manhattan - learning experiences

 The past week I spent my time exploring the great beyond: new york city. I arrived Saturday afternoon to an empty apartment and already within thirty minutes of being there, felt lonesome. Of course, I hear all the time "it's such an odd feeling, having so many people surrounding you in the city but feeling the most lonely I've ever felt". I kind of understood what those people meant at that moment. Instantly, I realized how many people I know who are in the city and snapped out of it and got out there and explored. 

It was such a time for learning, experiencing New York City alone. I truly got to know the city and truly got to know myself and what I am wanting from my life at this moment. I met up with some old friends and made a bundle of new friends, connections that will never fade. 

The dance intensive that I was with during this time was called ArchCore40; a program under the direction of Jennifer Archibald, who chooses 40 dancers with the potential and passion to gain knowledge about (and hopefully survive) the dance industry. A brilliant experience. Not only did we experience the performing aspect, but we absorbed so much useful information about this industry; Injury prevention, chatted with an agent, experienced a surprise audition--woof--,break dancing, voguing, and acting for dancers classes amongst incredible hip hop and contemporary classes, a photo shoot, a music video shoot, and all kinds of professional development opportunities, including putting a showcase together in less than 4 hours. It truly was a career changing experience. I learned so much about the dance world and what I want from it and I learned to dive deeper into my own intellectual core. 

On the fourth, the city was nearly empty (by nearly I mean still lots of people). But the subways were moving much quicker than usual because of the lessened time spent keeping doors open longer for more people. My commute time on Friday was beyond fast, it was mind boggling. Then at night, some friends from the intensive and I found where the people of New York City were hiding all day. Brooklyn Bridge Park was jam packed for fireworks that night. We didn't see more than ten whole fireworks because of such the crowd that the show was blocked by a plethora of buildings, people, and trees. But for me, it didn't matter the view I had. I was in the company of some amazing talent and incredible humans that I can call new friends. A night filled with great conversation, excitement, and the hussle and bussle of city life on the day of independence.

I spent other parts of my trip catching up with old friends. A best friend of mine from high school is in the city for the summer doing an internship so I was fortunate enough to spend significant time with her. Oakville gals taking on the big city, glorious. And a seriously good friend from college (my intellectual twin) with whom I stayed in the city this week got to catch up over brunch and dinner a couple of days out of our busy lives. Always a good person to catch up with and discuss our lives and life in general. 

Overall, my trip was a grand ole time, a mix of ups and downs, lost and found (and then somewhat lost again), highs and lows, and most importantly constantly learning and creating and exploring.

a week in milwaukee

It's that time again, summertime. And my last summer before I graduate next May. I'm not sure how I feel about that just yet. Needless to say I've saved my money to put together a few little trips and such over the upcoming holiday. The first of the summer was Milwaukee. Somewhat of an on a whim decision because tickets were cheap to this dance program I have recently been wanting to expose myself to. I had a whirlwind of a trip, from learning a new dance language that nearly changed the way I think while moving, meeting all kinds of amazingly unique humans, and spending much needed time getting to know a brand new city. 

The gaga language (the 'style' of dance) that I learned over the course of my week in Milwaukee changed me as a dancer. For one, I was sternly corrected that Gaga is not a technique, but a language. The vocabulary is different for each person's body and the language is constantly growing and changing. Secondly, it was a whole new insight to movement and the way one can think about movement. Absolutely brilliant. 

As for my trip, there were quite a few firsts. First time in this type of dancing. First time using the online hosting/renting service Airbnb. And first time going to a concert by myself. (I felt like there were more firsts, but they aren't coming to mind...) 

I've heard great things about Airbnb and was easily persuaded to use it immediately after I was verified onto the site. It was so thorough with security of who you are and the photos you post of yourself, as well as the photos you post of the space you are renting to others. I couldn't wait to test it out for myself (and with the girl with whom I was traveling). I had exceedingly wonderful experiences with both places I stayed. (I stayed in two places in one week because one of the places had a maximum stay of 3 nights while the other was booked the first two nights of my trip.) My first two nights we stayed with Helena, an awesome earthy girl who works at Whole Foods and is a yoga instructor. She was super chill and although the space we were sleeping was the living room, it was very homey (2nd photo below). We were only in the company of Helena for two nights. Then we transferred our things to Maggie's house (3rd & 4th photos below). Maggie was such a gem and we conversed so easily. She basically runs a hotel from her house! The lovely vintage-feeling tudor home was beyond eclectic and so my style. 

