I love you

Dear reader,
I just wanted you to know that I love you and want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my blog.

If you want to absolutely make my LIFE, feel free to drop a note and introduce yourself. I would love to get to know you!

Thank you darlings! Oh, and how was your valentines day?

Xoxoxo
Vicky page

Twitter, baby!!

This little lady got herself a twitter for this blog. Go check it out:) follow me if you want to absolutely MAKE MY DAY!

The name is @vickspages and I would love to hear from ya!!

xoxo
Vicky.

I am in love with this picture. I found it in the dance magazine.

The Prom

Hi guys.

I know, I've been a slacker. 

And I apologize

(sound familiar?)

But last night was  prom.

Yeah, It happened.

And it was the best night EVER.

there was no kissing, no DSL, no major cuddling.

we were like best friends.

We were literally laughing so  hard we couldnt breathe.

And thats pretty amazing considering we hadn't really talked before that night.

We all just "clicked"

highlights of the evening:

a)At dinner we asked the waitress if we could have some crayons and we got to draw all over the paper on the table. There were some pretty amazing drawings.

b)The moment when my date started singing "I dont wanna wait" by Paula Cole. I couldve kissed him then and there.

c)the fact that we decided to ditch the dance and go hang out in the basement

d)Everyone struggling to put on the bouttoneirs and the parents having to put them on (even they had issues with it though)

e)watching a really scary movie and screaming

f)all of the crazy  wierd and wild inside jokes we have now.

In short, I loved it.

This was my dress (I didnt end up getting the other one)

xoxo

Vicky.

*I'll put up some more pictures soon, I promise :)

Completely unrelated to dance....

Do you mind if i give you a little sneak peek into my life at the moment? Warning: it has nothing to do with dance, but everything with being a teenager in high school.

So here's the story
First Installment:

Junior Prom is coming up, as anyone reading this blog will have noticed. So I planned to ask one of my guy friends. I was hesitant to ask him because I felt like I was putting myself out there by doing so, and I didn't want to hint at the fact that I've had a crush on him for the last 2 years. 

But I decided I would anyway. 

Wednesday night, me and two other girls go out to deliver our invitations to each of our prospective dates.

The first two go fine. 

Of course, I was last. 

We get to his house, park the car across the street. 

As we are crossing the street, his little brother walks outside and so we run back to our car so he wont see us. 

While we are hiding, another car drives past then circles the block. 

We emerge from our hiding spot and start to go to the house again. 

Suddenly, the car that drove past pulls up to the house.

Two girls jump out and place an invitation on the front step while we are literally halfway across the street.

Yes. They knew I was going to ask him.
But I guess it didn't matter.

Long story short, I had to humiliate myself in front of the boy and his family and in the end he chose the other girl (lets nickname her britt. it sounds like b*tch)
And on top of that I still have to see him every morning because he takes me to school.

Second Installment:
I now had a new problem. Who should I ask to prom? Being new to the school, I didn't know too many guys who were still 'up for grabs'.
But my best friend(Lillo) told me I could ask Charlie.
Charlie was the best friend of Lillo's ex-boyfriend, and she had sort of been flirting with him for the last little bit, but their break up was a little too soon for anything to happen between them.

Charlie: popular, funny, athletic and verrry cute. There was the slight problem that he didn't know me and I didn't exactly know him but it was just a dance, after all.
So I asked him.

A couple of days later we officially introduced ourselves to each other at lunch and I gave him my number etc. etc. two days later he started texting blah blah blah

and this is where the story really begins.

to be continued.....

Veekend Vacationings

My weekend:

I went on a date!

It was fun :) We had dinner and talked for a long time. I love it when 

guys talk about things other than sports. 

It makes me feel like I could be friendly to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Tomorrow we have dance (even though everywhere else is a national holiday).

and instead of the usual 2-hour class,

we'll be there from 12-4.

Four hours of dance on a public holiday. 

Sometimes I don't know what I've gotten myself into.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know, I didn't do Saturday Selections officially yesterday. But I did post pictures, all somewhat dance related so I think It could count. 

please say it does. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I picked my dress for junior prom. This is what it looks like;

it's simple. 

it's classy. 

it's modest. 

it's sexy. 

it's me. 

hahaha

hope your weekend went, and continues to go, well and wonderfully.

xoxox

Vicky P

Somethings

 I know I have been kind of absent this week. Let me just say I have had a heck of a lot to think about - relating to school and boys and drama and the fact that

junior prom is in two weeks. 

I was stressed. 

But I went to dance Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. 

as usual. 

Here are some things that happened:

 On Tuesday, we were doing wheelbarrows (you know, where someone holds your leg and you use your hands to propel yourself forward ) they are actually surprisingly hard and my abs were sore afterwards. But anyway, I fell on my hip and that is what happened. 

