winter – Dancing Angel

11/27/2016

The Stuff that Makes Me Happy

Happy belated Thanksgiving, America! At this–the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year–I have ever so many things to be thankful for. I’ve been blessed with a family who loves and supports me, with friends who grow alongside me, with teachers who want to see me improve and with a house that has green gables. I’m able to wake up each morning knowing that I am provided for, cherished and chosen for something that will make the lives of those I touch a little brighter. It is my hope that as the snow starts to fall and this semester ends, those people around me will know how much I support and cherish them.

And now that Thanksgiving Break is coming to a close, I remain grateful, in large part because I can finally play Christmas music without getting mean looks. The lights are up, and we just decorated our first real tree (you know, the kind that makes your house smell like a fir forest) in ten years. Good stuff.

It’s almost December, and that means lots of rehearsals and very little time for shopping. Between Achilles tendonitis for the second year in a row, two viruses and whatever I did to my shins yesterday, it has not been an easy semester. But I’ve learned a lot by watching. I’ve done a lot of praying. I taught myself to accept the FasciaBlaster. It’s frustrating, and painful, and like anyone, I occasionally have to hit the snooze button on my alarm. I made myself new boundaries, even when I wanted to push forward, and I’m glad I did. Knowing how to be kind to myself makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be performing “Do You See what I See?” (worship), “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” (ballet) and “Carol of the Bells” (modern). On Friday, the Training Division and Advanced Modern will be performing locally, which I’m very excited about.

In other news, I’m finished choreographing my senior solo, “Welcome Home” and have picked a costume. In fact, all of my Recital costumes have been posted. Take a look…!

senior-solo-costume — Welcome Home (with pink ballet flats)

Aren’t they lovely? I’m thrilled. Our Training 3 costume will be black tights, a black leotard and a burgundy skirt with a belt, if I remember correctly.

Almost time for Rudolph. Have a wonderful week, beautiful dancers.

xo Aquinnah

12/18/201502/18/2019

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

12/16/2015

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

11/09/2015

DDD 2015

Hey, Autumn! AUTUMN! No, move OVER, Winter… WINTER. I’m not TALKING to you! Autumn! SLOW DOWN!

*poof* Brain cells.

I can hardly believe that the first week of November has come and gone, leaving me with six Christmas dances, impending travels and a whole lot to write about.

DDD was this weekend, and though it was significantly different from last year’s fundraiser, I won’t soon forget it. I love Ms. Patrizia’s master classes, and I love the local high school, and I love my artsy community. My studio may stick out in a crowd… but that’s what happens when you pray, “Let us be light”.

Saying goodbye to Arise was hard. I didn’t want it to go. I think I could have performed it at every show for the rest of my life and been okay, but change is a necessary part of life, and A LOT of things are changing… hopefully for the better. While Pre-Training, ballet/tap combo and ballet 1A learn “Charlie Brown Medley” and “Born is the King”, I’m practicing Sugarplum and “Christmas Eve in Sarajevo” in Training 3; “Mary, Did You Know” in pointe; and “One Small Child” in modern. I’m also making college pro-con lists like a true Gilmore and trying to survive Personal Finance. Gotta love Personal Finance.

On the 30th of October (Wow, I’m behind…), we combined the Training Division in one awesome ballet class with Miss Bethanny and Miss Sara, as we’ll be doing each month through May. I hadn’t realized how big Training has become. I loved being able to meet our new family members. They’re awesome.

I’ve been teaching one combination per week in Pre-Training, and I’ll be teaching most of ballet 1A on Wednesday. I’m going to have to learn a whole lot of choreography on Thursday because next Thursday, I’ll be on my way to Clemson University. Fifteen-year-old me is beating up 16-year-old me right now, after being previously pummeled by 12-year-old me last week, but I’m really, really excited to get to South Carolina.

To new adventures,

Aquinnah