...

Find your happy place. Find your happy place.

I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before
Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all,
You never know if you never try
To forgive your past and simply be mine

Jobby Job: Oh, The Places I Go!

     I started working at my new/old event security job again last month. I used to do this job from 2004 through 2006 but sadly, my old Cavalier just didn't like driving to LA so often so I stopped calling in for work. (You work when you feel like it.) I did really miss the job though, and just wasn't getting many hours with the vape shop so I reapplied to the security job and got it back! I'm just going to keep track of what I work right here because I work so many awesome things and I want to remember everything.

• High Times Cannabis Cup (Orange Show) 4.15.2016
• High Times Cannabis Cup (Orange Show) 4.16.2016
• Rodeo (Orange Show Event Center) 4.17.2016
• University Of Redlands Graduation (UR) 4.23.2016
• Beyonce Concert (Rose Bowl) 5.14.2016
• LA Block Party (Los Angeles; 1st & Hope) 7.4.2016
• Lost Highway Tour (Glen Helen Pavilion) 7.22.2016
• Lost Highway Tour (Glen Helen Pavilion) 7.23.2016
• Hard Summer Fest (Auto Club Speedway) 7.30.2016
• Hard Summer Fest (Auto Club Speedway) 7.31.2016
• Hard Summer Load Out (Auto Club Speedway) 8.4.2016
• Hard Summer Load Out (Auto Club Speedway) 8.5.2016
• Pink Floyd Tribute (Riverside Municipal Auditorium) 8.13.2016
• Silversun Pickups (Riverside Municipal Auditorium) 8.14.2016
• Guns N Roses (Dodgers Stadium) 8.18.2016
• Freshman Orientation (Claremont Colleges) 8.20.2016
• Race (Orange Show Speedway) 8.20.2016
• Coldplay (Rose Bowl) 8.21.2016
• Freshman Party (Claremont Colleges) 8.26.2016
• Childish Gambino's Pharos (Joshua Tree) 9.2.2016
• Childish Gambino's Pharos (Joshua Tree) 9.3.2016
• Childish Gambino's Pharos (Joshua Tree) 9.4.2016
• Party (Claremont Colleges) 9.17.2016
• CMC Dedication Dinner (Claremont Colleges) 9.30.016
• Oktoberfest (Big Bear Convention Center) 10.1.2016
• Oktoberfest (Big Bear Convention Center) 10.8.2016
• Oktoberfest (Big Bear Convention Center) 10.15.2016
• Oktoberfest (Big Bear Convention Center) 10.22.2016
• Oktoberfest (Big Bear Convention Center) 10.29.2016
• USC vs Oregon (LA Coliseum) 11.5.2016
• Festival Of Lights (Riverside Mission St) 11.25.2016
• CMC Marks Basement Karaoke (Claremont Colleges) 12.1.2016
• Doms Lounge Party (Claremont Colleges) 12.2.2016
• Yule Party (SCC Ballroom, Claremont Colleges) 12.3.2016
• High Times Cannabis Cup (Orange Show) 4.21.2018
• High Times Cannabis Cup (Orange Show) 4.22.2018

Stage Production and Reading List

This is just a spot for me to tick off stage productions I see and books I read as they happen. Just to keep track.

ON THE STAGE:

