When the school year starts back up, just as it did a few weeks ago, many times people ask me if I’m ok. When I ask them what they are talking about, they ask if I can handle school five days a week, homework every night, playing the flute in my school’s band, and, of course, coming to dance five or more nights a week.  Sometimes, questions like these make me think about whether I have chosen the right life for myself.  I think about how much more free and family time I would have, how many more sleepover parties I would have, how little I would have to worry about getting places and scheduling myself around dance classes and rehearsals.  But then, I think to myself, a life without dance wouldn’t be fun at all.
My mom put me in dance classes at the Conservatory of Dance when I was three years old.  She can tell you that I used to and still do flit around the house doing arabesques and pirouettes.  I’ve gone from taking Creative Movement classes once a week to taking ballet, modern, and jazz classes Monday through Thursday and Saturday as an apprentice to the company.  It’s not that I dance because I want to.  It’s because I need to.  There are so many great things that came and will continue to come from my experience at COD.  Dance has changed my attitude toward school, people, and life in general.  It is my release from the real world and I hope it will continue to be for as long as possible.
This year, in November, we will be performing at the Lerner Theatre the contemporary version of the Nutcracker and I am so excited.  I have gratefully received the most roles that I have ever gotten and I’m trying to make sure that my instructors, Miss Lydia and Miss Dawn, don’t second guess themselves about giving them to me.  Even though there are a lot of rehearsals, I want our performance to be as perfect as Miss Dawn does!

Avery