My First Month at Ballet West
Hi
Everyone! My name is Timmorie Freeman and I am 17 years old. I have been
dancing since I was about 5, but seriously since I was 10. I trained at the San
Diego School of Ballet, until I moved to Chicago, where I trained with Madame Peff Modelski, for the 4 years I lived there, at the
Faubourg School of Ballet and the Ruth Page School of Dance at the Ruth Page
Center for the Arts. For the next year, I will be training at the Ballet West
Academy in the Professional Training Division!
I got this wonderful opportunity from attending the Youth America Grand
Prix Finals this past year. Last week, I had officially finished my first month
of training at Ballet West and I LOVE IT!!!
I
am lucky enough to be living in a house, which is about a mile and a half away
from the BEAUTIFUL studios. There are 5 girls, including me, and we get along
very well. We each have our own rooms and have 2 bathrooms to share. The girls
who live downstairs have their own fridge, as do the girls upstairs, and we
share the kitchen. Thankfully, we all knew each other from the Ballet West
Summer Intensive, so there wasn't very much awkwardness. The girls and I are
constantly laughing and joking, especially after long days of classes and
rehearsals.
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| My Bed |
When
the program started, we hit the ground running. We went straight into our full
schedule with rehearsals and a few auditions. The schedule was quite an
adjustment, after having a post-summer intensive break and not having many
options for classes before I left for Utah. My daily schedule is as follows:
Monday
1:00-2:30- Technique
2:30-3:30- Stretch Class
4:00-5:30- Technique
Tuesday
1:00-2:30- Technique
2:30-3:30- Pas De Deux
4:00-5:45- Technique
6:45-8:00- Rehearsal
Wednesday
1:00-2:30- Technique
2:30-3:30- Variations
4:00-5:45- Technique
Thursday
1:00-2:30- Technique
2:30-3:30- Pointe
4:00-5:30- Technique
Friday
11:45-1:00- Rehearsal
1:00-2:30- Technique
2:30-3:30- Modern
4:00-5:30- Technique en Pointe
6:00-7:00- Rehearsal
7:00-9:00- Gala Rehearsal
Saturday
9:00-9:45- Movement Mentor Class
12:00-1:30- Technique
1:45-3:15- Contemporary
3:30-5:30- Nutcracker Rehearsals
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| Studio 2 |
Throughout
the week, we are taught by a few different teachers. We have Mr. Peter Merz,
the Director the Academy, Ms. Jan Fugit, the Principal of the Academy, Ms.
Heather Fryxell, Mr. Jeff Rodgers, Ms. Cati Snarr and Ms. Natalie Desch. All of
these teachers have different backgrounds, while having strong ties to Ballet
West. They each provide a different perspective and different corrections that
you may not have heard before. With the way the building is designed, the
school is well integrated with the company. Although they have their own floor,
company members will often come to the Academy floor and watch classes or use
open studios. You also never know who will walk by the studio windows to watch
for a minute, Mr. Sklute included. Our teachers lovingly call this "Being
under Sklute-iny".
We
are required to wear a uniform, which includes the kinds of tights, leotards
and skirts that we wear. Our leotards are the Nadine style by Eleve, with the
Ballet West Academy logo. The color of the leotard depends on your level and
division. For example, the Elementary Division wears Periwinkle, the
Intermediate Division wears Navy Blue, the Advanced Division wears Black and
the Professional Training Division wears Gray. To distinguish levels within
each division, we wear hip alignment belts that are different colors. The A's
wear White belts, the B's wear Lilac belts, the C's wear Black belts, and if
there's a D level, they wear Navy Blue belts.
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| Professional Training Division Uniform Front |
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| Back |
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| Advanced Division Uniform Front |
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| Back |
I
have found that having 2 technique classes a day, each day, is really taking a
toll on my body. To combat the wear-and-tear of these classes, I make an ice bath
for my feet in the morning and evening, followed by a contrast soak with warm
water and Epsom salt. I also roll out before and after class with stretches to
keep my ankles happy. If that doesn't work, I can always go to the PT room
where they help us figure out what is going on and what we can do.
Being
in this program and spending so much time with the people in my class, I have
already made some really great friends! We've had sleepovers, gone to dinners,
gone to the mall, seen movies and made amazing memories. The program gives us
the best of both worlds, the serious ballet training and a bit of a normal
social life. One of my friends, Lucy, is even taking another one of my friends,
Sabrina, to homecoming.
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| My Friends an Me |
In
the Nutcracker, I will be a Page and a Vendor. The Vendor is in the First Act
with the Party Scene and Pages are in the Second Act during the Opening and
Finale. I am also in the A Cast which means that I get to tour to Ogden, about
an hour away from Salt Lake City, to perform. Other performing opportunities
include the Gala, Academy Invitational, Beauty and the Beast and the spring
performance. The Gala is for the Company's opening night of Iconic Classics
including Fancy Free, Symphony in C and Overgrown Path. The students with take
part in a Grand DeFile to open the show! The Academy Invitational with be a show
where students are able to perform variations. It is open to the public and
tickets are free.
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| The Girls in My Class and Me at the Nutcracker Audition |
One thing that has been easier than I had
expected, was/is learning how to live "on my own" and take care of
myself. The first weekend, I did have to replace a shower head and I felt like
such an adult. Things like grocery shopping aren't that bad because you get to
pick out things that you like and know what you have for meals for the week.
Laundry also isn't bad; unless you let it pile up or forget to wash your
uniform and have to wash it in the morning, then wear it slightly damp to
class. Sometimes, if I come home late from classes, it's hard to make dinner
because I'm so tired and just want the food to appear. One thing that I think
is helping is having some food that is already cooked. For example, if I'm
making chicken stir-fry, I cook the chicken all at once and then use it
throughout the week. It's a lot easier than having to cook chicken every night.
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| Hannah Fixing the Swiffer |
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| The Shower Head that I Fixed |
One
thing that I am very excited for is seeing my family and puppies during the
coming week of my fall break. As I'm writing this, I'm actually in the airport
in Phoenix. I have found that to get out of Salt Lake City, most of the flights
go through Phoenix. I have about a three hour layover and will get to Chicago
at about 5:30 am, but it's worth it to have an extra day with my family. I
think that it will also be nice to give my body a bit of a break from my
regular schedule.
Lastly,
I want to give an ENORMOUS thank you to Robbie and Gina for having me as a
Guest Blogger. I have never done something like this before and it was a lot of
fun! It's nice to be able to share my thoughts, new experiences and pictures
with you guys. I hope that you have enjoyed and I hope to be able to do this
again at some point(e)! –Timmorie