I also had an unexpected event of serendipity happen to me right in the middle of my week. One of the evenings that Katrina and I went out for dinner, I randomly came across this tiny flyer for Vampire Weekend on tour. When I noticed that the concert was during my time in Milwaukee, I nearly flipped my lid. I had to go. But Katrina hadn't heard of them and wasn't wanting to pay 60+ bucks to see them. However, come Wednesday night (the night of the show), she had been feeling sick all day and wasn't wanting to do much other than sleep. Pretty obviously, I got ready as quickly as I could, took her car, and made my way to the concert venue downtown. 

I got there and parked in $5 parking in case I didn't get a ticket; I didn't want to pay for useless parking. Parking was half a mile from the venue and the line to get in the gates ended not far from where I parked...yikes. I finally made my way to the box office and asked if they had any extra tickets. Just as I asked, some guys next to me had told me they accidentally bought one too many and would sell it to me face value (20 dollars cheaper than what I was just about to pay!) Once I got my ticket, instead of going to the back of the line nearly half a mile away, I made friends with some hip looking kids who looked around my age. We all got to know each other a bit before the line started moving and were planning on sitting together until a man at the gate stopped me with my backpack. I kept my dSLR in my bag because duh it's Vampire Weekend. Of course, I didn't realize "professional looking cameras" weren't allowed in the venue. I tried to argue and even pulling a crying sob story for letting me get in with my camera if I don't use it or take it out. Alas, I was not allowed in unless I put the camera in the car...half a mile away, each way. But I came back camera-less and got in with flying colors! And as I worked my way through the general seating looking for the best seat I could find, I met two girls who had an empty seat next to them. Fourth row! As for how the concert went: phenomenal. It was a chilly evening on Lake Michigan with Vampire Weekend and meeting many surprisingly friendly people. 

The end of my week was just as perfect as the start of it. Katrina and I found a jazz festival downtown and enjoyed more great music, enjoyed the amazing views over the lake and the old style (humongous) houses bordering the shore, and went out with some new friends from the intensive and they showed us the nightlife of Milwaukee..whew they stay out late... It was certainly a jam packed week full of memories I will always cherish.

backstage shenanigans, saying goodbye

Needless to say my three weeks spent dancing, exploring, learning, and meeting all kinds of amazing people was simply incredible. I clearly don't even know where to begin other than to just rave about my experiences--which I won't drag on about. I guess all I can say is I learned new ways of creating, new choreography, new techniques, and had some awesome discussions about innovating new work. I met some really fabulous people that will forever be fellow collaborators and friends and being at this workshop made me realize how much of the world is at our hands as this generation of dancers. I'm truly grateful to have had this experience. Now...enjoy the rest of my photos from our backstage shenanigans (a lot of solid nap time) and final show after party at Velocity. 

welcome to seattle!

I'm trying to figure out where the best place to start with my adventures through Seattle...the beginning would probably be best. Or maybe even a little context. 

So I took a trip to Seattle for a little vacay, visit with family, and to study dance! I was there for a three week dance intensive at the Velocity Center on Capital Hill in downtown Seattle. I felt like a kid with divorced parents, alternating stays with cousin and her husband and with my aunt. I was dancing from 9:30-5:30 on the weekdays and did work study from 8-9:30 in the mornings for the program. 

The moment I landed in Tacoma, I hit the ground running. No, not literally. My cousin, Jessica picked me up from the airport and we stopped by a little (not so little) farmers market in Redmond for some fun fruits and veggies to snack on for the following couple of days. These delicious foods were just the beginning to the incredible meals I shared with Jessica and her husband Sean. Oh. My. Goodness. Soo many divine meals. When we got back to the house, I was greeted by the big canine kids, Travis and Zoe, whom I adore. We caught up and enjoyed the beyond gorgeous weather--for the record, it was sunny the ENTIRE three weeks I was in town..no rain whatsoever (I'm sure you'll hear me saying that a lot through my posts about this trip, seriously though this weather was perfect). 

On Sunday morning, I went to brunch with Jessica, Sean, and a few of their way cool friends then walked around downtown Kirkland for a tad. Then, later in the afternoon, I had my audition and orientation for the upcoming three weeks of pure dancing! It's hilarious how small the dance world is, really. I ran into a girl from the intensive I did at Juilliard in New York earlier this summer who was doing the same intensive in Seattle, where neither of us are from anywhere near either location. And I also met another friend who shares a few mutual friends with me that I also met in New York. Small world, I tell you. These people, plus many more, ended up becoming great friends of mine over the course of the three weeks we spent together. 

The previous three photos are obviously of the beautiful space I was dancing in for my stay.