Month: December 2013

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! I do hope that you lovelies enjoy these Christmas dance clips (courtesy of my beloved parental units).

Advanced Modern

I just love my studio. And Christmastime. And Christmastime at my studio. <3

Yesterday was crazy. Beyond crazy. To be honest, I’m not even sure how I got to Thursday, so coming up with all of your lovely details is going to be quite a challenge, indeed.

But nobody ever said that Christmas Program week was easy. Ever. And no one ever said that it wasn’t completely and totally awesome. Ever.

Miss Bethanny and I rounded up our Ballet/Tap girls and practiced their dance piece by piece. When all was said and done, Bethanny read to everyone, while I dressed each little princess in a red tutu and hair clip. Afterward, the door was opened, and everybody and their fourth cousin flooded into Studio B. The kiddos performed their dance twice, remembering virtually all of the steps without any help at all. They were fabulous.

After work, it was down to the Training Center with me for modern. I went over a few steps with Carrie and Elizabeth, had an elaborate conversation concerning Abby’s red Christmas shirt and ate a bag-full of food before heading into class. We warmed up, stretched and then finished our dance in a snap. A few run-throughs later, our parents came in to view our work. Despite limited choreography and practice time, our performance was practically flawless. I could feel the energy from our limbs work its way into the floor and up through the walls, to reach our tightly packed audience. It was awesome.

I threw my hair up in a bun, for it was on to Training 3! We did a bit of barre, ran our dance several times, and then– what‽– it was time for our parents to come inside. Once again, we performed twice, taking a break in-between to work on “landing softly.” All in all, I felt that we put on a very nice show, and I am so proud to have been a part of it.

Today, I arrived just in time to complete my cleaning job and run some errands with Moriah. After a stunningly encouraging conversation with Miss Jenna, Ballet 2A began. We edited and practiced the girls’ dance, dressed everyone in silver tutus and Christmas ribbon and ran down to the Training Center to perform. The girls were absolutely lovely; I couldn’t have asked for more. Taking their seats, they were able to watch the Training 1 girls’ show (gorgeous!), which just about made them squeal with delight.

In the aftermath, I collected tutus, ribbons, streamers and handed back belongings. Beyond that, I had to collect my things from the main studio and hurry to my car, where my new puppy was waiting.

I can almost guarantee you, lovely dancers: this post is not going to be what you are expecting it to be. Maybe even a little random. But I’m sure it will be worth the read.

On Friday afternoon, I arrived at our first outreach location, approximately 15 minutes early. Hurriedly, I strapped on my pointe shoes, pinned myself into a tutu and spent a few minutes warming up. The catch?

My darn, darn sore throat.

I woke up with it on Friday morning, and even after several doses of cinnamon and honey, along with my parents’ declaration that my brothers and I were in for a massive surprise after my second performance, I felt no better.

But I’ve never missed a performance in my life, and I surely wasn’t going to start now.

Training 3 was the second group to perform. Reassuring myself that my throat was, in fact, NOT bleeding, I tip-toed onto the dance floor, smiling as best I could at the elderly ladies before me. “Silent Night” began, as I racked my memory for the right steps. Nothing. Thankfully, my sixth sense kicked in, and I found myself dancing anyway (in-line with the right choreography, I might add). Near the end of the piece, we were all a tad surprised to find an entire section of our song cut, but we proceeded accordingly.

Back in our make-shift dressing area, the first words which came out of our mouths were, “That failed.”

Despite our feelings about the performance, my mom’s camera shows otherwise. I guess we were all overreacting. Besides– when it comes down to it, we made a house-full of elderly people really, really happy. And that makes me smile. 🙂

On our way to the second nursing home, I started sucking on a hard piece of I-don’t-know-what that my dad had given to me, to sooth my throat. With that, somehow, I managed to make my mouth bleed [for real]. I was not too happy.

By the time we located our second outreach post, I was feeling really awful.

Had it been up to me, I would have stayed and performed. My mom, on the other hand, was concerned for the elderly folks, and she eventually talked some sense into me by reminding me of my own great-grandmother (almost 99 years old). Heartbroken, I told Ms. Tina that I would have to go home. She was extremely understanding, however, and told me to go and get some rest. She’s the best.

Tears were shed on the ride home, to be sure. I felt terrible, leaving my sisters to fill in a series of gaps which I was supposed to cover. I felt like such a quitter. And I am NOT a quitter.

But I really hate to dwell on bad news, so what about that surprise, anyway?

I went home, changed, ate a sandwich and hopped back into the car for a 40-minute ride to… well… I didn’t know where. That all changed, however, when we pulled up to a house in which there was a dog– a dog!– in every window.

No. Way.

I hadn’t really, TRULY allowed myself to believe that my family was getting a puppy for Christmas until that very moment. My eyes almost popped out of my head.

