Hello Everyone!

What motivates you?

I have many motivating factors.  Whether it be with my kids, my husband, with my daughter’s dance or son’s sports, it’s requires motivation.  It is about completing a job well done.  I always reach for higher expectations than I could go for.  There is no job I take on to do half way.  I think that in life when you give more than you have to, you will almost never regret putting the effort in.  Even if the outcome isn’t what I expected or hoped for at times, it still makes it all worth it.

Of course there are always the wins.  The times where you reach high…almost too high and you surprised yourself.  There is never shame in shooting for the stars, even if you fall short.  There is only shame in not trying hard enough.

So now I ask…what will you reach for next?  How high will you strive to climb with that dream?

Hello everyone!!!

I’ve had a very fulfilling and busy 2 weeks back home teaching and designing costumes and now I am back to school! Going back home to CA to teach was great because I definitely missed teaching and it’s really nice to know how much the kids have missed me. I have definitely missed them!

I’m done with my first week back to school and I am sore! I didn’t think I would be as sore because at least I was teaching and taking a few classes during my visit, but I guess it wasn’t enough. I have to comment on one my teachers, Jolinda. She’s probably one of the best ballet and pointe teachers I have ever had. Great teachers are very hard to come by, and she’s definitely one of them. I’ve had so many fabulous teachers in CA, but to find one here in NYC and at my school is just amazing. She pushes me, is really articulate about what she wants to see, definitely gives you great corrections and positive feedback when you do something good . I fortunately get to have her for ballet and pointe 3 times a week (I wish I had more!). I just had to say something about her because she’s a great teacher, and I hope to be able to teach and inspire students like her one day, especially in the ballet and pointe field.

It’s back to work with my choreography, and I have a few projects underway. I’m working a solo for my composition class, and every week we are to choreograph about 40 seconds to a minute to experience the choreographic and creative process. My teacher, Phyllis, doesn’t want us to whip out the entire solo right away. She wants us to add on a little bit every week so we can edit, and continue to think about our creative process as we’re doing it.

Another project I’m working on is a choreography piece for the 1st year MFA concert. It’s a concert that is only open to the 1st year MFA’s and we’re able to choreograph a piece if we like. Almost everyone is choreographing with the exception 1 or 2 people. I have 6 female dancers, and have already started rehearsals. I am working with the same composer I worked with last semester so I’m just waiting on the music so I can put the movement vocabulary in and tweak from there.

Lastly, my Composers, Choreographers, and Designers (CC&D) class requires that we choreograph a piece that utilizes a strong relationship with set designers, costume designers, and composers for music. We are allowed to think BIG. So this concert is normally very exciting and creative. I have 2 other partners in this project – Wen-Jen and Julia. We’ve come up with a great idea, but now we have to solidify our concept and think about how we’re going to try and portray that through movement.

Those are the projects I’m working on this semester! I will keep you all updated on the creative process and hopefully it’ll all work out!

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for reading!!!