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Some people spend four hours at a half-day at school. Some people spend four hours on a road-trip. Some people spend four hours shopping. And some people spend four hours at dance. Like me.

What a wonderful evening!

I walked into Studio B today, prepared to teach my brains out in Miss Bethanny’s ballet/tap class. Upon sighting Bethanny, I gave her a huge hug, and the two of us expressed our excitement for the year ahead. “When I found out that you were going to be assisting me with this class,” she said, “I started doing back-flips!”

The class was AWESOME. I loved it. The girls were so very polite and mature. We worked on a bit of center, some stretching, leaps and played a few rounds of Freeze Dance— what fun!

After work, I had a thirty-minute dinner-break (which Abby so kindly joined me for), and then it was on to modern! The class is much smaller this year, as we have three different levels now, which is quite nice. To begin, we performed our usual warm-up, complete with plies and tendus. Afterward, we did some across the floor work (ah!– crazy!) and stretching. I especially enjoyed our final developpe combination.

Finally, it was time for Training 3. This class, like modern, is quite a bit smaller than Training 2 last year, consisting of only ten dancers. We did a “smidgen” of barre-work and then ran down to Studio B to put on our pointe shoes. Once there, we found Bethanny (she had a long day!), who informed us that more dancers are needed for her choreography class. Apparently, Elizabeth and I are the only two who are currently signed up…! 

As this was my first class in my new pair of pointes, I started to feel the pins and needles after a while and resorted to my flats. Though my feet cramped for the rest of class, my chaines turns were not a complete failure, and I managed to make it through without any blisters… yay!

Today was the beginning of my third year at the studio.

I’ve never been in one place for this long. Give me a second to cry.

*takes a deep breath*

All better. Except for the shock. But ignore that.

Today’s Training 3 class was tough– really tough– but I’m the better for it. We did some glorious barre combinations, A LOT of stretching, worked on a lengthy adage piece and practiced across-the-floor. All in all, it was fabulous, hard though it was. It was so good to see Miss Sara again.

Besides new choreography, I collected quite a bit of information this morning. For starters, Valerie and I are the only two dancers signed up for the Tuesday Training 3 lesson. For that reason, the class is being cancelled and will not appear on the schedule by next week. Therefore, Valerie and I were given two options: attend the Monday Training 3 class or take the Training 1 and 2 lesson on Tuesdays (directly after our cancelled class). Because I love my quaint Tuesday mornings, I will be signing up for the Training 1 and 2 class. I’m quite excited, for Adysen is in this class…! So, it all works out!

Next on the list, the studio’s latest feature, a theater company, had a HUGE turn-out. The Training Center is needed for the 30-or-so girls signed up for this Wednesday class. Therefore, my Wednesdays are going to be a little hectic…:

~I will assistant teach with Bethanny in Studio A.
~We will take modern in the Training Center.
~We will do Training 3 barre for half an hour in the Training Center.
~We will go down to Studio A for the remainder of Training 3 (pointe). 

So, it all works out!

I then ventured to ask my teacher how on earth our Fridays are going to work out this year, as Training 1, 2 and 3 are all scheduled at the same time. As it turns out, Training 2 and 3 will be combined and spend this month with Miss Sara while the Training 1s work with Bethanny. Next month, we will swap teachers and so on and so forth. So, it all works out!

Lastly, I inquired upon the combined dance for our upcoming recital in May. Miss Sara assured me that the entire Training Division will be involved in a “celebratory” dance for our ten-year anniversary.

If you haven’t already guessed…

I honestly cannot believe that fall semester begins in a week! How am I to balance my all-new school schedule AND dance classes? That’s what I’d like to know.

School is proving to be much more time-consuming than I had originally planned; I can be doing course-work up until dinner time (on a not-so-great day). Oh, well. It’ll all work out…

After all, I have found time in my weekdays to stretch and work on pilates. I’ve actually been enjoying myself quite a bit.

My Birthday

I can honestly say that time flies on hot, swift wings during the summer (as Shannon Hale put it). So far, I am simply unable to believe that it is truly over. It’s tragic, really, as summer is my absolute favorite time of year. But a lovely thing took place before the season could officially end…. Would you care to know what it was?

Ten years ago, I turned four years old. I started dance lessons that year! Two days ago, however, I was forced to take a step back and realize that that was ten years ago. TEN years ago. That’s an entire decade. That’s unbelievable.

Now would be a good time for me to breathe. When so many unbelievable things take place, you start to question what it is that you believed in the first place…. But I really am 14 years old. And that’s pretty cool, I think.

And I’m a freshman this year (I began classes yesterday).

And I can drive next year.

And I’ll be 18 in four years.

And… yeah. Other than that, nothing’s new… nothing at all.

