I was on location yesterday for a shoot I agreed to do for a National Geographic documentary about partying during the French Revolutionary era. There is a scene during which Marie Antoinette hosts a ball that calls for ballet dancers. My ballet teacher asked several other highly skilled dancers and myself if we would be interested. Despite the fact that we wouldn’t be compensated monetarily we agreed. The only “payment” we had to look forward to was an IMBD credit. Crazy right? Who works for free, especially in today’s broken economy? Dancers, that’s who. In the face of all the conditions being set for a perfect storm I accepted the gig anyway. In doing so, I went against my own personal philosophy of dancing without monetary compensation. Very yogic of me…or was it? Of course, during our last rehearsal the director immediately informs us dancers about the “tight operating budget.” Tight budget or not, people are people and dancers deserve to be treated the same as all the other talent; equally. It was quite disheartening to learn that the other actors/extras were being compensated for their time and energy while the dancers--who were doing double the work--were refused any compensation, even gas mileage. Not only were the ballet dancers not compensated for their work, but we were also coerced into doing additional work by doubling as extras and playing the guests at Marie Antoinette’s soiree.

All of this would have been fine if the scenes were shot in the order in which they were described to us during our rehearsal the day before we filmed, and if we were compensated for our additional time on the set. Furthermore, the dancers were promised an unlimited amount of food throughout the day when all we got was a feeble selection of stale pretzels, bruised fruit and water throughout the majority of the day. Had we not insisted on a proper meal at 4pm, I am certain the shoot would have continued directly into our dance scenes. The staff on set was less than polite and professional treating the dancers like afterthoughts. It was a scorching on the day of the shoot and we had zero coverage from the sun. One of the dancers got sunburned so badly that she had to have make-up applied to her chest and shoulders so it wouldn't show in costume and on camera during the dance scenes. I agreed to do this project because I love what I do. What I didn't expect was to have my intelligence insulted, be taken advantage of and disrespected by the staff.

It’s impossible to not be angry, hurt and upset after an experience like this. However, after doing some considerable venting, I’ve learned a few valuable lessons. First, never work undermine your own talent and skill by working for free and second, sometimes it’s better to accept what happened and move on otherwise you will remain furious and stressed. This is where the practice of yoga sweeps in and waves her magic wand. If I allow this experience to remain in the past, I can now freely snap myself back into the present moment and move on with my life. Doing so is the practice of varajaya or allowing the phenomenon to arise without reacting to it. I am instantly reminded that it isn’t the events that unfolded yesterday that pissed me off today, rather it’s my attachment and to those events. Your daily episodes are not an encapsulation of your “youness.” Yea, I made that word up, someone please alert Webster’s English Dictionary. In theYoga Sutras Patanjali discusses the idea of variragya. The Sandskrit word variragya literally means “colorless;” vi is “without” and raga is “color.” “Every desire brings its own color to the mind. The moment you color the mind, a ripple is formed, just as when a stone is thrown into a calm lake…” (Yoga Sutras, Book I, Pada #15). After reflecting on my experience at the shoot yesterday it finally registered in my brain that what’s done is done. It’s futile to drag yesterday’s defeats or even victories into today. The jarring stone responsible for disturbing Lake Susy’s peaceful waters has now sunk to the bottom waiting patiently for its imminent companion.