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My Calendar’s Image this Month

Goodness, gracious; I love costume day!

I pushed through a stuffed-up head (Are you surprised?) to go to modern today, and I am so glad that I did! Today was– officially– “Costume Day,” one of my favorite days of the entire year. First off, Miss Sara gave us her yearly “shpeel.” I have this lecture memorized (but Abby is much better at the facial expressions). Basically, we are not aloud to touch, breathe on or even look at our costumes once we take them home; they have to go in the very back of our closets. After recital, however, my teacher couldn’t care less if we attach our tutus to the bumpers of our cars and drive down the highway at 80 miles per hour…

Anyway, after The Shpeel, we tried on our red, sparkly shirts. Most of us will have to take the straps in a bit but other than that, they are perfect! I love the color, the style, THE SPARKLES… everything!

After a huge dance clean-up, class was over. Miss Sara gave me my ballet costume on my way out, which I tried on when I got home. I LOVE it. It is absolutely beautiful– may-be my favorite costume of all time.

My mom and I have the timely job of costume-fixing this weekend. My tutu must be steamed, my blue leotard must be sewn (it’s falling apart at the seams), my sparkly shirt has to be taken in and some changes must be made to my black pants…!

A Peek into my Spring Break (from left to right: Kaden, Aquinnah, Brody, Sophie and Suzanna)!

Happy Spring to all of you lovely dancers!

I had the most wonderful break. My family took a cross-country-road-trip for the first time in years, and I had a blast! However, I was happy to come home to my glorious state and all of my dancing.

I bounded into the studio early this afternoon to the welcoming smiles of my sisters. Upon asking Emma what I missed out on yesterday, she explained that Miss Sara handed out the combined dance/beginning pointe costumes. JEALOUS! I will be receiving both of my costumes on Thursday (in modern class). My best friend wasn’t stoic in telling me all about the dress– it’s gorgeous! I cannot wait to have my own!

Class was wonderful! We did a ton of barre, stretched until we all felt like spaghetti and practiced our Paquita variation, as is the usual for Tuesdays.

At work this evening (Cherubs), I found myself running around Studio A, collecting skirts and hairpieces as the girls tried on their recital costumes. They looked adorable (although, the tutus are a bit more neon than I expected…)! Those little ones loved their costumes so terribly much, that I had to reassure them that they will be able to keep them forever. The parents then came to watch their dance.

On my way out, I met up with Emma who, once again, described our costume in detail. We have officially decided that a photo shoot (take two) is in order…!

I have a lot of news to share, so let’s jump right in…–!–:

Yesterday was a full afternoon of ballet, complete with a make-up class (I’ll explain that later on in this post.). In Training 2, we completed a “quick barre,” had a speedy stretch and cleaned up the Hungarian Dance (a.k.a. The Combined Dance). I believe that we stopped the music 19 times, but you’d be better off asking Emma…! We ran Breathe once and then quite suddenly, class was over…!

Today was another Tuesday, jam-packed full of a little bit of everything (as usual)! We did a lot of barre in ballet along with stretching, adage, jumping and Paquita. Fun, fun! Then it was on to cherubs; we had  a very small class of only nine girls today. They did their “tummy stretches,” practiced forward rolls on the mat, did silly/sit-down songs and worked on their “Little Ballet Dolls Dance” (a.k.a. their recital dance). Kaylyn’s grandma came to watch one of our run-throughs and actually started crying! I felt like such a teacher…

My Training 1 make-up class on Monday went well; we did A LOT of barre. Because the 1’s had to work on their recital dance for a few minutes or so, we (Emma, Angela and I) worked on turns.

Now, why is it that I have typed up this lengthy update for you? It just so happens that I will be beginning my Spring Break travels on Friday morning, so I will be missing class. I have pre-made-up for all of the classes that I will be missing while I am away (I will be missing two ballet classes and a pointe class) besides pointe (which I will be doing on Thursday). My guess is that we will be finishing the modern dance on Thursday (Sadly, I will not have the time to blog again before my trip). I am sure that something eventful will take place in Bethany’s class on Friday, and I will miss dance clean-up in pointe as well. Darn.

I guess that my poetry writing is starting to catch up with me (see title)…

Yesterday was another entertaining modern class, spent deciding how to get me off of the human ramp. It was more of an hour-long conversation, as we didn’t want to wear Valerie down (she takes all of my weight during the arabesque). We tried a few different things, but we finally decided that the left side of the ramp (which is able to move as I arabesque on the right) will run around to the other side and lift me off. I was a little bit worried at first (I am up so high!), but everything worked out perfectly. Phew!

After modern, I still had a long night ahead of me, for I decided to take Training 2 afterwards (to make up for the pointe class that I missed a while ago). We did quite a bit of barre work, had a long stretch, worked on pirouettes and ran through the dance once. Great class!

Today was quite eventful!

I was planning to make up a class by attending Training 1 before Training 2 (I will be missing at least one more just before Spring Break, as we are taking yet another trip.). To my surprise, the Pre-Training students (and others) were using that very class as a “Training Audition.” Not wanting to interfere, I decided that next Monday will do the job just as well.

Miss Tina sent Emma (who’s sister, Lily, was in the audition) and I down to Studio A to dance on our own. Using Dalainey’s Mom’s hotspot, we were able to connect to the internet and find our recital music.We practiced most of our dances (all but pointe) and had a really great time! Emma is still fighting off a cold, but I was hyper enough to cover both of us…!

It was soon time for ballet class. We ran through the combined dance and then did barre in the center. After a quick stretch, we worked on the Training 2 dance. I missed A LOT of choreography on Thursday, so I had to catch up. But, just like the song (“Breathe” by Superchick) says, I needed to “just keep breathing!”

I caught on to the dance fairly quickly– phew!— and it is now complete! I was even able to do it on pointe! Speaking of which, Miss Sara still hasn’t decided whether or not the beginner pointe girls will use their shoes for the show, but she did make the point that Emma and I are pretty solid– yay!

I survived!

Yes, lovely dancers, I am still alive and so are my sisters! No blood, no guts… we’re okay!

Yesterday, we spent most of our class-time learning the ups and downs of the”human ramp.” One of the hardest parts was figuring out who to step on (which sounds so mean!). Although I repeated my mistake several times, I believe that I have finally figured out how NOT step on Abby’s poor neck. It was also a challenge to avoid Emma’s spine, but I eventually found footing.

Now would be a good time to say: I sincerely apologize for hurting any-one of my dance-sisters yesterday!

Well, I finally got to the top of the ramp, where Allison and Cassi were ready to help me stand up (I make my way on all-fours). Miss Sara then lifted me off the top and brought me safely to the ground. Of course, that will be impossible at the recital, so how am I going to get down? My teacher is still contemplating that part, but it seems like an arabesque is in order…! As Moriah would say, we’re doing the “Chinese Swan Lake” (Watch it here: Chinese Swan Lake )!

The snow has melted, and the studio is open! Due to the fact that Kristen and Valerie did not attend ballet this morning, Emma and I had a semi-private class together with Miss Sara– so fun!

First off, we completed all of our “favorite barre combinations.” These “favorites” of ours include plies with confusing arms, calf-killer tendus, crazy-fast degages (made perfect with sautes), and painfully slow grand ronds de jambes. Thankfully, we received a good, long stretch afterwards.

Much to our delight, Miss Sara decided to teach us a variation from Paquita. It was fantastic! Some of the sections were a bit difficult, but we managed to make it through the entire piece!