15. Shaping a Healthy Career with Beckanne Sisk

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00:00:00 

Jennifer Milner 

Welcome to bendy bodies with the hypermobility MD, your podcast, to learn all about the benefits and  challenges of being bendy. This is cohost Jennifer Milner here today with Dr. Linda Bluestein. Before we  introduce our incredibly special guest, a couple of quick reminders, please subscribe and leave a review. This  really helps get the word out because this podcast is for you. Today we have the great pleasure of speaking with  Beckanne Sisk. Beckanne began her ballet training with Longview ballet theater at the age of five at 13, she  moved to Philadelphia to attend the rock school for dance education on scholarship for four years. While there  Mrs. Sisk won the Jerome Robbins award in 2007 and competed at the youth America grand Prix from 2007 to  2010 placing first and third, she also won the bronze medal in the Beijing international ballet competition in  June, 2012 and was chosen for the 2012 princess grace dance fellowship award.  

00:00:57 

Jennifer Milner 

Adam Skloot invited her to join ballet West two in 2010 at age 17. After one year in ballet West two, she joined  the main company as a new artist in 2011 and then was promoted to principal in 2015, she's performed the  female principal roles and Anna Marie Holmes, Don Quixote, Adam glutes, adaptations of Jazelle, the sleeping  beauty and Swan Lake. John crank goes Romeo and Juliet and own Yagan, which was recognized by pointe  magazine as one of the standout performances of 2019 original principal roles have been created on her by many  renowned contemporary choreographers. She's a sought after international guest star. In addition to her dancing,  Ms. Sisk is featured on the CWS breaking point television show for two seasons.  

00:02:06 

Jennifer Milner 

Hello and welcome to Bendy Bodies podcast. We are very excited, Linda Bluestein and I to chat with you about  hypermobility and your experience with it. I would love to know how early in your dance training did you  realize that you had more range of motion than most people? And did you feel like it was an advantage because 

you were able to make pretty lines or was it a disadvantage because you couldn't tell when your arms were  straight, but not too straight. Like how did it start for you in the early ages?  

00:03:00 

Beckanne Sisk 

So I don't think that I realized that I was hyper mobile and flexible until I was, I would say like 12 or 13 is when I  was like, Oh, wow, like this is different. I always knew like with my feet and ankle that they were hyper mobile,  but not so much like my hips and my back, I didn't really notice. Or I feel like my teen years, I relied on my  flexibility. I thought that what separates me from everyone and made me special. At that time I didn't realize  that's not all that it's about, so I feel like I really leaned into that and would not listen to my teachers. They're  like, you have to reign it in, ? And I feel like it took me some time before I realized that it was, something very  difficult that I needed to start focusing on and pulling in and not just letting it all go.  

00:03:38 

Jennifer Milner 

That's interesting that you're, even at that age, your teachers were seeing that, and we're saying to you, let's pull  that back and let's gain control of it and not necessarily pushing you into it, encouraging you to do more.  Bendier bigger things. Is that accurate. How did your teachers help you learn how to get your hypermobility  under control? were there things that they did that were really helpful, or certain queuing or exercises? Like how  did they kind of help you come to that space?  

00:04:09 

Beckanne Sisk 

There was, one teacher Marilena, Ruiz at the rock school and she was also an extremely flexible hyper-mobile  dancer. Her way was growing up, going through those school years. I did it, I had trouble like listening to people  like I understood, but I didn't understand how to make changes necessarily. For some reason that I like, I didn't  like when people are like, mean about it, but luckily I had Marilena who she took a different route because I  think she could see that wasn't necessarily working for me. She was more, helpful in the way that she  communicated that, you should try this, maybe this will look better. She took a more like stand back approach  with that.  

00:05:17 

Beckanne Sisk 

Also would like, I feel like make me do things over and over to get strength and then like throw in little  strengthening exercises without like, being too like aggressive about it. Really. She really helped me in that way.  She was easy to connect with because I knew that she had gone through it too.  

00:05:39 

Jennifer Milner 

That makes sense. That's such an important theme for dancers with hypermobility is kind of that slow and low  burn approach rather than hard and fast and aggressive is doing really well. Throwing it, like you said, repeating  it as long as doing it correctly several times and doing little extra exercises, but really taking that long-term  approach. That's fantastic that you had her, she's an amazing teacher. She has. That was a great, meeting up of  her as a teacher and you as a student. Do you feel like that has continued as an adult? Like you still kind of get  that out of it with that same approach with directors and choreographers, as opposed to the, that's wrong versus  the slow and low kind of nurture.  

