It's 7 a.m. and your alarm is ringing. Your exhausted, sore body aches to get out of bed. Everyone always asks you why you gave yourself 8 a.m. classes spring semester since you finally get to register yourself and design your own schedule. You try to explain how your required dance classes are already set to a certain time and with a certain professor, so you really can't change that. They walk away still looking slightly confused, but you don't care. Yeah, you might have 8ams every day, but you're waking up and doing what you love.
You look down at your feet. They're full of bruises and scratches. Should I wear the black one or the blue one? (In Italics) you can't decide what Leo to wear today or what warm-ups to wear for that matter. You decide to pack a bunch of options for when you have 15 mins to change into clothes for modern. Between that and all of your books for your other classes, your backpack is huge. The roller hanging out the top zipper really completes the look.
You quickly put your hair up into a tight-knit bun (you have ballet first). And throw on some makeup even though you'll probably sweat it all off. You remind yourself you have some regular classes in between your dance ones, you remind yourself that you will be seeing "normal" people today too. As you get everything you need, your hairspray, therabands, headphones, water bottle, and protein bars, you say goodbye to your dorm that you probably won't see again until 9:30 p.m. that night.
You get to your 8 a.m. ballet class, the perfect start to your day. You get to forget about anything you might be stressed about while intensely training to become the dancer you aspire to be. Your technique classes in college are nothing like they were back home. All of the sudden, you are getting one on one feedback. Your professor gives you corrections and advice on how to attain that correction/apply it. It's obvious that your professor cares about your career and wants you to know that you have potential. She's supporting you, compliments are rare but aren't nonexistent. You are really engaged and are practically sweating after the plie combination. You let the pianist inform your movement with her beautiful melodies and are quickly reminded why you do what you do.
Classes are over. The chaos in the hallways that follows the end of ballet class is indescribable. Some girls are off to get a good breakfast, some are off to their Econ class, some are running to get to their bio exam on time, and some are on their way to a dance elective, whether that's tap, jazz, Pilates, etc. Your freshmen class is full of uniquely talented and diverse dancers. Most of them are double majors and are balancing a full course load with auditions and rehearsals. The passion in the hallways is inspiring and yet so powerful.
You are one of those double majors running to your non-lab science class (yes we're required to fulfill the core requirements just like everyone else). You layer back up in your warm-ups trying to keep your muscles warm before going outside in the cold, rainy weather. Your sweating, but really can't afford to get injured right now. You're briskly walking, you only have 15 minutes to get from the performing arts center to the academic buildings on the other side of campus. Please tell me you remembered your water bottle this time, so you're not dehydrating yourself in class.
Surprisingly, your science class goes by pretty quickly. It was just enough time for your body to cool down and somewhat relax, giving all of those overworked muscles a break. You decide to stop by the dining hall on the way back to the performing arts center. You finally have a little time to recollect yourself before dancing again. You grab a banana with peanut butter, some yogurt and granola, and avocado toast. The perfect balance of food groups you need to full your body with enough energy until your next meal.
Modern is next and you're so excited to challenge yourself, push yourself out of your comfort zone. You become more in tune with your body and the rhythms of contemporary music. Anatomy has become something you value, conceptually based movements and exercises have introduced themselves to your life. Most importantly, you aren't afraid of the floor anymore. Instead, floorwork keeps you intrigued. Yeah, I bet you never guessed those words with coming out of your mouth before you came here.
Right after modern comes improv and you really enjoy exploring yourself artistically. You welcome the energy of everyone else in the room, you observe their movement qualities and are inspired to instill some of your own dynamics into the movement you're working on. The class is based on one idea after the next, building on concepts that can be later transformed into movement and someday choreography. Some days you work in silence, and other days you realize how much a certain music genre manipulates how your body moves.
After improv, you have 45 minutes to grab dinner, eat dinner and warm up for your three-hour rehearsal for the spring dance concert. You look back at yourself last semester when you went through a week of intense auditions for the mainstage spring production. And you are so proud of how much you've grown and how much you are continuing to grow even within these rehearsals alone. You get to see your professor in a different light. They aren't just your teacher, now they're a collaborator. You work together with the entire cast to create an emotionally powerful piece that transcends time, political ideologies and nation borders.
By the time you get back to your dorm, it's a little after 9 p.m. and all you want to do is shower and go to bed. Somedays, you do this, but other days you have lots of work to do and find yourself up later than you want to be. But at the end of the day, when you're sitting on your bed, working on a lab report, you know that you wouldn't change anything for the world.
This is it. This is what a dancer is like, this is what it means. It's grueling yes, but it's beyond worth it. To leave audience members speechless after a performance, to impact them on a deeper level and make them think about their lives completely different, that's an opportunity that most people don't get. To extend your training into your college years to prepare yourself for the real dance world, the real industry where it is grueling is something you are so grateful to be doing. Because the little ballerina, who struggled to understand that a first position was like a piece of pizza or that a plie was like making a diamond shape with your legs, never thought you would ever make it to this point of your life: happy, ambitious, passionate, and dancing every second. You are more than ready to change the world, one tendue at a time.
