*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….