I would like to thank my family, for being the best five in the universe and for supporting me and my dreams. I would also like to thank my grandparents, who are a constant source of uplifting wishes and hugs. Also my world-wide circle of friends and sisters— you all are the best! I also want to thank Sophie, for braving our first dance class, ten years ago. <3 Thank you to all of my teachers– Mrs. R., Mrs. T., Miss Kristi, Miss Sara, Miss Alyssa, Miss Bethanny, Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Tina— for teaching me something new everyday. And thank you, Jesus, for being my best friend. <3

The Second Pair: Bloch European Balance

I’m home, lovely dancers! After the most wonderful vacation, I have returned to tell you of…:

My Second Pointe Shoe Fitting (yet another holiday of mine)!

It was absolutely fabulous! The fitting took about 40 minutes, and I enjoyed that time immensely. My fitter, Mimi, was extremely lively and enthusiastic, which made me smile. 🙂 (<— This is new!)

Moriah’s Russian Pointes

I tried on two different brand-names during my fitting– Capezio and Bloch. I have come to the sad conclusion that I truly dislike Capezios, despite the number of pairs which I was given to test. So, when I tried on my first pair of Blochs and felt that glorious gel beneath my toes, I was ecstatic, to say the least. Miss Sara was also pleased [to say the very least] when she found that I was completely over my arches. After trying on a few other styles which were not appealing at all, I left the store with that beautiful pair of European Balances. <3 Praise God, I didn’t have to go with that stinking pair of Capezio Tendu IIs that I was told to wear… I dislike them with a firey passion.

Caroline En Pointe

Congratulations to Moriah, who looks absolutely lovely in her all-new pair of Russian Pointes! Also a HUGE congratulations to Caroline, Abby, Amy and Jenna, who had their first fittings today. You all looked fantastic!

Sometimes, all you need to do is change your perspective.

Come one, come all, for today’s…

Updated mini-mester information: Today was, in fact, the last day of my mini-mester at the studio— crazy. And so incredibly saddening. The past seven weeks have been an amazing learning experience for me, especially in the areas of adage and allegro. A special thanks to Miss Sara, for being such an incredible teacher– you’re amazing and I love being your student!

Updated pointe shoe information: Due to the fact that our week-long vacation begins on the seventh and ends on the 13th, I will be perfectly able to go on the pointe shoe excursion on the 14th of the month— yay! I am so excited to finally set foot in my second pair of pointes.

More information: The 2013-2014 Assistant Training Meeting will take place this Sunday (the fourth). I can’t wait! Classes will be held this coming Thursday to make up for Independence Day; however, I will be unable to attend with Vacation keeping me away…. Fall semester begins on September third (Ah! So far away!).

Random information: Who would’ve thought it? Surely not I. But it’s happened all the same. I’m skipping eighth grade… and going straight into Freshman year… online… and I couldn’t be happier!

Miss Sara and I are starting to contemplate new pointe shoes, lovely dancers! My thoughts on the pair that I currently have (which are important in the new shoe process)…:

• I like the color. Yes, my shoes are perfectly pink and lovely. I couldn’t have asked for more style points!
• After wearing the shoes a few times, I noticed that some adjustments would need to be made. I couldn’t get out of pinky-toe blisters without tape, so that was added.
• My shoes got progressively wider. They widened to the point where I needed to add a pair of nylon socks to my gear. They filled the space, but made it that much harder for me to make the shoes bend, which brings me to my next point…
• The Capezio Tendu IIs are absolutely unbreakable. Indestructible. Invincible. And occasionally I feel very restricted, as if I could be over my arches, but the shoes just won’t allow me to get there. 
• However, when my shoes began dying outwardly, they really started to die. One scuff lead to many scuffs and color changes. 
• On top of it all, my feet grew, leading to the expansion of my laces. Despite the growth, my feet are still not big enough to fill the gap without my nylons. 

Strange– how much you can love your first pair of pointe shoes, yet want a new pair so terribly much.

So, Miss Sara has come to the conclusion that, while my shoes may last me a few months more, they will never make it through this coming year. That stated, I could break in a new pair while killing the other (just as many dancers do). This seems like a good idea to the two of us.

The problem: I’m going on vacation. I am SO excited to travel; however, I will miss out on Miss Sara’s planned “pointe shoe trip.” While working out the details, I found this:

A pointe shoe chart– a graph which tells dancers what pointe shoes they are likely to fit into (no guarantees), based on foot shape. Nice! Thanks to my “Greek-type foot with a wide toe,” here are some styles that the chart recommended:

• Capezio Infinita, Plie I, Tendu I, Odette, Plie II and Tendu II (<— Interesting…)
• Bloch Serenade 
• Chacott Velloneze 2
• Repetto 207
• INNOVATION
• Gumba 93 and 97
• Sansha 202
• Grishko Elite