• The Phantom of the Opera (1997) (Pantages Theatre) (Broadway)
• Carousel (2000) (RCC)
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat  (2001) (RCC)
• Children of Eden (2002) (RCC)
• Rocky Horror Picture Show (11.1.2003)
• Jekyll and Hyde (2004) (High Desert Center For The Arts)
• Little Shop of Horrors (2004) (Ahmanson Theatre)
• The Who's Tommy (VVC)
• Guys and Dolls (VVC)
• Beauty and the Beast (2008) (*was in it) (VVC)
• The Vagina Monologues (2010) (VVC)
• Godspell Jr. (2010) (High Desert Center For The Arts) (SRO)
• You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (2010) (High Desert Center For The Arts)
• Crimes of the Heart (2010) (VVC)
• Brigadoon (2011) (*was in it) (VVC)
• Hairspray (2011) (*was in it) (VVC)
• Almost, Maine (2011) (VVC)
• Spamalot (2012) (Pantages Theatre) (Broadway)
• RENT (2012) (High Desert Center For The Arts)
• The Twits (2013) (VVC)
• The Boy Friend (2.2.2014)(High Desert Center For The Arts) (SRO)
• Next To Normal (2.14.2014) (High Desert Center For The Arts) (Creative Arts Theatre)
• RENT (2014) (VVC)
• Senor Coconut and the Flying Papaya (2014) (VVC)
• The Music Man (7.2014) (AV Civic Center Park) (Hannett Productions)
• Shakespeare Abridged (2014) (High Desert Center For The Arts) (Creative Arts Theatre)
• Rocky Horror Picture Show (10.31.2014) (VVC) (Off-Broadway Performing Arts Club)
• SRO 10 Year Anniversary Show (2015) (*was in it) (High Desert Center for the Arts) (SRO)
• Almost, Maine (2.14.2015) (High Desert Center for the Arts) (Ghostlight Theatre)
• Creative Arts Theatre 5 Year Gala and Preview Show (2/2015) (HDCFTA) (Creative Arts Theatre)
• South Pacific (3.7.2015) (VVC)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (5.1.2015) (Creative Arts Theatre)
• Legally Blonde: The Musical (8.1.2015) (Creative Arts Theatre)

STAGE MUSICALS (online):

• The Drowsy Chaperone (5.20.2013)
•  Thoroughly Modern Millie (6.1.2013)
• Spring Awakening (6.25.2013)
• The Little Mermaid (Pre-Broadway) (6.2.2013)
• Book Of Mormon (Broadway) (1.20.2014)
• Next To Normal (Broadway) (2.15.2014)

BOOKS:

• Little Women 
• Speak (3.1.2011)
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (3.31.2011)
• Bad Girls Don't Die #1 (6.21.2011)
• Rules of the Road #1 (6.30.2011)
• Wintergirls (7.12.2011)
• Keeping The Moon (7.13.2011)
• Forever by Judy Bloom (7.21.2011)
• Hope Was Here (7.24.2011)
• Go Ask Alice (8.12.2011)
• The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (8.22.2011)
• Sweetie (9.20.2011)
• Bunheads (11.7.2011)
• Jumping Off Swings (11.9.2011)
• Life in the Fat Lane (11.20.2011)
• Lock and Key (11.27.2011)
• A Dance for Three (12.2.2011)
• Finding grace (12.3.2011)
• Just Listen (12.5.2011)
• This Lullaby (12.8.2011)
• The Secret Year (12.11.2011)
• Harley (12.18.2011)
• Saving Grace (12.19.2011)
• Hate List (12.20.2011)
• Uglies (12.22.2011)
• Dancergirl (12.22.2011)
• Pretties (12.28.2011)
• Specials (1.3.2012)
• The Lovely Bones (1.5.2012)
• Thirteen Reasons Why (1.8.2012)
• The Year My Sister Got Lucky (1.15.2012)
• Before I Die (1.18.2012)
• Extras (1.23.2012)
• The Summer I Turned Pretty (1.24.2012)
• Along For The Ride (1.27.2012)
• It's Not Summer Without You (1.31.2012)
• We'll Always Have Summer (2.3.2012)
• What Happened To Goodbye (2.10.2012)
• Peaches (2.12.2012)
• The Secret of Peaches (2.24.2012)
• The Beginning of After (3.18.2012)
• The Hunger Games (5.2.2012)
• Catching Fire (5.19.2012)
• Mockingjay (5.22.2012)
• Chopsticks (5.23.2012)
• Lucy In the Sky (5.25.2012)
• In Too Deep (6.6.2012)
• Crank (6.14.2012)
• Fifty Shades of Grey (6.25.2012)
• Glass (6.30.2012)
• Fifty Shades Darker (8.3.2012)
• Fifty Shades Freed (9.30.2012)
• Burned (10.23.2012)
• Identical (11.25.2012)
• Tricks (1.5.2013)
• Perfect (1.25.2013)
• Fallout (7.13.2013)
• Roommate Wanted (11.2013)
• Family Ties (11.2013)
• Slow Burn (12.2013)
• Taking Chances (1.5.2014)
• Winter Wishes (1.5.2014)
• Triangles (1.5.2014)
• Before Forever (1.6.2014)
• Easy (1.12.2014)
• Blog It Out, Bitch (1.23.2014)
• Secrets (2.20.2014)
• Choices (2.20.2014)
• The Fault In Our Stars (6.13.2014)
• The Giver (again) (6.16.2014)
• Mindspeak (11.23.2014(
• Grasping At Eternity (12.24.2014)
• Taking Back Forever (1.1.2015)
• Fighting For Infinity (1.10.2015)

