August 7th, 2023
When I was nine years old, my mother took me to see The St.Petersburg Ballet Theatre perform Romeo and Juliet at the Whiting Auditorium. I remember sitting in the audience during the balcony pas de deux when I realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. Now, I didn't know what pursuing dance would look like ten years down the road, but I knew that there was a reason why I fell in love with the arts.
I understood the competitive nature of classical ballet and made the decision to take my training seriously from that moment forward. When I was thirteen, I wanted to train during my off season, so, I auditioned for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp's Dance Ensemble Program. I ended up receiving a scholarship to attend the four week summer intensive in July of 2014. It was the longest I have ever been away from home at age thirteen, but the amount of training that I was exposed to was unlike anything that I had experienced. I was able to perform in the Miller Theatre, work with established Faculty members, and meet so many new people. I walked away from my time at Blue Lake as a different dancer than when I had first arrived. My time there inspired me to approach my training with a different perspective than most people.
It was February of 2023 when I got the email from Patty and Rachel (Co-Directors of the Dance Program at Blue Lake) asking me if I was able to be Modern Dance Faculty for session 3 of camp. I jumped at the opportunity to go back to teach at an organization that helped shape me as a dancer during my middle school years. I was honored to say the least. My beautiful student, Adelynn Walker, ended up receiving a scholarship to attend Blue Lake as well. I was so excited to introduce her to the same place where I trained when I was her age!
It was the weekend before I left for camp when I realized that our lead Faculty member was none other than Steven Houser (Former principal dancer with Grand Rapids Ballet). Steven coached, rehearsed, and taught me when I was training at Young People's Ballet Theatre under the direction of Nick and Laura Schultz (Ballet Master and Mistress of The Royal New Zealand Ballet). He was a big part of my growth during my middle school - high school years, and was one of the most genuine human beings that I had ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Having the opportunity to return to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a Dance Faculty member, take Adelynn to my old stopping grounds, and work with a former teacher and coach of mine made me stop and realize how amazing the dance world truly is. I had the honor of teaching the ballet placement class while my other talented colleague, Austin Panavong, taught the modern placement class. We split the dancers accordingly to insure they would get the most out of the training. I rotated my mornings between 8 AM Ballet Technique and 8 AM Modern Technique (both classes ran from 8-9:45 AM) . For those of you who don't know me, I am not a morning person. I can tell you that waking up at 6:30 AM every morning was nothing short of inhumane. However, I will admit that after I was awake and moving, I rather enjoyed my early mornings. I would then teach Pointe Technique from 9:50-10:30 AM and would move right into my Modern Rep rehearsals from 10:40-Noon.
For those of you who are familiar with the arts, you will understand that twelve days really isn't that much time. Due to the layout of the program itself, Austin and I had about five rehearsals to choreograph a piece on a group of students that we had just met. Having to choreograph, set, rehearse, and clean a new work in five rehearsals is no easy task. Although, we had an amazing group of 21 dancers who worked their butts off to make our visions come to life. I believe that I can speak for Steven, Austin, and myself when I say that we truly enjoyed our time working with every single one of the dancers that attended session 3.
Our rigorous schedule continued after our lunch break. I was responsible for teaching a Dance Minor class which introduced non-dance students to how a dance class runs and functions from 1:50-2:30 PM. Our Afternoons consisted of many workshops including: Character Dance, Classic Jazz, Weight Sharing Partnering, Improvisation, Composition/Choreography, and Dance History! The Faculty collaborated on about 85% of the material which was so inspiring to see our individual ideas come together.
We were also blessed with a group of six amazing dance staff (who pulled double duty as Unit Directors and Counselors). They assisted with our classes/rehearsals and participated in our workshops which was so fun and exciting for the dancers to see! The dancers then got to see the dance staff perform at the Staff Concert on the big stage! Their piece was choreographed by all six staff members and was breathtaking in every way imaginable. The way that the camp is set up, it strives to constantly inspire the love of performing arts among Faculty, Staff, and students alike. It is the main reason why I love the organization so much.
As the intensive started to wind down, we had a Q&A with the Faculty and Staff where the dancers were able to ask us questions about our careers and anything else that they wanted to know. The questions ranged from "When did you know that you wanted to dance professionally?" to "What is your biggest inspiration?" to "Is there any advice that you would give to your younger self?" to "What is your favorite part about doing what you do?" Not only was it inspiring for the dancers to hear, but I was so blown away by my other colleagues and their personal stories. It was a moment that I will never forget.
The next morning in class, I sat them all down at the end of class and talked to them about seizing every opportunity that comes their way. I stressed the importance of what dance teaches you even outside of the realm of dance itself. It teaches you teamwork, determination, perseverance, collaboration, respect, humbleness, and community. I talked a lot about how every one of them was unique in their own way, how they all bring something different to the table. I told them that life would be so very boring if we all looked and danced the same. We talked about the importance of self-respect (especially in the dance world) and how that concept can be carried in many different aspects of life.
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is such a special place for teachers and students alike. You have the opportunity to make connections, build relationships, inspire each other, and ultimately, do what you are passionate about in life. I throughly enjoyed my time there with the students, staff, and faculty. It continues to shape me even as a current professional in the ever changing performing arts industry, and I am already looking forward to next summer.
"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort." - Vincent Van Gogh
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