It looks alot worse in real life. 

I also scraped my elbow up pretty bad that day. 

haha. i thought it was only toes that got hurt in dance

(though mine did also)

On Wednesday, the day I didnt go to dance, I spent an hour at the library reading 'Dance Magazine'. 

I really liked the quote above,

especially since I'm learning under the russian technique

 Walking around the grocery store after dance. 

You get alot of stares when you wear flesh colored tights. 

This is sort of unrelated, but I was so hungry and it depressed me that I couldnt even buy these. I never have money! All I could do was take a picture and set it as my wallpaper

(you think I'm kidding but i'm not)

Happy weekend, guys!

I'll probably post tommorow to tell you how mine went :)

xoxox

Vicky

Saturday Selections!

via

(I don't know where this is from! sorry!)

via.

via.

via. 

via. 

have a great weekend!

xoxo

Victoria.

Friday

What a great day. I almost think that whatever happens on a friday, it becomes bearable because it's friday. 

and fridays rock. 

Rockin' Friday TidBits

*When I did the variation at dance class today, the teacher said "that was a nine". 

(he was referring to points. out of ten.)

*My eye is all better. no more scary vampire!

*Alison isn't mad at me. 

*texting my friends all day because i CAN

*getting excited for junior prom at school

*not being late to anything at all today. 

*I got my new leotard in the mail today. and it fits!! I should put up a picture!

*Having a legitimate excuse to get new ballet slippers. I now have a hole the the size of a ping-pong ball

*the prospect of sleeping in tomorrow morning. ahhhhh....

*not having rehearsals all afternoon tomorrow like all the people participating in YAGP have. 

xoxoxo

Vicky P.

Thursday

Today is thursday. a much better day than wednesday. All i can say is that I'm glad yesterday is yesterday.

Today we started working on some contemporary moves for an upcoming performance. Let me say that though I may not have perfect technique in ballet, contemporary I can do. So today was pretty good.
I learnt a new variation, a much simpler one. thankfully he didn't ask to see me perform it though. But I am worried - I'm not taking part in the YAGP competition that everyone else at the studio is doing, but he said that we were going to perform all the variations here at our own city. everyone would. even if we weren't competing.

Another note - I got a phone today! Yay!
been constantly texting all day. it's been kinda weird to be able to communicate so fast.

i love it.

xoxoxo
Vicky.

8 little things

8 things that made me happy today

1. My hair looked nice.
2. A couple of girls at dance saw I was upset and were really sweet about it
3. I saw some friends at school that  I hadn't seen since the Christmas break :)
4. A man that I am completely in love with sent me an email (even if it was a completely unrelated to matters of the heart)
5.  I am approximately one inch away from being able to do both side splits
6. I am finally sort of over this one guy who I was in love with for 2 years. not even kidding. 2 years.
7. The sun was shining today and it was warm and beautiful
8. I woke up earlier than usual and had a bit of time to get ready for school without rushing around like a crazy woman.

I just thought that with the negativity of the last post, I needed something happy to brighten up this blog. I can't stand painful stuff like that for too long.

xoxo
Vicky

So I had a bad day...

I had the uncanny ability today

to piss off everyone that I like. 

I don't usually vent about problems like this - but I really really feel like I need to get this day off my 

chest, and off my mind. 

Thing 1

It started with me having one awful looking red eye. 

bloodshot and terrifying, 

it was like an omen of bad news.

Thing 2

Then at dance, it was horrible. I was given 30 minutes to learn a new variation, taught to me by one of the girls there, called Alison. 

getting taught by my fellow 'students' is always an uncomfortable situation for me. Especially when it's one of my friends. I probably hate it because suddenly the fact that I'm worse than them becomes apparent. 

Anyway, I tried really really hard to learn the variation. 

I really did. 

When it was my turn to go, I missed my que because I had never heard the music to the variation before. When I said this (and my exact words were "It's just that I've never done it with the music") the teacher told Alison to do it with me. 

I tried to say that I could do it, but he wouldn't listen. 

So, Alison was pissed. 

I apologized several times. Heck! I told the teacher not to make her do it! But he kept saying that it was her fault because she hadn't taught me properly. 

Thing 3

Straight after dance I had to go to a stupid activity with a bunch of teenagers that I don't particularly want to be with. So, after being there for almost an hour, I told my friend (who has a car) that we should go drive around and quickly come back. 

I didn't tell anyone. 

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid

when we walked back inside, my sister was doubled over on the front steps. 

she had a terrible stomachache, and was going home.

The two ladies who had brought us there turned back at me with expressions of damnation. 

"you shouldn't do that" one of the usually soft-spoken ladies kept repeating.

Apparently they had been trying to contact me in any way they could - since I don't have a phone it was tricky. 

Again, I kept apologizing. 

I don't know how I'll be getting out of this one. 

