26 June 2004. I am eighteen, only two weeks out of high school, and it is the night of my first performance with a professional dance company. Over the last three weeks, I have jumped all the required hurdles of the young performer preparing to finish training and begin their career-- school dance concerts, graduation, two senior recitals-- and tonight, to me, is The Big Test. I am the youngest and newest member of the PA Dance Vision Repertory Ensemble, and I am constantly reminding myself to Not Mess This Up.
It becomes the most beautiful night of my eighteen-year-old life; I could not have wished for a better start to my career.
The final piece of the evening is the company's signature piece, Returning. Standing offstage as I watch the very beginning of the piece, my heart melts inside my chest from the sheer beauty, beauty that can be read not only in the dancers movements, but in their faces as well: Harmony. Love. Unity.
One of my most vivid memories: I am standing onstage with the entire company in the final pose for Returning as the thunderous applause erupts, thinking, "I did it. And there is nowhere else I would rather be than here, on this stage, with this company."
I spoke with our artistic director after the concert, asking if she wanted me to continue dancing with them in the next season, and was answered "Of course!" Backstage, talking to the dancers and the members of the student companies, I had this feeling of "This is something I love all-encompassingly, I never want to go back." In my own eighteen-year-old mind, I was celebrating the official start of my "life"-- my dance career, with a dance company I adored.
Eight hours later, I loaded up my Saturn and left to spend the summer in New York City. Driving out Interstate 78 that Sunday morning, though exhausted and still wearing my nice clothes from the night before, I had a smile on my face. I had something to look forward to when I returned.
It becomes the most beautiful night of my eighteen-year-old life; I could not have wished for a better start to my career.
The final piece of the evening is the company's signature piece, Returning. Standing offstage as I watch the very beginning of the piece, my heart melts inside my chest from the sheer beauty, beauty that can be read not only in the dancers movements, but in their faces as well: Harmony. Love. Unity.
One of my most vivid memories: I am standing onstage with the entire company in the final pose for Returning as the thunderous applause erupts, thinking, "I did it. And there is nowhere else I would rather be than here, on this stage, with this company."
I spoke with our artistic director after the concert, asking if she wanted me to continue dancing with them in the next season, and was answered "Of course!" Backstage, talking to the dancers and the members of the student companies, I had this feeling of "This is something I love all-encompassingly, I never want to go back." In my own eighteen-year-old mind, I was celebrating the official start of my "life"-- my dance career, with a dance company I adored.
Eight hours later, I loaded up my Saturn and left to spend the summer in New York City. Driving out Interstate 78 that Sunday morning, though exhausted and still wearing my nice clothes from the night before, I had a smile on my face. I had something to look forward to when I returned.
1 comment:
Wow! Thank you!
Wow! You did it!
now it's history and i'm a proud lady!!!
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