Helloooooo everyone! So, um, where has the summer gone? Just throwin that out there, because this is rather insane. I don't understand how it is already July 16 and I'm more than halfway through my program now! In a couple days week 5 will be completed and that means there are only 3 WEEKS LEFT!!! The other interns and I keep talking about this and how it just doesn't seem possible. There is still so much I feel I haven't done/seen/experienced so I'm going to try to fit in as much as I can before I leave. I also don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I get home and can't dance everyday...I may have a sliiiight freak out. Not to mention that the summer itself is more than halfway over. This seems ridiculous and like summer hasn't even really happened. I think it's mainly because the weather has been so awful that it hasn't felt like summer until recently. AND I'm slightly freaked out by the fact that when I get home I only have 3 weeks until I move back in to Wheaton...as a SENIOR! Crazycrazycrazycrazyyyyyyy.
Anyways, updates!
So last Saturday was the modern master class with Lisa Viola. It was a lot of fun and very informative. She walked us through what is a typical Paul Taylor audition process which was interesting and challenging. The first thing she told us to do was walk from one corner to the other, one after another, every 8 counts. That was all the instruction we got and then she put the music on. Sounds simple huh? But then you start freaking out in your mind: "how does she want us to walk? dance walk? street walk? heel to toe? toe to heel? slowly? quickly? are we supposed to get creative? what if we aren't supposed to get creative and then just look foolish or she thinks we're trying to hard?" yeaaaah. haha. Needless to say such a simple activity made the distance seem sooooo far and you felt every eye on you! Apparently this is how Paul Taylor starts his auditions. Simple, yet nerve racking! She did a Taylor based warm up with us, too, which I enjoyed and some across the floor work. Then she taught us a combination to do in groups as if we were at the audition again. Then she did something else that's usually done at Paul's auditions: she did this crazy combination that was very very different and cannot really be put in to words and we were supposed to watch her do it and try to follow along and pick up as much as we could. There was no break down and really no instruction given. It was just to see how you move personally and how much you could retain in a very short amount of time. SO HARD! haha. She also talked to us about company life and her journey to get there. She gave many of us in the room a hope because she didn't get into Paul's company until she was much older.
After the master class I just relaxed and then took class 4.30-6 and then had choir 6-7.30. We still have soooo far to go if we are going to pull off these songs for the showcase, and we only have like 3 more rehearsals! Eeeek! I'm sure it will come together, and hopefully it sounds somewhat good...haha. Also recently found out that for our closing mock audition (where real agents will be present) there will be three rounds with cuts after each round. A ballet cut first (ok), then a jazz/Latin jazz cut (eh), and then finally a singing cut (WHYYYY???). Of course I'd love to get as far as I can, but I'm secretly hoping I don't have to sing. I'd be happy making it to both dance rounds. Singing by myself in the studio, in front of professionals, kind of makes me want to die (and makes me think of Chorus Line auditions sophomore year which was possibly the scariest/most embarrassing experience ever!). But we are supposed to be prepared with a song or two from the list they provided us with. Which means we are supposed to attend a voice lesson or two before the closing audition. Ugh. Again, whyyyyyy?
Anyways, after choir Saturday night I went out to dinner at John's Pizzeria with about 6 other dancers. Lots of fun! There was talk about a birthday party one of the interns was having at some club later that night so Amanda and I decided to go check it out. Ended up being a lot of fun! So great to go out and have fun with some of the dancers! (Getting up at 7 am for a rehearsal Sunday morning not so fun...but oh well haha) I took a long nap Sunday after rehearsal and then Amanda and I walked around from about 2.30-7! We tried to find the Flower District but to our dismay, it only really happens during work days. Boo. But we walked a lot, hung out at Madison Square Park, and found our way to the 6th Ave shops! Had a lot of fun there! I was still searching for a dress for my birthday (have since bought one, a tad expensive so I still have my eye out, but I love it!) and we found a TJ Max which was lovely. haha. I also experience Red Mango for the first time; they sell soft serve frozen yogurt and it was soooo good. I had pomegranate flavored frozen yogurt with lots of fresh kiwi on top...amazing! mmmmmm. It was a very packed and fun weekend, so I was exhausted by Sunday night!
This week has once again been flying by! I've been enjoying my classes. Actually had a lot of fun in street jazz on Monday and I'm really liking theatre classes which is a new style to me. For the past 2 weeks we worked on a dance to "Breathe Me" in Derek Mitchell's lyical class which I absolutely loved (one of my favorite songs toooo! you can see that dance on his youtube site soon and the one we did last week- "Don't cry")! Tuesday night I went to a 12.31 am showing of Harry Potter with Amanda and Kendall! So exciting! I thought the movie was okay but not the best. It was fun to be there for opening night though, the audience was hilarious to be a part of. Didn't get to bed until around 3:30 am so once again getting up at 7 am for rehearsal was difficult. Luckily I was able to come back and sleep in the afternoon though before my night classes. Today I had a pretty "easy" schedule; planned it so I only had ballet from 9-10.30. Then I went to see a little bit of Broadway in the Park with Amanda (snippets from The Little Mermaid, and 9-5!) and then we met up with one of our theatre teachers who was taking us over to the part of the NYC library near the Lincoln Center that deals with the arts so he could teach us how to find sheet music and make copies and such. So that took a while and we were gone for most of the day. Came back and hung out on the roof reading and getting some sun for a couple hours! So nice! :) Don't know what my plans are for the weekend yet, but I'll definitely find things to do. Saturday is jam packed with intern stuff (master class on improv partnering with Ginger Cox 9-10.30, make up seminar at the M.A.C. Pro Studios 1-2.30, class 4.30-6, choir 6-7.30...) but no real plans otherwise. Saving up my energy for next weekend...my 21st birthday bash!!!!! :) I'm so excited and canNOT wait! Lots of friends coming in to the city to celebrate with me and I'm so stoked to see everyone! It's going to be so much fun and I've still got the plans in the making, but we'll be going out to dinner and then to a club or two. Woo woo! I'm so excited to get dressed up and go all out with my loves!!
I'll try to write again soon. Enjoy the weekend! :)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
I <3 NY
So I think it's official...I'm falling in love. With NYC. hahaha
Things I love about the city:
I love that you can wake up thinking you have nothing to do and then the most exciting things just come your way without even trying.
I love all the free things you can find to do. For example, yesterday a few of the girls from dance and I went to Bryant park and saw "Broadway in the Park." Aka we got to see snippets from 4 Broadway shows (Stomp, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, and In the Heights) with the actual Broadway stars. It was amazing. And free. And happens for the next 5 Thursdays with different shows. Love.
I love walking everywhere and not having to worry about driving places. Everything is right here.
I love that I've conquered the subway and that I feel like I know my way around a good amount of places. I also love the different "feel" of different areas of NYC. Each area has its own personality.
I love that there are always so many people walking little, itty-bitty, ankle-biting dogs around. Especially men. It cracks me up.