00:06:30 

Beckanne Sisk 

I feel like I have learned that contemporary stuff. I can go and really go into the, flexibility and kind of, to work  things out, you take it, you make it longer and then distort. Whereas in classical, I have learned that I try to keep  shoulders hips pure, and then wherever my leg is like, that's fine. I don't feel like, especially in a Tutu, you don't  want to be in like a full devil pace side split. It's just not as pretty. I have found that in classical, just like more of  

like a little above 90, unless I'm doing a poncho or something is my goal. Contemporary is when I can just let it  go. I have found that my coaches and, director and choreographers have all kind of understood that and they tell  me if I should go further or if I should hold back. 

00:07:27 

Jennifer Milner 

You can rely on the people that you work with yeah. To kind of reign you in and to not, or so you can just push  yourself and then let them tell you when to pull back. That's great. Yeah. Was there a point during your pre professional transitioning to your professional career that you took ownership of your wonky body? Or is it  something that you've just instinctively done with Mary Elena's help along the way? Or how did that adapt for  you?  

00:07:58 

Beckanne Sisk 

Well, I feel like it was instinct to be on it because I got a lot of in school. There were some teachers that I could  tell just didn't know how to work with me and would just be like, you can't do that. Like that looks bad. It wasn't  in like a helpful, like that doesn't look good. So let's try this. It was more of just like that's bad and that looks  weird, and I didn't know how to fix that. I feel like over the years, having all the different kinds of teachers and  having them feel different ways about, my body, I just kind of put it all together and I feel like I slowly figured  out everything.  

00:08:49 

Jennifer Milner 

Do you find, or did you find, as you were kind of putting all of that together, that, everybody thinks it's such a  blessing to have hypermobility, cause you can let it all hang out and they think, Oh poor you have to learn how  to hold it in. Right. Or how to reign it in. Along with that, there comes a lot of inherent weakness as well. Did  you find that you were kind of keeping up with the strength as you were learning to manage it? Or did you  actively have to seek out new ways to strengthen like cross-training and that kind of thing?  

00:09:20 

Beckanne Sisk 

I had to seek out like cross training. I now, I love going to the gym. One of my favorite things is lifting weights.  I just, I love it. It's something that I, I love that you can see your progression so easily. Like the numbers are  right there, so it's like you see and you feel so good. I found that took me, it was later in my career that I realized  that was what I needed to do to get a step up because I feel like I had been kind of, here and to really get better  and be able to control my body. I needed to start doing something else. I realized that the gym and lifting  weights and just really strengthening my whole body, with what needed to be done.  

00:10:09 

Jennifer Milner 

What does a typical week look like for you then as far as cross training and other types of maintenance,  stretching or meeting with a coach who really works on the small things or massage, or like what does that look  like for you?  

00:10:24 

Beckanne Sisk 

So, we usually, if we're not performing, we work Monday through Fridays and, those will be about seven and a  half hour days including class. I'll wake up in the morning, go to the gym at eight, get to the studio around like  nine, 10, nine, 15, and then we have class for an hour and a half and then rehearsed for six hours. At the end of  

the day, I will either come home. I, I hate saying I'm bad about like staying at the studio, going to PT. Like, I  making myself do everything there. I just want to leave and get home. That's where I usually, like I get home if I  feel like I need to, I fell, I usually my feet, do that and then just kind of relax.  

00:11:15 

Jennifer Milner 

You like to get your cross training or your physical maintenance first thing in the morning?  

00:11:21 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yes. Yes. Yes. If I don't do it in the morning, it doesn't happen. 

00:11:26 

Jennifer Milner 

That's something for a lot of dancers. Where do they find the time without being exhausted and without over  pushing themselves. So that's totally right. Typical. Let me ask, I know a lot of people are going to want to  know you have amazing feet, right? I cannot tell you how many times my students have sent to me that clip of  you and chisel with the pond and then pressing up into that ravine. And they're like, look at her pontoon. I'm  who's looking at the Ponce, look that relevant afterwards, Linda, if you've not seen it, you should see it. It was  the, it's the most amazing strength thing I have seen from feet like those. With feet, like those again and ankles,  like those comes a lot of inherent instability. Do you do regular foot strengthening exercises? Do you do extra  ankle strengthening stuff? Like what does that look like for you?  

