Just Dance

Dance is amazing! I've been very busy rehearsing and performing and working and taking classes, so I haven't posted in quite a while.  

The last show I was in was Le Cid on April 17th.  Venti Petrov choreographed an original ballet and we performed it one night.  It was a lot fun and we put a lot of work into it for just a one night showing.  There's talk of us putting on another one in June, so I hope that happens! 

This is the cast!

And some new friends!

Aina-she's 18 and amazing...lives in Long Island

Pralaya- Beautiful and incredibly funny

Igor- My partner in Le Cid- a great dancer and choreographer. :)

Nolan- A sweet person and wonderful dancer

Venti- the choreographer and powerful dancer

Cast party!!! Incredibly fun and surreal experience. 

More dancing to come! I'm performing at the Tribeca Film Festival this Saturday.  I love living in New York City!

The Life of Pi

I LOVE to read!  Picking up a book and never wanting to put it down is the best feeling.  However, it can be kind of like an addiction, because when I find a really good book, I get sucked in and stay up all night flipping pages.  I dream about the characters, even!  It's crazy.  Sometimes I feel a little guilty when I put off the things I really need to do, just to finish a few more pages.  I hate to admit it, but it's sort of like a TV addiction, though better for your brain.  However, I always claim to not be a TV watcher, not addicted to movies, and not a couch potato.  But am I an addicted to my orange papasan chair and the latest book? 

...yes, I am.  

So, The Life of Pi! The first 15 pages or so I kept falling asleep, but since it had been recommended to me several times, I kept picking it back up, and after finishing page 15, I couldn't put the book down.  Good thing I spent Christmas here without any friends, haha.  Or was it a good thing that I had such a good book to keep me company while I was away from my loved ones for the holidays?  Probably the latter.  My life was suddenly paralleled to the book...I was stranded in Manhattan, with the book as my tiger, keeping me alive.  I also loved the focus on different religions throughout the book. :) I attended Mass for the first time in December.  Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral! So amazing! And like Pi, I sometimes wonder a bit about why all the world religions cannot live in peace.  

Also, I got to see my amazing friend, Chris, sing in the St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir.  What a joy! Such great music, and wonderful sacred feelings.  

What a great book.  I would recommend it to pretty much anyone.  My little brother would love it; someone who is soul searching, lonely, lost, or just looking for a fun adventure story.  What good books would you like to share? Any recent amazing reads?

New Hair!

So, I got bangs... :)

They're different than I expected them to be, and I got way more hair cut off than I expected, but I like it! :)

It's kind of fun to feel bangs bounce on your forehead, and a good way to keep me a teeny bit warmer.

I'm going to become a yogi

So...I like yoga.  It's good for me.  I'll admit that it can be a little boring to me sometimes.  There are so many sun salutations and when you do them like 1 million times in a class it can become monotonous.  So why am I complaining about yoga, right now? I shouldn't be, because I just bought an annual membership to Pure Yoga!!

Why Pure Yoga? Cause it's actually the cheapest yoga membership near to me, and I got a really good deal.

Why yoga? Because it's good for me, and I want to get in amazing shape for the upcoming auditions.  Plus, I secretly love yoga (depending on the teacher).  I feel very calm afterwards, and you get a good little workout.

Why am I not super excited about Pure Yoga? Because it has a very uppity feel to it.  Yoga should be more granola.  More about the actual movement than about the nice surroundings and the snotty people taking it because yoga is the cool thing to do.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.  I'm excited.  Flexibility! Strength! Zen! Can't wait!

Namaste! ;)

Christmas Decorations!

My ward combined with the family ward and decorated wreaths for an Enrichment activity this week.  Audrey and I went at the very end and gathered a wreath for each of us and lots of decorating materials!

My wreath turned out like this:

Audrey's looks like this: :)

However, we had a hard time getting mine to stay on the mantle, and Audrey didn't like where her wreath was placed, so we moved it to the kitchen.  

Now we're going to get a Christmas tree, most likely today! :) Other upcoming decorations are a Star of Bethlehem and an angel. :)

We're excited.  I haven't really decorated for Christmas since I was at home because my other roommates have had Christmas trees or decorations, and I haven't had the time or money to contribute.  This year, however, we're going to town!! It's going to look amazing. :)

My mom came to visit me!!!

I had dreamt of my mom coming to visit me in NYC, of us shopping and having fun, but I just thought it wasn't going to happen. But, surprise! It did! We had so much fun. She came to see my show, so she got here on Saturday, but all we were able to do together was go eat dinner after the show at some Italian restaurant. It was ok...I got Wild Mushroom Fettucinne but it was only button mushrooms that were not very good. A little disappointing. We also walked to Time Square and the M&M Factory. We saw where The Late Show is filmed, and my mom was pretty exciting about that (dark picture, though :P). We even had to switch shoes on the adventure because my mom was in heels and I was just in these comfy boots, and her feet were hurting. Haha, good times.

Other things we did while she was here were:

Seeing the temple, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, lots and lots of shopping, eating at Gobo, Central Park, more eating, visiting the Village, the NBA store, and more. Here are more pics. I can't figure out how to put them in between the text. :P haha

Dancing Again

Ballets With a Twist by Marilyn Klaus was my latest performance, and it was definitely due. My previous real performance to that was Nutcracker back in December 2008. I had begun to wonder why I love dancing and why I put myself through the hell it sometimes is. Don't get me wrong, I love going to class and perfecting my technique and dancing skills, but it gets frustrating living in NYC and getting rejected at so many auditions. However, when I got on stage with the lights warming my body as I moved and the audience watching the captivating choreography, I remembered why I love to perform, and why I have chosen this path for my life. Now I just need to find another project and a company to dance with full time. :)