I love finding interesting ways to ignore people trying to give me flyers or invite me to comedy shows. It also cracks me up.
I love outsmarting the "do not walk" signal.
I love that there are actually signs that say there are fines for beeping. Come on people, NYC wouldn't be NYC without beeping.
I love walking the streets in the early morning hours. The city never sleeps, but it's so calm and quiet then.
I love the eclectic mix of people. Hearing 5 different languages, in the span of only a few blocks, is so cool.
I love seeing people dressed up all business-like. Fashion is amazing here (and very..umm..different...at times). I also love that I'm usually walking around in comfy dance wear all the time. haha
I love Central Park. It's a whole city in itself! Amanda and I explored a part of it today.
I love the random, fun situations you can find just by walking around. For example, when we were walking around uptown today, Amanda and I were stopped by a woman doing marketing research for some designer. She asked us if she could take pictures of our outfits and ask us questions about where we got things/how much we paid/why we chose them, etc. So random and so fun! hahaha.
I love finding random, local restaurants and places you wouldn't ever really hear about. We found a lovely little ice cream place today and got a nice sweet treat after laying out in the sun in Central Park for a while! Mmmmm
I love that there was a man playing the ukulele on the subway and when I was walking back there was a man playing the bag pipes. Always so much entertainment everywhere!
I love meeting new people. A girl came up to me at dinner tonight and asked if I danced at BDC! I guess she saw me wearing my BDC Intern shirt the other day at breakfast and she is hometown friends with one of the girls I know in the program. Too funny! Annnnnd, come to find out, she lives in a room that shares a wall with mine! She's right next door! Small world. She immediately invited me to the movies with her friends tonight, but i already had plans. Yey new friends!
I love the city lights at night ("Here in these deep city lights, girl could get lost tonight" Sara Bareilles anyone??). Tonight I went back down to South Street Seaport (with Amanda this time) and we walked around and saw a little of a free concert which was really good. Then we found our way to the Brooklyn Bridge (and were quite proud of ourselves haha) and walked all the way to Brooklyn and back! It was so amazingly beautiful to look at all the lights in Manhattan! Stunning.
So yes, things are still going amazingly. It's hard to believe that tomorrow marks the end of week 4 of my program! Halfway through already...doesn't seem possible! Have to continue making the most of it; and believe me, I will. This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far and I can't wait for all that lies ahead in the next 4 weeks! Now I'm off to bed because it's been an exhausting (yet fast!) week with lots of early morning showcase rehearsals and more to come this weekend. Tomorrow morning our master class is with Lisa Viola who was with the Paul Taylor Company for many years (Laura, if you are reading this I hope you realize how funny this is...). It's going to be a modern class and she's going to talk to us about working with a company. Should be fun and I'm looking forward to it. I'll update about the weekend soon.
xoxo
Things I love about the city:
I love that you can wake up thinking you have nothing to do and then the most exciting things just come your way without even trying.
I love all the free things you can find to do. For example, yesterday a few of the girls from dance and I went to Bryant park and saw "Broadway in the Park." Aka we got to see snippets from 4 Broadway shows (Stomp, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, and In the Heights) with the actual Broadway stars. It was amazing. And free. And happens for the next 5 Thursdays with different shows. Love.
I love walking everywhere and not having to worry about driving places. Everything is right here.
I love that I've conquered the subway and that I feel like I know my way around a good amount of places. I also love the different "feel" of different areas of NYC. Each area has its own personality.
I love that there are always so many people walking little, itty-bitty, ankle-biting dogs around. Especially men. It cracks me up.
I love finding interesting ways to ignore people trying to give me flyers or invite me to comedy shows. It also cracks me up.
I love outsmarting the "do not walk" signal.
I love that there are actually signs that say there are fines for beeping. Come on people, NYC wouldn't be NYC without beeping.
I love walking the streets in the early morning hours. The city never sleeps, but it's so calm and quiet then.
I love the eclectic mix of people. Hearing 5 different languages, in the span of only a few blocks, is so cool.
I love seeing people dressed up all business-like. Fashion is amazing here (and very..umm..different...at times). I also love that I'm usually walking around in comfy dance wear all the time. haha
I love Central Park. It's a whole city in itself! Amanda and I explored a part of it today.
I love the random, fun situations you can find just by walking around. For example, when we were walking around uptown today, Amanda and I were stopped by a woman doing marketing research for some designer. She asked us if she could take pictures of our outfits and ask us questions about where we got things/how much we paid/why we chose them, etc. So random and so fun! hahaha.
I love finding random, local restaurants and places you wouldn't ever really hear about. We found a lovely little ice cream place today and got a nice sweet treat after laying out in the sun in Central Park for a while! Mmmmm
I love that there was a man playing the ukulele on the subway and when I was walking back there was a man playing the bag pipes. Always so much entertainment everywhere!
I love meeting new people. A girl came up to me at dinner tonight and asked if I danced at BDC! I guess she saw me wearing my BDC Intern shirt the other day at breakfast and she is hometown friends with one of the girls I know in the program. Too funny! Annnnnd, come to find out, she lives in a room that shares a wall with mine! She's right next door! Small world. She immediately invited me to the movies with her friends tonight, but i already had plans. Yey new friends!
I love the city lights at night ("Here in these deep city lights, girl could get lost tonight" Sara Bareilles anyone??). Tonight I went back down to South Street Seaport (with Amanda this time) and we walked around and saw a little of a free concert which was really good. Then we found our way to the Brooklyn Bridge (and were quite proud of ourselves haha) and walked all the way to Brooklyn and back! It was so amazingly beautiful to look at all the lights in Manhattan! Stunning.
So yes, things are still going amazingly. It's hard to believe that tomorrow marks the end of week 4 of my program! Halfway through already...doesn't seem possible! Have to continue making the most of it; and believe me, I will. This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far and I can't wait for all that lies ahead in the next 4 weeks! Now I'm off to bed because it's been an exhausting (yet fast!) week with lots of early morning showcase rehearsals and more to come this weekend. Tomorrow morning our master class is with Lisa Viola who was with the Paul Taylor Company for many years (Laura, if you are reading this I hope you realize how funny this is...). It's going to be a modern class and she's going to talk to us about working with a company. Should be fun and I'm looking forward to it. I'll update about the weekend soon.
xoxo
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Fourth of July weekend!
So crazy that the Fourth has come and gone! I always think of that as the halfway point of summer. I think I can't believe the summer is half over because of how strange the weather has been. It's also crazy that I'm in the fourth week of my program which means it will be half over at the end of this week! Time is flying!!
Friday night was a lot of fun. Went out to eat at this Dominican restaurant for my friend Persephone's birthday. Natalie came too and we met a whole bunch of Per's friends from the city. Lots of laughs and really great food!