----------------------

ALSO...let's see how much of this list I can knock off :)

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
 22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry 
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume 
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

Swing, Karaoke, and Drunken Shenanigans

     So last night me and the boyfriend were invited to go swing dancing with some dance friends at a bar. I was a little nervous about the idea because I'm not really great at improv. If it were chacha, I'd be more confident, but not with swing so much.

     We got to the bar sometime around 7pm, about 2 minutes before the others (well, the girls) got there. I was wearing my cute new dress, but it's not what I had intended to wear for swing. I have a dress somewhere that would have fit swing better, but that didn't matter because only two people ended up on the dance floor. S and E showed up in full 50's attire. Big circle skirt dresses, with their hair in the pin curls, and Converse on their feet. Petticoats included. They looked adorable.

     We all hung out talking and waiting on F, as E likes him but the boy's so dense, he hasn't done a damn thing about it. I mean, he doesn't have to, but if you're not interested, let the other person know so they're not trying and trying and getting zip back in return. That's gotta damage the ego...just let her know one way or the other, man! When he got there, he was texting E from his car so boyfriend and I got up and went to go drag him inside. lol. Once he came in, the bartender/server came over to see if we wanted drinks so my boyfriend ordered a White Russian for me. I'd never had it but it's a new favorite. And they're very generous with the vodka. My kind of drink. I'm a lightweight though so I got drunk after two.

   Boyfriend and S ended up playing pool and finally E and F got on the dance floor for a bit. I just sat and talked to S and E's roommate, D. This all continued for awhile and F and E came back and we all kind of chatted for a bit.

     Then 9pm rolled around and karaoke started. I love karaoke. After MUCH nagging from my group, I went to go choose a song. I sang "Right To Be Wrong" by Joss Stone. I almost always warm up with that one for karaoke. Okay, look...I can sing. I'm not the best, by any means, but I do okay. I love getting up there and singing and the applause at the end. I feel special. I dunno...I just love the whole experience.

     After that song, I went to see if they had any musical theatre songs (I know, I know...) but the two I asked for weren't in there so I signed up for "I Will Always Love You" by our lady Whitney Houston. S and E's roommate was all "You better be good and hit those notes or we can't be friends." Girl. I do alright. Oh man, when I sang it at a different bar with like 50-60 people there, they went NUTS when I sang it. So I was thinking it would be alright, though there were like 10ish people in the bar this time. Small crowd. So the song started, and as it starts getting into it, I'm hearing "Yeah!"and "Sing it, girl!" from one lady with her hand in the air and eyes closed. It just fired me up even more. Then came that part. You know...the key change. (*Boom* AND IIIIIIIIIIII) On that part, everyone there went nuts! They were yelling and clapping... it was so awesome!! Then it ended and they went nuts. It was awesome. I love moments like that.

