Dancers Camping

The 2^nd annual dance campout is coming up, so I thought I’d write a little bit about last year. All of us love the idea of being outside and spending time together! What could be better than a campout, right? Okay, it’s not real camping it’s in a backyard, with a pool, but still we’re outside in a tent, right? Well, we tend to forget about what actually ends up happening when dancers campout.  This is how it usually goes.

Sit-Ups

When a normal person hears the word "sit-up" they might think of a normal -put your knees in a bent position and struggle to pull the rest of your body up to them - sit-up. However, when we hear the word sit-up we know better than to hope for a set of 30 or so normal sit-ups. In our minds, sit-ups mean an entire Shakira song's (and yes it HAS to be Shakira) worth of ballet sit-ups and various crunches.

Def. Ballet Sit-Up (n.)/ an exercise in which a dancer must begin by lying flat on her back in a tucked under position. Next she must simultaneously pull her upper body up to almost a 90 degree position and open their legs into a straddle position while raising her arms into fifth above her head. After holding this position for roughly 2 seconds she must lower her body back down to the ground without letting her feet or shoulder blades touch the ground. If you think this sounds impossible, then you're almost right.

Our wonderful teacher whom we adore claims that all of this torture will make us stronger turners and pretty much all-around better dancers... but during the painful routine we have trouble believing her! We always say that if a normal person (not a dancer) had to do as many ballet sit-up as we have to do on a daily basis, they would probably die.

Quote of the Day

"Dancing's not work. You can't call it work. A day I don't dance is a day I don't live."

~ from "Serpent of the Nile"

Quote of the Day

Definition: Cuba

1. Subtle

2. Sultry

Example

It is afternoon and the air is still.

The b in subtle is subtle like Cuba.

Synonyms

1. Naperville

2. Western Movies

Downtown Naperville

Well, as you might have figured out, after dance, some of us like to wander around downtown Naperville a lot. Naperville, if you don't know, is a nice suburb and so a group of girls walking around looking like they aren't wearing any pants draws a lot of weird looks. People have even stopped us too to tell us that we should wear pants. And actually, we sort of just wander around when we have a break between rehearsals too, whether it be to go to Einstein's after ballet or Starbuck's for a snack, not just to got to FlatTop for dinner. So I'm just posting this because people will probably post stuff referring to downtown and now you'll kind of have an idea of what they're talking about.

Quote of the Day

Well, not really of the day, since I'm on vacation right now. But since I'm still catching up it's a pretty recent quote. And I'm keeping all of them anonymous, but if you know them, well, you'll know.

"Arch your back like a rainbow!"

You know, some things from dance, and just life in general, are really random. It just happens way more often in dance.

My "Nickname"

So on this blog we were all supposed to have nicknames, but none of us have really done that so far. Anyways, mine is Lil' S, course, you don't see that as my signature do you? Well I got that when we went to FlatTop for dinner (just look at Katie's post if you're confused). And at FlatTop when we were coming up with names someone decided that I would be Oprah. Just so you all know, I'm chinese, and being called Oprah was totally not happening. So then someone else (I really don't remember who) suggested Lil' S, I think because I'm the youngest in Senior and have been for the past three years, and this coming year. And I figured why not? It's better than Oprah, and apparently the name stuck. Well, not exactly Lil' S, because the waitress said something like Lilz instead.

10 Reasons Why Flat Top is Awesome

My friends and I have a sort of tradition where we go out to eat at Flat Top Grill (you're welcome for the free advertising) and then go and get Gelato. This is usually followed by us walking around the downtown area looking for things to do at 10 o'clock at night which of course there never is anything because we live in a "family town" and everything closes at 9 or earlier. Therefore, we usually end up settling and go to the book store. There really isn't any rhyme or rhythm to this tradition. We just go if we haven't in a long time. Of course it's usually after a dance rehearsal, a few of us are always in dance clothes, and yes we do get a lot of weird looks.

It's gonna be okay.