I had been dreading Saturday morning all week because I was so scared about the master class we were having haha. It was titled "Hip Hop for the Camera." Ummmmmmm yeah. And then a couple days before the class we got an email telling us to dress as if we were going to a music video audition for Beyonce or something. So I started listening to people in the program and what they were thinking about wearing. Pretty much came to the conclusion that the more revealing the outfit was the better. Gaah! So I went out the day before and got a top that was kinda revealing (though not nearly as intense as a lot of the girls haha) and wore skinny jeans and about 4 inch heels (yes, they recommended wearing heels, too! whaaaaat?!?). I felt pretty ridiculous getting ready at 8 am as if I were going out to a club or something. I wore a T-shirt over my outfit at breakfast but I definitely got some strange looks from a lot of the older ladies at breakfast which were probably due to my dark, heavy eye make-up and hair haha. The master class was crazy. Bonnie, our director, walked in and said "good morning, hoochies!" haha. Then the choreographer we were working with came in (she had just flown in from LA at 2 am), Sheryl Murakami. She was hilarious. She came in sporting a winter hat, sunglasses, full body red pajamas and high heel boots with every color imaginable. Then she proceeded to teach us a combination that was rather interesting. I got the routine pretty well (as well as I could in heels!) but did not enjoy the freestyling we had to do at the beginning and end each time. They made us perform it in groups of five with numbers like an audition and they video taped it so we can all get a copy. Just what I want! And just so you know, NO ONE will ever be seeing this! It was an experience.
So our master class was supposed to get out at 10.30 and I was planning on catching a 11.45 train to Red Hook for the weekend, but we didn't get out until 10.50! I was sure I wasn't going to make it, but I showered and got ready so quickly and booked it to Grand Central and made it!! Got there around 1.30 and Ryan picked me up to go to his uncle's lake house on Copake Lake. Met a bunch of his extended family and had lunch. Then Ryan took me out on the jet ski! Sooooooo much fun! The water was really choppy because it was so windy so it was even more intense haha. After a while we switched to another boat to watch his cousins tube. Then we switched to another boat (haha) and went out to this little cove area where it wasn't so windy and anchored the boats so we could all go swimming. The water was warmer than the air (due to the wind) so it was nice while you were in the water but not so nice getting out! Didn't get back to the lake house until about 6.30 when there was a cookout. Lay on the hammock, played Frisbee, ate, etc. haha. Lots of fun. Then Ryan and I went down to the lake again and sat on the back of the boat and saw the most gorgeous sunset! Amazing! :) We hung out a bit more and then headed out around 9.30. Then we went to a Fourth of July party at one of his friend's houses and met up with Devin and Rachel. So great to see everyone again! Really fun night.
Sunday morning we went to eat at the diner. Later we went down to the Hudson River with Dev and Rach which was pretty. We were also right next to the train track so it was scary every time a train went by! After exploring there for a while, Ryan and I then went to this place his friend was telling us about. It was at this garden shop haha but a pond/deck had been built in back and you could pay a quarter to get a handful of fish food pellets. It was insane when you fed them! Swarms of these really strange fish came out of nowhere!!! It was pretty hilarious to watch them fight for the food. We stayed there a while and then headed back to his house. By then we were pretty exhausted and decided to just lie down in the back yard for a while. We stayed out there for a while just talking and enjoying the beautiful day. Then when it was dinner time we went to get sandwiches and go on a picnic! After we ate we went for a walk in the woods at the place we were at and then went on the coolest swing everrrr! The tree it was hanging from was so high and the ropes were so long so when you started up on top of the hill and let go, you would swing waaaaay out over the field! It was so much fun! And it was really pretty since the sun was starting to set. Then around 8.30 we had to leave for the train station :( I didn't want the weekend to end but sadly it had to. I took a 9.40 train and made it back to NYC by 11.30. I don't know how I walked back because I was SO exhausted. Luckily I was able to sleep in a bit yesterday haha.
So that about sums up my amazing Fourth of July weekend! I have more to update you all on, but I have to get going to theatre class right now. Byee
<3>
Friday night was a lot of fun. Went out to eat at this Dominican restaurant for my friend Persephone's birthday. Natalie came too and we met a whole bunch of Per's friends from the city. Lots of laughs and really great food!
I had been dreading Saturday morning all week because I was so scared about the master class we were having haha. It was titled "Hip Hop for the Camera." Ummmmmmm yeah. And then a couple days before the class we got an email telling us to dress as if we were going to a music video audition for Beyonce or something. So I started listening to people in the program and what they were thinking about wearing. Pretty much came to the conclusion that the more revealing the outfit was the better. Gaah! So I went out the day before and got a top that was kinda revealing (though not nearly as intense as a lot of the girls haha) and wore skinny jeans and about 4 inch heels (yes, they recommended wearing heels, too! whaaaaat?!?). I felt pretty ridiculous getting ready at 8 am as if I were going out to a club or something. I wore a T-shirt over my outfit at breakfast but I definitely got some strange looks from a lot of the older ladies at breakfast which were probably due to my dark, heavy eye make-up and hair haha. The master class was crazy. Bonnie, our director, walked in and said "good morning, hoochies!" haha. Then the choreographer we were working with came in (she had just flown in from LA at 2 am), Sheryl Murakami. She was hilarious. She came in sporting a winter hat, sunglasses, full body red pajamas and high heel boots with every color imaginable. Then she proceeded to teach us a combination that was rather interesting. I got the routine pretty well (as well as I could in heels!) but did not enjoy the freestyling we had to do at the beginning and end each time. They made us perform it in groups of five with numbers like an audition and they video taped it so we can all get a copy. Just what I want! And just so you know, NO ONE will ever be seeing this! It was an experience.
So our master class was supposed to get out at 10.30 and I was planning on catching a 11.45 train to Red Hook for the weekend, but we didn't get out until 10.50! I was sure I wasn't going to make it, but I showered and got ready so quickly and booked it to Grand Central and made it!! Got there around 1.30 and Ryan picked me up to go to his uncle's lake house on Copake Lake. Met a bunch of his extended family and had lunch. Then Ryan took me out on the jet ski! Sooooooo much fun! The water was really choppy because it was so windy so it was even more intense haha. After a while we switched to another boat to watch his cousins tube. Then we switched to another boat (haha) and went out to this little cove area where it wasn't so windy and anchored the boats so we could all go swimming. The water was warmer than the air (due to the wind) so it was nice while you were in the water but not so nice getting out! Didn't get back to the lake house until about 6.30 when there was a cookout. Lay on the hammock, played Frisbee, ate, etc. haha. Lots of fun. Then Ryan and I went down to the lake again and sat on the back of the boat and saw the most gorgeous sunset! Amazing! :) We hung out a bit more and then headed out around 9.30. Then we went to a Fourth of July party at one of his friend's houses and met up with Devin and Rachel. So great to see everyone again! Really fun night.
