Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Dance Camp: Edition Two

I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in about a month and just jump right into this article...

I have two words for you:
Trinette.  Singleton...Was. My.  Ballet.  Teacher.  At.  Dance.  Camp.

Okay, so maybe it was more like nine, but who's counting.  Anyway, like I said, Trinette Singleton, THE Trinette Singleton, was my teacher at the second dance camp I attended this summer.  It was fabulous.  But in case you don't know who Trinette is, here is a little background information.

Trinette Singleton is currently the ballet mistress at the Joffrey Ballet, as well as holding a position as a professor at DeSales University (which is where I went to camp).  She danced with the Joffrey Ballet at the age of sixteen, and shortly thereafter Robert Joffrey created the ballet Astarte on her.  She was the first dancer to appear on the cover of a national news magazine (Time) and has danced for Kings and Queens and Presidents.  She's sixty-odd years old and is a million times better than I could ever dream of being!  And she was the teacher at camp...wow.

The DeSales Summer Intensive (which will hereafter be known as DSI ) was the most incredible experience of my life.  There were so many fantastic teachers and I made the most amazing friends!  No words can describe how thankful I am for the experience.  No.  Words.


One of my friends, Rachel, went to the intensive as well, but other than that I didn't know anyone there.  I don't live near DeSales, so I boarded (There were about 50 of us total, and only about 30 of us boarded...I think) which was great.  My mom was pretty mad at me because a day or two before camp ended I was talking to her on the phone and she was like "I'm so excited that you're coming home!" and I was like "No!!  I don't want to come back!".  Hahaha.  But anyway, here is a look at our schedule:

Week One:
Monday: Ballet Placement, Jazz Placement, Lunch, Modern Placement, Body Percussion, Dinner, Movie Night

Wednesday, Friday: Floor barre, Body Percussion, Ballet, Lunch, Modern, Special Topics, Dinner, Special Activity. 

Tuesday, Thursday: Yoga, Ballet, Jazz, Lunch, Modern, Modern Rep., Dinner, Residential Rehearsals.

Saturday: Dorney Park Trip

Sunday: Free day with Residential Rehearsals

Week Two:
Monday, Wednesday: Yoga, African, Ballet, Lunch, Modern, Modern Rep., Dinner, Residential Rehearsals

Tuesday, Thursday: Pilates, Ballet, Jazz, Lunch, Modern, Special Topics, Dinner, Special Topics

Friday: Yoga, African, Ballet, Lunch, Modern, Showcase Rehearsals, Dinner, Showcase

We were up by 6:30 every morning and the earliest our day ended was 9:00 at night.  The special activities would usually run longer.  It was exhausting.  But soooo worth it.  I got abs!!  And I still keep in touch with everyone.  I'll always treasure the experience.