The real meaning of Jazznkat (sort of)

I hated dancing when I was a little kid. I preferred to stay stolid and unemotional, physically, because not doing so would catapult me out of my comfort zone. Then I begrudgingly took ballet in Li's Ballet Studio in 3rd-4th grade because my parents wanted all their offspring to have great posture just like them. It was actually fun, and I elevated from n00b to 1337 quickly and had some buddies in that class. (I met Cherry there btw, though I thought her name was Charlie at the time. phail) (I also took a little ballroom dancing later on, but that was really bad and I quit soon after I discovered that I couldn't discern my left foot from my other left foot.)

But ballet is a very square and elegant dance. The next instance where I was confronted with rhythmic body movements was my first dance in 6th grade. It was there that I discovered everyone was a professional hip hop dancer except for me, LOL. So I flailed my arms, pumped my fists, and mouthed the words to the loud crap you'd find on KIISFM. Although I probably looked like an idiot, it was actually enjoyable to imitate whatever your friends are doing among a sweaty crowd in a large dark room.

(Needless to say, the promo was the next instance. Hopefully I didn't look like an idiot this time, right FMS peers?)

Anyways, onto the core of this post: my current dance classes!

I needed to find a substitute for P.E. due to my shortened school schedule, and my violin teacher always complained of my stiffness (esp. my hips)- so now I am attending ballet and lyrical dance classes in Pasadena. Ballet is going quite well- I had a lot of trouble with my 2 left feet when we did turns and stuff across the floor, but recently I have been nailing them! :D My instructor, Leigh, is extremely patient and helpful, and she also happens to be a young adult author. Her classes are teh bomb.

As for lyrical dance, it might be easier if I explain what it is first:

It lives up to its name, as the objective of the dance is to interpret the music with your body. It's a fusion of ballet and JAZZ, so there are plie's and chasse's but also a lot of modern moves- stuff you'd see on "So You Think You Can Dance".

I just had my first lyrical class today, and I think it'll be a bit of a struggle, mainly due to the JAZZ bit. I have no prior experience in JAZZ, and even the ballet stuff are things I've only barely brushed upon in my Basic Ballet course. Therefore half the time, I'm saying "WTHHH" in my head whenever my teacher (Frit) does something complex or when we do our crazy stretches. (There were 16 pushups in the middle of our warm-up...DEATH.)

It's all good fun though- I love the piano music in ballet and the very expressive motions in lyrical (that I cannot mimic). Even if I look like a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing kat woman, it only matters if I'm enjoying it (and getting well-needed exercise). :>

In other news, I'll be performing in my first masterclass tomorrow with my flute/piano/violin group. This is pretty bad for me, since I'm one of those people with slow reactions, so it'll be hard for me to correct my playing right on the spot, with a quite reputable violinist/teacher (Lorenz Gamma) and 50 people observing me.

Yeah, please pray for me not to screw up!