     Then I sat down, and the DJ was playing MY VOICE over the system. Me singing Whitney. It was so weird! As I'm saying "Oh my god, that's me...why is he playing my voice?", there was a lady crying and going outside. Her husband passed us, saying "You made her cry." And I was like "What? I'm sorry..." So I went outside and sat on the bench next to her and she was wiping her eyes and telling me about how "I'm not gay...but I LOVED Whitney. I loved her. When she died, people didn't call and ask if I'd heard, they called and asked if I was okay. I loved her." D (roommate) had come out by then and was talking to her too. I guess when the song  was starting, she was thinking "Oh...no. I can't do this." and then I "slaughtered it," as D said. And that made it okay, but she got emotional because Whitney was her boo.

     It was a pretty incredible night. I sang two more songs but as I hadn't done karaoke in so long, and they didn't have a book, but rather, a computer to just look up the songs with, I couldn't remember my usuals. Next time I'll be more ready. I miss going every week to do karaoke. I want to do that again. One guy told her that the local gay bar (I love that place) does karaoke contests every month for a cash prize and that I should try because I could win (!!). Also, the DJ recorded every song I sang and offered to give them to me for $10 but I didn't have it. He said he has a recording studio if I ever want to record.

     It was an amazing night. A lot more went on, but I already have a hard time making short blog posts. lol.

Subbing Foundations

     Today I got to sub for a Foundations class. I was asked to about a week ago because the instructor for the class (the studio's owner) was having surgery today. I got there after that class started because I was told more than likely, nobody was coming. One of the seven year olds that takes that class was sitting in the parking lot with her mother in their car. Whoops. I opened the studio (we normally open at 4pm and it was well after 3. After being asked if the class was going on, I said I could teach in my 4pm slot as I was not expecting students until next week. I teach my 17+ ballet at 4 (and then 12+ Lyrical at 5). The mother said that would be fine and I called the manager so the mother could pay over the phone and then the mother went to wait in the car. I actually prefer the parents to not be in the room as I find it to be distracting for the kids. We don't have a hallway or anything, just some beautiful handmade wooden benches that are right on the sideline of the dance floor and sometimes the parents/grands are a little bit...loud. I love them but yeah, it's sometimes difficult working with them right there, sometimes saying things to the kids.

     Anyways, I had "A" color for a bit until 4pm hit and then I had her sit on the floor so that we could start with some stretches. I have subbed a class that had her once before, months ago, so it was nice to be able to work with her again (though it was just half of a modern class before, as the instructor was running behind, and this was ballet technique, basically). After some stretching, I had her do some ab work. She is only 7 so it was fairly easy. After around a minute and a half of that,it was time to do some barre so we dragged it to center and got to it! One of the things stressed that I do was to work on getting her to remember some vocab. That was good since I try to do that with my Littles class that her age falls into (my class is 5-8 year olds). I have noticed that no matter how many times I've had my Littles repeat terms after me and no matter how much I say the terms as we're at barre (a lot), it never seems to stick, so I thought I'd try something new today. I wrote out everything we would be working on at barre and center/across-the-floor on the mirror with a dry-erase marker. After I felt she knew that term, I had her find it and cross it off. We were pretty much going top-to-bottom, left-to-right so that was easy enough but I wanted her to see what the words looked like as well.

     We started with just foot positions, which she mostly knew. She did get stuck at 4th and did 5th in it's place but I told her we could go 1,2,3,5,4 because to get to 4th, I do find it easier to slide forward from 5th. After she got the feet, I showed her the arms for each, which she hadn't done before. After I felt she had them all down, I crossed that one off because it was too high for her to reach. Then I moved on to plies. We, again, went through all five positions (both hands on the barre...the young ones do that here). Then to help with tendus, I told her to imagine drawing a line in the sand , but had her going ball THEN point the toe. We did these en croix. Then we did degages en croix. Then after both were done, I showed a tendu and asked what it was called and she said "Degage?" so I gently reminded her that degages pop up off the ground. Then I mixed them up, doing a degage back, tendu side, degage side, tendu front (for example) until I was certain she could remember the term to the move. She was excited to cross two things off of the mirror. She was so adorable!

