by Amber Shriver, Patel Conservatory ballet intensive student and intern
It’s been really busy the past few days.
On Sunday, we took the NGB intensive residents to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando. It was exciting to see all of the Disney first-timers’ faces as we entered the Magic Kingdom and saw Cinderella’s castle for the first time. We got to see the parade, one of the princess shows in front of the castle, and, of course, go on all the rides. My favorite ride at the park is Space Mountain, which we went on first. After that, I got to see the renovated Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the new Monsters, Inc. laugh floor. I had a great time in the park, hanging out with my friends and my residents and although I didn’t get to meet my favorite princess, Belle, I did get to see the Fairy Godmother.
Since then, I have been very busy with work and dancing. My classes have gotten more challenging as we entered the third week, and it’s getting harder to wake up early for them. It’s going to be nice when I go back to college in the fall and get to “sleep in” until 8 a.m. :-p I really like all the new teachers this week, especially Mr. Blanton and Ms. Brown.
I feel like my petit allegro is improving, and for the first time it is not the scariest part of class. It’s nice to see improvement after working so hard for two weeks. My choreography partner and I are also choreographing a piece that I’m excited about. It’s a piece of music by Beethoven, and we’re playing two sisters who fight a lot but love each other anyway. Whenever we work on it, I’m reminded of my little sister, which makes me a little homesick. I can’t wait to see her when I get back to Maryland.
Choreography is one of my strongest points, and I love the feeling of creating something out of nothing and then getting the chance to dance in the piece. So I’m excited to for this opportunity to perform our piece for the other students at the choreography showcase at the end of the program.
I’ve also been really busy at work. I’ve started two new projects, both of which I really enjoy. I’m currently editing old news footage of classes and performances at the Patel Conservatory, and making videos to post on the Conservatory’s You Tube site. They will be up tomorrow, so you should check them out. I’m very proud of them, but I still have almost 20 more DVDs to go through, so I hope I’ll be finished before I have to leave to go back home.
Another new project I’ve started is creating a college database for Patel Conservatory students to use. This is exciting not only because I get to actually use the Excel skills that I learned in Intro to Technology class at Butler, but also because I feel like I’m creating something that will benefit all the students at the Patel Conservatory for years to come. I know from experience how hard it is to research performing arts colleges, and I hope I’ll be able to give someone a starting point for one of the most important decisions they will make in their lifetime. However, the project has snowballed and I hope I have time to finish it before I leave.
Stayed tuned because later this week, I will be writing about the advice of the artistic director and the ballet principal of Next Generation Ballet for how to make the most of the last two weeks of your summer intensive. I’ll also be writing advice for parents from the ballet principal of Next Generation Ballet on how to help your child succeed in the performing arts field.
Check out my pictures of the NGB summer intensive in my Summer Intensive Album on Facebook. Feel free to post your own pictures there as well, and don’t forget to “like” Next Generation Ballet and the Patel Conservatory!
No comments:
Post a Comment