Recital Central 2016

I7.1

It feels like spring today. I don’t usually like spring (one word: brown), but I do love sunshine, so it’s been good. Plus, three-day weekend. 🙂

This is one of those posts that I write for my own benefit. Because sometimes, dancers and writers alike just have to get themselves organized. While I have you here, though, I recommend this year’s Bible verses. They’re worth smiling about.

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Beauty in Motion Showcase on May 13th
Dress Rehearsal on May 7th

1. Spanish Dance
Combined Training– Ms. Sara
“You turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.” Psalms 30:11
Hair: bun
Attire: pink tights, pink ballet shoes

6. Requiem for a Tower
Advanced Modern– Ms. Sara
“He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 25:8
Attire: black leotard

11. God’s Warriors
Intermediate Pointe 2– Ms. Mia
“When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.” Deuteronomy 20:1
Hair: bun
Attire: nude pointe shoes

15. I Will Sing of My Redeemer
Leaps and Turns– Miss Bethanny
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…” Psalms 107:2a
Hair: half up
Attire: tan tights, tan jazz shoes

19. Daylight
Training 3– Ms. Sara
“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” Psalms 90:12
Hair: bun
Attire: pink tights, pointe shoes

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Recital 1 on May 14th
Dress Rehearsal on May 4th

1. Spanish Dance

9. Daddy’s Girl
Ballet/Tap– Miss Bethanny
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Romans 8:15
Attire: pink tights, pink ballet shoes

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Recital 2 on May 14th

Dress Rehearsal on May 10th

14. Simple Gifts

Ballet 1A– Miss Bethanny
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13
Hair: low bun
Attire: pink tights, pink ballet shoes

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Recital 3 on May 14th

Dress Rehearsal on May 9th

10. Spanish Dance

16. Dawn
Pre-Training– Miss Beth
“He is here: the One who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man, the One who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.” Amos 4:13
Hair: bun
Attire: pink tights, pink ballet shoes

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Aquinnah

Life is like…

Happy [belated] New Year to all of you lovely dancers! I’ve been meaning, and meaning and seriously meaning to write this, but between school, dance classes, teaching dance classes and driving hours alone, life is like… *cue Lorelai Gilmore*Falling Pizza Box

… this pizza box.

But forget about the measly trials and tribulations (Please excuse me while my brain explodes.) of the 16-year-old girl. We’ve got happier things to talk about!

It’s February, and Recital choreography is moving into full swing. “Dawn” is the Pre-Training piece (and also the 2005 theme song for Pride and Prejudice because you absolutely wanted to know that above all else. Not that I’m an Austen fanatic or something because… eh em. Whatever.). “Darkest Before the Dawn”, lovingly called, “God’s Warriors”, is our Intermediate Pointe 2 dance, and if anyone would like to share with me the secret to pancaking pointe shoes, I’m all ears. We’ll be using bows (We would’ve been okay with lightsabers, too, but it’s no big deal. I’m sort of totally in love with the bows.), but the audience is not to fear; we’re going without the included arrows. Advanced Modern’s “Requiem for a Tower” has us crawling around in the orchestra pit (Can you say, “YAAAASSSS!”?), and “Daylight” makes the Training 3s want to cry artsy tears. Sorry for the bad description– I’ve written a lot today. Both Requiem and Daylight will be finished soon. We haven’t begun choreography in Leaps and Turns, Ballet/Tap or Ballet 1A just yet, but I know that “I Will Sing of My Redeemer”, “Daddy’s Girl” and “Simple Gifts” are bound to be spectacular. “Spanish Dance”, the combined Training piece, is challenging without all of the 1s and 2s, but we’ll get there. We always do. Until then, I’ll be over here rolling out my calves and trying to remember all of this stunningly beautiful choreography like…
Oy with the Poodles

Yeah.

In other news, we’ve changed the Leaps and Turns costume to an equally beautiful dress. I don’t have a picture, but April is coming, and Picture Week is soon to follow. Recital info was sent out this week, so I’ve been compiling Recital Central for the year, but I figured I should elaborate on this great stuff first. Consider my elaboration pretty much over. Except you definitely want to…

Dancing Lorelai

… see The Fall, Faith’s upcoming performance. I’ll be helping backstage, but you don’t want to miss this show.

The crazies are coming, so don’t forget…

Lorelai on Sleep

and enjoy every minute. *heart emojis*

To return very soon,
Aquinnah

GIF One (1) Credit: OMGYASKWEEN. Pizza, Nodding. Digital image. Giphy. Giphy, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
GIF Two (2) Credit: KRWELCH3. Coffee, Gilmore Girls. Digital image. Giphy. Giphy, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
GIF Three (3) Credit: OMGYASKWEEN. Dancing, Pizza, Nodding. Digital image. Giphy. Giphy, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
GIF Four (4) Credit: Tumblr. Pretty, Sleep, Gilmore Girls. Digital image. Giphy. Giphy, 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.

Christmas Dances 2015

I just love Christmas. I love snow, and hot chocolate (massive toss-up between peppermint and caramel right now), and movies (I think I’ve seen Elf three times already….), and pajamas, and bells and music.

I performed my final Christmas piece of the season yesterday, and I’m almost ready for break… because combined Training class, of course! Last week’s Friday lesson ended up being the nursing home outreach and a hot chocolate party, so I’m super excited to see what this final class of 2015 brings.

I’m having a terrible time cutting the video of Christmas Eve in Sarajevo, but if I ever figure it out, I’ll post a part of that right HERE. Before we performed the T3 piece, Miss Sara taught us the Spanish variation from Nutcracker. It was a good day.

