I have Officially Moved Into My Dance Studio...

... Well, not literally. But I kind of feel like that. I'm pretty much there all afternoon and evening on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Then on Saturdays I have classes and rehearsals all morning.

I am so sorry that I haven't been posting lately! I have just been really busy!!! My days pretty much go like this, school, get ready for dance, take class (or help teach), do more school inbetween classes, take more classes, go home, finish school. Let's just say, I only eat dinner with my family three days a week, and the rest of the time it's at dance. But not matter how exhausting it gets, I love what I do, and I could never give it up.

So here's what's going on!

• Remember how every year the older girls get to choreograph dances for the younger girls to be in at dance concert? (if you don't the link is right here!)... ....Well, this year I GET TO CHOREOGRAPH A DANCE! Yes, I get to choreograph a dance to be performed by other dancers on a proffessional stage in our dance concert. Lights, Costumes, it's all there!

• We are working away on our Company numbers. Our Michael Buble jazz number is finished and AWESOME! We performed that one at the mall not to long ago, and it's pretty awesome. Our ballet number is really close. We actually might finish at rehearsal tomorrow. And by the way, I did end up getting the part in the battle scene. Our sticks are HUGE and I'm kind of afraid that I might knock someone out with mine... Also, we have been working on our pointe number which is so cute! It's kind of hard, but I know I can do it.

• We are leaving for the Tennessee Association of Dance conference in 3 weeks! I'm so excited! That is the conference that we go to for a weekend in October. The senior company piles into a van, we drive up, stay in hotels for the weekend. And then all day Saturday we take master classes. Sunday morning is more master classes with a performance at the end. There is a scholarship audition to receive a $500 summer study scholarship that I will be auditioning for. I don't think this is the year that I'll receive a scholarship, but it will be great practice. We will perform our Michael Buble dance, and not to mention take some fabulous classes.

I'll do some of this...

 

And this...

 

A little of this...

 

And even some of this!!!!

 

 

 

P.S. These are not my photos, and I give full credit to the owners.



Company is here!

I have been highly anticipating the start of Company, and we have already finished our first week! Our schedule is kind of weird, but we had rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, Thursday this week. And then next week we have rehearsal Monday and Tuesday. Then the next couple following weeks is Tuesdays and Thursdays. All our rehearsals are 2 and a half hours long.

So anyway, here's what we did this week:

Monday:  We had barre warm-up and then we worked on our ballet piece. It's actually based off of the movie "The Village". The Music we are using is really cool, and the choreography is very intricate with lots of floor work. Here's the music so you can hear it:

This is the first song.

Then we use this song when the battle scene starts.

We haven't started the battle scene yet, and not everybody gets to be in the battle scene. Only 10 of us, I'm hoping I'll be in it, but I'm not really sure.

Tuesday: We did a jazz warm up while the ballet teacher finished up with the Junior Company. Then the ballet teacher came back and we did more work on ballet.

Thursday: We did a jazz warmup, plus some stuff across the floor. Then my jazz teacher said she'd pick people for the small group jazz. And... I GOT PICKED!!! I'm so excited to get the oppertunity to be in this number with all the really good dancers! I'm actually the youngest, and lowest leveled girl who was picked for the number, so I feel very honored. We are doing the number to the song "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble. You probably already know this song, but in case you aren't, here's a video.

 

So anyway, we got a good chunk done. We are probably about halfway already!!!! Good thing to, my teacher is wanting us to be able to perform in at a fair on August 25, which is in 3 weeks! So anyway, yeah... that's what's going on! Stay tuned for a new post soon!

P.S. I do not own those videos, and I give full credit to the owners.

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.