My Dance History

I started dance when I was about four years old. My first ballet class was surprisingly in school. At the time, I was living in London and going to school at a private school. All children, even the boys were required to take ballet class. I don't remember how many times a week because, you know, I was four. I started taking classes outside of school because I loved so much but  also because my mom wanted to get rid of me for an hour. Already, at such a young age dance was consuming my life. The school I went to was very strict. I remember we had to stand in perfect lines for role. The teacher would say our name and we would have to curtsy and say, "present" not "here", "present." Also at the end of class we would walk in a straight line one by one to our pianist and curtsy and say thank you. If we did not curtsy properly we would go back in line and try again. According to my mom this was a struggle for me because I could barely stand on one foot. The teacher would yell at me and apparently I would laugh because I thought she was being sarcastic?

Yes, that's me on the right. How embarrassing. S/O to Luiza.
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When I moved back to the United States when I was 6 1/2, I joined a local dance studio. They did all kinds of dance, not just ballet. I remember it was a very different environment than the one I was used to. No pianist, no taking role and no curtsying. I had also never done jazz or tap so that I was different. In the 4th grade, I changed studios to somewhere much far away. In my opinion, it was much more serious. They spent much more time on ballet because they understood how important it is if you want to be good in any kind of dance that you do.

Let's fast forward the end of August and the beginning of  freshman year, when I started my blog. I started my blog because of an assignment for english class. At first, I thought it was an awful idea because it was just one more thing to do. At the same time, it was kind of exciting because it was finally something in school that I could write whatever I wanted to and not in MLA format. Also, it was a great way to document my freshman year. Obviously, I was not the same person I was at the beginning of 9th grade. I feel that this year I have challenged myself grew as a dancer. I went to 4 summer intensive auditions and YAGP. None of these I have ever done before. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. I have also become much more confident. When you challenge yourself you feel much more accomplished by completing the task. I made 3 of my 4 auditions and that is something that I would never see myself doing a year ago. Last year, I was terrified of even going to YAGP so I chickened out. This year I ended up going. Sure, I didn't get top 12 or top 24 even but I got on stage and did the best I could do. It's funny what a years difference makes.  As for the progress in my blog, do I even need to write anything? My first post sucked. I think I was shy about putting my thoughts out there. I'm just a shy person in general. As I started writing more post they started to get better. I wrote more personal things and maybe threw some bad humor in there. Of course I still have a ways to go. I can always improve, just like in dancing. Like Einstein said, "Life is like a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.