Stage Confidence Lessons

Today I taught and learned one of the best dance lessons I can.

Yesterday and today I taught a two day dance class with the middle school kids. We had a blast as we danced to songs from Broadway musicals, talked about Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke, and learned to have fun with dance.

Last night, I found this quote: "It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer." ~ Shanna LeFleur

Hmm...I thought, I want to teach them that tomorrow. As I got ready for bed, I remembered I wanted to bring in some scarves for dancing with so I rounded them up. About halfway into class today, I pulled them out and had everyone pick one. Then I told them about this quote.

Every one of them did sports, gymnastics, dance, or some sort of athletic activity. I then asked how many considered themselves to be an artist. Only a few raised their hands. I reminded them to have confident in their abilities as an artist. Whether they were good at drawing or dancing or sports or a hobby, they had to give it everything.

That's when the scarves came in to play. I put on "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins. Their mission? To go from one side to the other. Their own way. So one at a time they danced their way across. Some gave it their all with leaps and twirls. Some needed encouragement to just simply walk across. The next time around the bold relaxed and just enjoyed themselves, and the timid began to understand. We tried it one more time and everyone just went across with everything they had, including a grin. 😊

It was a great lesson for boosting stage confidence, in what they enjoy doing, and in themselves. All in all, it resonated with me. I'm going to keep that little lesson in my files for future dance teaching times. 

Advent Albums: Day 3

Some people may think me a nut, yet the holiday season can never be fully enjoyed without Nutcracker music! I danced with the Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker for 5 years in a row when I was younger. Some of my best dance memories are from that! 

The first half sounds exactly like the Moscow's rendition although this is the Bolshoi Ballet's. The second half there are some variations with the way the music is played. Still an amazing treasure to listen to! Makes my feet want to get up and dance!❤❤❤

March Musings - Day 19

Another dancing season is done,

we made sure to have a lot of fun,

and while we became more skilled at our craft,

we also talked and plenty laughed.

Jigs and reels and ceilis too,

dancing together like glue,

learning quirks and treble steps,

sometimes it took a lot of pep (and prep!).

Bribing my teacher with Almond Joy,

dancing with both girl and boy,

we brought down the house with shows,

and with pride, my teacher glows! <3

March Musings - Day 16

Today was our "St Patrick's Day"!! We had a blast dancing at a couple schools and the mall! As you can see from the picture above, my friend Q. and I were laughing because of it! That and we were so tired we could barely dance, let alone breathe...but who needs to breathe???? ;) Anywho, we had a lot of fun. This year, my handsome fiance was my chauffeur while my family rode together. We definitely enjoyed talking about some really random things like church hierarchy. At the last show both my grandparents, and my "grandparents" (they are basically grandparents to us and we love them dearly!) came to see it, so it was nice to have someone special to dance for! Each of my sisters did a fantastic job, and I can't wait for the shows tomorrow!

March Musings - Day 13

The countdown is on! Only a couple more days until we dance! We had our rehearsal tonight for our shows, and a first happened to me. Now tradition states that I dance out of one of my ghillies at least once during St Patrick's Day performances. Not sure how, but it always manages to happen. Today during rehearsal, I one-upped myself! I managed to dance hard enough that my shoe laces became untied....

...then I proceeded to step on my shoelace and snap it completely! (You can see the knot I tied in the upper left corner!) I didn't know what had happened other than hearing a snap sound, so I kicked off my shoe and discovered at the end of the dance my lace had snapped. I'd say that's one for my books! ;~) Toes are tappin', wigs are curlin', girlies are dancin', and St Patrick's Day is almost here!!!

March Musings - Day 10

A lot of musings on my mind today:

- Irish Step because we have a total of 8 shows next weekend! 5 with my dance troupe, and 3 with my sisters! It'll be busy, but a lot of fun! My mind couldn't stop mentally dancing earlier so I ended up doing some impromptu dancing in John's living room!

- John loves me! Haha, we already knew that, but he got corn muffins for me!!!!!!! I am seriously addicted to corn muffins....

- ...and while we are on the subject of food...Mom got coconut cake for snack tonight! *dies from happiness*

- My goodness the wind! It's so cold with it! I nearly blew away! ;~)

- And oh! I am hoping my friend likes their birthday present! I forgot to send it...so hopefully it still arrives in time, or pretty close to it!

Hmm.... I can't think of anything else.... Work is bright and early with the rooster, so my brain is fried. I'm going to get some sleep, and I shall have something interesting to write tomorrow!

March Musings - Day 6

11 days until St Patrick's day!!!! But since we are dancing on the 16th due to school conflicts, we have 10 more days!!! It's crazy!

So to get you all in the mood, and so you guys can join me in it, here are some videos John and I enjoyed last night! If you're not tapping your toes and dancing inside, watch them again or watch some more!!!

