Luke Willis

My PBS debut! Let me know if you see it. I'll be dancing Nutcracker that night. 

Ever since I started this diet in January  I have been experiencing an overwhelming number of synchronistic coincidences.  Sort of like "all my prayers to God being answered", one after the other. 

The other question is, “What do you eat?”   The truth is that my new diet is not about denying myself anything.  It is about abundance.  At this point I am still transitioning and experimenting.  I would say my diet is somewhere around 80% raw plant foods. So, what do I eat?  Well, in the mornings I have four oranges blended with flax oil, I still have two eggs, free range and 100% vegetable diet of course, then maybe toast or some lettuce or a tomato, then for lunch I eat a big salad of mixed greens avocados, tomatoes, broccoli, maybe some homemade raw hummus with a bell pepper. I snack on fruits, nuts and raw chocolate - I actually had an awesome raw vegan chocolate cake for lunch the other day.  I put MSM powder in my water and I have  superfood protein powder for my water as well. Then, for dinner I eat another yummy salad, maybe a sweet potato or some quinoa, and I make a juice of cucumber, celery, kale and an apple (although Im starting to think the apple makes it too sweet), I’ll also have a glass of raw (un-pasteurized) milk from a happy, healthy, non chemically treated cow.  But, the best is dessert, my favorite is a slice of sprouted grain bread slathered with raw almond butter, and raw honey drizzled on top - soooo delicious. I have pasta in my freezer, just waiting for me to feel deprived and craving “carbs”, but I haven’t.  And, although I am not denying myself a steak, I don’t really want one.  I have every intention of eating one again at some point, though - maybe I’ll have steak tartare.  In the end I eat anything I want, but when I’m hungry I always start with the raw food first then I wait to see how I feel, if I’m still hungry and craving a steak or pasta then I will have it, but that hasn’t happened. Im satisfied with the raw food, and more than that I am excited about all the benefits I am reaping physically, mentally and spiritually.  Im discovering new foods every week and I plan to share these discoveries through this blog.  

If you're intrigued and inspired - even just a little - you should check out the book by David Wolfe to figure out how to start incorporating more raw foods into your daily routine.  The book is, The Sunfood Diet Success System, my friend and I refer to it as the "Bible".  Go check it out at your library and check out David Wolfe, and his company Sunfood.com  Then once your ready go here to purchase the "Bible" from Amazon. 

Everyone wants to know two things from me as of late.  The first is why would you eat a rawfood diet? (We’ll get to the second one in the next blog.) People seem baffled that I, the skinny ballet dancer with more defined muscles than an anatomy book has listed, who has preached his love of steak and potatoes for 25 years, would ever consider going on a ‘diet,’ especially one consisting of rabbit food.  

Hmmm, why?

In one word, Tendonitis.  

But, the journey really started about two years ago during my first season with San Francisco Ballet.  I had a chronic injury of some kind - I can’t exactly remember what - and I was very nervous about the medications and treatments my doctor recommended.  That’s when my good friend, Emanuela Gay, offered to take me on as a client with her classical homeopathy practice.  It was worth a try.  Immediately the treatment had a profound effect on my mental state.  I became much more stable in my perception and reaction to people in my daily life.  That’s big for a sensitive artist like me.  Next, my acne went away.  After ten years of trying everything from benzoyl peroxide washes to Accutane, homeopathy solved it.  The treatment also cured my shin splints and I haven’t had one since.  But, the biggest selling point for me was when I went to stay with my sister for a week and for the first time ever I did not have an allergic reaction to her cat. Wow, that was amazing.  I have had terrible allergies all my life and thought I would have to live on a daily dose of Claritin. 

Sold on homeopathic medicine, the next turning point happened in January 2009.  My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma, a very serious and deadly skin cancer.  Through the research that my mom, many of our close friends and I began doing we discovered that medicine outside of the US has found the cause and the cure for cancer.  It is diet.  The over-processed world we live in is suppressing the body’s natural ability to heal itself, and making a perfect design susceptible to cancerous cells.  I became a fan and started advocating the Gerson therapy to my mom.  My homeopath recommended the Bruess juice diet and my mom eventually settled for the diet prescribed by Dr. Budwig that centered around the healing powers from the fats we get from raw foods.  All of them were German doctors who believed in a raw, vegetarian diet.  My mother is now in remission and her doctors were impressed to see her exhibit significantly less side effects to the western medication probably due to her new diet.  This experience led me to the Slow Food movement, and the books by Michael Pollan.  They turned me into a huge supporter of local and organic produce and I became a much more responsible and aware meat eater.  I also started juicing daily. 

