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!