Dancing4Jesus

There are three widely recognized levels in ballet: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Today I'm going to break down each level and share a bit about each for people who don't have any experience with ballet, or for anyone else who is interested.  You can start ballet at any age, but the average beginner is 4-8 years old. At this level a lot of basic concepts are introduced, such as simple technique exercises, mind-body coordination, proper ballet etiquette, and lots more.  Intermediate dancers are usually in their tweens. They've mastered the basic skills in their ballet training and are slowly progressing to more complex moves. At this age, faster and more difficult combinations are introduced to advance the student's cognitive skills.  Advanced students are usually in their teens and up. They will have (mostly) mastered all the basic and intermediate skills and should be working on more complicated moves such as fouettes or tombe coupe jetes.  If you're lookin...

 Last week I posted about packing and planning for a summer dance intensive that is almost 800 miles away. Today I wanted to talk about how it went.  We arrived early Saturday evening and I immediately started getting settled in to my dorm. I met my roommate and the other girls in my small group, and we all went to dinner together and started getting to know each other. Our counselor had us all meet in her room that night to play some games before showering and getting to bed.  The next morning we woke up and went to orientation before having some free time in the afternoon. I was assigned to take the second placement class so I got ready pretty soon after orientation. As I got ready and walked to the studios across the street, I got pretty nervous. I had never done any kind of audition so I was nervous about what it would be like and what level I would be placed in.  The class ended up going really well and I felt good about how I had done. The hard part was that we...

 I was out of town with some friends last December to watch a Christian ballet at a local church when we first had the idea to attend a specific dance intensive together. The intensive we were discussing is hosted by the company we were going to watch perform that weekend. They're a Christian ballet company and their summer intensive is open to ballet dancers around the world. We had heard so many stories from people about how attending that intensive made a huge impact on their spiritual lives, and my friends and I wanted to experience it for ourselves.   The dance intensive is almost three thousand dollars though, and is about eight hundred miles away from where we live. We really wanted to go, but the idea of raising the money in only four months, which is when the deadline was to pay the tuition, seemed pretty much impossible.  We kept talking and praying about it though, and soon we started coming up with ways to raise the money. On top of doing fundraisers, I g...

 Summer workshop starts in five days! Today I'll be talking about what classes I'm taking, my schedules, and more.  To start with, I'll be taking ballet, conditioning, pointe, variations, contemporary, musical theatre, and partnering. I do ballet, conditioning, pointe, and partnering throughout the school year, but I only do the other ones in the summer. We have two guest artists coming, one for each week. The first one is one of my studio's founders, and one of my past instructors. She's an incredible dancer herself and one of the best teachers I've ever had. The second is a world-renowned choreographer and I couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to be taught by him.  I'll be there for about 7 hours the first week, including a 3-hour class on Saturday. The second week I'll be there for about 12 hours each day. The reason I'm there an extra 5 hours is because I'll be teaching! I'll be assisting in two classes, and I also get t...

 It's so beneficial for dancers to attend at least one summer intensive. This year I'm blessed to be able to attend two and I'm so excited! Today I'll be listing 6 reasons to participate in a summer intensive. You'll improve in technique.  This is probably the most obvious one. Dancers do intensives to increase their skill and technique. Intensives can also be one of the best ways to improve your technique quickly because you're dancing every day for long amounts of time.  You'll have new teachers. Most intensives will give you the opportunity to be trained under new teachers. This gives you the opportunity to be given new kinds of corrections, try new styles of dance, and learn different perspectives.  You can dance without the stress of school and other distractions. Most young dancers have full calendars during the school year. During the summer though, you can focus on just dancing without any other distractions.    You can try out different companies. ...

Today I wanted to announce that I just set up an Instagram account for this blog!  I've been working on this for awhile now, and I just finished setting it up recently. If you want to follow me on there, my username is @dancing4jesus20. Or you can click here to go straight to it.  I'll post every week about new blog posts, as well as posting day-to-day things that are dance or faith related. I'm planning on keeping it fun and interactive so I can connect with my audience on there.  1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us. Dancing4Jesus Psalm 149:3~ Let them praise his name with dancing. (NIV) Contact me here: dancing4jesus20@gmail.com Socials: 📌Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/dancing4jesus20/ 📷 Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/dancing4jesus20/

Today I'm going to be sharing a story from performance week. Also, this post will be shorter than usual because post-performance week is still pretty busy for me. I've got quite a few future posts already planned though, so keep an eye out for those! It was Saturday night that this happened, which was the second and last performance for the semester. The performance had been going really well, and we made it to the last song without any major issues.  When the final song came on, I started dancing as usual, and we got to the partnering section. Halfway through the choreography, my partner forgot a lift, and because I was already starting to go into the lift, I slipped on my dress and fell. I was completely on the ground and I knew we had missed the lift, but without hesitating, I grabbed my partner's hand, pulled myself up, and continued with a smile.  I've never really worried about falling onstage, because I didn't think it would ever happen to me. I was surprised...