00:12:19 

Beckanne Sisk 

I usually, always before class I'll do Thera-Band exercises. Like flex foot, like rotating in and out points, all of  that. Also I just really try and focus when I put my point shoes on rolling through. Even if like, say it's not  happening at that time, as long as I'm thinking and like, my brain is thinking about it, I feel like it's working my  body, whether it's happening or not down there, as long as I have the like mental thought of it, I feel that it  helped a lot.  

00:12:58 

Jennifer Milner 

You just do small little things mentally to stay on top of it. And just basic warmups before class. It, is it  something that's always kind of at the forefront? Is it something that you worry about, like potential injury-wise  ankle stability or are you just like, no, I'm on top of this. I got it. 

00:13:17 

Beckanne Sisk 

I feel like I, I twist my ankle a lot just walking, like when I'm not in the studio, that's when I seem to hurt  myself. While I'm in the studio, I I'm really not afraid of injury. I should knock on wood, but I feel like as long  as mentally I'm just trying to work correct. Not push myself to do crazy stuff. I feel like you just have to take it  well, kind of just be thoughtful.  

00:13:58 

Jennifer Milner 

I love that. Speaking of taking it slow and being thoughtful, I know that a lot of dancers with hypermobility,  find that they have to listen to their bodies more than regular dance or non hypermobile dancers do. They kind  of have to stay on top of those little small things that they hear and feel because they quickly become big things.  The big things like tendinopathy, these tend to take a longer time to heal and hypermobile dancers. Does your  hypermobility shape how you approach your work weeks and how you try to, set out your schedule and,  climatize yourself to the work and kind of plan it like self-monitoring and pacing yourself. Does that change  how you approach everything?  

00:14:45 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. I find that the, those of us that are more hypermobile than others, I feel like we get tighter because we're  having to use our muscles more to control everything. I feel like for us stretching is huge. Like my calves and  my feet, my arches are always cramping. Like I just feel like walking around my calves and I feel like it's  because I'm having to think so hard about how to do it correctly and control everything. I feel like for us, we get  a lot tighter and we're a lot more sore if I feel like stretching throughout the day. Whenever you have a chance,  always like I stretch my cap. I feel like anytime I'm just standing on the side, I'm stretching my cab or my  Achilles, the bent knee. Yeah, I think for us dressing is just extremely important because we do like, even my  back, my shoulders, everything, it's just like, I'm constantly like controlling with my muscles. They do just get  tighter and it gets mentally exhausting as well. It's just trying to like mentally hold yourself easier to let yeah.  Yeah. It's easier to let things go. Right. It's so much harder to restrain yourself.  

00:16:15 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yeah. That's so ironic because I think a lot of people don't understand that hypermobile dancers can be tight in  their muscles, even though their joints can be, more loose and more hypermobile. I think oftentimes they don't understand that. Do you have any suggestions for younger dancers in terms of how you stretch your body in a  way that's more safe? Because when you're hyper mobile, you can stretch your way, your body in a way that is  not going to be helpful. You can end up overstretching ligaments and things even more than they already are.  Do you have any certain things that you've learned over the years in terms of safely stretching?  

00:16:51 

Beckanne Sisk 

I have learned that warming up before I stretch is a big thing for me. I'll try to do, like for instance, I just do like  a plank on my forearms, regular plank to kind of start the day and I'll lift up my back legs, like one at a time in  the plank. I feel like that just kind of warms up my entire body and then I'll go into like stretching, but not like  over splits and stuff. It's very rare that I actually do my over splits these days. Usually it's more of just like  warming up my body and doing strengthening exercises. My stretching isn't necessarily, which I'm not saying  that this is the right thing. I feel like everyone, stretch away. I have not continued like as a young dancer, I feel  like maybe I overstretched too much, and sometimes it hurts. Like it just made me hurt throughout the day, but I  feel like don't push it too far, especially if you're already flexible, just warm up and stretch, just do your splits,  middle splits, more about your back and stuff, but sometimes overstretching is not good.  

00:18:07 

Jennifer Milner 

Well, we have had that conversation as well with other experts. Who've talked about if you're hyper mobile, we  don't want to stretch you further. We want to give you the strength to hold what you've got. It sounds like you're  coming from that same place, which is so wise to me because the benefit of sitting in an over split is really  nothing compared to the benefit, finding the strength to hold your splits in your ground, soft, right? Yeah. Yeah.  

