Alabama Dance Festival

Brianna here! This past week dance has COMPLETELY consumed my life ten times more than it normally does (which I didn't think was possible!) I've had two amazing events happen in the last two weeks that I'm going to break into two posts (I don't like lengthy posts) So here's the low down on the Alabama Dance Festival:

Last weekend, I went with my dance instructor to Birmingham, Alabama for a dance conference. I felt really anxious because I had never really been to a conference for dance and I feared that I would be way out of my league. Luckily, I didn't feel that way at all! I took 4 classes and they were all such an amazing experience!

Modern Partnering: My modern partnering class was instructed by Margi Cole and it was SUCH a great class! Margi had an amazing personality that made you feel comfortable and her warm-up exercises made me really aware of my body and the connection that my body has to itself and the floor. Unfortunately, we learned a lot that I had already been taught about modern partnering but it was really nice to be able to focus on the basics to perfect the basics!

Musical Theater Jazz: I. Love. Musical Theater. There, I said it and I'm not ashamed. But this class was the one class I really struggled in, and it may be due to the fact that my instructor was Jeff Shade who was trained by THE Bob Fosse...I know-I died a little too. He was brilliant and amazing, but he moved so quickly in choreography that sometimes I just couldn't pick up. Though I struggled in it, I wouldn't trade the experience of taking a class from him ever!!

Creating With Intent: This was one of my absolute favorite classes! It may have something with that fact that it was a class on choreography! My instructor, Diana Green really made me extend my thinking as a choreographer and really taught me how to envision what I want before I tell my dancers what I want. I wish I could take more classes from her. The link I posted is to her book she has recently finished writing. I'm buying mine A.S.A.P.! She also really inspired me because she told me that I would make a great choreographer one day and that made me smile from ear to ear for the whole weekend!

Contemporary Lyrical Jazz: My last class I took was extremely intense, but it became so emotional for me as a dancer. My instructor, Derek Mitchell really inspired me as a dancer, and that's not something I ever really feel (as a dancer). he felt strongly about us not watching ourselves in the mirrors because we (especially girls) like to like to ourselves when we look in a mirror and tell ourselves things we think we need to do to approve how we look, so why would we think differently just because we're dancing. He really wanted us to be raw with our dance and to not hold back. As soon as I actually did that, I truly felt the choreography and it was the only time I didn;t really struggle with the choreography. He really helped me find that drive as dancer and he helped me to remind myself to keep pushing.

I also got to watch the Merce Cunningham Company and they were breath-takingly amazing and there are not enough words to express how intriguing their performances were! Since the Alabama Dance Festival I have felt so driven to push myself beyond my limits as a dancer because that's the only way you can improve yourself. Always push, always persevere, always stay determined!

To drive and hardwork!

Brianna<3

The Audition

So Anne already told you about her (not so bad) audition so I figured I should tell you about mine!! This was really my first time ever auditioning for something dance related and I was quite nervous! As we all know, I am NOT a ballerina, so the longer we stayed at the bar, the longer I felt the pressure. I thought for sure I'd be placed in the beginner classes! As the audition continued I could feel my nerves calm more and more...and then it was time for solos. I had originally planned to dance to "Hot Honey Rag" from Chicago but when I heard Elephant by Damien Rice, I knew that that was the song I was suppose to dance to. I listened to it unceasingly. Before I went into the dance room for my solo, I prayed and took a deep breath. I was prepared for it as much I could be, and before I started dancing, I reminded myself that this is what I love to do. Later, someone took me aside and showered me with very flattering compliments that I didn't expect at all! And I wasn't put in beginner classes! So, though I didn't have any technical issues or anything, I felt the pressures of my audition, badly. The best advice I've ever heard, and this goes for anything you ever do in life, is to do what you have to do to be prepared. I was as prepared as I could be, so that's the attitude I went in with. So ask yourself, "Am I prepared?"

To preparation,

Brianna<3

Finding Balance

Hello everyone! My oh my how quickly time has been flying! Well this year my life is going to be completely insane! I thought I had done a super amazing job making an awesome schedule, but I'm already having conflicts! I have 22 credit hours, 3 jobs, and dance practices. The problem I'm having currently is that I can't be in certain dance pieces I was originally in because I'm working. It sucks SO bad. So now what I'm learning is that I may have a very organized schedule but, especially with dance/dance practices, certain parts of my schedule are going to fluctuate. So next semester I'll be more prepared to learn how to balance my schedule. The key to remember is that an organized schedule doesn't mean a balanced schedule. I honestly didn't take in the account of having harder classes meaning more homework and study time, or making sure I leave time to eat and sleep! So if you're like me and Anne and love to have a lot of stuff on your plate, make sure you're still well balanced to be able to SUCCEED in everything you've put on your plate! To well balanced lives and schedules!