Sunday morning we went to eat at the diner. Later we went down to the Hudson River with Dev and Rach which was pretty. We were also right next to the train track so it was scary every time a train went by! After exploring there for a while, Ryan and I then went to this place his friend was telling us about. It was at this garden shop haha but a pond/deck had been built in back and you could pay a quarter to get a handful of fish food pellets. It was insane when you fed them! Swarms of these really strange fish came out of nowhere!!! It was pretty hilarious to watch them fight for the food. We stayed there a while and then headed back to his house. By then we were pretty exhausted and decided to just lie down in the back yard for a while. We stayed out there for a while just talking and enjoying the beautiful day. Then when it was dinner time we went to get sandwiches and go on a picnic! After we ate we went for a walk in the woods at the place we were at and then went on the coolest swing everrrr! The tree it was hanging from was so high and the ropes were so long so when you started up on top of the hill and let go, you would swing waaaaay out over the field! It was so much fun! And it was really pretty since the sun was starting to set. Then around 8.30 we had to leave for the train station :( I didn't want the weekend to end but sadly it had to. I took a 9.40 train and made it back to NYC by 11.30. I don't know how I walked back because I was SO exhausted. Luckily I was able to sleep in a bit yesterday haha.
So that about sums up my amazing Fourth of July weekend! I have more to update you all on, but I have to get going to theatre class right now. Byee
<3>
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
hellooooo summer!
Yes, it seems that the warm summer weather has finally arrived! I hear it's still been kinda icky at home, but it's been pretty sunny here for the past few days (with the occasional shower in the afternoon) which is lovely. I think I'm finally going to have to cave in and get an air conditioner installed in my room because last night was pretty unbearable.
This weekend was a lot of fun! Saturday we had a really intense master class in the morning. It wasn't intense as far as the level of dancing, but rather it pushed us outside our comfort zones. As dancers, we don't like being put on the spot to talk. Most of us dance to express ourselves and aren't comfortable using our voices in performance. So in order to get us to "open up" more when we dance, the teacher (Sheila Barker) had us talk--about anything and everything--as we did the combination she had taught us. It was so strange but really made an impact. She also made us focus on our own eyes in the mirror, like staring ourselves down, which sounds easy, but is surprisingly difficult; you constantly want to look away or at the person next to you in the mirror. So that was an interesting experience that really has me thinking how I dance and "perform" in every class I take now.
After choir rehearsal Saturday night I took the subway to Nat's cousin's apartment in lower Manhattan and we had a feast! haha. It was great to have some really good food (not that the food here is bad, per say, just not always what I'd want). Oh, and we had some amaaaazing cupcakes that had frosting not only on the top, but inside the cake part as well!! haha. So we had a fun night watching movies, eating, and catching up :)
Sunday Nat and I slept in then headed out for a touristy day around 12:30. We started at Southstreet Seaport (which reminded me a lot of Newport! haha) where there was a lot going on because there happened to be an International Latino Music Festival going on. We walked around watching the boats and enjoying the beautiful day. Did some browsing in some of the stores, too. We stumbled upon this little old fashioned printing shop where they design all the stuff they sell with a printing press. It was really cute and they had some really cool NY stuff. When we got hungry we went searching for a place to get some food and found this AMAZING place called Just Salad. It was sooooo good! Everything was really fresh and they had so many things you could put in your salad or wrap (I got a wrap with lettuce, tuna, avocado, chickpeas, carrots, and a lemon vinaigrette dressing..mmmmm). We took our lunches back down by the water to eat which was really nice (but was making me miss the beach a lot!).
After lunch we decided to go explore all around lower Manhattan. We ventured to Wall Street and saw the NY Stock Exchange then made our way to Trinity Church and the World Trade Center Site. That was really strange for me because the last time I had been there was 2 months before they were hit. On my 13th birthday in July 2001 I went there with my family and so it seemed even more unreal when they fell two months later; it seemed like I had just been standing on top of them. If you didn't know better now you would think it was just like any other construction site...strange.
Then we walked to Battery Park City and sat by the water again. It was such a gorgeous day! We could see the Statue of Liberty here and took lots of fun pictures. We stayed for a while, and really didn't want to leave, but decided to find our way back to the apartment around 4:00. Then Nat invited me back to her house in Bronxville for dinner, so our fun continued. Had a delicious shrimp dinner with Nat and her parents. Then we went to the movies with some of her friends to see My Sister's Keeper. I'm not going to say anything about that here in case you haven't seen it. Slept in again Monday morning and then walked in to town to get bagels for brunch. We hung out for a good portion of the day and then I headed back to the city around 3:30. Had my cleaning shift that night and lyrical class. Classes are still going well and continue to challenge me daily. My tap teacher told me to try the next level up last night, so that's exciting haha.
I can't believe it's already Wednesday, which is great because I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I'm going out to Red Hook, NY on Saturday to spend the Fourth of July weekend with Ryan. I'll also get to see Rachel and Devin which is super exciting :) Can't wait!
Alright, I think that's all for now. Long day ahead of me...taking 3 classes! ballet, theatre, and then lyrical! Phew!
Tootles! <3
This weekend was a lot of fun! Saturday we had a really intense master class in the morning. It wasn't intense as far as the level of dancing, but rather it pushed us outside our comfort zones. As dancers, we don't like being put on the spot to talk. Most of us dance to express ourselves and aren't comfortable using our voices in performance. So in order to get us to "open up" more when we dance, the teacher (Sheila Barker) had us talk--about anything and everything--as we did the combination she had taught us. It was so strange but really made an impact. She also made us focus on our own eyes in the mirror, like staring ourselves down, which sounds easy, but is surprisingly difficult; you constantly want to look away or at the person next to you in the mirror. So that was an interesting experience that really has me thinking how I dance and "perform" in every class I take now.
After choir rehearsal Saturday night I took the subway to Nat's cousin's apartment in lower Manhattan and we had a feast! haha. It was great to have some really good food (not that the food here is bad, per say, just not always what I'd want). Oh, and we had some amaaaazing cupcakes that had frosting not only on the top, but inside the cake part as well!! haha. So we had a fun night watching movies, eating, and catching up :)
Sunday Nat and I slept in then headed out for a touristy day around 12:30. We started at Southstreet Seaport (which reminded me a lot of Newport! haha) where there was a lot going on because there happened to be an International Latino Music Festival going on. We walked around watching the boats and enjoying the beautiful day. Did some browsing in some of the stores, too. We stumbled upon this little old fashioned printing shop where they design all the stuff they sell with a printing press. It was really cute and they had some really cool NY stuff. When we got hungry we went searching for a place to get some food and found this AMAZING place called Just Salad. It was sooooo good! Everything was really fresh and they had so many things you could put in your salad or wrap (I got a wrap with lettuce, tuna, avocado, chickpeas, carrots, and a lemon vinaigrette dressing..mmmmm). We took our lunches back down by the water to eat which was really nice (but was making me miss the beach a lot!).
