Final Bows

Hi there!!

Today is the day, the last post of this blog. It's kinda sad how fast this year has gone isn't it? Today I'm going to review my blogging journey and then talk about the future of this blog.

When I started this blog I was a year younger and unsure about whether or not this blog would work. I thought no one would ever read it, and that I wouldn't like it. I was also a lot further away from where I was today dance wise, and I didn't know what I wanted to do with dance.

Me and Claire at a dance competition
Photo Courtesy of: My mom

Throughout the blogging journey I've learned that I LOVE blogging! Yes, sometimes it was a pain to get three posts done by the end, but I really did love every second that I got to share through writing. I love having a voice and I enjoy when people check my blog to see what I have written and care about what's going on with me. I've never been stumped about what to write about because this blog gave me the freedom to write about what ever I want (which always involves dance). Thank you all for reading my blog and voting on my polls, you inspire me to keep blogging.

I've also come a long way through dance in this blogging journey. I got my first 'solo' part in the Nutcracker, I've been in a Disney Parade, and I've become a part of Ballet West. But I've also realized where I want to go with my dancing career which is to the big stage. Is it a crazy dream to be a prima ballerina with the New York City Ballet? Absolutely. But is that going to stop me from trying? NOPE. I have the passion to do what ever it takes to get to where I want to go.

I've also grown a lot in my faith. For those of you who don't know, I'm a Christian and love God with my life. This year I have taken my faith as my own and decided to live for Christ every single second of every day. This is also another reason why I want to join NYCB. I want to spread the gospel that Jesus has died and rose for everyone, especially in the dance world.

My feet at the beach
Photo Courtesy of: Me

Well, this blog has shaped me and make me realize where I am today. Today I am a 15 year old girl who has a passion for Christ and wants to dance forever.

Finally that leaves me with where this blog is going next. So will I keep blogging? Yes! Just I don't think I still will on this blog. I have so much left to write about and so much left to tell you! So I am making a new blog! When it is finished I will put the link here.

Before I leave I would like to say thank you. Thank you to: Taylor, Claire P., Alicia, Mikelle, Holly, Bella, Madison, Lucily, Val, Rachel, Faith, Alex, Sofie, Jenna, Sami, Megan, Aly, Mia, and Savannah. I love you all so much and have had so much fun dancing with you!

For the last time, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you liked it!

- Ali Grace.

"The Happiest Place on Earth..." Pt. 2

Hi there!!

Let's start off where we ended, shall we?

The Show!!!
Photo Courtesy of: My mom :)

So the beginning of the third day was the same, I was dropped off at Taylor's house to be her adopted sister for the day. We got ready, which included Taylor making me look like a tribal warrior, and set out to Backstage Disney. When we got back there we practiced our finale on pavement, which doesn't really work on pavement, but you know what, it's okay. While we were practicing we got to see a few other dances, and OHMYGOODNESSGRACIOUS THE GROUPS FROM JAPAN WERE SO GOOD!! They would throw a baton in the air do a backflip into a triple pirouette (on pavement mind you) and then catch the baton. They were fantastic! The all 150ish of us were shuffled to the theater, if you've even been to Disney it's the fantasyland theatre.We were all really nervous to do our dances, especially with having to change backstage to do two dances. But when we got on stage I didn't want to leave, it was such a cool experience!! But if any of you are going to preform there make sure you practice spacing the dance so then it goes long, but shallow depth wise because the stage was very long so exits and entrances were tricky. The showcase ended at about eleven am and had the rest of the day to explore the park!! I was really excited because for the past two days I had not been able to go on many rides.

San Diego

Photo Credits: Me (that's right I'm good at taking pictures) 

The Vomrich's got a guide and invited me along (once again thank you guys so much!). For all of you who don't know what a guide is it's basically a person who tags along with you and is an instant fastpass for any ride you want. (for those of you who don't know what a fastpass is it's a special ticket you can get to let you cut the line). So we went on: grizzly rapids, Ariel's ride, the shooting game at California adventure x2, goody's plane ride twice, CALIFORNIA SCREAMING twice, tower of terror and soaring over California in California Adventure. Then we switched over to Disneyland where we did Materhorn x2 (right and left track), the teacups, Splash Mountain (at 9:00pm) and the Haunted Mansion. Here's a map for visual. My all-time favorite ride was California Screaming, but I really didn't like Tower of Terror, I thought it killed the vibe of Disneyland. After all those rides it was eleven at night and I went home with my parents exhausted.