Brianna<3

ATLANTA BALLET!!

Happy New Year's Day everyone! And the New Year's gift from me to you is my retelling of the Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker!! Yay!:)

Brandon and I started off the day leaving around 11:15 AM and drove for over three hours! It was a fun ride and we both enjoyed every bit of it:)


When we finally made it to the ATL, it took us forever to find our specific parking garage. The Fox Theatre has different parking garages and they ALL LOOK THE SAME! So we spent 10-15 minutes trying to make sure we parked in the correct one! We did NOT want my car to get towed:)

Brandon and I literally walked for four and a half hours around Midtown Atlanta. There aren't any places to shop there; it's mainly restaurants and stuff. But we ended up finding stuff for our family for Christmas:) Random Note: Coming from such a small town, it felt so cool to act like I lived in the big city:) Every bit of it was awesome even if my feet did hurt the next day.


After all that walking, we decided to find a place to eat dinner. Luckily for us, there was this nice Italian place literally right next door to the Fox! It was super delicious! Brandon and I gladly ate up our dinner with delight:)


When we got to the Fox, the doors hadn't even opened yet, so we had to wait outside. But it gave us time to admire the architecture. It turns out, that my aunt help paint the Fox when it was getting restored. HOW COOL IS THAT?! When it was getting close to the doors opening, Brandon and I tried to get as close to the doors as possible! Neither of us have been in the Fox before, and everyone who has gone kept telling us how beautiful it was. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about!

We couldnt take pictures in the actual inside of the stage so here is a picture of the ceiling outside the stage!

When the doors finally opened, my jaw dropped at how beautiful the theatre was! They don't allow pictures to be taken inside the theatre so I don't have any to show you:( But I will try my best to describe it! The ceiling was designed to look like a night sky with twinkling stars and everything. And, get this, IT MOVED! Ever so slowly, I noticed that the clouds on the ceiling were rotating! I was blown away and the ballet hadn't even started yet! The stage itself was HUGE and had all of these side compartments that people could pop out of. To me, it looked as if it was designed after some castle. It was gorgeous.


Finally the lights went down, the orchestra began playing the Overture, and the curtain went up. I was beyond excited!!!

As much as I want to tell you guys about every little detail, I know that I can't, so I will just talk about the Battle Scene. I know, I know, shouldn't I be talking about Snow? Or Flowers? Or Sugarplum? Surprisingly, I began crying during the Battle Scene because it was so beautiful. Weird, I know.

There was just this one part in the scene that took my breath away. The big rats had come to cause havoc on Maria's dreams when Drosselmeyer came out. He told her to go into this puppeteer playhouse for protection. I thought to myself, "Well, that isn't really going to protect her well. That's silly!" Then, the playhouse began ascending far above the stage and I was just so mesmerized by it! I just thought that it was so beautiful, watching her ascend so gracefully into the air.

Then, she got down because she saw the Nutcracker needed her help. She took his sword and slain the Mouse King. And even though I have seen the Nutcracker since I was like 3, this felt like I was watching it for the first time. My breath was taken away at how much Marie loved the Nutcracker and would do anything for him! The dancer who played Maria, Alessa Rogers I think, danced the battle scene so gorgeously. She had these wicked arabesques and these beautiful banana feet. Her acting and talent made even the Battle Scene look beautiful.

(Marie got a HUGE Nutcracker)

As a whole, every bit of this Nutcracker was amazing. This was the first time I have seen a classical ballet performed live by professionals. Everything was magical. I cried about ten times because of the beauty of it all! All of the dancers performed so effortlessly and floated perfectly. It really inspired me to be even MORE focused on my dancing and my stretches list has definitely increased!


Well, have a Happy Dance-Filled New Year!


Hugs, Kisses, and Big Rats,
Anne:)

Jenifer Ringer: Every Dancer's Hero

If you are my friend/follower on other social networks, I apologize because this will be the THIRD time you have heard this story! Anyways, most dancers should know by now about the Jenifer Ringer controversy. She dances with the New York City Ballet and this Nutcracker season, she is casted as the Sugarplum Fairy. A critic, Alastair Macaulay from the New York Times, wrote that Ringer looked as if she had "one sugarplum too many." Ringer, in the past, has been very open with her eating disorders and to receive such a comment set the dance world on fire to defend her.