Wednesday was rather awesome, too. We drank hot chocolate and created group pieces in jazz, and then I taught both ballet/tap and 1A. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first tap class as a teacher, but it was such a joy to work with the kiddos! The 1A kids learned half of the Sugar Plum variation, which was a total dream come true for me. By the smiles I was getting, I think the little ballerinas were pretty happy. 🙂 Christmastime is just the best.
Enjoy these hours leading up to the big day and a very happy New Year to you and yours,
Aquinnah

Nine Days until Christmas

The final week of Christmas performances has struck again, and I’ll be teaching two classes today. I’m so ready to be done with Personal Finance for the year. On a more random note, since we don’t perform One Small Child until tomorrow night, Moriah, Emma and I decided to have tea yesterday. Presenting the best three minutes of your day thus far…:

I think it’s safe to say that my writing is better than my camera face. *cheesy smile*
xoxo,
Aquinnah

Recital Costumes 2016

It’s been a weekend of SATs, Christmas decorations, glitter and a second Thanksgiving spent at home, all preceded by a week of costumes and Christmas dances by the ballet/tap and 1A kiddos. I am happier than I’ve been in weeks. The holiday season usually sees to that.

 

Pre-Training '16
Pre-Training
Int. Pointe 2 '16
Intermediate Pointe 2
Leaps and Turns '16
Leaps and Turns (with tan tights and tan jazz shoes)
Ballet-Tap '16 (2)
Ballet/Tap
1A '16
Ballet 1A
Adv Modern '16 (2)
Advanced Modern (skirt in black with black leotard)
Combined '16
Training combined (with fans)
Gorgeous, right? This year’s Training 3 piece will be performed in our navy leotards and black wrap skirts. I am so super excited about all of these dances! For now, we’ll be performing Mary, Did You Know tomorrow and Christmas Eve in Sarajevo at a nursing home on Friday. It’s going to be a good week.
But first!– super secret Christmas projects to complete before Monday strikes again.
Happy Sunday,
Girl who Had to Ask for Extra Time to “fill in the corresponding circles” on the SAT because Her Name is So Long

My Newly Discovered, Jumping Up and Down in a Hot and Sweaty Crowd Life

Hoco1

Title credits to Moriah… 🙂

I never expected to attend a school dance. I started homeschooling full-time in my freshman year of high school, and I never looked back. If I want to, I can graduate this year, and I do want to. I’m ready to move on, and my previous opinions on college have changed drastically. I might even consider going.

Last year, between eating spoonfuls of ketchup (which I can’t recommend) and making prank calls (“Hey, this is Alex…”), I signed a piece of paper and promised that I would attend Homecoming 2015 with Moriah. Adysen agreed, too. I was pretty sure it was a joke.

Needless to say, it wasn’t.

One flat iron and two curling irons later, my hair was ready, along with my makeup and even my nails, which I never bother to paint because PERFORMANCES, of course. I put jewelry on, including my great-grandmother’s pearls, and bought new shoes. And, after hours and hours and hours and HOURS of shopping… my parents found this beautiful dress. I could never express how thankful I am for those two who know me so well.

Ask Adysen, Moriah, Sarah or Olivia– I take on school dances like a ballerina. My whip and nae nae looks like second position preparation and croise, and I had to take off my heels before I could do any kind of jumping…. But it was fun! I got advice like, “Harness your inner monkey.” We had a big studio group, and we jumped, and danced and sang as a group. We laughed as a group. We ran around looking for people and water bottles. We watched glow sticks (and various people) fly across the gym. We also came up with seemingly random things like Cookie Butter and Icee and took this college-worthy picture:


Hoco2

So, thank you, Moriah, for making us go to homecoming. I won’t forget it, and neither will Adysen, since they decided to play Turn Down For What. #onpoint Thank you both for a winner of a shopping trip and an even better dance. You never know how strong you are until you dance in heels… or something like that.

Here’s to hot pink and sparkly butterflies, hot and sweaty crowds and our first and last homecoming as the three musketeers. I love you guys!

Aquinnah

Photo Shoot ’15

Tomorrow, I turn 16. It’s kind of strange to think about. I always thought that when I turned 16, I would feel instantaneously different, but today, I’ve been thinking about all the great stuff that happened while I was 15. It wasn’t such a bad year itself– crazy, yes, but not bad.

I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for awhile, having finished this year’s photo shoot at last, and I’m glad to be doing it now. Though I’ve since gotten braces and performed in the summer showcase, these costumes represent some of my favorite moments from my 15th year, and these pictures are dear to my heart. I do hope you enjoy.

 

M1
I loved the costume – Garden of the Gods scenery combination.
M2
M4
Brody: Quinnah, why don’t you look at the camera?!
M6
Just hoping that the mountain bikers wouldn’t run me over…
M7
M8
Catching fire
M9
“Be multiplied”
M10
Brody: Seriously, Quinnah!– LOOK AT THE CAMERA!
M13
Please, don’t rain.
M14
M15
Desert breeze…
M16
… blow me away
M17
This one was Brody’s idea. 😉
M18

 

M19
Colorado clouds on point
M20
M22
Little brothers are the special little boys in your life who pick you flowers and take pictures of you with the flowers.
I1
Road trip to Rangeley– this is right after I fell in the swamp. The Blochs live on, and Dad and I had a good laugh.
I7

 

I8
Dad: Stay right there! Don’t move! I have an idea.
I9
Can you see the fairies?
I10
What dancers actually look like when they’re tying pointe shoes in the freezing cold after falling into a swamp.
I11
What dancers wish they looked like when they’re tying pointe shoes in the freezing cold after falling into a swamp.
I12
Possibly the greatest picture of me ever taken. It wasn’t planned. It just happened. I guess falling in a swamp does that to you (obviously, it was a terribly traumatic experience).
xoxo