This is what happens when you spend 22 hours
in the car...

The next day was a Monday and a day with my family, we went to California Adventure and did the majority of rides there, but I did get to do Space Mountain. I window shopped whereas my sister Sydney and Samantha actually shopped (I didn't get anything surprise surprise!) I was really sad when it was time to leave, but it's okay, I had SO MUCH FUN!!!! After that we left Disneyland and drove to San Diego which was GORGEOUS!!! For the next couple of days it was way more laid back, we and my family went beach scouting and shopped more. I actually did end up getting something a really cute bag for Europe this year. (YES I'M GOING TO EUROPE!!!!!!! I'VE NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE ACTAL UNITED UNITED STATES BEFORE SO I'M SO EXCITED!!!! Wanna hear all about it? Vote on the poll!). Then we drove to Las Vegas which I realized that I really didn't like. Then we drove home. 22 hours of driving total!!!! WHOO HOO!!!

Thank you so very much people of the world for reading my blog. I will hopefully have a new post up tomorrow and then maybe one up on the 14 (show day!!). Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, I hope you enjoyed it!

- Ali Grace

"Where Dreams Come True..." Pt. 1

Hi there!!

Do you remember spring break? Well I certainly do! Because GUESS WHAT!!! I. WAS. IN. A. DISNEY. PARADE!!!!!!!!!!! I still can't belive it myself, but I was!! So here goes the long and fabulous story of my spring break!!

So to start off my trip we got up at 5:30am and started driving....and driving....and driving...for ELEVEEN HOURS!!! But here's the plus, we did get In-and-Out. So we got there and we pull up to Sofia Simmons relatives' house and there like, "Wanna go to the beach?" and we were like...UH YESS PLEASE!! So we went to the beach and saw some pretty amazing views and ate fantastic quesadillas.

The beach! Right to left: Sofia, me, Sydney
Photo Courtesy of: My mom :)

Then we checked in to our hotel the Double Tree. Pros: we got free cookies every time we passed the fount desk (which was like three times a day) and it wasn't too expensive and all six people in my family got a bed. Cons: we were a mile away from disney making it very hard to transport me there at 7:00 in the morning, and we didn't get magic hour (which is basically like a extra hour in the park that you get if you stay in a Park Hotel) Anyway we made it, tired and exhausted, so we fell asleep as soon as our head hit the pillow.

So the second day we were up nice and early at 6:30!! We quickly got changed and I was dropped off at Taylor's and for twoish days Mrs. Volmrich invited me to be her third daughter. I got ready with Taylor and off to the park we went. We were sent to a large conference room with 12ish other studios from all around the world! Groups from Australia and Japan were there!!

The "too American" Merchandise

Anyway we did our parade routine one at a time (and it was really strange that everyone knew the same routine even though we had never met before). They really liked our studio and we all felt great about the dance! Then we were sent off to pictures and our whole group was squished together. After that we were given some merchandise that Willoughby and Taylor dubbed "too American" for their liking. Then me and Taylor rushed to go eat food and change out of our costumes. We put on our costume for rehearsal then had to take it off to walk through the park and then put it back on backstage. So after rushing to make it too Small World to meet up with the rest of our group we were ushered to Backstage Disney, which is basically a special part of Disney behind the park where all the performers go including the characters. Backstage we saw Ariel, Peter Pan, Aladdin and Belle! We were sent to change and then sat at a restaurant type place for at least an hour where we were harassed by large bugs. Then we were put in lines for the Parade. We were put dead last which you might think was a punishment, but they said we were one of there favorite groups and they wanted to finish strong. We were right behind the

PARADE!!
Photo Courtesy of: My mom :)

Australian group who were very nice and had the most charming accents. Then the Parade loop started!! I was so happy when I saw all the people lining to streets ready to watch us. I couldn't help but smile the whole time! But near the end all of us were literally and figuratively dying. We scarfed down water at the end and Taylor forgot to bring her inhaler so she was actually dying. After we got done we changed and congratulated ourselves, WE DID IT!!! Me, Taylor and Rian ended up riding a few rides before dinner at Rainforest Cafe in downtown Disney. They me and my family headed home and I took off my stage makeup which I had had on for 14 hours. GO STAGE MAKEUP!!

