Post Show Reflection

This past show was a brand new feeling for me. It felt a lot more professional, from the choreography to backstage behavior. Instead of there being many different pieces, not related to each other at all, there was one long piece. Like other times, there were no parents backstage during the show. Ms. Mack sewed our costumes herself instead of ordering them from a catalog.
One of the hardest things for me was the new style that was put on us. It had a more modern feel than I've ever performed before. Ms. Mack always told us up to the show that we danced "ugly" because of the habits we have. I had to forget a lot of the bad habits I picked up at my former studio, such as kicking into leaps, not brushing, and other bad habits. Hopefully I did a good job of fixing them for the show.
In the Friday show, I learned a very important lesson that I already knew...When you mess up, keep going. No one would know if you don't show it. I started running before everyone else and just stopped with a "holy crap what did I just do?" look on my face. Everybody told me that they didn't notice. Despite that though, I most definately learned my lesson cause I don't want to be embarrassed like that again.
When it came time for the show to end, I was sad to see it because we did all of that work just for 2 shows. I felt that all of the work did pay off though. Even though the rehearsals got a little intense sometimes, an improvement was seen in every dancer. I can't wait until the spring show!

Monday with Laurie

On Monday in Laurie's class, we cleaned up the ballet piece. It is expected to be quick but elegant, not frantic. The part that needed the most work was the part that we added last week.
In the diagonal line after I have my little solo/duo with Zaynah, we take 4 walks and do ballotté ballotté step ballonné. We then run to 2 vertical lines and lean sous-sou and lean to the same side facing backwards. Then we form a circle by going step, sauter in arabesque, glissade, little split jete. Around the circle we do pas de basque, step, step, sauter twice. Then Ashlei and Zaynah go towards the center of the circle with step, sauter, step, coupe sauter, step, soutenu, pose. Tori (or Julianne) and I follow with those same steps 2 counts later. Tori (or Julianne)and I do a little duo to switch places, which I finish with a rondajambe into sous-sou in to arabesque with the left leg back. All of us then do a breath with our arms.

Terra Firma

All last week, I helped tech for the Terra Firma show. It was a new experience for me because i never really had to hang lights or put in gels before. It was interesting to see how the dancers worked all week to have a show.
In the show there were about 5 pieces. I didn't really understand what some of the dances were about. The costumes for Ms. Mack's piece were beautiful. The women started off wearing a crochet dress with a nude leo under and changed into a blue unitard with a lace overpiece.
In the last piece of the show, there was a film being projected onto the back wall. I never really saw anything like that before.

Randomness =)

I'm so glad that we got a teacher as good as Ms.Mack this year. When my parents told me that Ms.Flynn wasn't coming back I was worried that our school would've gotten us a bad teacher. I don't know how I would've dealt with having a bad teacher for the next two years. When I found out that we got Ms.Mack for our teacher, I was so excited. I can't wait to see how much better I get by the end of next year.

Imagery

When I'm dancing, I imagine that I'm by myself and just go for it and don't hold back...well I try to anyways. That helps me because sometimes I become self-conscious of how I dance. Forgetting that everyone else is there helps me.

Focus in the classroom

I believe that I am focused during class. The way that I get focused every morning is I listen to music that wakes me up and gets me in the mood to dance. I also just relax and think about what i have to do that day. I sometimes lose focus when I know that class is almost over. Usually, that only happens when it looks like we're going to have a little amount of time to change.

My experience during Rep. on Wednesday

On Wednesday during Rep,I found the rehearsal process to be very fun but still serious. The lifts are getting easier to do because I'm getting used to them. In the choreography, there are small nuances in the sauté combination. After the second time Ashlei and I come in with the combo, we add in a lift and it becomes a cannon.

Challenges I Faced

In technique class on Monday, I was struggling with my flat lower back while trying to roll up from the ground for ab work. I'm still struggling with trying not to make everything look pretty. It's very hard for me and sometimes I don't even realize that I'm being all ballet-ish during modern. Ballet-ish is not a real word but I made it my own. Hopefully I'm making it better. I am trying though and can hopefully fix these things soon.

what i've learned so far(due 9/17)

So far this year, I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I need to focus on the little details, such as arm and hand placement. I also have to stop resorting to the "studio style" (aka showy and sparkly). I'm working on those things by paying attention to everything that Ms.Mack demonstrates.

My weekend

this past weekend i took a really cool workshop in north nj. it was called a day of fame and i got to meet and take classes with dancers from the remake of fame and also took class with the choreographer, Marguerite Derricks. i got to learn some of the choreography too.it was so awesome!