the river

 "And doesn't he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?" ~Mark Twain 

Please read this essay. It's just wonderful and rather thought provoking too :) 

 I can't remember the last time I just watched a person dancing and found myself in awe of their beautiful movement quality. I almost always start breaking apart their technique and noticing even subtle flaws. . . . And have a I gained or lost by learning my trade? 

bruised feet

"I have heard of the abuse that dancers feet get. It's somewhat ironic to think that under those delicate ballet slippers are battered and bruised feet."

poetic thought from a non-dancer* (and a friend of mine) 

*partially related note - It's interesting to take note of the way dancers and athletes refer to "normal" people. My ballet teacher calls non-dancers "civilians" and a friend who plays water polo says "NARPs" to refer to Non-Athletic Regular People.

frozen yogurt

I meet with several girls on Monday nights for a girl's Bible Study. This week we decided to go to Menchie's instead of meeting on campus :)

I've really enjoyed getting to know these girls (and few more who weren't with us the night we took the picture) and Menchie's is probably my favorite off-campus place to go with friends. It was a great night :) 

facial expressions and form

So I rarely ever raise my hand in English (American Realism), but, almost every time I make a facial expression, my teacher calls on me. (For those of you who don't know me, I make a lot of facial expressions. I've just always let whatever I'm feeling or thinking be displayed through my facial expressions. It's kind-of like my own version of just speaking my mind. Sometimes it's a problem. Anyway . . ..) I had already talked quite a bit in class, but I smiled at the end of class (if nothing else, this class will teach me to control my facial expressions . . . maybe) and so my teacher immediately asked me what I was thinking. Of course I was thinking about ballet. We were talking about Henry James' story The Beast in the Jungle and it seemed so very much like Balanchine's choreography to me. So, even though I was the only "bunhead" in the class, I spent the next few minutes talking about how Balanchine used the format of ballet, but, instead of using the steps to create a particular story, he used the beauty of the steps themselves as the subject of his choreography. In a similar way, nothing at all happens in The Beast in the Jungle, but James' beautifully crafts the English language into an intriguing tale of absences. My teacher summarized it by saying that both artists focus more on the form than the story being told. Yay for always finding a way to talk about ballet in my "academic" classes :)

I know this a major "story basket" post, but I just wanted to talk about my facial expression "issue" in English and also how Balanchine relates to Henry James  . . . so I did :)

equality

"If we want God to be out of this conversation – aka, 'The White House isn’t your church', or 'Don’t impose your religion on politics' – fine. But then on what basis can we assert the premise the whole movement is founded on: humans have basic, God-endowed inalienable rights? Without a common Creator, this world isn’t about equality, it’s about who wins. So if we don’t want God to be part of this conversation, fine. But in that case, let’s drop the language about equality; there’s no basis for it." ~Nicholas McDonald

*This quote was taken from an article on the gay marriage debate. However, I think it applies to a lot more than just defining marriage. 

where I am found

"Take my life 

I lay it down 

At the cross 

Where I am found . . ." 

Hillsong United, Arms Open Wide

"found" - my empty life gains eternal meaning at the cross 

"found" - I hope that others find me at the foot of the cross, I hope that in that way I can be a light to them

everything that is in between

The Kennedy Center is working on a musical about the "Little Dancer" :) :) :)

 It's always been one of my mom's favorite sculptures and I've grown to adore it as well.

When my siblings and I were much younger we used to go the Bel Air library (we called it "the one with the train") every week to get new books for homeschooling . . . and books to read after school because we all just loved books. The library had a little store right by the entrance. One day, Miriam and I noticed that they sold pins with famous pieces of artwork on them. One of the pins was the "Little Dancer". We decided we had to get it for mom. We talked to Zach and Joel and we all saved up our money. (It was very secretive. We had to go up to our room and whisper about it so that mom wouldn't find out.) A few weeks later, Zach and Joel distracted mom at the library while Miriam and I snuck over to the library store and bought the pin. We were all so excited to get something meaningful for Mama that she didn't know about. I still remember handing the pin to her on her birthday and watching as she opened it.

Anyway (enough nostalgia for one day), you can read about the musical here. I particularly liked this paragraph where the director was talking about her research and ideas on the statue.

“'One of the interesting things for me is that the sculpture captures everything that is in between,' she said. 'Between girlhood and adulthood; between ballet positions; a piece of art that exists between classical and modern.' Degas, of course, is an important character, too, and as Ahrens observed, Marie interested him purely as a subject. 'He was a monk in art,' she said. 'He had no romantic relationships with women that were ever written about. He’s obsessed with her in that he finds some spirit in her.'" (Marks, "Kennedy Center Plans . . .")