Dancing4Jesus

As we all know, dancing in the summer can be brutal if you don't keep yourself cool and hydrated. Today I'm going to share some practical tips on how to stay hydrated. First of all, why keep yourself hydrated? When dancing or doing other forms of exercise, you're losing body fluids. Drinking water replaces what you're losing. By keeping yourself hydrated, you're reducing the risk of heat stress, and you'll maintain normal body function and performance levels. If you want to dance your best, then drinking enough water is important. Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day so you don't need too much water while dancing. Not only should you drink water regularly outside of class anyway, but it also stops you from feeling like you need drink too much in class. Drinking too much all at once can make you feel sick, and you definitely won't want to move much either. Eat foods with a high water content. Apricots, oranges, pineapples, blueberries, peaches, ras...

    Wouldn't it be nice if you woke up one morning and could suddenly do twenty flawless fouettes, triple beats during petite, and jump five feet during grand allegro?   We all wish it could happen overnight, but to get better at dance, you have to commit to years of hard work and dedication. But what if I told you I've got some tips for speeding up your improvement? You're in luck, because that's what I'm sharing today. Don't cheat yourself in class.  It's so easy to go off releve or drop your knees in the plank while the teacher's head is turned. But it's only going to take you that much longer to improve. Push yourself to your limit. My dad was talking to me recently about this, and he said that when you think you can't go any longer, go five more seconds. Then five more. Only stop when you absolutely have to. Do your best, even when the teacher isn't looking. The hard work will pay off.  Get inspired before classes. Interestingly, I'v...

  Even before I turned five, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.  The first time I had a teacher other than my mom was in kindergarten. Then, and for years after, I wanted to be a school teacher when I grew up. I would come home and play school in my room with my retired schoolbooks and worn out easel.  When I started ballet at the age of seven, my dream began to change. I still wanted to be a school teacher, but I also began watching my ballet teachers and started to want to be one of them too. This hope and dream continued for years. With every passing year, I wanted more and more to teach dance. At the age of 12, an amazing opportunity opened up- I got to teach a summer workshop of my own. I taught this same workshop in the summers of 2018 and 2019.  Even though I got the amazing opportunity to teach my own workshop, I still wanted to teach at my studio. This way I could be guided in my teaching by my bosses and teachers who had more experience than me. I would ...

Five days till summer workshop! For the first time in two years, I'm going to attend a summer workshop at my studio! Ever since I was seven, I attended my studio's summer workshop annually. Then, in the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing the worldwide lockdown. Because of this, I had to miss the workshop for the first time in eight years. But after resuming classes in August, the workshop will continue as usual too.  This year I'll be taking classes in Ballet Technique, Pointe, Choreography, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Yoga, and Conditioning. The workshop lasts two weeks, five days a week, and I'll be going six hours the first week, and eight or more hours the second week.  The extra two hours during the second week are due to the fact that I'll be teaching two classes this year! I'm tempted to share the story behind this right now, but I'm going to wait and share it next week. So keep an eye out! My posts the next couple of months will re...