Day 82: January 16, 2011.

Day two of NYCDA.  The Sunday morning is always hard.  After dancing all day the day before, it is not uncommon for one's body to become so stiff that simply getting out of bed is a major challenge.  On top of that some of us were up really late last night, making 7 A.M. feel like it came really fast.  It's okay, though; once the day starts it's easier than anticipated to get moving.

Classes began at 8 again and went until 2:45 or so.  It's nice coming back as a returning graduate because I get to enjoy the weekend without the pressure of auditioning for scholarships.  Sunday's the big audition day; after classes are finished, the teen and senior dancers prepare themselves to dance two combinations they've learned over the course of the past day and a half and do so in groups for two of the head teachers.  A smaller number of dancers are called back as scholarship finalists and they then perform the combos one last time on stage in front of the ballroom filled with fellow dancers, parents, teachers and the full panel of judges (all the teachers who taught over the weekend).  I'm SO proud to report that both of our auditioning guys and a good number of our girls were called back as finalists!  We then had several who won individual awards, including a teen regional outstanding dancer runner-up and a senior regional outstanding dancer recipient!!!

I was so, so, so excited for every single Loudoun School of Ballet dancer out there this weekend!  Each and every one of them was out there wanting to learn and wanting to gain something from the packed weekend of classes and performances.  I knew that both as individuals and as companies they were there to do the absolute best that they could, and as far as I could see every single dancer was putting in at least 100% of their energy into every task thrown at them :)

Today, at the end of this day o' dancing, the commitment of drive these dancers demonstrated all weekend--and then that drive and talent being recognized by the amazing professional faculty--makes me happy :)