Balboa Park & Family

This last weekend I performed with the company at Balboa Park at the Casa Del Prado Theatre. The performances went great and it was fun having Karin, Caitlin, and Kellie there to watch. They had yet to see Benita Bike DanceArt Company perform. We stayed down in San Diego for the weekend to spend time with the fam and celebrate Caitlin's 27th birthday! Last night we drove back and went to our friend's Teya and Jesse's house in Van Nuys for a birthday dinner. It was also Teya's 27th birthday...she dances in Benita's company and they're a lot of fun to hang out with. She cooked amazing lasagna and a chocolate torte for dessert.









We took a visit to the Yogurt Mill in San Diego...honestly better than Golden Spoon if you can imagine! P.S. This is just the 'child' size...can you believe it?!


Tiff & I at Teya's birthday dinner last night...good food and good friends!

In Love with Hip-Hop...

In Maine, I fell in love with a new style of dance...hip-hop. I registered for this class with the original intent of learning some new moves to bring back to my hip-hop loving students. But unexpectedly I fell in love with the style myself. I hadn't taken an actual hip-hop class in probably 10 years. Jennifer Archibald is a new emerging, very talented, dancer and choreographer in New York. She is who taught this class. This is a clip of her and one of her company members dancing some of her repertory she taught us. Her style is unique as you can see...she fuses hip-hop intricacies with contemporary modern movements. She does have her own company called Arch Dance Company. You can check them out at: www.jenniferarchibald.com

Bates You Tube

Hey guys, you can check out this you tube video to hear what the festival was all about that I just got home from. Its a great 8-minute documentary and there's even a quick glimpse of me doing hip-hop in the first minute or so. The video does a great job explaining what Bates is all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtO4AaM1we0&feature=PlayList&p=2CB50EC1FF160E57&index=0&playnext=1

Meet Bates!

Okay, so the day after I returned home, Jud and I took a walk and found this new little friend. She warmed up to us quickly, but we decided to leave her on the brick retaining wall to see if she was still there when we came by again on our way back. And sure enough...she was! We're still not sure if she belongs to anyone, so we're keeping our eye out for signs. But, if no one claims her, for the mean time, we are holding onto her. Surprisingly, her and Olly are getting along. They were both playing with their rafia this morning. So, appropriately, we have named this new little cat, Bates! She looks a little mean, but she is a sweetie...

Last of Bates!

Well, I'm home from Maine and recovering from the fun-filled, physically, and mentally exhausting festival. It was such a thrill to go with Heather and become closer as friends throughout the 3 weeks. This is us the festival finale show on Saturday. Below, are some pictures of me performing in a dance piece Kesha created while we were there as well as some pictures of just us having fun.



Here are most of us Teacher Fellows that received scholarships to be there from all over the country. From left to right, there's Sinnamon, Heather, me, Kevin, Kesha, Kim, Amy, Jesmin, and Chi.


Here's all of us in the hip-hop class. Jennifer Archibald is an emerging artist and choreographer from New York and she taught the class. I have now a new found love for hip-hop fused with modern dance. If I ever get a chance to visit New York again, I will definitely be taking her class!


Here are the girls at our usual spot in the dining hall where we spent every amazing meal. Did I mention that Bates College has the title of "Best Dining Hall Food in the Country"?! The food was fresh and amazingly delicious! It is weird coming back home after not cooking for 3 weeks.


This is us girls at the last dance party of the festival. DJ Niles played music for us and we grooved to favorites of the 90's! Doesn't that make us feel old...=)


This is us in our modern class with Michael Foley. I'm there in the back with cut off gray sweats.


Same thing in this pic of us in hip-hop class...


Kesha created a piece for the Young Choreograher Show on Saturday. The faculty adjudicated the concert, meaning they gave about 10 minutes of feedback to Kesha on her choreography. This is me, Vicki, and Kesha performing there.


Her piece was about body image. It was a great experience and really fun to perform.






I am so thankful for the opportunity to go to this festival. It is great to be home though...it was hard being away from Jud for that long. I'm looking into a teacher's festival for next summer that's only one week long. =) I met some unforgettable dancers and choreographers including BB Miller and Robert Battle. It was an amazing networking experience for tools as a teacher and for future performing opportunities. Praise God for it all! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Atlantic vs. Pacific

Yesterday I got to see the Atlantic ocean for the first time! Now, it doesn't look much different from the Pacific, but the water is much colder and really foamy when it reaches shore...kinda strange. =) The beach, in my opinion though, is more beautiful than the west coast ones because of the greenery. The festival had an organized beach day that took us to Reid State Park about an hour away from where we are in Lewiston. There were trees, grass, rocks and picnic benches just before you walked on the sand. They had a snack bar with lobster rolls and french fries with cinnamon and sugar on them. It was amazing weather for the beach...we all layed out and attempted to go in the water but only made it in ankle deep.