After lunch we decided to go explore all around lower Manhattan. We ventured to Wall Street and saw the NY Stock Exchange then made our way to Trinity Church and the World Trade Center Site. That was really strange for me because the last time I had been there was 2 months before they were hit. On my 13th birthday in July 2001 I went there with my family and so it seemed even more unreal when they fell two months later; it seemed like I had just been standing on top of them. If you didn't know better now you would think it was just like any other construction site...strange.
Then we walked to Battery Park City and sat by the water again. It was such a gorgeous day! We could see the Statue of Liberty here and took lots of fun pictures. We stayed for a while, and really didn't want to leave, but decided to find our way back to the apartment around 4:00. Then Nat invited me back to her house in Bronxville for dinner, so our fun continued. Had a delicious shrimp dinner with Nat and her parents. Then we went to the movies with some of her friends to see My Sister's Keeper. I'm not going to say anything about that here in case you haven't seen it. Slept in again Monday morning and then walked in to town to get bagels for brunch. We hung out for a good portion of the day and then I headed back to the city around 3:30. Had my cleaning shift that night and lyrical class. Classes are still going well and continue to challenge me daily. My tap teacher told me to try the next level up last night, so that's exciting haha.
I can't believe it's already Wednesday, which is great because I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I'm going out to Red Hook, NY on Saturday to spend the Fourth of July weekend with Ryan. I'll also get to see Rachel and Devin which is super exciting :) Can't wait!
Alright, I think that's all for now. Long day ahead of me...taking 3 classes! ballet, theatre, and then lyrical! Phew!
Tootles! <3
Friday, June 26, 2009
week 2?
So it doesn't seem possible that as of this Sunday I will have completed the second week of my eight week program! Ahhhhhh time is flying by! And I seriously can't believe that I've been living here for almost 3 weeks now. I love how I've been busy here but also in a relaxing way. It's been AMAZING not to have to think about anything but dancing. I've never been able to commit myself to dance so fully with everything else that goes on in life, so this has been lovely. :)
Let's see, updates, updates, updates...
This week we really got into the swing of our program. We have a set course now that we've had advising meetings with faculty and have picked our areas of concentration (mine being "jazz" which they categorize contemporary/lyrical/modern under). So each week we have to take 10 classes, whenever we want: 4 from your area of concentration, 2 ballet, 2 diversity (outside of your concentration), and 2 electives (can be anything you like including classes in your concentration). Unfortunately our weekly master classes and choir rehearsals also count as classes so that takes two out of what I can choose. It's quite overwhelming trying to figure out what classes I'm going to take! There are soooo many I want to try and so many amazing faculty members to train with! This week I took a couple ballet classes with Natalya Stavro again (I like hers), a couple lyrical with Derek Mitchell, a contemporary with Brice Mousset, a tap with Germaine Salsberg, a jazz with Shelia Barker, and a hip hop (God help me) with Bev Brown. My classes continue to be amazing and challenge me in new ways every day. I definitely feel myself getting stronger but there are still so many things I want to work on in the next 6 weeks.
In addition to classes we had an injury prevention seminar at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and a dance nutrition seminar a few days later. The Harkness Center is amazing because all the doctors are specially trained to treat dancers. They understand the strains dancers put on their bodies daily and they know the importance of being able to continue to dance, so they have done a lot of researach just for the dancer's body. They gave us a lot of interesting advice and pointers so that we can dance with less chance of injury. The nutrition seminar was along the same lines; the dietitian gave us specific information on how to eat right to maximize our focus and energy for dancing all day. So even in addition to my technique classes, I'm really learning a lot!
This morning was the my first Showcase rehearsal with the student who is choreographing our dance, Amanda. It's going to be a really good piece (set to "Details in the Fabric" by Jason Mraz!) so I'm excited. I'm also hoping to get in at least one other piece. Amanda and I have actually started to become good friends. We have been in a lot of the same classes and she lives near by, so that's good. Today, after rehearsal and class, the two of us went shopping around the 34th street area. She was helping me look for a birthday dress, which I am having no luck finding. Boo. Luckily I still have a month! haha. We went into Macy's which I hadn't attempted up until now because it's so daunting! haha. It's literally its own city! We spent a good amount of time in there and tried on some ridiculous dresses! Then we decided we needed to treat ourselves to some Ben&Jerry's (right there in Macy's world) since we've been working so hard. I feel like I haven't had ice cream in so long! It tasted so good and we were very content! haha. Then we went over to Bryant Park and there happened to be some live music so we sat, relaxed, and chatted while listening (side note: I've become obsessed with Bryant Park. I consider myself a regular there haha. Of course it's not as big and pretty as Central Park, but it's so close to me which makes it easy to go there often. I also like how you still seem like you are in the city at this park, but you also get the calmness. And the park is gorgeous!! I took my lunch there yesterday after class and just stayed there for a good 2 hours reading. You just feel so refreshed afterwards. Though I do miss the beach!!). It was a really fun day and as we were walking back to our apartments a storm rolled in! Downpour, thunder, lightning, wind--the works! Luckily I wasn't going anywhere important and I didn't have to stay dry so it was actually a lot of fun! It had been so hot today (finally!) that it was actually quite refreshing. I did have an umbrella, but it did no good considering it was raining sideways (I thought of Ollie-- for those of you who get that ;) hahaha)!! People were waiting in store doorways and hiding anywhere they could to stay dry but for some reason I was loving the rain and not caring that I was wet. Needless to say, I was fully soaked by the time I reached The Web.
So I think that about updates you on events from this past week. Tomorrow morning we have another master class, this time about performance. Then I'm going to be seeing Natalie since she has her cousin's apartment in the city for the weekend! We'll find something fabulous to do on a Saturday night in the city :) And I'm looking forward to Sunday--my day of rest! I planned my schedule right so that I won't have to take any classes Sunday. Ahhhhhh yes. So that'll be a chill day and Amanda and I may go to the MET.
Peace!
Let's see, updates, updates, updates...
This week we really got into the swing of our program. We have a set course now that we've had advising meetings with faculty and have picked our areas of concentration (mine being "jazz" which they categorize contemporary/lyrical/modern under). So each week we have to take 10 classes, whenever we want: 4 from your area of concentration, 2 ballet, 2 diversity (outside of your concentration), and 2 electives (can be anything you like including classes in your concentration). Unfortunately our weekly master classes and choir rehearsals also count as classes so that takes two out of what I can choose. It's quite overwhelming trying to figure out what classes I'm going to take! There are soooo many I want to try and so many amazing faculty members to train with! This week I took a couple ballet classes with Natalya Stavro again (I like hers), a couple lyrical with Derek Mitchell, a contemporary with Brice Mousset, a tap with Germaine Salsberg, a jazz with Shelia Barker, and a hip hop (God help me) with Bev Brown. My classes continue to be amazing and challenge me in new ways every day. I definitely feel myself getting stronger but there are still so many things I want to work on in the next 6 weeks.
