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Because, basically, I have broken my streak; I do NOT know the titles of all of my Recital songs for 2015. I would wait to post this until I DO know them, but, due to the snow, I haven’t been to dance in three days, and I’m starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

Training 3 piece: is currently nameless. I had it!– and then didn’t write it down. It’s a prelude to something or other, but the important thing is that it’s beautiful. The polar opposite of our Christmas dance, it’s a relatively slow, dramatic piece. It’s going to be great.

Combined piece: Miss Sara choreographed our combined piece this year, so we’ll be learning off of her video in the Monday Training classes. Super excited!

Bible Book Bop: Look!– a name! Let me be honest here: The last time that I was enrolled in a tap class, I was six years old, and the steps that I was doing were not nearly as complex as Miss Bethanny’s. Usually, the girls have it down better than I do. It’s a learning experience for everyone, I guess. Besides, those kiddos invented the word “cute.”

Arise: Another name! This has got to be my favorite modern piece of all time. It involves a ten-foot-long sheet of purple lace, which is destined to be suspended in the air, in one manner or another, for most of the song. Adysen and I have a running joke near the beginning, when the fabric is covering all but a few, that “We know how this ends. We’ve watched enough White Collar to know how this ends.” But please, do ignore us.

Intermediate Pointe 1: Oh, hey. Look at that– nameless French song from old French movie. It’s really fun, and with the costumes that Miss Mimi picked out, it’s going to be adorable.

In other news, I’m thinking about designing a line of dance apparel. You know, with all that free time. 🙂

Whatever happened to September? Heck, what happened to August? I feel as though FYB has only just launched, and obviously (Aren’t the flyers AMAZING?), that isn’t the case.

It has been nearly six months since I became the Firebird, and I’ve learned so much since then, so much that I can’t even begin to write it all out.

On Monday, the following went down in my diary: “…we’re all just people, and we’re all a little awkward, and we’re all a lot weird, and we’re never as cool as we think we are.” It just… showed up on the page. It wasn’t until today that I realized, that’s it! That’s one of the major things that I’ve taken from this experience.

The entry went on to say that we’re all people. Beautiful, talented people, each and every one unique. We all have our quirks, and that’s okay. We’re extraordinary. That’s extra + ordinary which = extra beautiful and talented. And we all have a little bit of Firebird in all of us– a little spunk, confidence and a whole lot of room to learn.

My dad once told me, “You’re never as cool as you think you are.” I haven’t forgotten that, and I’m glad; it keeps my head up, and my ego down. My fellow dancers, though, with all the effort they’ve shown these last five months, are cooler than they know. I appreciate them more and more every single week.

Today, Miss Mia completed the choreography of our finale. The show is complete! I can hardly believe it.

Five weeks and counting. It’s creeping up on me.

To read the rest of this story, follow me on Steller: @breearoo

Happy New Year!

I would like to dedicate the following to Moriah, Adysen and Amy because… well, they know why. 🙂

My fourth playlist is a crazy mishmash that I haven’t bothered to organize. It’s my favorite yet.

1. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) – U2 – Songs of Innocence
2. Every Breaking Wave – U2 – Songs of Innocence
3. California – U2 – Songs of Innocence
4. Volcano – U2 – Songs of Innocence
5. Closer to Your Heart (feat. Bri Giles) [Live] – Desperation Band – Banner (Deluxe Version)
6. Am I Ever Gonna Change – Extreme – III Sides To Every Story
7. How to Believe (From “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue”) – Bridgit Mendler – Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust
8. The Middle of Starting Over – Sabrina Carpenter – Can’t Blame a Girl for Trying
9. The Hanging Tree – James Newton Howard – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 (Original Motion Picture Score)
10. All The Rowboats – Regina Spektor – What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
11. Don’t Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas) – Regina Spektor – What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
12. Breathe You In – Thousand Foot Krutch – The Art Of Breaking
13. Top of the World – Greek Fire – Single

In other news, Miss Bethanny and I began teaching “Bible Book Bop” by Go Fish, the ballet/tap kiddos’ recital piece, this afternoon, and in modern, Miss Sara surprised us all by beginning our own piece, “Arise” by E.S. Posthumus. Listening to the song, you lovelies will be perfectly able to get a feel for the dance, but as a side note, our class is calling this a Pirates of the Caribbean skeletons and Egyptian princess mashup. It’s going to be epic.

