change is good

What happened in the last year? Write about something you can do now that you couldn't do a year ago.

This writing prompt from Writer's Workshop goes along perfectly with today's special celebration. 

Many great things have happened in the last year. Switching to another dance school is a main one. Others include a trip to Universal Studios, meeting new friends,  and seeing my first professional ballet (and meeting a professional ballerina).

A year ago I couldn't dance en pointe. I also didn't know as many ballet terms as I do now. Nowadays bourrés en pointe are no big deal and actually quite fun. I feel like I've made fantastic progress in just a few months. 

What mile stones did you reach this past year?



"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book.
Write a good one."

Another year comes to a close.

Oh, life est beautiful.

a new year

photo source: morguefile // font added: me

A new year, a fresh start here I come! There's a whole year in front of us, waiting for our mark to be made. That's why I included a picture of open tracks.

 I hope this year is wonderful for all of you. Enjoy the special night and celebrate!

Have any plans? How do you spend New Years Eve?

:)

And of course, we can't forget about resolutions!

I thought ahead and posted mine already.

See them here.

What are yours?

source

 Bye 2011...HELLO 2012!

I better get used to writing that out!

daily humor

source

A friend of mine received a pair of cute slipper boots for Christmas, fell in love with them and has been wearing them constantly around the house ever since.

When heading out she overlooked checking out her outfit in the mirror.

Whoops.

She ended up going to meet a friend at a restaurant in slippers. 

But hey-- at least they were cute! :)

What had you laughing today?

[picture from randalrauser.com]

I'm going to see the Nutcracker today-- SUPER EXCITED!

Blog about it will be up in a day or two.

:)

RSP: Astronomical Chocolate

While visiting Avan Jogia's tumblr (yes, he's the dude from the Nickelodeon show Victorious) I came across these super duper awesome ASTRONOMICAL CHOCOLATES (also referred to as Wakusei Shokora). At first they didn't even appear to be chocolates to me. But further investigation led me to find out that they are in fact real. Or at least seem to be.

They are available at a Japanese chocolate shop, called the Rihga Royal hotel in Kita-ku, Osaka. . .and that very shop can be found here.

It's just too bad that they can't be bought in general stores. . .because I would so buy them. They are 400 yen a piece, a box of eight sells for 3,200 yen.

Aren't they just awesome?!

P.s. RSP stands for Random Short Post. Hope you enjoyed my first ever RSP!!! :D

DECEMBER DOTM: Hayden Hopkins

I've decided to spotlight a favorite dancer of mine monthly. It will be called Dancer of the Month or DOTM for short. (It would be neat if someday I could interview our DOTM. . .oh, my crazy dreams! Just an idea to toss around in my head.)

Our first DOTM is. . .

HAYDEN HOPKINS!

Hayden Hopkins is a 14 year old dancer with a popular Youtube channel where she posts videos of her performances at competitions. She is home schooled due to her busy dance schedule.

I have been watching her videos ever since I came across her channel this summer. She is an incredibly beautiful dancer with a bright future ahead of her.

[ Photographer unknown. Via Hayden's official Facebook. ]

My heart literally stopped beating for a second the moment I saw this photograph. I absolutely ADORE Melanie Moore. Melanie is one of my inspirations, I fell in love with her the second I saw her audition on So You think You Can Dance. She's beautiful. They're beautiful. Oh, I love this picture!

Hayden, I love her expression. She seems so incredibly cheery, which is what dance is all about: being happy.

Find Hayden on:

Youtube| Twitter | Facebook

Watch YourDanceChannel's interview with Hayden

Love Hayden? Who should be January's DOTM?

Maybe it could even be you!

[ Credit for 1st two photos featured in this post: David Hoffman Photography. See more of David Hoffman's photography of Ms.Hopkins in this Youtube video. The second two photos are from Hayden's Facebook. ]

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve! The magical holiday has snuck up on me this year. It seems as the years go on, time goes by faster and faster. I'm incredibly excited though-- after all, Christmas is my favorite holiday. Family, friends, happiness, joy, jolly music, food, presents, love, snow. . . :)

Dance classes will be starting up in one week. It's been 1 week since I've been to a formal class. 2 weeks is a long winter break, for me at least because dance is usually a constant thing: weekly classes all year round including the summer. I can bear a break, it's probably for my own good. I need to relax and take a break. I'm still practicing though! Pirouettes, stretching, random dancing around. . .
Dancing is something I will never stop. ♥


I have discovered a beautiful dance photography project via Hannah's blog. It's called Dancers Among Us, Jordan Matter photography. The picture featured at the beginning of this post is an awesome winter-themed picture from this very photography project.

