Flashbacks: Reflections on a Summer Intensive, Part One

I cherry-picked these quips from a journal I kept in the summer of 2004, while I was attending the Paul Taylor Intensive in New York City. Enjoy!

"Doesn't [our performing arts high school]'s summer program start this week? Have fun, those of you who are going. I will be in New York City and you will be...in high school. Ha! Oh wait, nevermind; PTDC's Summer program is held at LaGuardia, which is also a performing arts high school. So I guess I'll be in high school, too. So much for my schadenfreude."

"Modern class = amazing. Can I have this class, like, every day for the next two years? Because let me tell you, Rachel Berman is ridiculously awesome. I feel a difference in my dancing already, and I've only been in her class for two days."

"Guess who turned her ankle by falling off the curb on Greenwhich Avenue?
ME!
And then, guess who locked herself out of her room at the Residence?
ME!!
*wild applause*"

"Huh. My room smells like Icy Hot. Can't imagine why."

"Everything across the floor today [in modern class] was counted in sixes. Which can be rather discombobulating when you, the ex-ballet dancer, are unable to count anything that's not in an eight."

"In rep, we're doing Dante Variations and it's fucking AWESOME. It's insane, but it's awesome. I overuse the same superlatives, I know. Get used to it.
In body conditioning we did Armenian Ass- Wrestling.* That's not what our instructor called it, but that's what it IS, ok? ....
.... Yes yes, yesterday was an interesting day. Especially since it was concluded by a wrong-number phone call from a random weirdo. Note to self: Never answer the phone in my room at the Residence again."

"Perverse phone calls from random weirdos are a great way to shake up a slow night."

"Rep Class = Continued love for Dante Variations. The section we are learning is one long phrase: it occurs in a canon and then repeats in unison at double speed. I'm at the end of the canon, so all I really do is the super-fast lightening-round section. SO UNBELIEVABLY FUN."

The photo at the top right is of myself and Julie Tice; it was taken after our rep showing on July 9th, 2004. FYI, Julie Tice is completely and unequivocally awesome. I was so excited & honored to have the privilege of working with her.

*For the life of me, I wish I could remember exactly WHAT Armenian-Ass Wrestling was.