Capstone
For my capstone project, I had planned to teach the students in my dance class a dance or two for the end of year dance performance. I had started to teach the choreography "On My Mind". It was so fun to have people excited to learn and get excited about performing something. I imagined it would have looked so cool. For myself, I had agreed to be Mrs. Riddoch's filler performer. I had a ton of short dances ready to perform for the dance performance. If there was a technical difficulty, she could throw one of my pieces in to keep people entertained. I was actually really excited to perform for the school one last time. Since, I was unable to do that, I took the teaching to my house. I taught my sister the choreography I had been teaching to my classmates. Although I definitely need to work on my teaching skills, it was a fun challenge.
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This piece is a special one to me because I put my own unique flavor to it. Some of the choreography is from another dance, but I was able to experiment with new songs and tempos. I tried many songs before I chose this one, but I think Saint Tropez is the best fit. The process of trying the same choreo to different songs was way cool. I learned so much about the importance of rhythm and emotion and really listening to the music. I will for sure be playing with that concept more in the future. |
Summary
Being in the VPA program has been a great learning experience. Throughout the years, I experienced crazy successes and disappointing failures. Having to balance out the pros and cons of performing was challenging. I loved performing in the musicals. Being on stage and having the lights shinning on you, being able to portray a new person through your own body, and getting goosebumps in the moments when you get to be a part of musicals you have watched since you were a kid. But there is also a very sad downside. High school drama was relentless backstage. There was always someone mad at someone or people trying to take charge and boss others around. I was amazed with myself when I decided to not do the musical my senior year, but it was a good thing to do for myself. As much as I love and enjoy theater, I don't plan to pursue it seriously in my future, so I was able to focus on other things and have a less stressful semester. Dance is where my true love lies. I have grown immensely from where I was freshman year. I am proud of where I am. I have never been on a competition team or had a lifestyle where I pretty much live at the dance studio, so I'm not this amazing dancer that will make it big one day, but I just feel good when I dance. I have learned to dance for myself and have learned so many life lessons through dance. I have pushed myself a lot as a dancer. It is hard for me to even remember back to freshman year or earlier, when I was so afraid to dance. I hadn't truly discovered the joys of it yet. When I discovered hip hop, that is when I really started to grow. It was such a fun style that really fit my personality. From there I went on to discover contemporary, bollywood, and latin styles. I fell in love with the cultural aspects of dance and how unique it is to people all over the world, which has lead me to find my path for the future. I want to be an anthropologist, but I hope to also continue dancing. I hope to explore and connect with others all over the world through music and dance.