More pictures can be found here: http://www.dancersamongus.com/

Have a jolly holiday everyone!

Best wishes

Dream Companies

[ From the Ballerina Project ]

Lately I've been thinking about which dance companies I'd love to dance with someday. In an article in Pointe Magazine, I found a few interesting companies and I checked out their websites. I couldn't help but notice that there weren't many summer intensives for modern/contemporary, my favorite style of dance. It seems like there are so many ballet intensives, but maybe I just need to look some more, after all this search of mine has only been on for a few hours. But, here are my current dream dance companies.

(In no specific order)

Collective Body Dance Lab- after watching some excerpts from their duos I found myself interested in finding out more. I love the artsy style of their dancing.

Armitage Gone! Dance- I really enjoyed watching excerpt from Three Theories, one of their repertoires. Edgy ballet especially en pointe is awesome.

Cedar Lake- yes, the one from the The Adjustment Bureau, that's one of the main reasons why this company is on my list. I loved, loved, loved their work during the movie, contemporary ballet is so beautiful.


As you can see, this list is pretty short so far, but it's a work in progress. I'd like to add more as time goes by. Any suggestions are welcomed!

What are your dream dance companies? What makes you choose a certain company?

New Year's Resolutions and Goals!

[ Hey, it's a soccer "GOAL"! Get it? Maybe not. But anyway,

here is the photo credit ]

Now that my intro is over and done with (phewf!) I can get to really posting. And with the new year coming up closer than you know, it's time I'd start thinking about my resolutions. And while I'm at it I'll add some goals for next year as in September when school and dance begin.

My New Year's Resolutions are as follows:
~ Practice.Practice.Practice. Every single day.
~ Get more muscle (core) and become more flexible.
~ Practice pointe every other day. Or maybe even every single day.Not sure how this one will work out...
~ Listen to my teachers. Remember criticism and fix my mistakes.

Over the Summer:
~ Take a bunch of classes. You're required to take at least 1 ballet so I'll be there anyway!
~ SIGN UP FOR FALL CLASSES EARLY! Get first spot. This past year the class I was supposed to be in was full so I took another class with a different age group. Not going to happen next year!
~ Practice. Don't get all rusty just because it's summer!

For next fall:
~ Take advantage of all of the opportunities. Go to the workshops, audition for the productions, etc.
~ Take as many ballet classes as possible.
~ IMPROVE!!!



So that's it (for now!)
What are your new year's resolutions or goals? I'd love to hear them. :)

Well Hello!

[ Photo credit unknown. Ooh, a mystery! If you happen to know

where in the world this photo came from, feel free to tell me. ]

Well hello!
I'm Caity and dance is one of the biggest parts of my life. I hope to continue my appreciation of dance throughout my entire life, no matter what career I pursue. I started dancing around age 4 in a ballet/jazz/tap workshop class. As time went on I stated to take the styles in separate classes and experimented with hip hop. At age 10 I started ballet after a substitute dance instructor suggested seeing I had some sort of potential. That class I had some strange, random sense to point my toes a lot and to dance with poise. I truly believe that is the reason for the teacher suggesting I being ballet. I took ballet for the next three years. At the end of the 3rd year, my mother and I came up to a decision: this dance studio was not right for me. They were more recreational and did not stress technique or anything much at all. It seemed like most of the girls in my ballet class (which was very few) were only there because of their parent, or because they needed to be in that class to be able to have a solo. No one wanted to admit that they loved (or even liked) ballet. And most importantly, their one and only ballet teacher was practically paralyzed and could barely move. Not very suited to teach beginners ballet.

And so that following summer, right after the yearly recital ended and classes were over and done with, my mother and I started our search for a new dance school. A close friend of mine suggested a certain dance school relatively close by. I signed up and took their summer classes. It was refreshing. I started fall classes taking ballet (FINALLY GETTING ON POINTE!!!!! Exclamation necessary), jazz, and modern. At this new school we DANCE, take advantage of Opportunities and perform. But most importantly, in these few months that I've been here, I've learned more than I had all 3 years at the old dance studio. I'm continually developing better technique, more grace, flexibility, and oh so much more.

I'd like to document my experiences and improvements here on this blog.
That is my reasoning for creating such form of documentation.
I hope you'll come along for the ride.

-Caity
:]