Things 4, 5 and 6

To put the cherry on the top of my lovely day, everyone kept asking if I was sick because I looked it. 

After dance I didn't have time to get out of my leotard, so I just kept it on and put some leggings on top. I totally forgot about the panty line issue until well into the nights activities. 

by then it was too late. 

A guy that asked me out refuses to look at me for some reason. I don't even want to try and go there. I have just sort of given up on making people happy because I seem to have lost my magic touch. 

xoxox

Vicky P.

Exciting News!!

Since I started at my current studio, I was only able to go 2x a week because I had an internship I was going to. I really wanted to go more - i know that to get any better I have to go more. The only problem was the finances - I could barely afford what I was doing presently, how could I afford double?

I wanted to figure out what I should be aiming to try and earn, so I asked the instructor how much it would cost.

"Oh, It will just be the same"

I about died there on the spot. Pure bliss and joy washed over me. I could go more often! And it would be the same price!! Maybe I could now afford to not only have classes but buy new pointe shoes (and some slippers, my current pair is breaking do-o-own.)

So I am just on cloud nine right now.

much much much love

xoxoxo
Vicky.

Leos

I bought a new leotard - the style above except in black and blue. From here. I got a gift card for Christmas, so I decided to spend it. Browsing the leotards online made me feel like I should pawn my jewelry and buy the entire collection. Too bad I have sentimental value in my rings and things.

On the same note - my financial situation is tricky. I pay for a little over half of the cost of lessons, and my parents pay the rest. It's all they can do, and as much as I wish that there were some more funds for my dance endeavors, with a family of 8, I don't take first priority.

So I have to support whatever I need. And that becomes hard when I don't even have a real job. I had an internship that paid me a small wage in return for a huge time commitment. Trying to juggle dance and the internship was too much for me - so my parents want me to drop one of them. Of course, I chose to continue dance.
     Except, how will I pay for it?

My dad said he could find me something I could to help him with work that would supply the same amount of money my internship gave me. I hope it will be enough to cover extra costs like new pointe shoes ($60-75) or costume fees ($50).

All I can do is hope and dance my heart out.

It might be enough.

xoxox
Vicky.

Saturday Selections!

Now, I really don't want to be like one of those abandoned (or even worse, still running) tumblr accounts that just post 'awesome' pictures of ballerinas and quote meaningful dance sayings.

But there are some pretty neat stuff out there!

So, to strike a balance, I decided to keep it to a weekly basis. Once a week I will post all the dadgam pictures I want. sound good?

great :)

Introducing....

Saturday Selections

via.

via.

via.

via. 

via. 

xoxoxo

Vicky

oh, and Happy New Years. Let's make 2012 wonderful, why don't we?

politics in dance part 2

continued from part 1......

Eventually I made friends.
 with the cool group. 

Something I found to be interesting was that the popular girls were all the best dancers in class. They learnt the new variations the quickest and were sort of the 'star pupils' of the studio.

So the fact that I was in their group seemed ironic. I mean, not only was I new there, but I was also a pretty newbie dancer. Meaning, I have a lot to learn. 

The guy, Peter, vanished one day. I haven't seen him since. Later, someone told me that the teacher had essentially kicked him out because he chose his job over dancing. 

Also, the brunette hugger moved on to the competing studio. 

The politics in my studio is fascinating. At the beginning, when I was detached from ties of friendship, I could coolly observe what was going on. Now it's not so clear. 

the cool group:

There is Blaire, the prodigy - a 13 year old girl. She is amazing to watch, graceful and strong and amazing. Surprisingly, she doesn't have the ego that usually follows. 

A blond 15 year old. she embodies the cliquishness of the group. She's Alison - I talked about her in my Wednesday post.
Shawna is short, loud and crazy. At first I was convinced that she hated me, but then was really friendly. I can't really figure it out.
Emily is one of the nicest people of the group. she gets along with everybody.

And then there's everyone else:
Catherine - 20 years old, goes to University. A little bit weird, really nice, but sort of has the habit of getting in your face when she talks to you.

Jessica - sort of wavers in and out of the cool group, 13. A pretty strong dancer, she is also really nice, but sucks up to the populars.

Amanda - really really shy and quiet. a graceful dancer, but she is timid like a mouse.

Nicole - the tallest person there. kind of different. She doesn't try to be popular or outgoing. I think I might be the only person that she really talks to there.

Maddie - 12. her turns are amazing. she is cute and funny.

(there are other people but those are the girls that come frequently.)

sometimes i feel like i'm in a high school chick flick.

xoxox
Vicky

politics in dance part 1

I remember the first day I went to my current studio.

It was a Tuesday. I had ridden my bike, it was a beautiful summer day. When I walked into the dressing room, there were two girls sitting inside talking. I smiled, trying to be friendly, as I made my way to the bathroom to get changed. 