00:18:40 

Beckanne Sisk 

I feel like the over splits, I have never done an over split and been like, Oh, look, I can hold my leg up here.  Now it's more of like, when I do work out to strengthen my muscle, then I can hold my leg. It's not necessarily  about stretching it's straight. Right. Yep. I agree.  

00:18:58 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yes. I love what you were talking about with theraBands because with your hypermobile feet, I think that it's so  important for people to understand that when you use a TheraBand, that's not like lifting some big, massive  weight, but you're learning to control the range of motion all the way you control the movement, excuse me, all  the way through the entire range of motion. Right. With your beautiful, gorgeous feet, I think it's so fabulous for  dancers to hear that you're doing these kinds of exercises that might not be super exciting, but they get the job  done. Right. So, yeah. I, I thought that was really interesting when you mentioned that you sometimes sprain  your ankles, just walking. Can you talk more about how that happens and how other injuries have impacted  you?  

00:19:43 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. Well I find that it's the second that I'm not thinking like in the studio, I feel like I'm always like aware, but  the second, like I take a step outside, I don't see a step. I don't see a whole, it's just things like when I'm not  aware of everything, that's when it all goes down well. How do those injuries, affect you in class? Do you feel  like you come back slower than everybody else? Do how to handle your body and how to kind of get back into  it? I don't, if other injuries that you've had have they changed the way that you approach coming back into dance  and coming back into a season. I have been so lucky once again, I'm going to knock on it. I only had one injury  that has taken me out of a show. Everybody knock on wood right now because that's fantastic.  

00:20:43 

Beckanne Sisk 

Right. I ha in, of course it was a weird one. It wasn't like I just did something, and like twisted my ankle. It was  over time. I noticed my right ankle and I dunno, maybe this has to do with, my hypermobility. I never really  figured out what caused it, but over time, all of a sudden my right ankle started feeling really stiff. Then, the  more and more I did, I just quit being able to like, go on point and like rolling down. It hurts. All of a sudden I  got like this bubble on the top of my foot and it was like fluid. I was like, okay, this is weird. I need to figure  this out. It turns out I just had fluid in my ankle joints. They had to go in and suck it out, which was honestly like a very easy, I don't even know if you can call it a procedure, to be honest, just a tiny little needle and like  pulling fluid out, but it came back twice again.  

00:21:43 

Beckanne Sisk 

It was like, it just continued to fill up. Now I'm just waiting for it to happen again. That's really been the only  like injury that I have had. Wow. Wow. That I've been really lucky and I, I hate to comment on injuries because  I feel like I have just gotten very thin, very fortunate. Well I think that also speaks to the people like Mary Elena  in your life who have helped bring you along in a really healthy way. To Adam for seeing your potential and not  immediately throwing you into every single thing as a 17 or 18 year old, but looking at it from the long haul and  helping you gradually grow into yourself as an artist and also as an athlete. You've been so fortunate to have  some great people in your career that have kind of shepherded you along with that big picture in mind.  

00:22:44 

Jennifer Milner 

That's that's fantastic.  

00:22:48 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yeah, absolutely. I would love to know about your working with a partner, so, and how your hypermobility  might have impacted that. For example, like, do you have to be, especially careful of your shoulder sockets, like  where your shoulder is in the joint and that kind of thing. When you're working with a partner, can you kind of  safely go to your full end range or do you kind of have to be more careful because you have somebody else  that's, involved in those movements?  

00:23:15 

Beckanne Sisk 

You, you actually like hearing this question out loud made me realize that I think the moment that I started  realizing that I needed to strengthen and like reel it in was when I had to start partnering more is because I think  at first I was a very difficult partner because I mean, there was a lot riding on and I feel like sometimes for those  of us that are hyper mobile, think that whenever we're dancing alone, it's easy for us to find our center in a way.  Not, maybe we're probably not even honoring a real center, but it feels like it works for us. You know, we can  like work. We have our systems once you, yeah. Once I got with a partner, it was no longer like it's just me  dancing. I had to find my true center or a partner to be able to manipulate and help.  

