Author: Aquinnah

Yes, lovely dancers!– you should be very proud of me, for I have finally memorized both titles and artists of my recital songs for 2014. Here are a couple of links for your personal enjoyment:

Combined Dance (Training 1, 2 and 3): Love Take Me Over by Steven Curtis Chapman

Modern Dance: Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave

Training 3 Dance: Primavera by Ludovico Einaudi

These songs are SO different compared to last year’s, especially modern’s. I can’t wait to see what Miss Sara will do with them…!

It’s finally Friday, and we’re all jumping out of our socks in anticipation– weekend hoo-rah! But while you’re here, I’d like to take a second just to tell you…

You’re beautiful.

You’re amazing.

You have gifts, talents and abilities that no one else has.

You’re wonderful.

You’re spectacular.

There are about seven billion people on this earth who just wish they could be as cool as you are.

You’re glorious.

You’re fantastic.

There’s a boatload of people who are dying to hang out with you.

You’re superb.

You’re absolutely fantabulous.

God has such an amazing plan for your life, He can hardly contain himself.

You’re special.

You’re unique.

You are completely and totally you.

You’re extraordinary.

You’re brilliant.

People are definitely jealous of your awesomeness (and not just because you’re a dancer).

You’re magnificent.

You’re breathtaking.

God is blown away by your character.

You’re gorgeous.

You’re exquisite.

And you’re celebrated.

You’re outstanding.

You’re remarkable.

And Jesus loves you to the ends of the very cosmos and back. And you know what…? You are perfect.

It has been quite the night!

For starters, I am trying to kick a stinking head-cold in the rear so that I can get back to my life, but it seems to be hanging around… darn! No, no, no! Pain, pain, go away! Miss Sara, too, is getting over a cold, dear, oh, dear. It would be very nice if she could speak tomorrow…

That stated, I omitted hanging up-side down from modern class today. While my sisters relaxed into the Downward Dog, I got some excellent stretching done in my arms— yay! After warm-up, we did a bit of across-the-floor and then moved on to “escaping.”

This “escaping” is a new concept, one which Miss Sara primarily introduced last week. Essentially, one individual must stand in the middle of a group of girls and attempt to… well… escape… while her peers grab at her head, arms, waist, legs– virtually anything! It is definitely challenging, despite my first impression (especially when your head is spinning in a thousand different directions).

After escaping my sisters (It was quite entertaining, might I add.), we moved on to a posing exercise. Once again, one individual was chosen from the group and her peers were responsible for moving her in different directions; however, the individual was not to escape, but to keep energy in all of her limbs in order to be positioned desirably– ah! What an experience!

Finally, we began work on modern partnering, something which we will be seeing much of in the year ahead. Caroline and I were grouped together, as we are the same height and weight. We performed a combination which reminded me somewhat of a High School Musical jump (though I can assure you that it wasn’t). Um… haha… yeah, let’s just say: we’ll keep working on this one… *winks*

I now proudly announce that my feet made it through an entire pointe class in my shoes today. <3 At last. Allison was able to make it to class as well, after a week-long cruise in the Bahamas and shared with us the details of a seashell that she found. To quote her, “it smells to High Heaven!”

You’re awesome, Abby, and that is why I dedicate this title to you. <3

In SLPM (my new abbreviation for Student Led Performance Ministries), Abby, Elizabeth and I began work on our individual pieces, rotating the music to fit our needs. To be perfectly honest, I feel pretty darn accomplished, as I pieced together half of my choreography today. Miss Bethanny (our Mary) did inform me, however, that my work could use a bit more dynamic… coming right up!

Ballet 2A was an experience…! Ms. Tina had a migraine, so she wasn’t a very happy camper– gotta love that! Feel better, Ms. Tina! <3 I, myself, am extremely tired (I’ve been working on an extensive science project this week.) and was just doing my best not to zone out! Although, I did learn some new names this evening– phew!

During the half-time water-break in 2A, Abby attempted to convince my students to call me “Miss Aquilla,” a mispronunciation of my name which drives me absolutely insane. Oh, well… it’s a good thing that the girls were all confused… 🙂

Yes, Moriah, I dedicate this title to you… 🙂

You know when you walk into dance class, and you feel like you know exactly what to expect?

Yeah… I don’t get that anymore.

You know when you have a dance lesson under an incredible woman who has danced with several professional ballet companies and played as an extra in CSI Miami (to name a couple)?

Yeah… that’s a first.