I slid into my blue leotard and tried to calm myself. I had never been good at new situations like this, despite the fact that my life consisted of them. Bracing myself, I opened the door and stepped back to the main area of the dressing room. 

"Hi" I kept the ever-present friendly smile plastered on my face.

"What's your name?" one of the girls asked me

"I'm Vicky. I just started here"

They introduced themselves. The undeniable awkwardness ensued. Finally, the other girls slowly all trickled in. No one else asked my name, but I did get some odd stares.

An eternity later, the teacher announced it was class time. I took my place at the barre, awaiting instruction. Immediately, I noticed a couple of things. 

a)there was definitely a 'cool' group. the two girls who had asked my name were there along with a blond girl. A pretty brunette walked in, and gave the 'cool' group people each a hug. Although it might have appeared that she was friends with them, there was an undeniable attitude of contempt, as if they were brushing her aside. 

b)there was a God in the room. Literally a God.

I learnt later his name was Peter. 

17. 

Blond, tan, 6-pack and definitely not gay. 

I immediately decided I didn't like him.

c)I hope you don't have any hopes regarding a possible love interest for me. If you do, tear them down like the twin towers.

(was it bad to say that?)

When I decide I don't like someone, It lasts forever. Or until they like me (whichever comes first). 

So, really, don't get any crazy romantic thoughts into your head. 

this story isn't that perfect.

to be continued......

xoxox

Vicky P.

Thursday.

I had dance today. We learnt a new variation (from Swan Lake) and did 'stamina'. 

I guess I should explain what Stamina is.

Basically, we do exercises across the room, on both side. We usually begin with a ballet run to warm up and then progress to tour j'etes, pirouettes etc. 

It is living hell. 

Not only are you working without a break, (except for a couple of seconds while you wait your turn at each side. if it's a large class that day), but you repeat the steps over and over and over again. 

Luckily for my survival, we only did 30 minutes of stamina today. Usually you can count on at least an hour. Boy was I glad that we got a break while he worked on the little kids for a while. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

At barre, we worked quickly and intensely. By tendus I was sweaty and hot. At adagio, we lifted our legs by the ankle with our hands. front, side, back (panche). reverse. 

I'm not quite at a perfect 180 degrees, probably something more like 146.  I have added this exercise to my list of stretches to practice at home. It's the only way I can show the teacher I'm improving.

It's the only way I can show myself I'm improving. 

xoxox

Vicky P.

My dancing background

I started ballet at age 13. Twice a week, I would go to a small hall and take classes from an old woman from South Africa who taught me the names of all the steps and complimented me on my hot pink spectacle frames. 

When my family moved to a small town, I knew even entertaining the thought of ballet classes was ludicrous. I tried to do did the NYCB workout. 

that was fun.

6 months later we were on the move again. This time to the urban neighborhood of the western United States. I took classes for 2 years at  a studio that boasted of 6 students who had earned a place in their high schools' dance company. 

Not knowing any better, I stayed. 

Then, due to scheduling conflicts, (I wish I could say 'artistic differences') I was forced to look for somewhere else. A couple of trial lessons and many tears later, I found my place. 

It was very different. 

First, it was led and taught by a man.

Second, our classes were two hours long and we were not allowed to leave the studio AT ALL during that time. 

Third, everyone had class at the same time. There were no level sub-divisions, no seperate studios, no other teachers. nada. everyone at the same time. 

Fourth, the method was Vaganova.

And that is where I am now! I've been there since September.

I stopped crying after every class probably about a month ago, so I  must be getting bitter  better!

It really isn't that bad, it just takes some getting used to. 

xoxox

Vicky P.

Hey guys
Guess what song I love right now?

Ballerina - made famous by Nat King Cole

Dance, ballerina, danceAnd do your pirouette in rhythm with your achin' heartDance, ballerina, danceYou mustn't once forget a dancer has to dance the part
Whirl, ballerina, whirlAnd just ignore the chair that's empty in the second rowThis is your moment, girlAlthough he's not out there applauding as you steal the show
Once you said his love must wait it's turnYou wanted fame insteadI guess that's your concernWe live and learn
And love is gone, ballerina, goneSo on with your career, you can't afford a backward glanceDance on and on and onA thousand people here have come to see the showAs 'round and 'round you goSo ballerina, dance
Dance.
what a little tear jerker, huh?  (sorry for making the lyrics purple, I know it's slightly offensive, but it was the only way to keep it distinguishable!) Tommorow I have dance class again. I would tell you about today's class, but in reality it was fairly uneventful and not too interesting. I did give out late christmas presents to the girls there, and they were pretty much thrilled (I was the only one to, it appears, even think about it). 
So tommorow awaits. with promises of itchy tights and sore metatarsals. 
loving life, xoxoxVicky