Friday, January 20, 2012

Now I Remember

It's nights like this that I remember why I love to dance.  It's Friday...acro night.  And it went really well, as per usual.  I also got paid tonight and I picked out the costumes for the recital this spring. 

The best part though, was after class.  On of my best friends, Jenny, stopped by the studio after my last class.  Jenny is a dancer as well and she is two years older than me.  We would always practice partner moves when we were in show choir (she's in college now) but we've never been able to dance together because we danced at two different studios.  The other day, Jenny texted me saying that she absolutely needed to dance a piece with me, so I told her to come in to the studio this evening after my last class. 

The dance we did was to "Beside You" by Mariana's Trench.  I'd never heard that song before but I love it now!  Jenny and I work so well together, it's crazy.  We used to choreograph a lot of show choir pieces together and we would always have to same exact ideas.  Her boyfriend jokingly calls us "The Brain", meaning that we both share one half of the same brain.  He thinks he's cute. 

We worked for about two hours and got just over a minute done in the dance (mind, during the two hours we also took pictures of each other, caught up on life, and took several video takes of the dance until we got it just perfect).  The dance, if I do say so myself, is perfect.  I couldn't imagine it working out any better than the way it did tonight. 

Sometimes I lose track of why I dance.  I get overwhelmed with school work, family obligations, drama rehearsals and drama in general and I wonder why I spend so much of my time dancing.  I regret it most when I see the multiple recruiting letters my twin brother (who can run a mile in four minutes and change and was the only one on his cross country team to make it to the state meet this year...might I mention that he only ran cross country in his spare time as varsity soccer held precedent in his sporting queue) receives per week.  I sometimes regret my choice to pursue the least quantifiable form of athleticism.  But then I night like this happens.  And I go home afterwards and I take off my dance clothes and realize that I'm bleeding and brush burned and bruised.  And I'm sweaty and sore and tired.  And I feel...so relaxed.  I finally feel like every thing in my life is lined up, no matter how stressful the week was.  Yes, nights like this remind me that I'm a dancer to the bone.

Check out my YouTube channel, acrobaticallyapt, a recording of our piece will be uploaded by the time you read this.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

My Mind Only Choreographs What I Can't Complete

Sometimes I have these big visions.  I hear a piece of music and imagine exactly what I would do with it from a choreography stand point.  I even see costumes and lighting; I envision the entire performance within the first time I hear such a song.  Other times, however, I hear a song that I could never, ever, choreograph a piece to.  I wouldn't even try.  I never consider dancing to a song that doesn't move me the first time I hear it (that being said, if I listen to 100 songs, 97 of them will move me in some way).  I have a problem though.

Nearly every time I choreograph a piece in my head it is a duet.  One guy, one girl, dancing together.  And for everything I'm imagining the guy (the guy is more specific than the girl...although I usually see myself dancing in each piece, and tend to see choreography first around my own abilities) as a strong and talented male dancer.  The problem?  Yeah...none of them exist within miles of my hometown.  And if they do someone else must have already discovered them and hid them away from me and the rest of the world.

In the words of my best friend and fellow dancer "My mind only choreographs what I can't complete".  I guess I just need to re-train my brain to choreograph to what I have to work with in that instance...not what I wish I had.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Spandex and Nylon

My dad recently took my twin brother and I on some college visits in the Philadelphia area.  Our first stop was to Temple University.  While I don't think I want to major in dance, I certainly want dance to be a part of my college experience.  Heck, I want to be able to dance for the rest of my life!  The Temple dance program sounded absolutely fantastic, albeit intense.  At Temple, it seemed, you either major in dance or you're stuck in the pedestrian classes with people who simply dance for fun.  I have no problem with either, but for myself I'd prefer a program somewhere in the middle.  One thing we heard, though, was that they take nutrition very seriously with their dancers.  Every dancer is assigned to an adviser who makes sure they are eating healthy and eating enough.  We were told that the stereotypical dancer "image" is not accepted by those in charge of the Temple dance program.  It really made me think...

I'm five feet and nine inches tall.  I weigh around 135-140 pounds (ohmygoshican'tbelieveijustputthatontheinternet).  My BMI is somewhere around a 20.  I wear an 8 or 8.5 shoe size.   My jeans are a size seven and most of my shirts are a size medium.  And ya know what?  I'm okay with that.

Aside from dance classes I do (sometimes) exercise on my own.  Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little...the intensity comes in waves.  I like to run so I often go for runs through my town and I do a lot of situps and pushups.  I (try) to watch what I eat.  I contribute to the fast food industry maybe three or four times a year.  I don't eat very much red meat (more out of personal dislike than an attempt to be healthy) and I attempt to keep the junk food consumption at a minimum.

That being said, there are many hours logged on the couch (although recently I've been stretching on the floor while I watch TV instead of just lounging around) or in front of a computer.  Many afternoons pass where I realize I haven't attempted to be physically active.  Many pounds of candy and potato chips enter my stomach annually.

Now, with all of that to consider, I'm still happy with the way my body looks.  Yes, you could point out any one of my features and I would tell you something I would change about it.  I think that's normal.  There is a difference between embracing the way you look and being under the idea that you are perfect.  Sorry to be a downer, but nobody is perfect.  Nobody.

I'm not really worried about the way I look anymore.  I'd miss too many incredible aspects of life if I was constantly busy trying to change miniscule details about what makes me the way I am.  So I don't worry anymore, I just be.  And ya know what?  I think I still look pretty hot in spandex and nylon!