I have been loving this ballet and every moment I spend on the stage with Clara Blanco, and  it is always nice to know that other people enjoy watching me have a good time.  

I am so bored. I have "sprained" my left foot and I haven't been to work in a week and a half. I am no longer dancing in the Wade Robson piece which sucks, and the ballet master has informed me that I am not to worry because he has gone through all of my casting and made sure that I am covered - for the rest of the season.

I am so embarrassed about this injury and it happened right before we begin the season. Since I arrived: I've been sick for a whole week, I've caused an outbreak of pink eye, and now I'm injured for who knows how long. The doctor is taking his precious time to diagnose me and give me an estimated recovery time.

I just want to dance.

This is so reminiscent of what happened when I began my job with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Within my second week and only a day before my first performance I dislocated my knee cap. That was very upsetting.

Who knows why this is happening or what I'm supposed to get out of it?
Suggestions?
Anyone?

Well, I came home, and I haven't done a thing except get terribly ill. I am overwhelmed with feelings of excitement, nostalgia, and stress. I am very excited about San Francisco and also very intimidated - they're really good. Hopefully, a healthy mix of fear, humility and accomplishment. I am overwhelmed with the process of taking in this past tour of four months and reflecting on all of the magnificent opportunities and stories that have been born out of it. We traveled from New York to Hawaii and from Oregon to Guatemala. A whole lot happened.
Remembering all of the events of the past few months brings up memories of the past few years and it is filling me with nostalgia and sentiment toward the people of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.
My emotional state is a cacophony of missing people, not wanting to leave and imaptience to begin this exciting new challenge.

On May 12, 2007, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet performed in Billings, MT. After the show we had a wonderful dinner with the dancers and a few other guests of the host at his beautiful historic home in downtown Billings. As is usual, I spent the evening socializing with the guests who were unrelated to the company. I am always interested to meet new people and hear what inspires and excites them in life. That evening I met and befriended George Schmalz, a flight instructor for aviation adventures. The next day on our day off in Billings, MT I met up again with Mr. Schmalz but this time it was at the Billings airport in front of his Cesna 172. You can figure out the rest with this short video Steve took of me piloting for take off.

I met OK GO! or at least two of the band members. They are uber cool guys, and we happened to both be performing at Washington University in St Louis on the same night just across the lawn form each other. We missed each other's shows, but we got to meet and talk for a little while afterward. I think they should definitely have us in their next video.

On March 7, 2007 I received a phone call from an unknown area code, 415. I did not answer as I was driving to the airport with the company (Aspen Santa Fe Ballet) on our way to Guatemala. After our check in I picked up my phone, dialed my answering service and listened to a message that would lead to one of the greatest opportunities in my life to this point. The message was from Ashley Wheater, Ballet Master and Assistant to the Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet. He had called to tell me he had seen a video of me dancing and he would like to see more. Then I went to Guatemala.
Needless to say I returned the call as soon as I got back to the United States, and I returned the call once a week for the next several weeks. A great fear that I had missed an amazing opportunity threatened to rob me of my ambition, but I just kept calling.
On March 30, the last day of our tour before a long two week break and the only two weeks I have available to travel for myself, I received another call. We spoke. Then, an hour later I booked plane tickets to San Francisco for less than a week away.
When the plane finally landed in Oakland, CA, a great bundle of emotions began to bubble up from somewhere deep in my belly. I really wanted this job, but I was not willing to admit it to myself lest I feel pity for myself when they told me that they did not have any positions available for me at the time. This company was no small deal and who did I think I was pretending they hired mediocre dancers such as myself?
I ended up falling in love with San Francisco within minutes. I stayed with the Hoover family, friends of my roomate Teal, whose friendship has turned out to be a rather fortuitous one - for me at least. Then, Ashley Wheater didn't call me back. Then, still no call. Panic! I had spent a lot of money on a hopeless dream. Then, an hour before company class he called. The rest is a bit of a blur. I only remember him telling me they wanted to offer me a job, and my vapid response, my struggle to maintain a straight face as the company manager went over the numbers, and my disbelief as I sat in the center of the third row of the Friday evening performance watching a level of dance that someone thinks me worthy of.
I will be finishing my contract with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet on September 3, 2007. After that date you will have to come to San Francisco to see me dance. I will be joining the corps de ballet of the San Francisco Ballet on September 4, 2007.
Great Success!