00:24:14 

Beckanne Sisk 

So, yeah, that once I started partnering and when I'm with a partner, I feel that my focus changes and, I just try  to be strong. I don't know if that makes sense. It's like overall just like help. You feel like you have to do more,  to be able to, give him what he needs to be able to work with. Right. You can't just kind of let yourself go make  

him responsible for cleaning it all up. Right. Yeah. Right. That's true because they have no idea. It's like, Oh,  that's funny.  

00:25:01 

Dr. Bluestein 

Okay. Did you, when you were talking about when you were younger and, working with different teachers that  maybe were phrasing things in different ways that were challenging, for you to maybe incorporate into your  body, do you think part of that is because over the years you've had to train yourself how to feel your body. I  mean, you clearly now are really expert at that. I think that's a huge reason why you've had such an incredibly  successful career about and tons of hard work of course. Do you feel like you really had to train yourself to be  able to feel your body where it is in space and that kind of thing that you had to really work hard at that?  

00:25:38 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yes. Another thing that I feel that had helped me learn from hearing from teachers, that, going into your full  potential, flexible flexibility wise looked bad. Hearing that from them, you don't really understand you're like,  this is, I think this is beautiful, or you don't feel that it's like out of black. Right. I feel like the more I saw  professional dancers and the more I watched videos and could see that like a pure classical line was just  beautiful. I was like, I understand. I feel like it was more of like a visual thing for me that kind of help that. Also  remembering all the things that my teachers had said, it all just kind of came together. Did you feel when you were younger and you would dance that you looked one way and you kind of occupied space in a certain way,  and then you would see a video and be like, wow, that is what it felt like at all.  

00:26:45 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yes. And I still do that. I still see videos like, Ugh, I felt way better. I think all the answers, I think all dancers  are critical of themselves on video. I do both with hypermobility. There's a lot of times a lack of proprioception.  So, I would think my arm was beautifully bent and see the video and be like, wow, that elbow was really  whacked out there. Just not knowing where your body stops until you've practiced over and over again, what  that feels like to make that beautiful line. Yeah. A lot of coaches that have come in, I noticed throughout my  career, they all are like, want to work on my arms and that's something I never like thought of beause I always  thought it was my hips and my legs that were the like crazy mobile things. The more and more they're like, no,  like what are you doing? I realized like, I was just like going, whereas it's like, no, you have to hold your back  and let's work. Right. And then it made sense. It took me a long time to kind of understand the arm thing.  

00:27:59 

Dr. Bluestein 

I am so glad that you mentioned that because I think a lot of people think of arms as like from the shoulder  down and don't think about the back and the rib cage and the importance of all of that. If you don't have a stable  shoulder girdle, then you can't support your arms in the way that you need to in order to do all the beautiful  things that you want to do. I'm so glad that you mentioned that.  

00:28:21 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. I feel like that's another thing that partnering taught me was like doing a prom and not like I would just  try to, put my arm there, but then it's like, no, like that comes from your back. Right. And there's so much more  to it. I feel like that's what also kind of made everything click more of like, it's a whole body thing. Like you  have to think about your whole body. It's not just one movement, which is just your leg, it's everything we're  connected.  

00:28:52 

Dr. Bluestein 

W when you were younger, do you think that the whole strength and I mean, strength as in being able to, control  and have these beautiful fluid muscles, not, I love that you go to the gym. Cause I think so many now it's more  popular than back when I trained, but I think so many dancers, they think, Oh my God, I'm going to get this big  bulky muscle. Was that developing the strength? Was that something that really came along over time that I  think you've mentioned maybe in your teens that's, when you really started to realize how important that was. 

00:29:25 

Beckanne Sisk 

Well, when I was young students, I had no strength and I honestly, I was like the gym. Like I dance all day. I  don't need to go to gym. It took like, I honestly feel like, cause I, I came to ballet West at 17. It took me a couple  of years after I got here. It's like slowly during my first two years I would watch the other dancers and there,  they were so strong and I remember being like, okay, I'm missing something. I feel like that's, it took me a  couple of years to realize it, the strength and I needed to do something besides just ballet that wasn't going to do  it, ? Yeah.  

00:30:17 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yeah. That's fantastic. You've spoken up about having scoliosis and having to work with that as well. Do you  feel like issues with, like having the hypermobility and the flexibility have had an, the scoliosis you have made  you a better dancer cause you've had to overcome or not overcome, but really learn to work with these things  and like with the hypermobility, not just using it, but actually working with it and, can you talk about like some  of those things?  