In addition to classes we had an injury prevention seminar at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries and a dance nutrition seminar a few days later. The Harkness Center is amazing because all the doctors are specially trained to treat dancers. They understand the strains dancers put on their bodies daily and they know the importance of being able to continue to dance, so they have done a lot of researach just for the dancer's body. They gave us a lot of interesting advice and pointers so that we can dance with less chance of injury. The nutrition seminar was along the same lines; the dietitian gave us specific information on how to eat right to maximize our focus and energy for dancing all day. So even in addition to my technique classes, I'm really learning a lot!
This morning was the my first Showcase rehearsal with the student who is choreographing our dance, Amanda. It's going to be a really good piece (set to "Details in the Fabric" by Jason Mraz!) so I'm excited. I'm also hoping to get in at least one other piece. Amanda and I have actually started to become good friends. We have been in a lot of the same classes and she lives near by, so that's good. Today, after rehearsal and class, the two of us went shopping around the 34th street area. She was helping me look for a birthday dress, which I am having no luck finding. Boo. Luckily I still have a month! haha. We went into Macy's which I hadn't attempted up until now because it's so daunting! haha. It's literally its own city! We spent a good amount of time in there and tried on some ridiculous dresses! Then we decided we needed to treat ourselves to some Ben&Jerry's (right there in Macy's world) since we've been working so hard. I feel like I haven't had ice cream in so long! It tasted so good and we were very content! haha. Then we went over to Bryant Park and there happened to be some live music so we sat, relaxed, and chatted while listening (side note: I've become obsessed with Bryant Park. I consider myself a regular there haha. Of course it's not as big and pretty as Central Park, but it's so close to me which makes it easy to go there often. I also like how you still seem like you are in the city at this park, but you also get the calmness. And the park is gorgeous!! I took my lunch there yesterday after class and just stayed there for a good 2 hours reading. You just feel so refreshed afterwards. Though I do miss the beach!!). It was a really fun day and as we were walking back to our apartments a storm rolled in! Downpour, thunder, lightning, wind--the works! Luckily I wasn't going anywhere important and I didn't have to stay dry so it was actually a lot of fun! It had been so hot today (finally!) that it was actually quite refreshing. I did have an umbrella, but it did no good considering it was raining sideways (I thought of Ollie-- for those of you who get that ;) hahaha)!! People were waiting in store doorways and hiding anywhere they could to stay dry but for some reason I was loving the rain and not caring that I was wet. Needless to say, I was fully soaked by the time I reached The Web.
So I think that about updates you on events from this past week. Tomorrow morning we have another master class, this time about performance. Then I'm going to be seeing Natalie since she has her cousin's apartment in the city for the weekend! We'll find something fabulous to do on a Saturday night in the city :) And I'm looking forward to Sunday--my day of rest! I planned my schedule right so that I won't have to take any classes Sunday. Ahhhhhh yes. So that'll be a chill day and Amanda and I may go to the MET.
Peace!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
whirlwind!
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Thanks to everyone who has written back to me! It's so great to hear from you all :)
So yes, the past few days have been quite the whirlwind! There is so much I could write about but I'm going to try to keep this brief (key word: try). Here are some of the highlights...
Wednesday we had our placement class which was kind of nerve racking since it was run like a formal audition. The 70-or-so of us had to learn different dance routines in about 15 minutes and then perform them in groups of 11 in front of a panel of 11 faculty members of BDC. We are talking big name dancers and choreographers, here. Each of the judges had one dancer to watch when we performed; and who do I get as a judge? A hip hop teacher. Awesome. We had to learn a ballet combination first and that went amazingly. I felt like I nailed it! I was really on balance, I landed all my double turns well, and my extension was pretty good. So I was feeling great after that. However, then things went down hill-fast! Next we had to learn a "street jazz" piece. I thought I had it pretty well until the choreographer turned the music on. I was doing it at the tempo he had been teaching it and when I looked up from the first step I was doing, he was already about five steps ahead of me. So yeah, it was a super fast, super technical hip hop-ish piece and I was lost. That went horrendously when I had to perform it for the judges. Then we finished out with a tap routine which I got pretty well. Still didn't feel very comfortable with it (never have with tap). Luckily this whole ordeal was only done so that the faculty could recommend levels for us in different styles while we dance at BDC. I got good marks for ballet and pretty good marks for tap (better than I thought), the hip hop was of course terrible but I knew I'd be taking beginner level classes for that haha. The only thing was this ridiculously hard placement class had me second guessing whether I should even attempt the crazy Pre-Pro audition on Friday. Our director told us it would be even harder and there wasn't one style I would feel comfortable with. I was feeling kind of down and like I was going to make a fool of myself.
But in the end I decided that I should just do it. I knew I wasn't going to make Pre-Pro but I really needed to just suck it up and go to the audition. This experience has made me realize that I have very very little experience with auditions and if I ever want to get anywhere with dance I really need to work on auditioning. I need to work on having the confidence to really perform what I am taught even when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. So I reluctantly got up for yet another 8 am call to the studio on Friday and pushed my nerves aside and went through with the audition. It was really hard but I'm glad I made myself do it. We first learned a pretty long theater dance to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious which was really fast and complete with singing. hahaha funny sight I'm sure. And I hadn't worn my character shoes in probably a year, so they tore all the skin off my heels during that number. woo woo! After that we learned a hip hop routine with Jared Grimes which was very different from the one on Wednesday. I felt like I understood this one better, but I still felt ridiculous when I tried to execute it. I need more gangsta in my blood (Karyn, I need lessons! haha). The tap part ended up being really rushed because we were running out of time, so we learned a quick couple 8 counts and then performed it..but without music, which made it harder. So I was glad I did it, but I didn't make Pre-Pro. Which I'm actually happy about, because they said those should be the people about ready to step into the professional world in every sense, and I am no where near that!
In addition to the auditions, I've been taking classes every day. Took a tap on Wed and a hip hop on Thurs. Those were very challenging for me haha. But I'm so excited to be trying new things and becoming a more versatile dancer. They are really stressing that with us; that we can't make it by only being able to do one style really well. And tonight we had our first choir rehearsal. Oh dear. haha. We are supposed to be learning 3 songs (2 from Spring Awakening!) to perform in the showcase on August 9th. And they are going to be a cappella! We are talking about a group of dancers who, for the most part, have never had any vocal training or experience in their lives! This should be interesting...
All of this dancing and getting up really early to get to the studio by 8 am all week had really started to take a toll on my body. A couple days ago I woke up with what seemed like the start of a cold. So I took a lot of Zicam and tried to sleep and nap whenever I wasn't dancing and luckily I think I beat it! Which was good because I was really looking forward to today (Saturday) because Ryan had planned a while ago to come visit me.