In case you aren't already aware, I spend very little time at home in Aspen, CO. So, I try to make every day count....
Sunday at Highlands definitely counted.
The day began as most days on the mountain do, with a lot of procrastinating. Teal (my hot roommate), Martin (the rock star living in my room) and I spent the first half of the morning sleeping in, dilly dallying and eventually packing up the car. Teal made the coffee and I made the eggs. Finally in the car but with many stops to make along the way. First we had to pick up Steve, then the freshly tuned gear - courtesy of Martin and the cool guys at Performance Ski. Finally on the mountain at Highlands around noon thirty with the sun shining bright.
It was a typical day in Aspen, same old stunning views, same old sunny skies, same old warm temperatures, same old perfect Aspen snow. This part of the story is all very boring. It gets good after the last run of the day, after Teal and I put our gear in the car and begin our apres celebrations. The fun comes about the same time as the dare.
First, some necessary information. Sunday was the unofficial closing of Aspen Highlands. The closing date has been extended, but a party was already planned for the original closing day. So, Aspen partied. At the bottom of the mountain a ten foot pool of ice water had been constructed and skiers and snowboarders alike were finishing their runs by skiing across the pond (the snowboarders were a little less successful than the skiers). Everyone was decked out in flashy costumes to celebrate and trying to make the most memorable final run of the season.
The dare. While drinking and laughing at all the the revelers, a group of our friends begins joking about Teal and me skiing down together, going across the pond holding hands and doing this completely nude. The joke quickly escalated without any provocation from Teal or myself and was eventually proposed as a dare. You should know me well enough to know if it's a dare, I'm doing it. Luckily, our gear had been safely locked in the car an hour earlier. But we don't hang out with push overs no no, Steve quickly acquired the keys and he and mark were off to fetch everything we needed, meaning our boots and board/skis. The realisation began to set in that I was about to ski naked and eventually go skinny dipping (I had not yet successfully crossed the pond) in front of all of Aspen, CO.
I'll take a moment to let you know, I snowboard on the DL, my boss doesn't like to know about it.
My heart either stopped or went double time, I'm not sure, I lost all awareness of my body, and of course began drinking double time. Steve seemed to be gone for hours, but eventually he did return and with all the gear necessary, boots a snowboard and skis. We partially stripped and began hiking up the hill. A fifteen minute hike interrupted by intermittent cheers of excitement from an expectant crowd. At the top of the run we looked down to discover the ice water had dropped about 3 feet making for a very difficult situation. There would be no water skiing. We would either have to jump the entire ten foot pool or hit the first jump and drop down directly into the pool. We accepted our fate (neither one of us being accomplished enough to even imagine clearing the gap) and we mad our plan for stripping and jumping. The crowd went wild as we removed our final layer. Upper torsos exposed, we unbuckled our pants ready for a fast drop. Teal had planned to strip her bra as I dropped the boxers about 20 feet from the jump and then we would grab hands and jump. We took off down the hill, cris-crossing and gaining speed. I cam in for my last turn. Hands around the waist of my drawers. Teal crossed her arms hands on her bra. Then she moved her hands. Her bra was still there. The jump was close. I panicked. Hands in the air and.... we landed. A foot (maybe two or three) from the end of the pool. We were soaked in ice water, half dressed and the crowd loved it. After struggling to free ourselves form our gear we stood knee high in an almost frozen pond to relish in the applause and drunken admiration of our adoring fans. Finally, the lifeguard threw us a float and we climbed to land. We were the final two skiers down for the day, the unofficial closing of Highlands. We entered the bar as King and Queen and drank like two people who had just been rescued from a deserted island in the Caribbean.

Here is my blog. It's for all my loved ones to keep track of where I am and what I'm doing on a daily basis. Mostly just so I can post pictures and tell the highlights of my touring, but also so I can boast about the beauty of my home town, Aspen, CO. Enjoy.

L,L