Author: Aquinnah

Pointe Shoe in a Wreath

I had to do it– I just had to! Being the first day of December, I couldn’t help the post title or the picture above. My family is going to finish off the decorating of our house today, and I plan to make Christmas cards as well.

Speaking of Christmas… what about the dances? Well, I’ll have you know that the ballet, modern and cherub Christmas Dances are coming along smoothly, now that Stop Game season has ensued! As I have said in a previous post, I promise to show videos of both the ballet and modern dances once my parents are able to record them. However, I may wait until Christmas Day to post them…! Do not fear; in the meantime, I will try to post my ballet and lyrical dances from last year. Now… to locate them…

Yesterday was my final ballet class with Bethany until January. It has been a fantastic month of learning! Every combination taught yesterday was done to Christmas music (imagine that!) which was so much fun. At the end of class, Bethany gave us some improv time. She put her iPod on shuffle and whatever song came up, came up! I ended up with quite a beautiful song, while others had a bit more difficulty (“I’m a Little Teapot” was one of those harder songs.). Bottom line: Bethany’s teaching is SO different, but SO enjoyable at the same time.

In pointe, I gave Miss Sara her birthday gift which she adored– yay! We did some releves, echappes, piques (which we learned last week) and… PIQUE TURNS! Yes, we did pique turns across the floor! I was so excited, although my face probably didn’t show it. I was only able to try the turns on my right side, however, because I found a large blister on my left foot, and I was in too much pain to attempt anything else… darn.

Ick— what a discouraging title! Just after Thanksgiving, I came down with the flu which kept me from dance for the first time in my life (Vacations don’t count; I make up my classes before I leave.). I strongly dislike sickness and do not normally find it to be an issue for myself, but as you can see, I did this time. I missed the Monday and Tuesday ballet classes and the cherubs class… darn! Thank you Emma, who filled in for me. I really appreciate it! To find out what I missed on Monday and Tuesday, be sure to visit Emma’s blog!

The second part of my title comes in as I tell about modern yesterday, which I did attend. Before class, Abby called me and Emma into the room, as the Training 1s were celebrating Miss Sara’s birthday (we threw her a surprise party last year as well). We ate fun snacks and chatted for about ten minutes and then, my class commenced! We spent most of our time working on our Christmas Dance. Because it is finished, we played the “Stop Game.” Every dancer knows that the first day of stop gaming is difficult, as there are many things to stop the music for and fix; however, the dance looks much better and we will continue working next week.

My beautiful performance flowers. <3

Can this truly be my last Nutcracker Post until September? Sundays off? No constant talk of production? Weird.

I was back at the center at one o’ clock this afternoon. I threw on my costume, fixed my hair, put on a little more lipstick and started another round of “Concentration 64 (one of the games played yesterday).”

Soon, it was time to proceed backstage where we separated into “families.” Once grouped, Colton, the nutcracker, walked past and random whispers of “Happy birthday!” commenced. He was slightly surprised but definitely happy.

Finally, we where on stage! Everything went amazingly; it was practically flawless! We went from the spotlight to Studio Bee, and from there to the dressing room. I took off my costume and after one last look at it, the dressing room and the Party Crew, I went back to Studio Bee. I talked to Caroline’s mom, my stage mom, until my real mom and dad came to pick me up. It was really hard to drive away– the past two months have been so amazing. How can it be over (and how did I keep myself from crying)? Thankfully, there is always next year… Clara…!

Now, I thought I would share with you the following links, which are three different videos that Fox 21 News filmed during the Cast B rehearsal on Wednesday. I am not in any of the videos (because I was not present on Wednesday), but a few of my friends appear! The first video is a general update, the second is an interview with the Nutcracker and the third is an interview with “the man in charge,” Peter. Enjoy!

Philharmonic’s Nutcracker – part 1
Philharmonic’s Nutcracker – part 2
Philharmonic’s Nutcracker – part 3

I want to give a special thank you to Emma, who got me into this! Also, thank you to Miss Sara, who is training me so well, so that I can be in productions such as this! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for driving me to all those rehearsals and performances and for all the encouragement. Thanks to my grandparents for the gorgeous flowers, compliments and for coming out here to see me dance! Thanks to all my dance sisters, for your encouragement and prayers. I also want to thank Katie, the Cast B Clara, for coming to the dressing room last night, specifically to wish us all luck; you made me smile so big! Thank you, Miss Kiara and Miss Patty, for working everything out, especially Max’s broken arm. Mr. Alex, thanks for having a good sense of humor while giving us corrections. And, of course, thanks to the Party Crew, who I have had such a wonderful journey with this season! Thank YOU for following my Nutcracker Journey!

I do hope that all you lovely dancers had a fantastic holiday; I know that I did! Yesterday, being the first Nutcracker Performance, was also a very special day…

I arrived at the center at nine thirty in the morning to check in. Miss Kiara greeted me and sent me downstairs to the dressing room. It was packed! Angels and sailors, soldiers and mini-mice… but no Party Girls! Emma suddenly appeared from behind a rack of clothing and lead me to the “Party Girl Area.” In reality, we also took over a bit of space that was first designated for “Angels and Sailors,” but seeing that they didn’t need it, we were alright.