So today I had my first master class with a guy who is performing in the cast of 9-5 right now on Broadway! He taught us original choreography for the show which was so much fun! We just have such great opportunities here, it's awesome! Then I took the subway to Grand Central for the long awaited reunion with Ryan haha. Then we went to lunch at this place I walk by everyday and think is really funny. It's called Burgers and Cupcakes. Yup, you read that right! haha. Such a random combination that it intrigued me everytime I walked by. So we had a nice lunch there and then headed up to the Museum of Natural History since it was, yet again, a rainy day. We saw a show at the planetarium and then walked around the museum for a good chunk of the day. When we got out it had stopped raining (finally!) and we were able to walk around Central Park for a good hour or so. Walked paths, climbed rocks, got muddy, awesome time! Then I had choir rehearsal and Ryan met up with some friends. After that we had dinner at this really nice Italian restaurant, Nizza, and by the time we got out it was after 9 pm. We walked down by the Hudson for a bit (in the rain again) and then headed back up to Grand Central so he could catch his train by 11. So it's been a very busy, but awesome day! :)
So much for the short and sweet writing...I'm so bad at this haha. I think that about does it for now. Finally have a day off from dance tomorrow and my body is rejoycing!
So yes, the past few days have been quite the whirlwind! There is so much I could write about but I'm going to try to keep this brief (key word: try). Here are some of the highlights...
Wednesday we had our placement class which was kind of nerve racking since it was run like a formal audition. The 70-or-so of us had to learn different dance routines in about 15 minutes and then perform them in groups of 11 in front of a panel of 11 faculty members of BDC. We are talking big name dancers and choreographers, here. Each of the judges had one dancer to watch when we performed; and who do I get as a judge? A hip hop teacher. Awesome. We had to learn a ballet combination first and that went amazingly. I felt like I nailed it! I was really on balance, I landed all my double turns well, and my extension was pretty good. So I was feeling great after that. However, then things went down hill-fast! Next we had to learn a "street jazz" piece. I thought I had it pretty well until the choreographer turned the music on. I was doing it at the tempo he had been teaching it and when I looked up from the first step I was doing, he was already about five steps ahead of me. So yeah, it was a super fast, super technical hip hop-ish piece and I was lost. That went horrendously when I had to perform it for the judges. Then we finished out with a tap routine which I got pretty well. Still didn't feel very comfortable with it (never have with tap). Luckily this whole ordeal was only done so that the faculty could recommend levels for us in different styles while we dance at BDC. I got good marks for ballet and pretty good marks for tap (better than I thought), the hip hop was of course terrible but I knew I'd be taking beginner level classes for that haha. The only thing was this ridiculously hard placement class had me second guessing whether I should even attempt the crazy Pre-Pro audition on Friday. Our director told us it would be even harder and there wasn't one style I would feel comfortable with. I was feeling kind of down and like I was going to make a fool of myself.
But in the end I decided that I should just do it. I knew I wasn't going to make Pre-Pro but I really needed to just suck it up and go to the audition. This experience has made me realize that I have very very little experience with auditions and if I ever want to get anywhere with dance I really need to work on auditioning. I need to work on having the confidence to really perform what I am taught even when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. So I reluctantly got up for yet another 8 am call to the studio on Friday and pushed my nerves aside and went through with the audition. It was really hard but I'm glad I made myself do it. We first learned a pretty long theater dance to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious which was really fast and complete with singing. hahaha funny sight I'm sure. And I hadn't worn my character shoes in probably a year, so they tore all the skin off my heels during that number. woo woo! After that we learned a hip hop routine with Jared Grimes which was very different from the one on Wednesday. I felt like I understood this one better, but I still felt ridiculous when I tried to execute it. I need more gangsta in my blood (Karyn, I need lessons! haha). The tap part ended up being really rushed because we were running out of time, so we learned a quick couple 8 counts and then performed it..but without music, which made it harder. So I was glad I did it, but I didn't make Pre-Pro. Which I'm actually happy about, because they said those should be the people about ready to step into the professional world in every sense, and I am no where near that!
In addition to the auditions, I've been taking classes every day. Took a tap on Wed and a hip hop on Thurs. Those were very challenging for me haha. But I'm so excited to be trying new things and becoming a more versatile dancer. They are really stressing that with us; that we can't make it by only being able to do one style really well. And tonight we had our first choir rehearsal. Oh dear. haha. We are supposed to be learning 3 songs (2 from Spring Awakening!) to perform in the showcase on August 9th. And they are going to be a cappella! We are talking about a group of dancers who, for the most part, have never had any vocal training or experience in their lives! This should be interesting...
All of this dancing and getting up really early to get to the studio by 8 am all week had really started to take a toll on my body. A couple days ago I woke up with what seemed like the start of a cold. So I took a lot of Zicam and tried to sleep and nap whenever I wasn't dancing and luckily I think I beat it! Which was good because I was really looking forward to today (Saturday) because Ryan had planned a while ago to come visit me.
So today I had my first master class with a guy who is performing in the cast of 9-5 right now on Broadway! He taught us original choreography for the show which was so much fun! We just have such great opportunities here, it's awesome! Then I took the subway to Grand Central for the long awaited reunion with Ryan haha. Then we went to lunch at this place I walk by everyday and think is really funny. It's called Burgers and Cupcakes. Yup, you read that right! haha. Such a random combination that it intrigued me everytime I walked by. So we had a nice lunch there and then headed up to the Museum of Natural History since it was, yet again, a rainy day. We saw a show at the planetarium and then walked around the museum for a good chunk of the day. When we got out it had stopped raining (finally!) and we were able to walk around Central Park for a good hour or so. Walked paths, climbed rocks, got muddy, awesome time! Then I had choir rehearsal and Ryan met up with some friends. After that we had dinner at this really nice Italian restaurant, Nizza, and by the time we got out it was after 9 pm. We walked down by the Hudson for a bit (in the rain again) and then headed back up to Grand Central so he could catch his train by 11. So it's been a very busy, but awesome day! :)
So much for the short and sweet writing...I'm so bad at this haha. I think that about does it for now. Finally have a day off from dance tomorrow and my body is rejoycing!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
small fish, BIG pond
So it has been quite a few days since I last updated everyone which is good because it finally means I've been busy! woo! So here are some quick updates on what went on this weekend.
Friday night I braved using the subway for the first time. It isn't that I'm afraid of the subway, I just feel like I don't understand it yet and I'm always nervous I'll go in the wrong way and end up somewhere else and I won't know how to get back. Anyways, it went fine and I made it to Union Square to meet up with Rachel and Ana for dinner. We went to this amaaaazing Vietnamese restaurant and had the best pad thai ever! I felt the chop sticks were part of the experience and, even though I struggled, I never asked for a fork! haha. Saturday I went out with a couple of the girls in my building (one being from Wheaton). We went into some stores for a while and then headed over to Madison Park for a BBQ Festival. It was intense! Sooo many people and there were tents everywhere with BBQ companies from the south who come up for this every year. There were dead hogs just stretched out right in front of us and you could see them cook it. Kinda gross at times but also a cool experience (sorry vegetarians..). We got pulled pork sandwiches and they were delicious! Then I walked to Grand Central around 5:00 and bought a ticket to Bronxville to visit my friend Natalie. Had a lovely home-cooked meal at her house and hung out with her and her friends. I took the train back on Sunday afternoon to get ready for orientation!