00:30:45 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. I am honestly, I'm so thankful to be, to have, being people, like you said earlier, hypermobility people are  like, Oh, that's lucky which it is lucky, but it takes a lot of work to control. That, between that and my scoliosis,  I feel like I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without the work that both had brought me. Honestly, when I started dancing, I knew at the rock school that I knew, like I had talents, but I thought that's all I needed was  what I had. I didn't understand that it takes so much more and I am so glad that I feel like having my setback and  with my back, it made me realize I have to do a lot more. I think it trained mentally and really made me like  focus and work harder because I did, I totally wrote. I I'll admit, I wrote on my facility for years. I, now I'm  thankful that yeah, it took growing up for sure. To learn that you can't just ride on that because you will not get  to your full potential.  

00:32:15 

Dr. Bluestein 

Yeah, absolutely. There's some roles that you've talked about, that really pushed you outside your comfort zone,  like Balanchine's rubies and you talked about all the trunk stability that required, what roles do you gravitate  towards and feel really good in your body and yeah.  

00:32:35 

Beckanne Sisk 

Oh, this is hard. I have to say both because I always approach things, new things scare me. Like, I'm always  nervous when we're learning something new. I just am nervous about it and I never can like see myself doing  well, but it's not until like I learned, I have learned it and start doing it that then I'm like, Oh wow. Okay. I feel  like there hasn't really been anything that I have disliked dancing, to be honest. My favorite roles kind of roles to  dance, I will have to say, have been crankiness, Romeo and Juliet, and then crank goes on Yagan. There's  something that's, it's still classical, but it's a little different. It's not like sleeping beauty. Beauty is probably my  least favorite thing. There's something about just like being so free and having a character that you truly connect  with. I feel like just changes everything.  

00:33:41 

Beckanne Sisk 

It's so freeing.  

00:33:43 

Jennifer Milner 

Absolutely. I actually saw you do rubies in Dallas when you came into Dallas for the, one of the gala things and  yeah. I remember hearing that you were going to do that and I was thinking, okay, let's see that just because I  know what your hypermobility, I was like, this will be interesting to see because it's not really, it's not classical  ballet. Right. It doesn't give you the freedom of contemporary. You can't like go all the way into it. I was really  interested to see, and you did it, obviously you did a great job, being, finding that center, but then also having  that being able to go off of it and being able to kind of let everything else go loose. It was really encouraging to  me to see you do something like that. When what I had seen early on videos and stuff was more of the classical  ballet stuff or the pure contemporary, which where you really kind of dive in and let it all go, which has to feel  super freeing.  

00:34:45 

Jennifer Milner 

Do you, do you feel a difference, obviously you feel a difference, but do you dive into contemporary  choreography differently than you might climb into a Do you feel a difference in the way you kind of approach  it and prepare for it?  

00:35:01 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yes. I mean, for a Valley, like dissolve or even, rubies, it's more of like, I need to find my balance. It's like, I  need to work on, posse balances and just slow, like finding my center, but then contemporary, it's more about  my like, weight transfer. To warm up for like, say I'm about to run through just Zelle, I'm going to do like  Relevate and like posses and really try to find my center. With contemporary, I usually try to like, do like weight  transfer thing, but like pushing off one leg to another and then also like trying to like move and then stand up  and balance in a way. I feel like I definitely approach both things differently.  

00:35:51 

Dr. Bluestein 

That's really interesting. Yeah. Are there certain roles that you haven't had the opportunity to do yet, but that you  are, would really like to do? 

00:36:01 

Beckanne Sisk 

Oh gosh, this is always like the hard one, because I feel like there's so many that I would like to go back and do,  because like my first full length was donkey Teatree and I was, had not figured everything out yet. That was like  my first time really partnering. I feel like I was just learning that the control that I needed. I would love to go  back and try that again. If I go back and look at videos and I mean, I'm like kicking my legs, the tie, which key  tree does, like it's okay. Keep tree, but it's like, just, you can tell, I'm not thinking, I'm just doing, and I would  love to give that a try again.  