I found this video which has Ringer on the Today Show discussing the issue. Watch and see why she should be your hero!
Hugs, Kisses, and Girl-Power!
Anne:)
PS: i couldnt get the link so work so just copy and paste. sorry for the trouble!
http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/2010/12/13/jenifer-ringer-reacts-to-critic-on-the-today-show-video/

My Worst Audition

That's right, I said it. I, Anne, had the WORST audition last week when I auditioned to be in the Darton Dance Department. The audition required of me to take a ballet barre, a modern across the floor, an interview, and a 2-minute solo piece (of course, mine was only 1:05, but it was ok!)

Just like at any audition, we all had to wear a number somewhere pinned on our leotard. I picked the number 2 without fully processing I was the second person in the line-up and the second person who would be performing my solo. I tried not to let that stress me out, even though it really did!

Anyways, the audition started out fine with the ballet portion and the modern across the floor. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was really excited about my solo because a) it was a solo I have already performed, b) I was the only one in this go-around who was doing classical pointe, and c) I was dancing to the Spanish variation from Nutcracker (please see post about how I wish I was Spanish.)

When it was my turn to perform my solo, I gave Jenn my CD and went into my starting position. The CD player was on the floor and every time I jumped near it, the CD would skip. I was COMPLETELY off the music the whole time. I was doing four fouette turns in my dance, but because my music skipped, I could only do two but I didn’t even have time for those. My music stopped mid-turn. It was so bad! And, not to mention, one of the judges was a dancer with the Atlanta Ballet! I was so embarrassed! I tried to not let my music situation affect my interview, but as soon as I walked out of the studio, I called my boyfriend and just cried on the phone for the longest time.

Being the fantastic boyfriend he was, he knows how to handle an Emotional Anne, he comforted me and reassured me that I should be a dance major and pursue dance as my career. He had to reassure me because when Emotional Anne comes out, so does the Melodramatic Anne.

After the auditions were over, I stuck around to talk to Jenn and apologize for my horrendous audition. "Are you kidding?!" she said. "The judges loved you!" You have no idea how much better that made me feel! I was so happy!

Even though I still consider it my WORST audition, I need to remember that I judge myself harder than most judges will for me. I am my own worst critic, true story. I need to not freak myself out when little things (like a CD skipping) happen. Mishaps like this happen everyday and I need to be sure that my dance ability and love of dance shine through all of those unfortunate events.

Ok, so I am a very spiritual person. And that day, I was NOT dancing for God. I was dancing for myself and it went bad. One of the things that my boyfriend told me was that God put me on this earth to dance, and even if I did a HORRIBLE job, He is still proud of me and loves me. How cool is that?

What I’m trying to say is that having a bad class, bad audition, or a bad performance should not stop you from doing what you love. If you believe you were put on this earth to dance, then by jove, dance! What are you waiting for?!

BOYFRIEND BRAG!!!! I meant to say this a long time ago, BUT my boo surprised me with tickets to see the Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker Boot Boot Hoot Yeah! All he does is win!

Ok, so I have two pictures this week: one is my winner of a boyfriend, and the other is a result for typing in "sad dancer" into google images!

Loser (because she let a bad performance affect her love of dance)

WINNER (for allowing me to see 3 Nutcrackers!)

Hugs, Kisses, and Sugarplums!
Anne:)

Not having the feet, and accepting it

Brianna here! So I must applaud Anne. She has totally been dominating the blogs and doing an awesome job keeping up with it! I'll admit, she does a much better job at managing her time than I do. I'm learning! So please accept my apologies for my absence! But I'm back! Promise! This first semester of college has definitely been such a learning and growing process for me. I could cram everything I want to in this post like I want to, but I solemnly swear to not overwhelm you with awesomeness.
Like Anne stated, we have an interview with Jennifer, and on top of her unexpectedly telling me so many uplifting and encouraging things about my dance, we also discussed how I don't have the feet for classical ballet. I told her I had realized this late in the summer and that I had grown okay with it. We also discussed how she thinks that I could choreograph classical ballet pieces and even teach it. But performing it stresses me out to no end. The two point pieces I have been in made me look like this guy:
Jennifer also thinks that because I don't have the ominous stress of pointe lingering in the back of my head as I'm at the barre during ballet, that my ballet has improved! YAYYY!
My POINTE (pun 100% intended) in all this rambling is that, sometimes you just have to be real with yourself. Take a look at yourself and take a look at your feet. It's not the end of the world if you don't have the feet for pointe. There is still so much that you can do with dance!! So never be discouraged! If your body gives you limitations, look at what you can do differently (like Anne with her flexibility stretches) to improve yourself, or look at other things you can do that will still help you blossom your dance career and extend your passion even more! That's it for now! Promise to be back uber soon!
Procrastination, sleep deprivation, and rest,
Brianna<3