But WAIT there's more!!! Please come back tomorrow for part 2 of my fantabulous adventure! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog and I hope it was entertaining!! STAY TUNED!!

- Ali Grace

The Struggle is Real ....

Hi there!

Well.....I need three posts before Friday. Typically I'm way ahead on this type of thing, but not this time apparently. SO instead of posting about all the other things I should be posting about (Disney, auditions, stress of upcoming recitals, competitions) I recently got inspired by Bun to Ballet Shoes and I really wanted to do a post concerning the common problems every dance knows. Here we go!

1. No social life ... like at all
When I have taken a look at my social life I've realized it's pretty much not existent...DANCE IS MY SOCIAL LIFE!!!! Amount of friends I have outside of dance: 2, social media: 1 (this blog), Things I do outside of dance with non-dance friends: 1 (maybe). So you may be asking what do us dancers do outside of dance, well here is the answer you've all been waiting for....drumroll please....... we stretch, warm up, do homework, go see ballets, choreography dances, go to pilates, spend time with dancer friends, actually is there anyone outside my immediate family who is/was not a dancer who reads my blog? Show of hands. Let's see 0.....1......oh wait is that someone in the back? ... wait you were just stretching....okay....so 1!!! (Thank you Amanda :).
2. Every dance song ever

My newest loveliest blister

We all know that time when a song you once did a dance to so long ago comes on the radio, and you start sporadically moving your arms and legs? Yup we all know the feeling. But we also all know the weird looks that comes with this kinda thing. Some people look at us stare for a while and then let us go back to whatever the heck we are doing. Others try to help us and ask if we are having a seizure. I mean it doesn't matter where you are when the songs comes on, you have to dance to it. So weather your in the grocery store, middle of class or in disneyland you must dance to the song. Who cares what anyone else thinks, GO FOR IT!!!
3. Feet
Like it or not all dancers develop feet fetishes. We all come to this realization when instead of complementing people on there hair or outfit we complement them on there feet. As dancers we deeply appreciate when we get this complement and feel like our life is put together somehow. (I mean what if someone came up to you right now and said, "You have really nice feet." Think about how good you feel!) But people who are not dancers kinda just look at there feet and fantastic arches and give you a weird look because sadly those amazing arches will never be used for glory. Now don't let me get started on how much I have a feet fetish for my own feet I think the above picture sums it up pretty well.

A portion of my dance closet

4. Dance Wear
Now my all-time favorite thing to is to look for leotards and at dance stuff in general. I could spend (and have) hours on DDS (Discount Dance Supply) and looking at pointe shoes. Dance wear has also taken up half of my closet...

So thank you very much for reading my blog, and thank you to all that have been checking back up with my blog I know It's been a LONG time since I've last posted. A new post will be up on Wednesday and Friday. Til them I hope you enjoyed this post and thank you for taking the time to read my blog. :)

- Ali Grace

What Have I Been Doing?

Hi there!!

I have been really bad about posting every Saturday, because my life has been cluttered with really exciting things!!! So because of the I'm writing this random post today about what has been going on on my life.

Getting ready for the Ball

1. Night of Shining Stars!
 On the weekend of February 27, YAGP was held in the Capital Theatre!!! It's so cool that dancers from all over the world came to here in SLC!!! Night of Shining Stars was a special performance collected of all the best dancers including principals (FROM NEW YORK CITY BALLET!!!!!), dancers from Israel and a pas de deux of a thirteen year old and an eighteen year old. I was invited to this FANTASTIC show by my wonderful friend Taylor. So she invited me to her house showed me a gorgeous dress, and 'we' *cough cough I* got ready. (Taylor spend like two hours on me and 40 minutes on herself).

