Packing for travel is always a challenge. The bag for liquids is an ingrained habit, but sometimes the bag pops its zip and the contents meander through the contents of the personal items allowed on board the aircraft. I now have a greater appreciation for Eric Franklin and the intensity of his teaching and traveling schedule. My Friday evening debut as a Franklin Medthod Educator required packing bones, toys, markers, books and Franklin Method balls. I am now learning how to pad a tensegrity model with the lung sponge wedged in place by the sacrum.
Thirty people attended the Franklin Method Pelvic Power workshop. I am fortunate to be comfortable with group teaching, but presenting Franklin with the respect and honor of the originator is daunting. Eric is a tough act to follow. The only way to get better at a new skill is take a leap of faith. The first time I stepped on stage to dance, I was filled with an overwhelming fear of inadequacy. Sharing my trepidation of failure with a friend, a question was posed to me. Would my teacher ask someone who was abysmal to perform? If a teacher is leader and a student educator, would they choose to encourage another to present their work? The only way to answer that question will be time and practice.
CenterPoint Pilates studio is a home for me in Santa Barbara. Amy Havens has always provided a welcome environment for me and for the students. We had ordered 32 sets of the Franklin balls to be shipped to the studio. The skeleton was in the corner. I read the Franklin Method Pelvic Power and Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery both by Eric Franklin many times and reviewed my Franklin Method™ Level I pelvic notes. I had a class outline prepared. On the flight, I had an inspiration to buy some wheels for the pelvic anatomy. (If you are curious, you must take Eric’s Pelvic Power workshop.) Amy drove me to a hardware store and we found the perfect set.
That night I prepared some of my drawings ahead of the workshop time. Eric does these in the moment, but he has more experience than I do sketching in front of the class with the colored markers. I find the drawings are fun. In my biology classes in college, I had the skill to look into the scope with the left eye and render cells and structures with skill and accuracy. Some of that zoology study is proving useful in this setting.
The evening was a success. I am far from the skill level of Eric and Morten Dithmer, his assistant. I am far from the skill of more practiced Franklin Method ™ Educators, but the experience was rewarding for me and the class responded with enthusiasm. I have an invitation to return to Santa Barbara to teach the dancers in conjunction with another workshop in the spring.
I do warn other Franklin teachers about the airport security checkpoints. They stopped me on the way home to search my luggage. I am not sure if it was the sacrum and femur or the toys, but they TSA did run the wheels through the X-ray a second time.