So Sunday night was just a "meet and greet" type thing. There are about 70 of us in the program so it was kind of overwhelming to figure out who you were going to talk to. They told us a little about the program, collected our tuition (bye bye $$), and then we had to play an ice-breaker game. For those of you who don't know, I HATE ice-breakers. With a fiery, burning passion. I think they are dumb and they make me so nervous. Anyways, it wasn't too bad, minus the fact that there are so many of us and they had us all get up and play this game so it took forever! I left really excited to get this show on the road.
Yesterday (Monday) we had a more in depth information session where they went over rules and regulations and policies and such. Then they gave us our BDC Intern class cards and we were all set to start taking class! This week we get to take whatever we want (though the amount of classes is restricted) so that we can try out different levels/teachers/styles and see what we like. I took ballet with the same teacher at 12 yesterday and it went better than the first time haha. Then I hung out at BDC for a few hours going around to the different studios (there are five in the building) and observing different classes. There are huge observation windows in all studios which is awesome. It's amazing how much there is going on at BDC all the time. It seems like no matter what time of day it is there are always a ton of classes going on and they are always jam packed with dancers. It's such an amazing atmosphere to be immersed in. I'm learning so much already just watching. I came back to my room around 3:30 and hung out and had dinner and then went back to BDC at 8:00 because I was going to take another class at 9. From 9-10:30 I took a lyrical jazz class with Derek Mitchell and let me tell you, I got my ass kicked! It was awesome! haha. He was so intense and worked us super hard and I loved it. I sucked at times, but I loved it! Pretty much the whole first half of his warm up was done on releve (like on your tip-toes, for you non-dancers) so you had to balance hard core! My calves were in knots/still are haha. He also gave a crazy ab and arm workout and THEN we got up to learn a dance. By this time my muscles were so shaky! But the dance we learned was so great. I really love lyrical and this dance was right up my alley. It was way more difficult than anything I'm used to, but I really enjoyed the challenge. I also love watching everyone around me dance. I'm learning so much just by being surrounded by phenomenal dancers and it's pushing me to work harder than I ever have before.
Tonight I'm going to take a contemporary class with another teacher (at 6:00) and Julie Kapur is actually taking it, too, so it'll be fun to see her! (She's a Wheaton alum and comes back every year to set a piece on the dance company). It's really a dream come true to be able to dance like this every day and I'm definitely going to be a much stronger dancer and person after this experience. Tomorrow we have our placement audition and Friday is the Pre-Professional track audition, so I'm getting a little nervous...(especially since I just found out that the Pre-Pro audition will be evaluated on our execution of three styles, none of which are my specialties: theater dance w/ singing, hip-hop, and tap....say what?!?! so we'll see how that goes...).
Hope everyone is doing well, miss you all!
Friday night I braved using the subway for the first time. It isn't that I'm afraid of the subway, I just feel like I don't understand it yet and I'm always nervous I'll go in the wrong way and end up somewhere else and I won't know how to get back. Anyways, it went fine and I made it to Union Square to meet up with Rachel and Ana for dinner. We went to this amaaaazing Vietnamese restaurant and had the best pad thai ever! I felt the chop sticks were part of the experience and, even though I struggled, I never asked for a fork! haha. Saturday I went out with a couple of the girls in my building (one being from Wheaton). We went into some stores for a while and then headed over to Madison Park for a BBQ Festival. It was intense! Sooo many people and there were tents everywhere with BBQ companies from the south who come up for this every year. There were dead hogs just stretched out right in front of us and you could see them cook it. Kinda gross at times but also a cool experience (sorry vegetarians..). We got pulled pork sandwiches and they were delicious! Then I walked to Grand Central around 5:00 and bought a ticket to Bronxville to visit my friend Natalie. Had a lovely home-cooked meal at her house and hung out with her and her friends. I took the train back on Sunday afternoon to get ready for orientation!
So Sunday night was just a "meet and greet" type thing. There are about 70 of us in the program so it was kind of overwhelming to figure out who you were going to talk to. They told us a little about the program, collected our tuition (bye bye $$), and then we had to play an ice-breaker game. For those of you who don't know, I HATE ice-breakers. With a fiery, burning passion. I think they are dumb and they make me so nervous. Anyways, it wasn't too bad, minus the fact that there are so many of us and they had us all get up and play this game so it took forever! I left really excited to get this show on the road.
Yesterday (Monday) we had a more in depth information session where they went over rules and regulations and policies and such. Then they gave us our BDC Intern class cards and we were all set to start taking class! This week we get to take whatever we want (though the amount of classes is restricted) so that we can try out different levels/teachers/styles and see what we like. I took ballet with the same teacher at 12 yesterday and it went better than the first time haha. Then I hung out at BDC for a few hours going around to the different studios (there are five in the building) and observing different classes. There are huge observation windows in all studios which is awesome. It's amazing how much there is going on at BDC all the time. It seems like no matter what time of day it is there are always a ton of classes going on and they are always jam packed with dancers. It's such an amazing atmosphere to be immersed in. I'm learning so much already just watching. I came back to my room around 3:30 and hung out and had dinner and then went back to BDC at 8:00 because I was going to take another class at 9. From 9-10:30 I took a lyrical jazz class with Derek Mitchell and let me tell you, I got my ass kicked! It was awesome! haha. He was so intense and worked us super hard and I loved it. I sucked at times, but I loved it! Pretty much the whole first half of his warm up was done on releve (like on your tip-toes, for you non-dancers) so you had to balance hard core! My calves were in knots/still are haha. He also gave a crazy ab and arm workout and THEN we got up to learn a dance. By this time my muscles were so shaky! But the dance we learned was so great. I really love lyrical and this dance was right up my alley. It was way more difficult than anything I'm used to, but I really enjoyed the challenge. I also love watching everyone around me dance. I'm learning so much just by being surrounded by phenomenal dancers and it's pushing me to work harder than I ever have before.
Tonight I'm going to take a contemporary class with another teacher (at 6:00) and Julie Kapur is actually taking it, too, so it'll be fun to see her! (She's a Wheaton alum and comes back every year to set a piece on the dance company). It's really a dream come true to be able to dance like this every day and I'm definitely going to be a much stronger dancer and person after this experience. Tomorrow we have our placement audition and Friday is the Pre-Professional track audition, so I'm getting a little nervous...(especially since I just found out that the Pre-Pro audition will be evaluated on our execution of three styles, none of which are my specialties: theater dance w/ singing, hip-hop, and tap....say what?!?! so we'll see how that goes...).
Hope everyone is doing well, miss you all!
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