January is coming to a close

Wow, January sped by. I can't believe it's February in less than 1 week. I feel like I've done so much in one month that I'm excited to see what lies ahead. As long as I keep motivating myself, I don't think I'll have a problem!

This week in the workshop I'm in we had 2 ballet classes, 1 theater, and 1 modern. All the classes were great but I CANNOT not go into detail about the modern class. Our teacher was Rosie Fiedelman who is currently in In the Heights and Jennifer Mueller/The Works. That sentence alone illustrates the amount of versatility this dancer has. Since I'm constantly talking about versatility and knowing different styles of dance, it was great to finally work with someone that had achieved something of great importance to me. I have so much respect for someone who has successfully managed to have a career in both styles. It may seem easy but being able to adapt to one kind of movement, such as modern, and then immediately switch to latin or hiphop movement really takes skill. It can eventually feel like simply turning a light switch on and off in your head but it doesn't start out that way. I can go on and on...but anyways. The phrase she taught us with very grounded and, like one of the people in the workshop said, included "sneaky technique." It wasn't one of those turn-turn-turn, leap and kick dances. One movement easily transitioned into the next movement. And, surprise surprise, I caught myself being able to breathe! This is a hugeeeee deal for me because 9 times out of 10 I am "fake breathing" or not breathing at all while I dance. (Fake breathing to me is when I let out or take in small breaths) This phrase allowed me to actually feel my lungs expanding while I was moving.

What was also really great about this class was that I felt the collective excitement from all the dancers in the workshop. We were overly talkative and rowdy, which I admit was getting us into trouble, but it was justifiable because we were so excited with the phrase. It's like when kids are at recess or in gym class, they are screaming and yelling cause they are having fun, they aren't mute lol. I also caught myself almost showing a giddy smile while waiting for the cue to start dancing. You know, that smile you have when you're just so excited about something and it feels like your beaming on the inside. That's exactly how I felt. I can't say it enough, but this program is so....I don't know the word, I'm just so grateful to be a part of it. We are being exposed to different teachers/choreographers/dancers that don't teach open classes or we haven't had the opportunity to take class from. It's also nice to be a part of an organization where you can meet other people who have the same passion as you. I can't wait to see what's to come; I actually look forward to Mondays now! That's going to be my new way of kick starting the week. Doing something fun and exciting on Monday's s it doesn't feel like such a drag.

Auditions are coming up and I feel even more eager to attend them. Although I will admit, I did make a pact to become incredbily versatile in hiphop/freestyle in time for a certain audition but I didn't realize it was coming up so soon! I know I should "dare to go beyond" but I still don't feel ready! sigh...I guess I still have some things to work on! I've 2 weeks to figure out if I'm going to go or not. We'll see what happens!