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D.C. Day 3 – The Art Part
Day 3! Full disclosure, it was hard to get out of bed today. It’s been a long time since I’ve walked around literally all day, so I did wake up very sore. Not to mention with a little bit of a scratchy throat. I let myself sleep a little more and had a slow morning….
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D.C. Day 2 – Monumental
Day 2 of our trip meant the first day of dance classes! After an early check-in for the conference, some of us went to Uptown Cafe for a bit of breakfast and a lot of caffeine. It was a cute spot, situated in what looked like the George Washington Law building. The bagel was delicious,…
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D.C. Day 1(ACDFA Nationals) – A Day Of Trains
Today was our day of trains. We began our trip to Washington D.C. today for the National College Dance Festival by arriving at the Columbia, S.C. AMTRAK station at approximately 3:30am. Our train was supposed to arrive around 4:00am. After some delays and a whole lot of waiting around, we finally boarded and left the…
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Teach!
Being a teacher is one of the best side jobs a dancer can have. But oddly enough, I never thought that I’d want to teach, or that I would make a good teacher. Although I’ve had plenty of dance training, my teaching experience has been sporadic prior to this year. I was a student mentor…
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Expectation/Competition
There are a couple of things that go hand in hand with training to be a dancer. Discipline, perseverance, respect, competition, and expectation. They’re not necessarily negatives, but I would say that they often come at a price. The first two have definitely helped as they’ve spilled into my every-day-life, and my personality. I have…
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One Classy Lady
On Teacher Appreciation Day, it seems only fitting to honor one of the most influential teachers in my life. Very recently my beloved director “Miss Jonnie” passed away. She led a truly inspiring life, and I was so incredibly fortunate to be a part of it. Miss Jonnie welcomed me to her studio when I…
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That’s A Wrap
Well, that’s all folks! Four magical years of performing in Columbia with USC Dance. Approximately 1 week ago the curtain fell on my last performance at the University of South Carolina, and it is incredibly bittersweet. Over the past four years I’ve been so privileged to perform in 4 Fall Shows, 4 Student Showcases, 3…
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IT’S NOT THE GUNS.
In my first year at university, a teacher I didn’t know shepherded me into a room with no windows. I tried to ask what was going on, and he kindly asked me to please just come inside. Confused, and sitting in a room with my peers, I got a text message on my phone, alerting…
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Beating the Burnout
If you’ve ever been involved in an activity long term, you’ve probably heard of or witnessed the alleged “burnout”. You may even have come face to face with the beast itself. Burnout: when you’re just not sure that you can physically and mentally handle any more. I think everyone experiences burnout differently, and at different…
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Simple Self Care
We live in a social media driven age. We get our news from other people’s timelines, or threads tailored especially to our interests. We have the luxury of retaking and editing pictures, videos, posts, all so that we can show the best versions of our selves. Even our self-care routines have become publicized. And often…