 I'm writing this early, so by the time you're reading this, it'll be performance week for me!  Performances aren't just a one-day event, at least for the performers and all the other people behind the scenes. For us, performance week is Monday through Saturday. Today I'm going to walk you through my performance week schedule and share a bit about why I love it! Monday is our first day at the building we'll be performing in. It's an all black-clothes rehearsal, mainly for the purpose of getting used to the new space. We'll be going over lots of blocking and details, which is usually what the first rehearsal in a performance space is.  Tuesday and Wednesday are our full dress rehearsals. On Tuesday we'll still be going over some blocking and other notes, and Wednesday should be a full run-through without stopping.  Thursday is still technically called a dress rehearsal, although it's more of a performance because it's the night the videography...

I've wanted Gaynor Minden pointe shoes for quite awhile now. They last a long time, I like the brand, and most of the people I dance with wear them. I got stuck in the mindset that I needed Gaynors. They're good shoes and really popular. I went with some friends on a road trip in December to get some. The lady suggested that I not get Gaynors yet, and instead had me try on Capezio Avas. I fell in love with the shoe immediately and bought them.  A couple of weeks ago I went with my friends to the same place to try on pointe shoes. Again, I wanted to try Gaynors. This time the lady let me try them on, and we even found some I almost bought. After thinking about it for awhile, though, I decided to compare my old Capezio Avas to the Gaynors I was going to buy. Thankfully I did, because I decided to buy the same shoes that I had before, the Capezio Avas. I'm writing this because I want other dancer to know how important it is to keep your mind open to different kinds of pointe s...

 As I've said before, my life has gotten really busy lately.  I'm struggling to get everything done that I need to, and I don't have much time, if any, to do things like blogging. So I decided that I'm going to take a short, two-week break from posting. I'll be back on May 4th. I'll also be working on some exciting new projects for my blog in the meantime.  I have so many ideas for blog posts once I get back! See you soon! Matthew 11:28 (ESV) Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Dancing4Jesus Psalm 149:3~ Let them praise his name with dancing. (NIV) Contact me here: dancing4jesus20@gmail.com

 I had a really intense conditioning class yesterday that I'm really sore from, so I thought today would be the perfect time to write a post sharing 7 ways to relieve sore muscles.  1. Drink Water Dehydration increases the chances of getting sore muscles. The more hydrated you are, the less likely you are to get sore; so if you're in regular athletic activities, make sure to drink plenty of water. 2. Keep Moving Sometimes it feels like the last thing you want to do when your muscles are tight and sore, but if you don't keep moving, your muscles will get even more sore. Even if it's just a quick walk around the room, it helps.  3. Rest Make sure you're getting plenty of sleep. You don't want to work out and then not get enough rest. Sleep is our way of refueling our bodies.  4. Ice/Heat If the soreness seems unbearable, try either a cold compress or a heating pad to reduce the pain.  5. Foam Roller As any ballerina knows, foam rollers are lifesavers after intense...

Today I'm going to be hinting at some of the big things that are coming up this summer, giving you a sneak peak of what you'll be seeing in some of my future blog posts.  First of all, I'm going to be attending the summer workshop my dance studio does annually in June. Click here to read about last year's summer workshop. We're also going to have two amazing guest artists visit for the workshop and I'm really excited to be taught by them. I'm also going to have some exciting teaching opportunities during this workshop. In July, I'm going to be attending another dance workshop, but this time, on a much larger scale. It will be at professional Christian ballet company with two guest artists. I'm not only hoping to improve greatly in my dancing, but I also hope to worship and experience God in a whole new way. I've been planning to go for a little while now and am working hard to make the money for the tuition.  Also in July, I'll be receiving ...

 It's been about three months since I've posted on here! In one of my posts around Thanksgiving time, I said I would try to do better with posting. Obviously that didn't happen, so I'll explain why and also what my future plans are for my blog.  The main reason I stopped writing was because I didn't have the time or energy to. I started a new job working weekends and got my driver's permit. I'm very busy and go somewhere every day. On weekends, I go to church and work. During weekdays I'm doing schoolwork (I'm homeschooled), dance, in-person classes, teaching ballet, or youth group. I don't have much free time anymore.  As for the future of this blog, I honestly haven't decided exactly what to do. I wish I could say that from here on, I'll post every single week, but I don't know if that's realistic right now. I can say that I'm going to try to though. I have a lot of big things that are happening in dance and want to share th...