*Songs of Innocence – is a great album in general
*”Am I Ever Gonna Change” – gotta admit, I listen to it for the chorus… and sometimes ONLY the chorus
*”The Hanging Tree” – you’ll have to watch the movie to understand my obsession over this song

Peace, relax, joy, dance. Four words– very simple words. Four simple words with extensive meanings.

Peace – noun
a. An agreement
b. A calm, quiet situation
c. A state when you are calm and have no worries
d. Knowing that you know that you know your dance

Relax – verb
a. To rest and allow yourself to become calm
b. To be comfortable
c. To make rules/controls/conditions less strict
d. To dance freely

Joy – noun
a. A feeling of great happiness
b. Something that makes you really happy or pleased
c. Dancing

Dance – verb
a. I suppose that only a true dancer could define it

These are the words that my dad gave to me last weekend, just before our first performance of The Gift with Ballet Emmanuel, and I’ve kept them in mind and heart ever since.

Last Sunday, dress rehearsal was bad. Yep. It was bad. But–as I’ve said many times before–bad dress rehearsals make good recitals. The second run was a whole lot better.

Before each of our two shows, we warmed up with the Ballet Emmanuel company members. If I had to term it, I would say it was a really quick, really entertaining master class with no specific instructor.

In the pre-show, Snow Scene went surprisingly well, considering the tweaks we made to accommodate our five-person group (as opposed to the usual six persons). Afterwards, we were able to watch the full show, too, which was absolutely stunning. It was incredible to witness one of my dance teacher’s performances; inspiration left me totally speechless.

Saturday of this weekend, after multiple hours of Faith rehearsals, we rehearsed at our second church for the third show. The pre-show was to take place in the lobby, which was new and different, but also pretty special because Training 3 was able to connect with our audience in a personal way. After the run-through, the Training Division gathered upstairs to warm up, taking turns teaching [and yelling oh-so helpfully] and picking out music from Moriah’s tablet. The performance itself was just destined for greatness after that.

Yesterday was our last show, which brought on an odd combination of emotions. I couldn’t wait to be on break, and yet I was sad to see Snow Scene go. I’ve enjoyed the piece immensely, and I would like to thank Miss Mia and my T3 girls for that. Peace, relaxation and joy rained over the audience, who exploded with applause before the last music notes had a chance to die out.

Not a bad way to start Christmas, if I do say so myself. Happy holidays, lovelies! Drink lots of cocoa, eat lots of cookies, and don’t forget to stretch while you watch those classics on TV. 😉

There are only five days until Christmas. Nobody pinch me. It came so fast.

It’s been quite a week, between parent performances and shows with Ballet Emmanuel. Despite our aching quads, Little Drummer Boy came out really well, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed performing that piece most of all. I find the time-lapse below, courtesy of my dad, really entertaining, and I hope that you do, too.

Yesterday–due as much to exhaustion as the holiday season–was the first annual movie night in Training Division history. We watched Ballet Magnificat! with junk food and pajamas and pillows and the whole nine yards. Definitely a new tradition.

But the craziness doesn’t end now, or later or tomorrow. There are classes to take, rehearsals to run and shows to perform.

I feel like every Saturday ends with me asking, What even happened today? It’s a lot to take in, a lot to remember. That’s why I write so much– to remember.

This year, dividing the studio’s Christmas programs into three different weeks was about the most fantastic idea ever. Not only does it give us, as dancers, time to focus on specific pieces, but it also extends holiday joy into every corner of our lives. I love Christmas and all that comes with it.

On Monday, Training 3 performed Snow Scene for our parents, taking a kind of “dress rehearsal” for our upcoming shows. Bad dress rehearsals make good recitals, as the saying goes, but good dress rehearsals make even better recitals.

Today, we brought Snow Scene, alongside several other beautiful dances and skits, to the local nursing home. I was able to visit with a couple of elderly ladies afterwards, both of whom told me a collection of stories which I will never forget. One talked of her eight children and another of her previous home in Hollywood, California. Our great-grandparents have so much to share, I realized, and I am so grateful to know mine, especially Great-Grammy B., who will be 100 years old next month.

Back at the studio, Intermediate Pointe One performed All I Want for Christmas is You for our parents, ugly sweaters and all. That’s how we do holidays at TP.