Half an hour later, after practicing in “Studio Bee” (where Fritz begged me to dance with him while I just rolled on the floor, laughing), we took to the stage for a two hour rehearsal. Here, we met our “stage parents,” who are professionals. Interestingly enough, we were only needed for 45 minutes– everything looked great!

I took my lunch up to Studio Bee, soon after, and returned to the dressing room. We played lots of games, read books, talked– anything we could do to pass the time! Finally, it was one o’ clock and we jumped into our costumes. We returned to the stage for an hour and a half dress rehearsal, however it only took us 20 minutes to complete. From there, I went home for a few hours to rest for Performance #1!

And then, it was time. I went back to the center at six o’ clock to re-dress and scurry backstage. At seven o’ clock, the curtains opened and I danced my heart out! It was such a wonderful experience, dancing with a group of professionals. In reality, I was quite sad when everything was all said and done, but there is always today…!

My Nutcracker Dress!

My very first costume fitting has come and gone after a day, complete with my grandparents viewing my ballet class! Here are the details which I do hope I never fail to give…:

I arrived at the “center” 45 minutes early (by accident). I sat in the car with my mom for a while, but I soon found that other Party Girls were making the trek inside. Instinctively, I signed in and followed them downstairs to the lower level of the center. There, Emma and I, plus two other girls, talked for a bit. Other Party and Garland Girls (and the boys of course) arrived later on. We chatted about the dresses, the performance… the usual! After waiting for the final Party Girl to show, the fittings began!

We lined up by height. Being the tallest, I stood at the back of the line, right next to Caroline. We were not required to wear ballet shoes, make-up, or have our hair done; all we had to do was show up in our leotards and tights! That said, we all walked into a large fitting room, still in our lines. I slid into a dress, which Caroline buttoned-up for me, and it fit perfectly! It also fit Caroline— yay! It is so beautiful, as can be seen in the picture above (Thank you, dance sisters, for taking it!). Our (Caroline and my) costume pieces are as follows:

• Curls over the bun (ours are fake)
• A yellow, velvet ribbon in our hair (Can you spot it in the picture?)
• Light make-up
• Leotard
• Pink tights
• THE dress
• Pink ballet shoes

 I truly love my costume, especially the dress. It is very Christmas-like. A large, red bow clasps in the back, which is being adjusted slightly to fit a bit more nicely.

And here, gorgeous dancers, is how my costume fitting played out! My schedule is free tomorrow and Thursday (Happy Thanksgiving!), but Performance #1 is on Friday! Look out for a post!

Today, dancers, was my extra Nutcracker Rehearsal, which played out smoothly. Here are the details that I am sure you have been anxiously awaiting…!

When I arrived at the studio, it was quiet– it had quite an empty appearance. However, I located Caroline in the dressing area where we talked until Emma and Anna arrived– they joined in our conversation. It was during this time that I learned, sadly, that Emma has some issues with her feet (inflammation of some sort– only she knows the special name). The inflammation prevents her from jumping, leaping, etc. Poor Emma; you are in my prayers!

The rehearsal, as has been said, went well. A few spacing and expression errors occurred but were easily corrected. Once again, Mr. Alex questioned us all, “Am I at a funeral or a Christmas party?” Obviously, we had a lack of smiles, but after this comment, things were better.

Much to my surprise, it was my dad who came early to pick me and Emma up from practice! He stood in the window and watched for a while; he was just in time to catch the nutcracker and Clara dance, as well as my exit. Afterward, as he, Emma and I rushed to the car, he commented on the nutcracker’s skill level which is quite high indeed. It took us five minutes to arrive at my home studio, where we found that class had not yet begun– phew!

Tomorrow morning I have my last regular ballet class before Thanksgiving Break. At six o’ clock in the evening, I have a costume fitting for The Nutcracker. I am so excited…!

The final, regular rehearsal for The Nutcracker performance has passed! Much took place which I am sure you will not mind hearing of in detail…

I arrived to find Emma and Caroline preparing for practice. Anna came along later and we conversed over Alex, the Ballet Master, who would be viewing us. Personally, I was a tad bit nervous as to how much fixing he would do, but I had nothing to fear.

Mr. Alex did fix-up quite a few things, but basically, the changes were of spacing and timing. No major changes were made to the choreography that revolve around myself. Overall, I believe he thought that we did a nice job. I just have to remember to smile…! Phew!

Little did I know, the Ballet Master’s thoughts about our performance had nothing to do with our extra rehearsal; it has been mandatory all along. That said, we will have our Monday rehearsal tonight, causing Emma (whom my mom and I will be carpooling) and I to be a little late for ballet class. Oh, well… Miss Sara was expecting this anyway.

As you know, I have an…