At the end we all looked like movie stars in our dresses, and although we were a tad to fancy I didn't care. I FELT LIKE A DROP DEAD GORGEOUS MODEL!!! We watched the show and by the end me and Taylor both felt inspired to dance for the rest of our lives.

2. WDFK

Savannah's Pose at WDFK
Image Credit to: Savannah (Taylor's Sister)

The second thing I did was go to Will Dance for Kids in Taylorsville. That was SO FUNNNN!!! The predicament was that we had about 3 hours between every single dance and the awards. Mikelle, Alicia, Holly, Alex, Franzi, Brennah, KJ, Beth, and Savannah) All snazed up in there hip hop costumes and then me, with a bright orange tutu, Ugg (I mean Bearpaws, but pheewww) boots and a PCD jacket. Yup, quite the crew. Anywho, the Hip hop dance was SOOOOOOOOO FANTIC AMAZING AND MAGICAL!!!! THEY DID SO GOOD!!! It was sooooo cool!!! No one from the audience could tell Holly put her jacket on upside-down, and Alex started peeing halfway through so we spirited to find a bathroom afterwards. Awards was fun, everyone was  exhausted. Tap - Gold, but top 5 in our category (advanced teen) Jazz - Gold, Ballet - Gold, Hip hop - gold.

New vs. Old pointe shoes

Our Tap dance went GREAT!! we all felt really good about it, and we were all really excited me didn't have to wear the ugly mushroom costumes. After that for three hours I goofed off with Taylor and ended up getting a hanger stuck on the basket ball hoop, don't ask, attempting to tack my tutu (sewing the top layer to the bottom to then it dosen't flop around on stage). Then Jazz came and although we were competing against like 10 other dances I felt AMAZING about it, and everyone who watched it says it was the best they had ever seen it. Then I went back watched dances with
finished tacking my tutu and changed for ballet, and put on my dead, dead pointe shoes. Ballet was really stressful because we had issues with costumes and we were all scared we wouldn't get there on time to go on. But we did, and it didn't go so well.... but it's okay it was our first competition of ballet for the season, and our first en pointe. Then I cleaned up my giant mess and went back with Taylor and her hip hop group back stage. Now I want you to close your eyes and imagine this. Hip-hop group (Taylor,

3. I GOT NEW POINTE SHOES!!!
UPDATE!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! MY FEET NO LONGER FEEL LIKE DEATH!!! They are literally the exact same shoes (Bloch, European Balance, 71/2, XX), but they feel like clouds and I love them so much!!! I am going to write a post about this eventually but just thought you should know.

Anyway thanks for reading!!! I will have a post up next week and will get back to a normal posting schedule. For now I thought you'd like an update. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!!!

- Ali Grace

Dance It

Hi there!!

Today I wanted to share a little bit of why I dance, and why dance is so important in my life. I hope this helps find out how you can dance your heart out and let go and fly into the world of ballet.

Ballet is my outlet, it lets me forget about everything that is going wrong in my life and lets me fly, escape from reality and makes me feel on top of the world. So if you just let go and become a "pretty pretty princess" and have a moment as Ms. Julianna says, ballet is far from boring. Make movements more fluid, and let go. We are NOT barbie dolls so it's time we start adding fluidity and grace to dancing or else it isn't ballet. You might be wondering, how in the world do I add danceiness to my movement? Well, it's hard, but I would first start with knowing the combination. Although this is hard, pay attention to details. Start asking yourself the question, where can I add my own flare?

NYCB's dancers truly dancing it.
Photo Courtesy of: New York Times

If you have an arm that comes down when you plie, lift a bit before you lower. In a piece with strong accents make sure you hit them. Another idea is to keep moving. Ballet is not poses, and once again we are not barbie dolls. In plies make sure you never have a spot where you are 'stuck'. In Adagio challenge yourself to keep your arms moving the whole time. Not only will it make your movement look more professional, but it will make it look like you are a advanced student in ballet. It's all about the details. Now, after you have mastered the combo and added your own flare, let the music take you somewhere, and get involved. One of my favorite quotes is, "Dance is music made visible." - George Balanchine. 

