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
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