Hi everyone! I can't believe this is the last blog post I'll write in 2021. Since the new year is right around the corner, I thought I'd write a post today with 4 goals every dancer should set for the new year.  Discover why you dance. This is something that's been heavy on my mind recently. I've wondered why I dance, what made me fall it love with it, and why I connect to it so well. One of my goals this year is to discover the answers to this. I feel like once dancers have figured that out about themselves, it can help them to connect to dance in ways you can't if you don't even know why you do it in the first place. Of course, I want to point out, the ultimate reason I dance is to bring glory to God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat of drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.) I dance to witness my faith to others. I'm setting this goal because I want to discover more about God's plan for me in the future with dance.  Identif...

 Merry (early) Christmas! Christmas is almost here; only three more days! This is going to be a short post because I've got plenty on my to-do list, but I wanted to share a bit about what God has been showing me this holiday season. I've done some Christmas devotionals this month and one of the recent ones I read was on Luke 2:19 (But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.). Can you imagine how Mary felt in the midst of that busy night when the Son of God came into the world? She had just given birth in an old stable, there were shepherds showing up soon after with their story about the angels and how they had told the whole town about it, Joseph was still by her side, and she was holding Jesus Christ in her arms. And while all this was happening, Mary stopped to reflect on God's goodness and treasure everything in her heart.  This verse is a reminder that, when we're going through good times and are being showered with blessings, we should be ...

 We all dread those fast changes during performances. I have a performance coming up in mid-January, and I have to make several fast changes for it. I wanted to share a few tips today that have helped me.  Know how long you'll have. I was actually able to look at a DVD of the performance we're doing since we've done it before. I timed how long I'll have for each of my fast changes. If you don't have this option, try setting a stopwatch during a rehearsal. Knowing how long you have can help you to prepare. Practice your fast changes. If you know how long you'll have to change, you can set a timer and practice your fast changes at home. This can help you to figure out things you need to do differently before the night of the performance.  Get someone to help you. If you have a fast change assistant, that's great. If not, find someone who's not on stage during your fast change that can help you. They can fix your hair, tie shoes, or whatever else you need. ...

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile since I've posted, so I wanted to explain my absence. I started a seasonal job soon after my last post, and I was spending more time on dance, school, and with friends. I thought about catching back up and publishing posts for the months I missed, but it would take a long time. Instead, I'm going to spend that time writing posts for the future so they'll be ready each week.  With that out of the way, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  We are so blessed and have so much to be grateful for. This past Saturday I got to celebrate thanksgiving with all of my mom’s family, which I had never done before. I’m so thankful we got that opportunity! Even though the thanksgiving season is almost over, we should be giving thanks year round. As Christians, we’re called to give thanks continually, in all circumstances. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Ephesians 5:20.) It’s a command made by God, not just a suggestion. I’ve been reading seve...

 Happy September everyone! Today I'm going to be sharing how the first week of dance went.  As you'll know if you've read some of my recent posts, I got promoted to Apprentice and am also a teacher's assistant this year. If you haven't read  this  blog, make sure to check it out so you can see how I felt before classes started, versus how I felt after the first week. Classes started on Monday, which was also my first day of teaching. It went well and I had a lot of fun getting to know the students. After that I had a two hour class, which was my first class in two months. It felt so good to be back in the studio, and I really enjoyed getting to dance again.  On Tuesday I had conditioning, which was taught by one of my favorite teachers. It was low intensity, thankfully, and the focus was on strengthening and gently getting our bodies back into shape. After that I had a short ballet class, then partnering class was last. I really enjoyed it, and feel like I did r...

Today I'm going to share some tips and advice to help with barre. I get it, barre isn't always the most fun. In some ways, it can even seem like it limits your ability to move and dance. My goal in writing this post is to help barre become more interesting and useful.  Barre is not a warm up. Barre should never be replaced for your warm up before class. The whole point of doing a warm up is so that you will be able to find and activate your muscles while dancing. If they're not warm, you won't be able to actively engage them. Even if you only have three minutes before class, find some exercises that warm you up quickly. I like to do the plank, crunches, squats, etc. It's important to warm up your full body before class.    Barre isn't a time waster. Barre can definitely seem like a waste of time, but it's not. If it were, why would every ballet class include it? Barre is vital if we want to dance well in center. It strengthens us, helps us find our balance, ...

Today I'm finishing up my back to dance series with an exciting announcement... I'm going back to dance in 5 days! I've been watching so many videos lately about dance, aching to be back in the studio and to see my friends again. My classes start on August 23rd. I'm so excited... I've been looking forward to this day for so long. I'll finally be an Apprentice! I can't wait for more challenging classes, dancing en pointe more, starting partnering, and all the other perks of being in Apprentice.  I also start teaching on my first day back. I attended a teacher training a couple of days ago to learn about my position as a teacher and all the details that come with being an instructor. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to be a teacher's assistant and I can't wait to share more about that journey on here. Although I'm super excited, I'm still a little nervous about being in a new level, especially because it's so advanced. Because all...