So, if you're curious as to what that summer was like, read the following posts!
An Epoch Summer (a day at Lake Michigan, Mass at St. Stan's)
Reminiscing... (fun things that happened that made us feel like we were in a dance movie, beautiful, wonderful things that happened at various times and made the summer wonderful!)
A step back in time. (exploring Milwaukee on the last day)
A TYPICAL DAY
7 am -- Beep beep beep! goes the wake-up call. I wearily fell out of bed, showered, packed my lunch, applied some makeup, and did my very long hair in a neat and tidy bun.
7:45 am -- My mom, sister, and I headed down to the ground floor of the hotel we're staying at, riding the marvelous glass elevator from the 5th floor. After settling ourselves and our massive bags at one of the tables, we joined the line to custom-order our complimentary breakfast from one of the talented chefs behind the counter. I usually had an omelet or pancakes, plus some of the delicious cappuccino.
8:30 am -- We headed to the ballet studio, a 15-minute drive from the hotel, and Mum drops us off. My sister and I rode the elevator to the second floor, went to our respective classrooms, and warmed up for the day.
9:00 am -- Ballet technique class began. Trust me...you don't want to be by a window! It's quite fun to look out and see people eating and walking about (this particular studio is in a rather upscale shopping center), but it can be distracting, and you'll boil in the sun!
10:30 am -- We had a few moments to change into our pointe shoes, and then start the usually excruciating, but very helpful, hour-long pointe class.
11:30 am -- Lunchtime! Everyone sat in the waiting area and hallways, ate lunch, talked, texted people back home, and there were always a few icing their ankles or knees.
12:00 pm -- Now came an hour-long class in jazz the first week, (my absolute favorite!) modern the second, and Pilates for three days of the third. It took some adjustment to move in a non-turned-out manner, but I caught on fairly quickly and had a lot of fun with all of them.
1:00 pm -- We worked on our dance for the closing performance, which was set to music by Bach. By the end of 3 weeks, we had hammered out every problem and had two wonderful, flawless performances!
4:00 pm -- Mum came to pick us up, and we usually went to the very nice Pick n' Save to find something for dinner. After returning to the hotel and eating, we would often go visit the huge, beautiful, wonderful Barnes and Nobles that was two stories tall and complete with an escalator, walk around the mall, or prowl about the used book store. I found a copy of The Two Towers, extended edition, for only $12! We ate at restaurants a few nights, and our favorite was quickly proved to be The Outback. They have wonderful bread, and of course the other food is great too!
8:00 pm -- After returning to the hotel, we'd often go swimming in the pleasing quiet pool, and my sister and I were very grateful for the hot tub! Then we'd go back up to the room (a very nice room, by the way, with separate living room and bedroom and kitchenette) and read, see if there were any good movies on TV (usually, the answer was no), and I'd text my friends. By
10:00 pm -- we were in bed, ready to get up and repeat the whole schedule the next day!
That was our enchanted ballet summer. I'm so thankful I got the chance to experience it!
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In late October 2010, I took my first airplane ride (all by myself!) to visit Christendom College! Read an account of my journey here.