     Next was rond de jambes. She said the first two parts right and then was having trouble with "jambe" so I asked what she thought "rond" meant, and I held my arms overhead in 5th. She said "Round!" so I said "Very good! And 'Jambe' means 'leg,' so 'rond de jambe' means 'round of leg'." Then she caught on to what I was talking about and showed me a rond de jambe, so I told her she had it and we did them en croix a terre. Then I went over the difference between a terre and en lair. Once she had those, she crossed them off. We then did battements. I had her say "Batman" and then "Bahtmahn" and she recognized it and we were golden for that one too!

     She was really bright, enthusiastic, and had an excellent memory. We were almost finished with barre at that point, and across-the-floor was just as fun. I swear it was! Once we were done with everything I had for class, we had under ten minutes left, so I went over the whole list with her, but this time, I'd point (must resist spelling it "POINTE"!) to a word and have her say it aloud and then demonstrate it for me. Would you believe this seven year old girl got all but one right? I was so happy! I rewarded "A" with a handful of marshmallows once we were done and sent her on her happy little way. I seriously had a blast and I'm certain she did too. I will definitely be using this method in my Littles class.

P.S. This kid's feet were incredible, by the way! When seated on the floor with her legs extended, her toes were nearly on the floor. Flexible feet and strong ankles already. I'm jealous.

2014

   Though this year, like every year before it, had rough patches and bouts with depression, it was definitely one of the best I've ever had. I thought I would make a list with all of the accomplishments and awesome things I've had happen over the course of 2014. I want to do this every year, maybe making a blog for the year and adding as awesome things happen.

• Though Johnny and I had our first date on December 15th of last year, most of our relationship happened this year. He has changed my life for the better, and I couldn't be happier. Also, we did the adult thing on January 1st so...um...yeah. Hi. *Tries not to say we brought the New Year in with a bang. Or 5.*
  
• I met Johnny's daughter, Ariel, in February, I think. She was two years old at the time and is now three and a half. I love her to death.
  
• Johnny got me a gym membership again and it's a lot of fun to go workout with my love.
  
• Johnny took his first ever dance class! Actually, he took modern and ballroom in the Spring. He wanted to get into some of the things I'm into and he had never been onstage before. At the end of Spring, my hopeless dance partner for the chacha just couldn't get it and kept dropping me so I taught Johnny the dance and, though he was nervous as hell, he did it! I'm so proud of him. He ended up taking Dance Production and Tap 1 in the fall and did marvelously.
  
• February 15th, I auditioned for and was hired as a ballet instructor at a local dance studio. I teach Intermediate Ballet there.
  
• In October, I think, a friend of mine that was working at the dance studio quit and gave me her class. She wanted someone who had good technique to take over (awesome compliment) so she gave me her Littles (5 to 8 year olds). I am so glad it happened, though I feel bad that she quit. I do love those kids.
  
• I choreographed my first numbers! I hadn't choreographed a whole song before and now I have, and I have found that I really love it. I started a number (Step In Time) in the summer but had to switch gears to prepare for the Christmas show, so never finished it. Now I have choreographed a Littles dance to Christmas, Don't Be Late, and choreographed to Hello for my older class. I got to come up with costumes, which was difficult at first, but once I narrowed the Hello costume down, it all fell into place. The other costume was harder, because since they were dancing to the Chipmunks, something classical looking wouldn't fit. But as it was a Christmas show, neon colors didn't work. I ended up making them costumes that made them look like candy canes. Too cute.
  
• Backing up a little, I got to do my first partner dance in the Spring. The Chacha. Because I'm not thin, I usually get looked over when it comes to partner dances, since the girls usually have to be lifted. There was only one lift in this one, at the end, and Johnny did a great job with it. It's not all about weight. If you use your core, weight can be overlooked. If you don't hold your core, then even if you're thin, the guy has to work a lot harder and it can look sloppy.
  
