First audition....

So Friday was my first grad school audition and it could not have been any worse. Ugh.

I left early to have brunch with Marc and Katie, which was loverly as always. Then from there I was going to print out my revised resume with my dance training and a body shot that Justin took for me as they requested that as well. I get off at 116th and go to a fed/ex kinko's and find that they do not print pictures at that location but the very nice gentleman gave me directions to another that did.

So after getting all of that taken care of, it is around 12:30ish, and I decide to go ahead and head to NYU so I can center myself, stretch really well, etc.

Suddenly I look out of the train window to see that we are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. *thinks to self* NYU isn't in Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure I'm going over the Hudson. Let me see what's going on here. Come to find out I WAS in the heart of Brooklyn at 8th AVENUE instead of Street, which is where the confusion came in. My train SHOULD HAVE stopped at the NYU/8th Street stop but didn't. Anyhoo, I wanted to be at NYU for 1:30 (we had to be there for 2:30) but by the time I got myself back on track and walked from the train, I arrived at 2:15. Not a good way to start the afternoon auditioning.

I race to get dressed and throw some makeup on, get off of the elevator on the 2nd floor to find a bunch of tiny, ballerinas, with their parents sitting around. Am i in the right place?? Yes I am. What's going on?! Come to find out we were auditioning with undergrads.

There were about 30 undergrads, 7 grads in the room. We did a ballet barre, which became a bit crazy towards the end. It was very fast paced and pretty much one had to sight read. not a problem except that I'm a little rusty in that area.

Center adagio was very easy but I was so nervous I couldn't find my balance. Argh what are you DOING Melinda?!?!?!?!! Center moving combination was a complete disaster for me. I was having trouble on the ending jete saute into balance', as it was an awkward transition and then I did one of my pirouettes the wrong way. STUPID MELINDA!!! We got a 2nd opportunity to do it and after rehearsing it on the side I felt confident that I could redeem myself. WRONG! uggghhhh!!

Contemporary portion is coming, so i'm sure I can redeem myself in that arena. Nope. I couldn't see a darn thing, so I kept trying to find a spot in the room where I could see and where someone wasn't going to run into me. people had NO sense of space. I wasn't able to get all of the material in my body, so that was a complete disaster as well. The 2nd time we did it was better, but still not as good as it could have been. Across the floor combination was easy but again i screwed it up.

WHAT IS GOING ON?!??! I let myself get flustered and couldn't recover from it. I knew I was going to be cut and not have the opportunity to show my solo or even be interviewed. And sure enough I was cut. I left very upset at myself, completely disappointed in myself and still am. Although I'm trying to find the positive in the situation it's still very hard. My body is NOT what it once was, it feels different, I haven't been training consistently b/c I simply can't with my little guy, so I want to question why I'm even trying right now, but then WHY NOT?!

I'm going into the Ohio State auditions with a new mind set. Here I am. Here is what I have to offer you. Take it or leave it. I feel a little better about it already, and am sure I'll feel even better once I arrive on Thursday afternoon!

J was offered a good position in Austin, and although I thought he had decided we would take it, he is now second guessing everything. I'm beyond stressed and don't want to deal with this right now. And he can't make up his mind. SO frustrating!!!!!

I need to meditate or something. Till next time....

The ache that I love the most....

So the past two weeks have been crazy busy for me. I've been learning my solo for my graduate school auditions; had auditions with the UL Opera Theatre for the Spring musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" for which I am the choreographer; keeping up with my very active 4 month old; and working on choreography for the above show.

My body hurts oh so bad, but it's such a great hurt. It aches, my joints hurt, i'm bruised. But I'm confident in this solo and feel it will speak. My body isn't where I wanted it to be at this point after having a baby, but I feel I can still show that I am a competent technician, with talent.

My first audition is this Friday at NYU Tisch, then I'll be in NYC for a week which I'm THRILLED about. Dax will be at home with Daddy in Louisiana. I'm going to miss them both oh so much. It's amazing how much life has changed and although I'm anxious to get my career back on track, my heart is with those two men. Then I'll fly to Ohio for OSU's audition on the 29th and 30th. I'll be staying with a current grad, whom seems very sweet. We have a lot in common as well, so I look forward to meeting her and her husband.

I'm off to bed now. This body needs some rest before little guy wakes to eat!
Night!

Progress

This week begins a few months of excitement.

I am choreographing UL Opera Theatre's show "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", which is a musical, so I'm super excited as that's such a change from what I usually do, and will be great to have on my resume. It's also my first "professional" work since graduating with my BFA.

My first few auditions for grad school are around the corner: NYU Tisch and Ohio State. I'm looking forward to getting back up north and seeing some dear friends in NYC for a week. Auditions for TWU follow shortly after in Dallas, where I also get to see my dear friend Steph whom I haven't seen for over a year now. I'm still awaiting an invitation from CAL Arts, So we'll see... And of course Florida State is at the end of March! Super excited for it all, but of course a bit nervous. My body isn't exactly where I wanted it to be at this point post-partum, but it's responded well to dancing again. A bit better than I thought it would.

A friend has also asked me to pick up some classes for her during the semester when a show she is dancing in opens. I'm really thrilled as I haven't taught in over a year now, and miss it terribly!

Ok, off to change Dax, and work more on audition material for auditions with the musical this week! Life is GRAND!!!

I will keep my word...

Hi again,

Geez Louise I had planned to keep up with this blog, but my goodness i haven't been able to! Ah well! I will do my best to update more often!

Dax is 4 months today, which is just utterly hard to believe! He's doing a bit better with the reflux, though we do still have our moments. He's growing and changing OH SO FAST!

i'm getting ready to audition for various grad school programs.

I'm hungry right now.

There's a very quick update. *winks*