Miss Bethanny had to catch a last-minute flight last night so, we were all surprised, to say the least, when Miss Heather, our theater teacher, walked into the Training Center. “Are you the Training 2 and 3 girls?” she inquired.

Of course, we assured her that we are.

She laughed. “So, I just found out that I’m teaching this class… like two minutes ago… so bear with me.”

I must say, I didn’t bear the class at all; I enjoyed it!

Yes, Miss Heather is an extremely accomplished woman, one who I hope to continue learning from. She began our class with a lovely devotional and with the help of some Nutcracker/Britt Nicole, let us lead barre. She then finished warming us up and stretching us out in the center.

Our last event of the evening came in the form of across-the-floor. We practiced kicks, chaines turns and… this is new… axel jumps! I can’t say that we looked especially perfect, but we had a lot of fun, and that’s what counts. <3

Just the other day, it occurred to me, Wow– I have a dead pair of pointe shoes… that’s awesome! and as today is the most beautiful autumn day, I decided that an outdoor photo shoot would be just the thing…! Thank you to my amazing little brother, who took these incredible shots (with his iPod, none the less)!

I believe that everyone has a favorite author, whether or not they choose to acknowledge it. One of the only things that keeps me going when I’m not dancing is reading, and for that reason, the following message is brought to my lovely dancers around the world:

Three years ago, I was on a car-trip (surprise, surprise!). To be perfectly honest, I do not even recall what my family’s destination was. I only remember that I was bored out of my mind. So bored, I started to beg my parents to stop at the nearest Target so that I could buy the newest American Girl book. How my taste in literature has changed since then…!

Much to my delight, we did stop at Target, but to my immense disappointment, there were no American Girl books to be found on its shelves. Aggravated, I searched for something else to read. It was on that momentous day that I located Shannon Hale’s, Princess Academy.

I devoured the book in four days flat, pausing only to eat and sleep. I forced myself to save the last two chapters for the fourth day, or I would have eaten it up much sooner than I did. WHAT was so special about this book? WHY was it so much better than anything that I had ever read before? Development. The fact that Miri is a person that I can grab onto, not just a character behind pages and pages of words. Because I love Peder, Britta and Steffan. Because the story has more than a little backbone.

For my 12th birthday, my grandmother, after reading Princess Academy, bought me Shannon Hale’s first Book of Bayern, The Goose Girl. Within the first few chapters, my mom realized that the plot of this book was way over my head, but it was too enthralling to put down. I gobbled it up, fell in love with every character and was ready for more.

For whatever reason, I was having a terribly hard time getting my hands on the second Book of Bayern, so I settled on reading Ms. Hale’s stand-alone, Book of a Thousand Days. I read it from front cover to back in less than a week, so glad to add it to my collection of Shannon novels.

 
At length, I was able to purchase Enna Burning. To sum up my thoughts on the book in less words than I usually do: I love Shannon Hale, and I love Enna. But I should have waited until I was slightly older to read the book, and even then, I feel that I will never be able to reread it.

My mom was irritated, to say the least, at having to pre-read the last few chapters of Enna for me. She, too, knew that this book was far above my level, but I felt so much better off having her preview it for me.

For Christmas that year, my mom bought me River Secrets, the third Book of Bayern, despite my underlying fear that she would not. This is my favorite of the Bayern series, and I can hereby guarantee that it has not seen the last of me. What incredible characters! What an enthralling story over-all! What to do with myself until…

Forest Born. How different this book was than the rest of the series! The new characters and the every-reigning mystery– eek! Incredible.

And that was it. Shannon Hale had a series of “adult novels” that I didn’t dare read until I “grew up,” so I was left bartering for something to pass time while I waited anxiously for the publication of Palace of Stone, Princess Academy’s sequel.

I received Palace of Stone for my 13th birthday, and I couldn’t have asked for more. Shannon, all I can say is: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for writing this book. It is my very favorite. <3

If you haven’t already guessed, my mom never was (“was” because it is quite impossible to un-read a book) a huge fan of my reading over-my-level books, so when I mentioned the surprisingly “rotten” reviews on Ms. Hale’s new movie, Austenland (based on one of her adult novels), I was ecstatic to hear her say, “That’s really too bad… I’ll watch it.”

Later, as I read through the NYT reviews (how mean!), my mom proclaimed, “I think I’ll read the book.”

No joke: I slapped my head on the back of the rocking chair and dropped the iPad in my lap.

Guess what, lovelies? My mom’s going to read a Shannon Hale novel…! And if she enjoys it, her daughter whom she loves very, VERY much, gets to read it as well. 🙂