine,
for a while, that I hadn’t done a good decade of knee work in Graham class way
back when…
The mental experience was meditative.
Whether you are someone who meditates or not, floating is a way in that leaves
you with little choice but to let go. At the time of my floats, I was both
producing and dancing in an hour-long trio that was premiering in a week,
called Jackie Burroughs is Dead &
what are you going to do about it? I had a lot on my mind, and a lot going
on in my body. The first 15-20 minutes of floating was a very busy time inside
of me ~ negotiating a flood of thoughts and a body that was slowly transforming
and melting into a kind of aquatic creature. I felt undeniably calmer, more focused
and relaxed after each float. They were cumulative in effect for me, perhaps
because I was able to let go of my racing thoughts more quickly each time my
float began.
It’s luxurious. It’s
beneficial. It will leave you feeling calm, expansive and very soft and silky. And
I happen to know you deserve it because I know how hard you work. Treat
yourself, or get someone to treat you. Because, did I mention? We get a
discount….
