another timeline

see this for more background info.

Boogie Through Time: A Dance Timeline

age around 1: after getting baths, i delight in running around with little to no clothes on and dance, dance, dance. my primary move involves both hands and one foot on the floor, with the other leg up in the air. and bouncing. lots of bouncing.

age 5: i start ballet lessons. it largely involves me leaping over turkeys, pumpkins, and other seasonal cutouts on the floor. i think i decided to stick with it because of the outfits and the jumping.

age 7: i try tap and decide that if i can't be as cool as shirley temple, i don't want any part of it.

age 9: i add jazz to my dance repertoire. i have some other dance friends who did this the year before me and are in jazz 2 while i waste away in jazz 1. however, i blow away the dance company with my jazz hands in our dance to speedracer that they promote me to jazz three next year. but for some reason, i don't sign up. i have no idea why, i was super proud. oh wait, i might be a year off and was moving to england.

age 11: in england, ballet was part of the school day. and the boys had to do it too. i thought this was HILARIOUS. obviously, not very enlightened of me.

age all my childhood: i was pretty consistently enrolled in ballet classes from five on, but my favorite dancing activity was choreographing my own dances to contemporary pop hits, like madonna. i really loved to get down with wilson philips and 'hold on.' there was a mirror in my room on the back of my door that had an unfinished edge. one day in middle school, dancing in front of the mirror to see the finer points of my hot moves, i dramatically throw my hands down to my sides and take a chunk out of my wrist. i don't bleed a lot but it is a huge chunk of skin. from then on, i back up from the door. oh also during this time, whenever i'm done with my choirs on saturday, i turn up classical music and dance around the kitchen/living room. sometimes i moved things so i could get in a grand jete.

age 14: i take one more year of ballet in high school before i decide that i don't have time for it. plus, my teacher didn't want me on pointe and i was PISSED. so i decide to do theater at my high school instead.

age 18: i take a jazz class at school in order to fulfill my pe requirement. nothing too exciting.

age almost 19: i take a semester of ballet to fulfill TWO pe requirements. because i'm awesome, i attend all these classes in a black footless unitard.

age 19 1/2: i take a semester of flamenco to fulfill TWO re requirements AND half an academic credit (or 1.5 credit hours if your school rolls that way). this class was amazing. flamenco beats are different from the standard 8 count that i was used to from ballet and jazz and though a little like tap in that you make sounds with your feet, i immediately loved flamenco because you HAD to twirl your skirt. i would practice routines in the bathroom of my dorm until people from other floors would complain because they could hear me through the whole building. they had no culture.

age almost 20: while studying abroad in australia, i don't want to get off the dance train that i'm on. so in addition to going out almost every night, i sign up for a latin dance class. i feel shamed that i'm not the best person in the class (it should be in my blood), but the instructor is such a strong lead that whenever he selects me to dance, i look good. ah i miss that class. except for the sweaty hands.

age 22: whew, that year right around 20 was big! after coming back for my senior year of school (busy) and the year after i graduated (scary), i have time to take another class. i settle on hiphop in boston. the company's name is jamnastics. it is fantastic. i quickly gain a reputation of remembering all the moves from the previous week. i may not be able to execute them the best, but damn, i know it.

age 24: no dance class and little to no going out- not a whole lot of dance right now. but i am taking pilates and i can point my toes like a mofo.

hmm, that was more than 10. sorry, i just have too much dance for one person!