happy new year!

I want to wish everyone a happy new year, and wish everyone the best! I spent my winter holiday home with family and friends for about two and a half weeks. Yes, I live up in the northeast, and we had a blizzard! I don't consider it very severe, however the winds got up to 50 m.p.h. I only took one ballet class. It was David Howard's class at Steps on Broadway. It was very simple and laidback which was good for me since I was out of shape. There were two ABT company members (I do not remember their names). Mr. Howard is an older English gentleman, very polite. I wish it were not an open class because I would like to hear what he has to say about the body and its movements.

My school is beginning the year with its annual choreography workshops. Our innovative choreographer, Mark Godden, will be setting yet another piece for our spring shows. So far the choreography is awesome, and it is so much fun to dance! I am so excited, and I hope I get the opportunity to take part in the choreography for the show.

I have not thought of any New Year Resolutions yet... I am still working on that. Last year my resolution was to be stress-free, and it didn't quite work out. But hey, that's the life of a ballerina is it not?

My ankle that had the cortisone injection is alright, sometimes it hurts, but it is nothing compared to the pain I had back in November.

Perhaps my resolution could be something like:
- get a company contract
- read the pile of books I have been wanting to read (zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, the fountainhead, my uncle oswald, cyrano de bergerac.... and this is just to name a few).

At the moment, I am reading Slaughterhouse-Five. At first I didn't like it, but I am starting to understand the protagonist's mentality (or lack of rather). I think that he is struggling with his memories of WWII, and by putting himself in a different place, such as Tralfamadore, he can imagine a world of peace and prosperity. But in reality, the aliens from Tralfamadore tell him that they do have war, and that war is inevitable. Thus you can never escape from war. The moral is to appreciate the beauty of life and treasure those moments. This book is very similar to Leonardo Di Caprio movie, "Shutter Island", in the way that each protagonist went crazy in result of WWII.

Logging off for now, more blogging to come!