My favorite quote
Photo courtesy to: Pinterest 

If dance is music made visible then dancing will take you to a different place, making you feel as light as air, or as strong as a solider, or as fearless as a bird. This will make ballet a whole different world you can escape from reality in, which is the reason I like it so much. It reminds me why I'm dancing in the first place. Long hard weeks of dance sometimes leaves us with no more emotional or physical energy. When you connect with truly dancing, it's freeing from that pain and something all the money in the world couldn't buy. When you truly experience this it's like a taste you can't forget, you keep trying to find it and when you do it's almost even better than the first time.  Another reason I love ballet is that you'll never stop improving because you'll never master anything in ballet. Even principal dancers say that's why they love ballet so much. Ballet is something beautiful that everyone will be in a different place with. Ballet is never the same for anyone. For me it's a way to get away from the world. Maybe for someone it's knowing that dance is a safe place for them. Find something you can connect with for dance and it will transform your dancing experience. 

Well, I hoped you liked that! It was basically a rant of why I love ballet, how you can love ballet and how everyone can connect with it. Once again thank you all for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you liked it!!

- Ali Grace

LONG LIVE NUTCRACKER!!!

Hi there!!

Today I wanted to talk about a topic that everyone seems to have confusion about. Ballet West. So, let's clear up the rumors and let me tell you what I know.

Yes, Ballet West has bought Park City Dance and it is now called: Peggy Bergman Ballet West Academy at Park City. (Long name I know). I think Trish and Sandy will still stay at the studio but it wouldn't be run by them anymore. We will still do competitions. The curriculum (Jazz, tap, ballet) will basically stay the same. I think we will have a few more ballet classes. I'm not sure if we will still train in American Ballet Theatre (ABT) style anymore. Some teachers are being added to teach the little kids. Here's the big change. Nutcracker will most likely only be held next year (2016) before it ends.

When I heard this I was shocked. Only one more year? I have grown up in the Park City Dance studio and I cannot remember a Christmas season without Nutcracker. I distinctly remember the first time I saw it and wanting to be a Sugar Plum Fairy. It's been my lifelong dream. Now, the chances of me ever getting the role of a Sugar Plum Fairy is like 0.005%. I would also love to be in snow, which, in my opion, is the prettiest dance of the whole thing. Now unless I move up three levels (which is like 0.00000001% going to happen) I will never get to be in snow.

Never get to be in Snow.
Photo Courtesy of: Park City Dance

Now don't get me wrong, I love ballet west and am thrilled to be a part of their company, (especially to get a ballet west jacket) but taking away Nutcracker is crazy!! Yes we will get a chance to audition to be in their productions, but me getting a part is 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% going to happen. They are one of the greatest ballet companies in the world.

My Lifelong Dream
Photo Courtesy of: Park City Dance

Also it's not just for us dancers, but also the community of Park City. Many families flock every year to see the Nutcracker. To some it's a tradition! It will bring you Ballet West money, and will attract more small dancers the join the studio.

I know that you would like to get rid of it because it might detract from students auditioning for your shows and might detract your audience. But when has your audience level gone down for your Nutcracker? Never. You're one of the most prestigious ballet companies in America. Also many many dancers from our studio will try to get into your shows, no harm done if they don't get in, but they wouldn't be able to truly preform if they have the Nutcracker.

What I will be for the rest of my Nutcracker season
Photo Courtesy of: Park City Dance

I also would like someone to tell me what other studios give their students a chance to preform in something that people will come to see that are not in their family? 0. Zero other studios give their students this. Sure, recitals are great but what person in their right mind would like to sit for three hour watching dances with no one they know in them? 0. Zero people. The more unique opportunities you have the more you draw people into your studio.

So that's my rant about Nutcracker. All who are with me say aye. (in the comments) Also if anyone knows how to make a petition will they please tell me? We should all write an email to parkcity@balletwestacademy.org. The more people who write the more chance we can make a difference. LONG LIVE THE NUTCRACKER!!! Thank you for reading my blog, I hoped you liked it. :)

- Ali Grace