• Back to fall. I got into my first small number dance in the hard Dance Production class. We did a beautiful lyrical dance to The Only Exception. Only nine women made it into the number. It was originally six. Three of the girls partner for the second half, but the instructor let three more girls in so that more got the chance to do it. It's one of the most beautiful dances I've ever done, and also one of the most technical and difficult, which was the reason for auditions.
  
• I got another lead in a number! I've had one other lead before, as the devil in the Danse Macabre number in 2012. This time, I was Elsa in the Frozen number! It was a lot of fun, though frustrating at times. The instructor kept changing the choreography as we learned it. She would teach us (Anna and Elsa) a section one Friday, only to change the whole thing the next Friday. It made it difficult to remember, and I usually remember choreography easily. In all, I'm really glad it happened. That, and Ariel's reaction to it was so adorable. From what I was told, when I come out onstage (to Let It Go), she gasped and said "Reeka is Frozen??" She has been calling me Reeka since she couldn't pronounce Erika when we met. IF she tries now, it's Eggika. So cute.
  
• I live with Johnny and while it's not always perfect, I still love it. He puts me in check and lets me know when I'm being ridiculous. lol. Sometimes I really need that.
  
• I have had my first dance concert as a teacher. I have gone over parts already and still need to write a blog just on the show, but it's something I will never forget.
  
• I have babysat my nephew quite a few times and I love that. I love him so much. He's already got so much personality and I love seeing how much he's changed just over a couple of weeks. The other day, on Christmas, he grabbed a phone and put it the wrong way to his ear and if someone said "Ring ring, ring ring!" He'd say "Ho?" ahahaha. Can't quite say "Hello?" but it's cuter this way anyways.
  
  I'll add more things as I think of them but just typing these up has made me smile. It really has been a great year.

Class Number Struggles

     It's proving to be very difficult to keep consistency with students at this studio. I started out with my Intermediate Ballet class, which I should possibly just call Ballet since I end up with beginners or students of all levels. I really don't mind at all. I do like the complexity of more difficult choreography and barre work, but I also love seeing a student who has never taken dance (or not since they were little) grow and grow.

   I started my first class by just teaching my boyfriend, J. As I said in my previous post, he partially took my class so I could figure out how to fit everything into just an hour. The next week, I had a girl come in and take it on a whim and loved it so much that she signed up for the month. Jean kept coming, so that was great. I think I may have just had her for a few weeks. Then a friend came and brought her twin sister and their friend. I'd danced with all three in ballet classes before. T was with me for months, as was Jean. Then another of T's friends came and she was there for months as well. T was most advanced and en pointe. Jean and T's friend, Jenn, were both basically beginners. Neither had ever danced so it was interesting trying to manager the different skill levels. T and Jenn were adults and Jean was 16. It was mostly kept at a more basic level but some of the steps in the dance were more advanced (saut de basques, tour jetes, beat jumps, etc).

   So anyways, first Jean dropped off because she got a summer job. I was bummed out because she was my first beginner to teach and I was thoroughly enjoying watching her progress from week to week. Then I had to switch the class time to two hours earlier and I never saw Jenn again. Then around a month or two later, I lost T as she was transferring to a university over an hour away. I had no students for around a month and then a 20 year old I was in a musical (Hairspray) with in 2011 messaged me about wanting to take my class. She hadn't danced since she was 6 so she's basically a beginner. I am loving teaching her. She takes corrections well, is super quick with learning the terminology, and has passion and drive. I just need more like her! I heard I should be getting a 12 year old who is moving up because of the age group so I'm happy for that. My next dance requires at least 4 so I hope to get that...at the very least!

