Nutrition & Wellness with Rosie Ueng

As we continue to celebrate BBT's 40th Anniversary, we are delighted to share thoughts and memories from the generations of BBT faculty and staff members, current and past.

This month we talk to BBT’s Nutrition and Wellness advisor, Rosie Ueng about health and wellness and her experiences dancing.

What led you to being a wellness and nutrition expert?

The seeds were planted when I was a young dancer, inevitably thinking about health. But it wasn't until I was in my twenties, experiencing a chronic health issue that wasn't being addressed through conventional medicine, that I started to feel the impulse to empower myself with healing. For the first time, I started thinking about food as medicine and discovered how much I love cooking. It was momentous to know that I could give my body what it needs to heal by doing something so pleasurable..eating! I pursued education in holistic nutrition and also worked in various commercial kitchens. I've now worked well over a decade in the nutrition and culinary worlds and am continuing to deepen and broaden my understanding of health and wellness. With new insights emerging all the time, I hardly consider myself an expert!

I aim to broaden the definition of wellness to encompass a fuller spectrum of emotions, experiences, and physical appearances that make the human experience rich and beautiful. Wellness is usually narrowly defined and in its narrowness, makes us feel unwell or that there's something wrong with us when our experiences don't fall within its narrowly defined range. This message gets perpetuated ubiquitously, especially in this social media age, in which glib portrayals of wellness are unachievable, which compounds any preexisting anxiety of unattainability. As animals living on this earth, our bodies have natural and inherent wisdom. Whatever we're feeling are wise and natural responses to the sometimes harmful systems in which we live, which demand "perfection" and productivity to the detriment of the full expression of our humanity. These systems often offer paths to so-called wellness that are prescriptive and preclude us from connecting with our intuitive wisdom.

So much of our unwellness stems from disconnection from ourselves, each other, and Nature. Individual wellness is inextricably connected to and dependent upon community, societal, and ecological wellness. So it's important for me to approach wellness on all of these levels. For example, an individual's anxiety/depression is connected to systemic racism and the climate crisis, which are various manifestations of this disconnection. What underlies my teaching is reconnection and remembering our interconnection and interdependence and that we are not separate from Nature.

I aim to support people in reconnecting to themselves, to listen to their intuitive wisdom, to empower them with remembering that they know how to care for themselves, and to give themselves permission to celebrate the beauty of the messiness of what it means to be human.

One of the things that I focus on when I'm with the dancers is helping them to feel that they're not alone. I remember as a young person and dancer having so many feelings and so much self-criticism that left me feeling confused, anxious, and alone. I try to create an open and accepting space, so the dancers can share how they're feeling, their fears, insecurities, and anxieties. They are sometimes surprised and relieved to hear and feel that their peers have the same or similar feelings and experiences. I want each one of them to really feel that no matter what (what they look like, their grades on their math tests, or how many pirouettes they can do, etc.), that they are enough and are deserving of connection and love. I invite them to notice any self judgement or judgement of others, guiding them to see how these things are connected to deeper systemic issues like racism and climate change. I aim to empower them to see how caring for themselves and for others and feeling their full worth regardless of their accomplishments is revolutionary.

I usually talk more about some of these bigger issues with the older dancers, knowing that they potentially face more pressure to achieve as they get closer to college-age and potentially feel more anxiety as they have more exposure to media. But the idea of reconnection shows up in teaching dancers of any age, even with the little ones. I usually start the classes with a short meditation, and I'm always delighted by the beautiful insights of the young dancers!

I'd like to support people in seeing that their "negative" emotions are natural and wise responses to a system in which we are made to feel perpetually deficient and that these emotions, which are normally pathologized, can provide breadcrumbs of wisdom to lead us back to reconnection (with ourselves, each other, and Nature), creativity, healing, and ultimately the fullest and most beautiful expressions of ourselves.

Community is everything at every level at BBT. I'm always so heartened by the ways that the young dancers show so much support, care, and affection for each other and how vulnerable they're willing to be with each other. This speaks to the culture that gets fostered at the school by the leadership and teachers, one of inclusion and mutual support. Because body image is such a focus in the ballet world, unhealthy environments can often be created at ballet schools. I really appreciate how BBT values health, expression, and inclusion above all else. Some of the young dancers who've come from other schools have shared with me how happy they are to be in such a supportive and notably different environment at BBT.

Trout Cobb Salad with Spring Vegetables and Buttermilk Dressing

This recipe celebrates spring ingredients. It's quite simple to put together for a light lunch or dinner. Enjoy!

1 large head of lettuce, or several heads of baby spring lettuces (Little Gems are my favorite), cut or ripped into pieces
4-5 radishes, thinly sliced
½ bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1 cup snap peas, lightly blanched
½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 avocado, peeled, and cut into slices
4 medium-cooked eggs, cut into quarters
8 oz. trout fillet (I like McFarland trout, sustainably raised near Lassen National Forest)
¼ c spring onions, minced

buttermilk dressing (recipe to follow)

Preheat broiler. Pat trout fillet dry. Put a thin coat of olive oil on trout and sprinkle with salt. Place salmon onto a broiler-proof pan and broil for about 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet and just until trout is still medium. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Flake the trout into large chunks with a fork and set aside.
Season the eggs and avocado with salt. In a large bowl, gently combine all of the vegetables except the avocado. Toss with buttermilk dressing. Arrange the vegetables on a serving platter, adding the eggs, avocado, and salmon. Toss ever so gently. Sprinkle with spring onions.

Buttermilk Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
¾ cup buttermilk
2 T Meyer lemon juice
2 T spring onions, minced

2 T spring garlic, minced (if not available, substitute with 1 clove minced garlic)
1 T parsley, minced
1 T mint, minced
salt
Whisk all ingredients together. Dressing should be thin—if it’s too thick add more buttermilk. Refrigerate for up to one week.

Rosie Ueng performing at the 2018 Love BBT Gala.

Photo by Natalia Perez