Siamsa is one of my favorites! We do our "Walls of Limerick" to it and it's a blast!

"Trading Taps" is a clever dance from "Riverdance"! It's a story of tap dancers vs. Irish steppers!

This I never saw before until yesterday! It's called "Reel Around the Sun" from "Riverdance on Ice"!

Enjoy!!! I hope you have fun tappin' your toes! :~D

(email readers will have to go to the blog to view the videos)

A Reflection in Latin

After 12 years of school, I've graduated! In the past 12 years, I've learned many things in which I'll go into detail below in Latin.

Dancing: As of now, I've been dancing for 15 years! Dancing has become an important part of me as I use it for ministry. I'm thankful for a talent I can use to glorify God! On my email signature, I have the saying:

Semper Saltantem! Always Dancing!

Perseverance: I've learned to keep working at things, and to not give up. Countless times, I gave up on math or some other hard assignment. But when I picked it up again, if I kept at it, I was able to conquer it!

Vene vidi vici! I came; I saw; I conquered!

Thinking: I learned how to think outside the box. Whether with schoolwork, dancing, or teaching, I've learned that there isn't just one way to do things. So why not be creative?! 

Creativum cogitandi magnam habet remunerationem! Creative thinking has a great reward!

Life: It will have many roads, many choices, and many opportunities. God's way, is obviously the best one to take, but quite often it isn't the most popular or a well-worn route. Nevertheless, it's the way to go!

Ambulate in via iter minus! Walk on the road less traveled!

And finally:

Non scholae sed vitae discimus! We learn not for school but for life!

Even though I'm done, I won't stop learning! There are still adventures, and things to learn in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead!

Carpe diem! Seize the day!

Join me in this adventure ahead!!!

Weekend Blessings - Beautiful Blessings - 1/11/16

~ Buying a new pair of cute boots! Thanks Dad for buying them and letting me pay you back!! <3

~ Perfectly pulling off a plan to surprise John by joining him on his trip back to college!

~ Going back to dance tonight!! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A YEAR!!! (the first photo was taken on our way to dance) AHHHH it was soooooooo nice!!!!

~ Achy sore muscles all over from dancing...strangely wonderful!

~ Being on at the right place at the right time to encourage my friends through God's might <3 Its pretty amazing to see...Im really thankful when I can return the favors they do for me <3 :~)

Bonus Blessing:

~ Gaining a new friend (only had her as one for 11 days) and already being able to call each other sister! <3

A Mono-logue!

Moriah: I haven't had anything to blog about recently.

Mom: Why not about your mono since you did a post about having pneumonia?

Moriah: Well I could do that....

Mom: You could call it your "Mono-logue"!

Moriah bursts into laughter

That conversation took place the other day, and I decided it's about time I updated y'all on my life. Remember I told you I had pneumonia? Well, I wasn't getting any better. So we went to the doctor's, got an x-ray and did blood work. My x-ray showed nothing which meant I was over my pneumonia, but my blood work came back and I have mono. According to our calculations, I've been sick for about 2 months now. 

Can I just say, it's not fun being sick for 2 months? No energy, constantly napping and feeling achy consists of my days. The hardest part about being sick definitely is the fact I can't go to dance. In fact, we had to find someone to take my place for St. Patrick's day! I will say though that it was a God-thing, when my ballet class was cancelled these past two weeks, as schedules conflicted with the class times. I definitely will be needing a lot of stretching when I return to dance as I'm stiff from head to toe! 

Another hard thing, is singing wears me out as well! I sang 3 songs yesterday and wore myself out! And they weren't even long songs! Oh well....I have learned the art of singing in my head during this time, so that's a plus. Heehee!! It's definitely hard being sick like this, but as a few people have told me, God has a reason for this. He has a reason for this trial and while I may not know why at this time, eventually I may. 

I must admit something to y'all. If you've never been sick for a long time like this, it's really rough. In fact I was getting rather discouraged and depressed. Oh golly, that was hard being so down. Praise God! He pulled me through that just like He is pulling me through this! Psalm 16:7-8 has been a blessing to me!

Psalm 16:7-8 (ESV)

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

So to summarize: I'm sick with mono. I've been sick with mono. I'll be sick for a bit longer. I'm over pneumonia. And I'm pretty much worrying about one day at a time as I can't stretch my brain to think far beyond that. I'm tired and achy all time, and someday, hopefully soon, I'll get better. :~)

And that folks, is my mono-logue!

A Wee Bit of Irish Step

(Last St. Patrick's Day!)

As you may or may not know, I love to dance. Literally, I get in trouble for dancing too much around the house. ;~) Heehee! That aside, I love to dance. We recently did some dancing at the YMCA Folksmarch, and we put together this so you could enjoy it as well!