   Now on to the Littles! When I got the class handed down to me, there were two students - Lydia and Dalia. Lydia is seven and Dalia is six. My first day teaching, Lydia was absent but I had little Dalia. She was so cute and sweet! She had good focus and good technique/knowledge of the steps for her age. There was a three year old that dropped in that day to try it (even though it wasn't her age group) and we played games that I combined with ballet steps and they seemed to have a blast.

   Lydia is a little firecracker. She knows the technique and picks up everything quickly but she is always trying to test me. She'll start out doing rond de jambes right and then when she thinks I'm not looking, will just kinda move her leg a little and squint at me with a little mischievous smile on her face. She keeps me on my toes (ha), for sure.

   I have since gotten two more students. Lilly is seven and though I have a difficult time keeping her attention sometimes, has passion for ballet that astounds me. I put on some music and she immediately recognized it as being from The Nutcracker. The same happened with music from Swan Lake. That makes me happy since she's so little. Her grandma also tells me that Lilly gets up at 5:30 in the morning every day, puts on her classical music, and practices barre and stretching, and so on. Good kid, that one.

  Samantha, I fear, has come and gone. She was five and transferred from another class into mine but I haven't seen her in three weeks now, so I don't think she's returning. It's so frustrating. And I haven't seen her or Dalia since the class before Thanksgiving.

   I choreographed a little dance to Christmas, Don't Be Late when I had three students, because there are three Chipmunks and had them all (in turn) doing a soutenu turn when each Chipmunk name was spoken. "Simon" - Lydia, "Theodore" - Dalia, "Alvin...ALvin...ALVIN!" - Lilly (on the first mention). When Samantha came to us, I just had her between Dalia and Lilly so timing-wise, it still worked out. Now that I'm down to two, there is too much time. I told them to do two soutenu turns now but it still doesn't quite work, but we will have to deal with that since the show is Monday.

I have lots of flyers and now that this show is about to come and go, I can get back to plastering any place I can think of with them. I have held off for the last month or so because it would be too little time for someone to learn the respective dances. So I'm crossing my fingers that I pick up more students! I want to keep my classes. I absolutely love what I'm doing.

Littles, Biggies, dance in general

     So, it's been quite some time since I've written (bad Erika!). Life has been pretty crazy hectic so blogging has been put on the back burner. I really need to make it more consistent.

     I begun working at a dance studio in February. Or, rather, I was hired in February, but began actually teaching in March. I started out teaching Intermediate Ballet for ages 12 and up (adults included). My first class was just my boyfriend. He signed up to take a class partially so that I can figure out how to cram everything -- warm-up, barre, across the floor, center -- into just an hour. I'm used to taking hour and a half long technique classes. Also, he wanted to take ballet. It took a few classes for me to iron out how to manager just an hour, but eventually I got it.

   I ended up, at one point, having three full-time students. By full-time, I mean that they paid for the month and got four classes, one class a week. My first dance was to Step In Time from Mary Poppins. It was okay, but I was starting out with choreographing my own dance and that song was familiar to me. I never finished the choreography because my students ended up dropping due to work and the class time changing, which was a real bummer.

   A friend of mine was teaching a Littles ballet class (ages 5-8) and after a couple of months, ended up quitting and giving her class to me because she likes my experience and level of technique. So that's really awesome because now I have two classes and the kids really are darling--most of the time. Ha. That age range is a little tough.

 We currently are at the end of rehearsing for our upcoming show that's December 22nd, so I've got two pieces in that show. It's so exciting! I absolutely love choreographing so it's very exciting that my choreography that I've worked hard on and ended up totally loving is going to be seen by tons of people! My Littles are doing a dance to Christmas, Don't Be Late--that Chipmunks song--and they have so much fun doing it and look ADORABLE. My sole older student and I are doing a duet to Hello by Evanescence. This one took the most work, as I really didn't want any repeat sections and wanted to pour some emotion into it, therefore making it slightly lyrical. But it's my class and my choreography so I was able to take creative liberties. I'm very excited for this show.