00:36:51 

Dr. Bluestein 

You probably now have a different sense about like the quality of movements and things like that you could  give more attention to that. And, and actually that is a perfect lead into my next question, which was, what  advice would you give your younger self, if you could do that,  

00:37:08 

Beckanne Sisk 

Who would be to listen to the people that are trying to help you? the strike, like, I, I remember so many people  telling me you need core strength. That was like one thing I heard all the time, and I just didn't understand. I  thought, just like 50 crunches before class would be enough for me back then, but it's like, there's just so much  more, you have to work as like your entire core. Also back strength is just, I just feel like your core and your  back is just like two of the most important things. I wish that I had known that and listen, because so many  people told me that, but I Def it just didn't. I didn't understand.  

00:37:54 

Dr. Bluestein 

Sure, sure. What about, other hypermobile, young dancers, ganglia, hypermobile, young dancers out there, what  advice would you give to them?  

00:38:03 

Beckanne Sisk 

I would say do crunches, do sit ups and planks are the worst, but they're the best. They really are the worst. I  hate them so much, but they're so important. Just strengthen, stop, stretching so much and think more about the  warmup and strengthening.  

00:38:27 

Dr. Bluestein 

Could you say that one more time because that it's perfect to, have this. Yeah. Could you just repeat that again?  

00:38:39 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. My advice for the young ganglia dancers out there would be stop stretching, just stop and start  strengthening those. Do your setups, do your planks. That's the most important thing. It's the strength.  

00:38:56 

Jennifer Milner 

You all my dancers listening. You don't listen to me. Hopefully you listen to Beckanne SIsk.  

00:39:07 

Dr. Bluestein 

Beckanne, could you, tell us what we should be, advising dancers. What do you want? Young dancers in  particular to know when it comes to things like social media, they're seeing all kinds of, accounts that are  publishing, lots of videos and images. I think it's influencing a lot of young dancers and I would love to hear  your take on that and what kind of messages that maybe they should be getting. Instead.  

00:39:36 

Beckanne Sisk 

I know all over social media, you see people posting with their legs, whack tilt crazy things, but you have to just  remember a photo is a second and you want to be able to do those things. You want to be able to hold those things. So stop stretching and do exercise. It's all about strength. To be able to get your leg up there, whether  you're contorted or not, it takes strength, not just a whack and then down. So strengthening exercises are so  important. I feel like maybe cut back on stretching and just think about exercises that you can do to build up  your body, to be able to hold those positions that you see pictures of, that you love on social media.  

00:40:29 

Dr. Bluestein 

Thank you so much. And, and where can people learn more about you and, I'm, I know you have amazing work  out there and, what would be the best place for people to I'm sure on the ballet West website, of course, but are  there certain things that people can find on YouTube or wherever they might be able to go to see more videos  and scram accounts? Yeah. Yep yep. That kind of stuff.  

00:40:55 

Beckanne Sisk 

Yeah. I would say I am most active on my Instagram. If anyone ever has questions or anything, like don't  hesitate to reach out, I'm an open book for the most part. Yeah, I've been trying, I know, like through this  pandemic it's been difficult, but I want to be able to communicate more with, the young kids and my audience  and just about like my experience learning, because I feel like as a kid, I, I had trouble listening and that's  something that I regret. Now that I've learned, I want to be able to tell people my story and help. I just want to  help and give.  

00:41:34 

Dr. Bluestein 

That's fantastic. That's something that I think, it's such a gift that you're offering to young dancers that I hope  that they take you up on it. Cause that's amazingly generous and kind so well. It's been so much fun chatting  with you today and you all have been listening to bendy bodies with the hypermobility MD today. Our guest has  been and Sysco principal dancer at ballet West and international guest star and backhand. We are just so grateful  to you for coming on the bendy bodies podcast today and sharing so much information and sharing your story  with us.  

00:42:11 

Beckanne Sisk 

Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. I feel like I learned a lot. So this is great. I had a good  time. Yes. Thank you so much for coming on.  

00:42:22 

Dr. Bluestein 

Thank you for listening to the bendy bodies podcast. Please visit our website www.bendybodies.org for more  information, and to access the show notes. If you are enjoying this podcast, please remember to subscribe and  leave a review. For a limited time, you can win an autographed copy of the popular textbook, disjointed  navigating the diagnosis and management of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum  disorders. Just by giving us a shout out on Instagram or Facebook and tagging at bendy bodies podcast. The  thoughts and opinions expressed on this podcast are solely of the co-hosts and their guests. They do not  necessarily represent the views and opinions of any organization. The thoughts and opinions do not constitute  medical advice and should not be used in any legal capacity whatsoever. We'll catch you next time on the bendy  bodies podcast.