The Shining Light of the Stage

The spot lights are bright. Be brighter

As a performer, my main goal in life is to shine. Well, that’s what I’m supposed to do. It is what we are all told or tell ourselves whenever we are about to enter the spotlights of the stage. Isn’t it? Be the brightest star.

But actually, it’s not always that easy.

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Doubting thoughts like to creep up on me causing me to question what I am about to do, question what I have worked on for weeks. And even though I should know I am ready for my shining moment I don’t always feel ready. I question if I have rehearsed enough- did I spend enough time in the studio? Nerves build inside me throughout the day of the performance and I am sure I am not alone in experiencing pre-show anxieties. It is these feelings that can dull our light on stage and prevent that bubbly feeling of dancing. Continue reading “The Shining Light of the Stage”

The 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge

Day III

The final day of my ‘3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge’ is here. I hope at least one quote I choose during this challenge was inspirational to someone out there. I had a lot of fun taking part and found it a great way to start the new year, encouraging me to think positive and to stay focused.

My quotes for Day III:

❝No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.❞

-Samuel Beckett

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Dancing Kate in Taming of the Shrew (Photo: Admill Kuyler)

❝Life is a journey, and if you fall in love with the journey, you will be in love forever❞

-Peter Hagerty

❝If you stumble make it part of your dance❞

-Unknown author Continue reading “The 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge”

The 3 Days 3 Quote Challenge

Day II

Here are my quotes for Day II of the ‘3 Days 3 Quote Challenge’

❝Keep Going. Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.❞

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Stage rehearsal of La Sylphide (Photo: Pablo Octavio)

 – Roy T.Bennett

❝Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.❞

― John Wooden Continue reading “The 3 Days 3 Quote Challenge”

The 3 Days 3 Quote Challenge

Day 1

Firstly, I must thank Maysa Rose and hitherandyond for my nominations to take part in the ‘3 Days 3 Quote Challenge’. It is my first challenge as a blogger and I thought it would be a great way for A Ballet of Life to start 2017. Through my blog and dance experiences, I always want to encourage and motivate people to find the positive side of situations so the quotes I have chosen will involve the same messages.

Here are the challenge rules:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you
  2. Post three quotes each day for three days
  3. Nominate three bloggers per day
  4. Inform the nominees

And here are my quotes for Day I:

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Dancing The Sylph in La Sylphide (Photo: Pablo Octávio)

❝You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.❞

-Merce Cunningham Continue reading “The 3 Days 3 Quote Challenge”

A Leap into the New Year

A fond farewell to 2016 with a lot of anticipation for what will come next for this ballerina

Another year passed and a new one begins. Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all left 2016 feeling content with what last year brought you and leapt into 2017 excited for all the possibilities you can bring to the new year ahead.

I learnt a lot in 2016. Being filled with moments of happiness and times of sadness, it was definitely a year of change and growth, which is what every year should involve. I did not only grow one year older (ouch) but I believe my heart grew larger for the wonderful people I hold close and my brain grew wiser due to tough situations and learning how to handle them correctly. You only learn through experience.

It was a year full of dance, like most of my years are. I was promoted to principle and danced my first premiere in the leading role, both being things I never thought possible. 2016 also came with my first injury and unfortunately that will be something I will have to bring with me into the new year: bones take a long time to heal. May 2017 be the year of healthy bones.

I will happily be carrying my blog with me into the new age. Being something I was very sceptical of at first but now am so deep into the joy of sharing my little life with anyone interested, I am more than thrilled to introduce A Ballet of Life to 2017. I hope it can grow and expand even more in the year to come.

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Dancing Kate in Taming of the Shrew (Photo: Admill Kuyler)

A new year is full of potential and will no doubt bring each of us new challenges – offering very different yet very exciting things on the horizon. I want to once again dance my way through the year and am very interested to see what that brings me. I aim to allow all the things I learnt in the year just passed to influence what happens to me in the year at present. I step into January 1st with my point shoes at the ready, all wide-eyed and full of anticipation for what ballet will bring me in 2017.

May your year be full of the things you love most and be brightened by some form of beautiful art too.

With love,

Harriet

Header photograph by Jochen Klenk