News

All Good Things…

August 13, 2008

Well, it’s officially the end of my summer, and the end of my time as a web intern with Dance Spirit. I am sad to leave New York, but especially sad to leave all the staff and interns at DS and the sister magazines (Dance, Pointe, and Dance Teacher). It has been so fun to come to work with a bunch of people who love dance! It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged, so here is a wrap-up of the highlights of my summer…


Highlights of the Internship

  • Seeing Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in a rehearsal open to the press, and meeting Judith Jamison and other Ailey artists (wow… and another wow)
  • Assisting with the Dance Teacher Magazine’s summer conference and meeting cool dance teachers from all over the world, plus seeing legendary dance teachers like David Howard, Finis Jhung, Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith.
  • Sitting in on DS and Dance Magazine Meetings (where all the magic happens)
  • Scouting for talent and trends at The PULSE and NYCDA National Competition
  • Talking dance with an amazing magazine staff
  • Meeting other fun dancers who also interned this summer
  • Getting my “paycheck” from Alison, the amazing web editor (interns paycheck = pizza for lunch once a month)

Highlights of my NY Adventure

  • 4 professional auditions (a project in Long Island, Disney Live On Tour, the Cats national tour, and the Chicago national tour)
  • 16 Broadway shows and 3 off-Broadway shows. I’m such a dance nerd that most of the time I watched the chorus so I could see the best dancers and choreography, even if that wasn’t the focus of the scene. Top 3 favorites are Rent, In the Heights, and Altar Boyz (I saw Altar Boyz 3 times… Neil from SYTYCD is in it and it’s hilarious. I’m officially an “altarholic”!). My favorite dancing/choreography is in Mary Poppins, In the Heights, and Altar Boyz!
  • Seeing NYCB and ABT!
  • Sight-seeing in all the boroughs (If you come to NY don’t miss out on my favorite destinations: South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown for shopping and lunch, and, of course, Times Square)
  • Taking class from amazing faculty at Steps, Broadway Dance Center, and Dance New Amsterdam (My favorite teachers: Jana Hicks, Jeff Shade, and Jennifer Archibald)
While it will be sad to leave a place of so many great opportunities and experiences, I do have some exciting things coming up. On Saturday I fly home to Georgia where I’ll spend a few days packing up and seeing family and friends before I make the long drive out to Fort Worth, Texas for my last semester at TCU! While I’m in Georgia I’m going to set a dance-theater work on some dancers at the student company where I danced in high school. This semester at TCU I’m doing a lot of different things to finish up my BA in writing, but hoping to continue taking class and performing with the dance students at TCU’s dance program.

And I may be leaving NY, but I’ll still be blogging about my dancing adventures! I hope you all have enjoyed your summer as much as I have enjoyed writing for you!