Tuesday, December 29, 2009

You. Better. Work.

The fall semester has wrapped up and winter break is well underway. It feels good to be done with another semester. I can officially call myself a senior. All of the hard work I have put into my education has led to this. Everything I have been working for has been for this year. My final year as an official student (I hope to always be a student in life). I look back, though, and wonder where the time went.

Nevertheless, I am happy for a break. This break, I am spending with my best friend and love, Mark Toland. He is a magician in the great city of L.A. What an exciting adventure this provides me! It is my last year in college and I am already getting a glimpse of what life has in store post-graduation. The real exciting news that I want to share is that I have already found work. This is so promising, for me. I am not even a college grad and I have landed a short gig teaching over winter break. The winter break that I am fortunately spending in L.A.

This is exciting to someone new. This is wonderful for someone just starting out. My first job that I can list on my resume. Wow. How cool is that? It really renews my faith that I can do this. I can really venture into this crazy world of art, performance, entertainment, teaching, and whatever else life has in store for me.

I just wanted to share my excitement with you all. I hope that the work keeps on coming for everyone!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

News!

One week until the end of the semester. Time is really tricky. Sometimes it seems like everything is moving so slowly and you blink and suddenly so much has passed. I am not quite sure how it happened, but the choreography final is tomorrow and everyone finished. We will call it theatre magic. Somehow it all gets pulled together in the end.

My group piece was inspired by the quote “If two people love each other, there can be no happy end to it” by Ernest Hemingway. The first time I read it, I thought, “man that is a depressing outlook.” It took a while for that concept to sink in. Humans strive to make connections with one another. We spend our whole lives making relationships with each other as friends, lovers, parents, and so on. In some way or another, all of these relationships will end, maybe not badly or sourly, but they will end. It is about growing up and apart from each other as you continue your own journey through life. I am at that stage now. As friends grow up and graduate from college or fall in love and get married, I realize none of them are on my particular path and we will part our ways. It shouldn’t be sad, but rather a realization that life takes you in all kinds of directions, but your direction is completely unique from everyone else’s.

I titled my piece Up and Apart. This video is from a dress rehearsal. The dancers were wonderful. Please note that one upstage boom was not cooperating throughout dress rehearsal, so some shots in the video are much darker than they will be during the actual performance.

It feels so good to complete a project and put your creativity out there for everyone to see. I decided to really put myself out there and audition this particular piece for the American College Dance Festival next semester. Much to my surprise, my piece was chosen to go. The university always takes a faculty piece and a student piece. Out of the six pieces that were auditioned, mine was chosen. I really can’t tell you how surprised and thankful I was for that opportunity.

Enjoy!