Putting My Heels Down

“If your father practiced medicine the way you dance he’d be under a million lawsuits.”. That’s what Miss Lorraine used to tell Kara as a young dancer in between yelling “Put your heels down!” In dance criticism is considered a compliment so as a young dancer with short Achilles tendons tight hamstrings and knobby knees she fancied herself a star. Thirty years of leotards and tights later she had to face some hard truths. Maybe she wasn’t a dancer after all.. After graduating from a top conservatory and embarking on her Martha Graham dreams Kara reluctantly chose to teach Pilates to pay the bills. After initially failing her certification thanks to a nasty margarita hangover she became one of the most sought after Pilates instructors in Manhattan. She cracked herself up with what could only be described as Pilates stand-up poking fun at high maintenance clients and gym culture. But after hitting many unexpected speed bumps in her dance career what started as a nothing day job had become her everything. And it wasn’t funny anymore. Underneath that peppy six-pack Pilates persona was a sad little girl fighting for her dream.. Putting My Heels Down exposes the harsh realities of life as a dancer but more importantly the conflict so many of us experience between having a day job and having a dream. You won’t need to know about pliés to relate.