Gauge is an AKC certified German Shorthaired Pointer. He is three months old, and his favorite activity is cuddling up in a ball and sleeping on your lap. Not only is he going to make a great bird dog, but he’s already the perfect family dog. I love him. <3

So, why did we get him early? To put it simply, my parents didn’t want to drive on Christmas, or even Christmas Eve. They just wanted us to enjoy having a puppy. I certainly am.

Today, we took a full-family photo shoot for Christmas cards. Do enjoy our blooper shots… 🙂

It has been a very long time since I put up a random blog post.

No fun. No fair. No more.

For starters, Ms. Tina and I managed to bring together the Ballet 2A Christmas dance yesterday– phew! Of course, that was after I taught a lesson on sit-ups, and just before I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, trading tickets for candy. I was so late leaving, my dad and brother actually came to the door to pick me up. And then I forgot my water bottle, so I made Kaden hold my pink dance bag, while I ran back inside to grab it. And then we went out for sushi.

My family must be awesome or something. Or maybe we’re just weird. I haven’t quite decided yet.

I finished schoolwork super early today. I’ve had finals all week, so it was really nice to kiss thinking good-bye until Monday.

Well, then again, I had better remember our Training 3 dance this afternoon.

In the past ten months, I have visited five different orthodontists. The first four wanted to give me jaw surgery before they would even attempt to straighten my teeth. Now, don’t take that the wrong way; I don’t have bad teeth. As a matter of fact, dentists get really discouraged when they can’t find anything wrong with them. It’s the actual alignment of my teeth that throws everyone off. But forget the first four guys; the fifth one is important.

My top jaw is a whopping five millimeters shorter [in width] than my bottom jaw. That’s like “the Pacific Ocean,” according to my orthodontist. BUT– he doesn’t want to give me surgery. He has a better idea.

There is a genius (What would you call a man with two degrees in orthodontics and one math?) in Oregon who recently invented a device called a “DNA.” It looks like a retainer, works like magic and is meant to be used in place of both braces and surgery. And it’s going to give me perfect teeth.

A month ago, I took an exam involving an i-CAT scan, x-rays, a tooth cleaning, impressions, photographs, an oral test and a thousand other things that put me in the office for two whole hours. It was extremely unpleasant but well worth it, for my exam was sent off to the genius in Oregon (I’m going to need a better name for him…) to determine my treatment.

It took four different doctors, but my treatment results finally came back this week. As it turns out, I am going to need to have my top device for 18-24 months, wearing it at least 16 hours per day. Three months in, I will have to have a bottom device as well (rare, but necessary).

Here’s how it works:

Exhibit A: I wear my top device for three months, 16 hours per day. The device will trigger the STEM cells in my mouth, and my top jaw will grow. In the process, my top teeth will be straightened.

Exhibit B: I wear my top and bottom devices for the duration of the 18-24 months, 16 hours per day. The devices will trigger the STEM cells in my mouth, and my top and bottom jaw will align perfectly. In the process, my bottom teeth will be straightened.

How cool is THAT?

AND, there is a possibility that I will have my top device by the end of next week! Merry Christmas to me.

Nervously excited? Yes.

AND, I think I’m getting a puppy for Christmas. 🙂

I have been on vacation for a long, LONG time.

And the studio endured A LOT of snow days while I was away.

Needless to say, Christmas dances are looking pretty… I need a good word… sketchy?

Well… then again… we [almost] finished our dances today. And in that case, they look pretty darn good.

It was so good to see Miss Bethanny again, after nearly a month apart. We were able to round up our tap kiddos in record time, setting to work on their dance. God spare me if I forget it.

In modern, we conducted a like-scenario, warming up and then jumping into all things Christmas. Our dance is about this close– *holds fingers two centimeters apart*– to being finished. Thankfully, we’ll have a bit of time to clean next week, just before our parents arrive to view our… um… art.

I thought that I was going to be fairly well-off in terms of our Training 3 dance, but as it turns out–surprise!– we are performing it at two different nursing homes on Friday afternoon. Therefore, Miss Sara felt it necessary to finish choreographing this past Friday, rather than trying to cram everything in today. That stated, I had a lot to catch up on, but I do believe we are going to be a success.

Prayers are greatly appreciated.

On a lighter note, recital costumes have been released! They are completely different from last year’s, but oh-so fabulous, all the same. For your own, personal record, we will be wearing our navy leotards and high-low skirts for our Training 3 piece. Enjoy, lovely dancers… <3

HOW did Disney do it? How does anyone create something so perfectly artful? Rhythmic? Lively? Magical?

It’s true– the music from Disney’s latest film has me frozen in my tracks. Choreography is literally oozing out of my fingers and toes. It’s just too perfect.