3-Hand Reel and Solo Hardshoe

(I tried to get it to cooperate, but it's not. You'll just have to click the link to watch it! :~)

Throwback Tuesday: Mother Ginger....continued!!

So last year, I posted Mother Ginger!! :~D 

As today marks exactly one year since I posted the post, I thought I'd share a couple pictures from this year's Mother Ginger! Same costume, but updated as now you can see how it works! 

Mother Ginger is a doll from the Nutcracker Ballet! She has little children hiding under her skirt...

It's a lot of fun to do this dance....except when they all get goofy and start tickling your legs!! *shudder*

Winslow photo-bomb!!! :~D

All in all, dancing our mini-Nutcracker has to be one of the highlights of our Christmas season! T-Tot is Clara, and the Russian doll; Lil' G is the Chinese doll and the Spanish doll; L-Jo is our Arabian doll; and I'm the Sugar Plum Fairy, the French doll, the Arabian doll, and Mother Ginger!!

Throwback Tuesday: Grandma's Square Dancin' Skirt

There is nothing more fun,

than a super-full skirt,

when it's a sunny day,

and you have a chance to twirl,

in Grandma's square dancin' skirt!

Someone asked......

Someone asked me what dance means to me: 

Dance is my life, 

passion, in my blood, 

part of me, 

every inch of my toes, 

every step that I take, every 

song that I hear I choreograph mentally, 

physically, 

and emotionally, 

my heart beats with the feet that 

fly over the floor, 

whirling, twirling, until the 

 music ends and I start again.

Throwback Tuesday: Betty Ford

Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ford was the wife of Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States. Betty, from a young age, loved to dance. When she was 15, she started teaching popular dance steps to kids. When she graduated from high school, she considered going to NYC, but her mother refused. So she spent 2 summers at the Bennington School of Dance in Vermont. There she studied under Martha Graham, and finally moved to NYC. Eventually she returned home, and organized her own dance groups.

What Dance Is: A Guest Post

 Today I have a guest post from the lovely Emma who blogs at thedancechronicles.blogspot.com

Dance is a tangible way to express intangible thoughts and feelings.  Every specified movement of the hand, every distinct turn of the head, is part of the character you’re playing. Dance is captivating for me because you can imprint emotions on an audience through movement.  It's presented to audiences as a pure art form composed of flawless steps and gravity-defying movements.  

But I've seen--and experienced--first-hand the struggles dancers go through every day.  I see the girls I dance with crying in class or in the hallways as we hug them.  I see them fall on their faces.  I see them fall apart as a muscle or tendon swells to three times it's size.  I see them cry for each other.  I see them dance until they can't breathe, work until they overheat.  I see them come in and many days say, "I don't want to do this," then give everything they have to their teacher.

But I also see them get back up.  Come back.  Go back to class still crying.  Dance through the pain.  Push their leg an inch higher than the highest leg in class, no matter how much it hurts.  Put pointe shoes on bleeding feet.  Pull it together.  Wince and push through it.  Rehearse for several hours.  Keep dancing.

Because a true dancer knows that they can never stop dancing.


Other posts related to dancing you might enjoy:

Beautiful Feet
Dance Shoes
What's in my dance bag?
The History of American Ballet Performances
Ballet Shoes
 

30 Days of Love: Day 22

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Be spontaneous and show them that no matter what, you love them. Whether it's being silly or dancing with them, remind them in a fun spontaneous way!

Throwback Tuesday: Nancy Drew

(One of my favorite Nancy Drew books :~)

I love the plot of this one! With dancing, acting, and a normal creepy Nancy Drew mystery, it's rather fun!

T-Tot was very excited to help out with this weeks Throwback Tuesday :~D

Disclaimer: I prefer Hardy Boys any day. They tend to be........more sensible..........at least that's how I view them...... But alas I don't look like Joe or Frank ;)

People of Jordan: Bill

"Don't put it off till tomorrow, when you can do it today."

Bill has lived here for 62 years. He likes Jordan's location, as it is near Auburn, Syracuse, Lake Ontario and it's in the Finger lakes. He said that Jordan has changed immensely, especially in the past 25 years. He told me about some of Jordan's past, and I learned a few things I never knew! There used to be hall for Saturday night dances, the firefighters would flood an area near Ramsdell Elementary for ice skating, and there were all sorts of shops! A dentist, optometrist, pharmacy and more!

People of Jordan: Jeffery, Kameron and Kyler

(Jeffery, Kameron, and Kyler)

Jeffery, Kameron, and Kyler were having fun sledding and snowboarding at sledding hill. They've lived here for 5 years. They enjoy the nice quiet little town and the schools. They have a farm, a few dogs and they're in the process of animal adoption. Kyler is one of the Erie Canal Cloggers, that I've mentioned before here. Kameron recently joined the Volunteer Fire Department and is enjoying that.