Happy National Dance Day!

Today is a special day. National Dance Day. Dance is everything to me, it does everything for me. It relaxes me. It expresses me. It helps me deal with things. I teaches me dedication. It provides my friends. It brings me closer to God. It does everything for me.

Here are 10 things I've learned from living in the dance world:

1. If you aren't dedicated, you'll never get anywhere.

2. Real friends will support you in whatever you are dedicated to.

3. You are going to have to deal with some awful and mean people, but you grow from them...

4. And you'll get to deal with some absolutely amazing people, which will help you grow as well...

5. You can learn amazing things from the littlest dancers.

6. You should always take EVERY opportunity to practice your craft, even if you aren't sure it will make a difference. You never know what you might learn.

7. Taking a short break as soon as you start to feel an injury the teeniest bit could save your dance career.

8. If something happens, and you lose your dance career, there are so many other things that you can still do. All things happen for a reason.

9. Nothing about being a dancer is easy...

10. ...But if you stick to it, it will pay off in abundant ways.

P.S. Sammy is having a give away on her blog! Check it out: http://sammysleuth.blogspot.com/p/3rd-birthday-giveaway.html

My Summer Recap, Part 1

Oh my, I have been enjoying my summer to much. That's pretty amazing, considering the fact that I haven't done much! Here's the summer recap:

My summer pretty much started when Recital ended. I did a two week dance intensive at a Ballet School that is about an hour from my home.

As soon as that ended, I started taking summer classes in the same school in the 6 week session. I go four days a week, two hours per class.

On Tuesdays, I leave ballet before pointe class so that I can drive 45 minutes back to my normal Dance Studio to assist a Pre-School class.

On Thursdays, as soon as Ballet is over, we head down to my normal studio so I can take Jazz. Taking Jazz during the summer is a lot of fun! There are only 3 levels for Jazz during the summer; Beginner (Jazz 1-2), Intermediate (Jazz 3-4), and Advanced (Jazz 5-6).  I'm in Advanced Jazz, which has been a lot of fun, because of the broad range of ages. We have girls who are going into Jazz for the first time, girls who are repeating Jazz 5, girls who are going into Jazz 6 (like me), girls who are repeating Jazz 6, and some girls who have graduated from highschool who are getting in some last minute practice before they leave for college. It has been so much fun, because they are small classes (usually only 1 of each age). We also have been doing lot of fun combinations in classes. Every week we've done something new. We have done every style of Jazz, from Call Me Maybe, to Le Jazz Hot, to Beauty in the Breakdown. I mean, that's covering Pop Jazz, Musical Theater Jazz, and Lyrical Jazz all in three weeks. We've also done some Contemporary, and I think maybe Hip Hop (which I missed).

I have one more week of Ballet, Jazz, and Creative Movement, and then... COMPANY!!!! We start learning or company pieces, and I am very excited about it. Here are the rumors\clues that I have picked up on:

Ballet: It's kind of a contemporaryish piece that's very dark and creepy. We are some sort of warriors, WITH STICKS. I am so pumped about this piece.

Jazz: We are doing two pieces actually, a Large group, and a small group.
Large Group: I have no idea, I don't think the teacher knows what she wants to do yet.
Small Group: It's a remake of something that has been done before, and it's to a Michael Buble song. I am not sure how many girls will get to be in this one, but I really hope I will, because I love Lyrical Jazz.

Modern: I know nothing about the concept of the piece, but I do know that the director isn't choreographing it this year. The other modern teacher is, and she does really beautiful choreography.



So that's my summer of dance stuff, I will tell you about a few of the fun things I've done that aren't dance related. Soon. I promise.