la primera día……..

We almost left on time, but somebody decided to be late. But ya’ know I had peanut butter toast for breakfast and the peanut butter always sticks all over the spoon so I had to make sure I cleaned it all off because if I left it in my sink for five days it woulda stunk up my whole house…………..and that’s why we left at 7.02a instead of 7.00a. But it was all good. Before I knew it we were on our way; a nice ride down for me cause I slept the whole way. The next thing you know we are at tech and then off to classes.

classes!

I am super glad we were here for the first day of classes; I felt like things were more complete. Yoga was my first class and the teacher, Elissa McDonald, was absolutely amazing. She has a style that is very similar to mine so I felt right at home. She has a holistic approach and does an excellent job of balancing all the aspects of yoga. To make it even better she is huge on the safety aspect, which is often left out. My second class was Contemporary Dance with Ruth Barnes. I was so excited to see that she was teaching again because I really enjoyed her classes last year. This year was even better, though, because I was standing right behind one of the most gorgeous dancers and I love him :) Payton was in the class too so it was nice to see a familiar face. It was fun because we’ve only had the opportunity to take hip-hop together. There is something about Ruth's movement that suits my body…..it feels so good. Her energy is amazing and I really enjoy her spunkiness!

Always fun to start the day off with Hip Hop. Angela Rosenkrans taught it and it was totally silly (in a good way). She has a lot of spunk and kind reminds me of myself when I teach hip hop :) There was a little bit too much conditioning for me. If this was a regularly attended class then I would feel different, but since we were just doing a master class I would have like to dance a little more. The across the floor stuff was super fun, though, and I think it got everyone kinda pumped to dance. Her choreography was great. Sometimes I have trouble picking up people's hip hop style but not this time (well, except the popping and lockin’...I'm not so familiar with that). Next class was Laban Notation with Diane DeFries. I totally took this class last year and it was the same thing but I still enjoyed it a lot. I tend to be analytical so I am drawn to notating; I am a note freak actually so Laban is perfect for me :P Diane is great and approaches this complex subject with ease, she knows just the right amount of info to give us.

Well on this day I ended up in two classes that I wasn't originally going to attend. Right before ballet one of my friends urged me to go to class with her. After a few seconds of pondering I decided to go (not because it's was ballet, though, because I actually really enjoy ballet but those girls in there definitely did not look like beginning ballerinas. So I went to Choreographic Invention. I absolutely love Lon Gordon, I wish I could sit and pick his brain (yuck I can't stand that saying) for hours. He has this quality about him that just calls out "I love what I do and I truly want to share it with you!" We had so much fun with syncopation, shifting accents, retrograde, personal narrative and using 5 elements to create a piece (my favorite). The 5 elements we had to work with were walking, trees, stones, lions and airplanes......words can not explain what we were doing there. The space was absolutely amazing and enhanced the class. It was cathedral like, with stained glass and high ceilings, and we utilized the house seats a lot. I feel like I have a special bond with the people I took the class with ;D I started off taking the Int/Adv Modern from Amy Ernst but it wasn't happening for me. The movement felt very awkward and there was a ridiculous amount of people in there so it was hard to see and, most importantly, it was hard to focus. So I opted out of that one and stuck around to take Laban Improv (thanks to David, who gave me his ticket!) This class literally brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy that it. The whole idea behind movement analysis is new to me so I am fascinated by it. Gail Abrams really has a way with words too. She is able to articulate the thoughts and ideas behind movement analysis in a way that makes you feel like you already know it. We talked about body, effort, space and shape then danced for most of the class. We did things with shape flow, direction and carving through space then progressed to using breath, head/tail, core/distal, upper/lower, body halves and cross lateral movements. The class flowed together nicely and at one point everything just felt so right I almost burst into tears. It was extremely inspiring. I also learned that Laban was an Anthropologist....YAY!!!

reflections~

Going to things like this does something to me. It’s like it gives me a chance to step outside my usual routine and really think about what it is I am doing and, more importantly, why I am doing it. I enjoy traveling to another city because the unfamiliar environment heightens my awareness of my role as an observer. The ritual behind all that we do as dancers, and humans, is put into the spotlight to be examined. It all fascinates me; warming up, rehearsing before the performance, seeing what people wear to classes, the silencing of voices as the lights in the performance hall dim……..I could continue, but you see what I am getting at.

Not only am I an observer of ACDFA as a whole but also of our own dance program. Since I am not a major or minor I am in this sort of neutral position in the department. I don’t know any of the girls real well but we all get along so I interact with everyone at some point in time. This is good for me because I feel like I am quite different from most of the girls, so I learn so much from each one of them. I have had some really meaningful conversations with people from our school since I have been here and my perspective on things has definitely broadened. This has been a result of great compromise for me because normally when there is an opposing view I like to challenge it, but since I don’t know these people real well I am a little scantier with my words. This is a good thing because I am able to embrace a different type of role here and I like that experience.

There are times, though, that my heart aches. It aches because I see an empty plot where there should be a castle (kinda like Nichols ;), a castle that is surrounded by a moat overflowing with understanding and compromise. This castle is home to a royal court that is willing to stop and ask themselves, “How is my attitude and behavior affecting the people/situation around me, and what can I change about MYSELF to make this a more pleasant experience?” We are all so wrapped up in what is happening with other people, what they are doing wrong, that we don’t realize that we may be destroying the very thing that we want to see grow.