A Gypsy on the Move

Well, yesterday I had the best practice session I've had, probably since I've been working on the "Condotta" scene.

I think it was a combination of:

Focusing on what my teacher had told me on Tuesday about keeping my ribcage lifed and inflated and not breathing too low.

Thinking "aerobic" (thanks to Peg from NC!)

When all is said and done, I really don't get enough aerobic exercise. I wouldn't trade working at home on my own schedule for going back to working in an office, however much less money I'm making now, but I get even less exercise now than I did then. I probably get up from my "desk" a lot more now, but I don't walk as far (we're talking about a studio apartment about the size of the average luxury hotel room) and there are days when I don't go out in the fresh air at all. Of course I make up for that at some point by taking walks to do errands in the sunlight and working in the evenings on some days, but when I do, I probably don't walk as fast.

Also there's the issue of my knee. During the long stretch when I wasn't singing I took adult ballet classes from time to time but that is now out of the question. If I haven't mentioned it here, I smashed up my knee by tripping over the pavement in 2004 and I can't run or jump. What I can do, is put on bouncy music and dance. If I keep my upper body moving, I can get some aerobic exercise without coming down like a ton of bricks on my feet which could loosen the pins holding the six pieces of my kneecap together.

So in any event, yesterday when I was singing "Condotta", I kept moving, particularly as it moved toward the faster section. Why shouldn't she be moving when she's recounting the story of grabbing the baby and tossing him into the fire? And I can certainly move on those two measures with the A and the B flat. Even moving a little will keep the blood pumping and will get rid of the tension that accumulates when I'm standing still, particularly as with all my orthopedic problems there's never really a comfortable way to stand that doesn't cause tension, which I think is part of the problem.

The bad news? I still can't blow up a balloon. For all I know that takes a different sort of breath control from singing Bach or Handel.