Recent Events + Auditions

Hey girls. I'm writing this before I go to work, so it may be short. But I'll add details as I find the time.

I just wanted to let you know why I've been gone for a while. Remember how I posted about my anniversary? Well, for it I was planning on making spaghetti and meatballs (for Boyfriend; I don't eat meat), since I can get away with eating just a little of it. But he wanted to go to Dave & Buster's. And we ate too much. And got a giant lollipop. And this set off way too many binges. It seems like I've been eating non-stop since then. I feel so disgusting.

And I haven't been sleeping well since last week or so. I've been going to bed around 10:30 or 11, finally falling asleep at midnight, and waking up no later than 7 am. I am so tired that my eyes are in a constant state of redness, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not dreaming, and I'm cranky.

I'm also sore all over right now. Saturday was my auditions for the dance department. I was so nervous, but they were actually really fun. There were two guys (one from my class) and about 17 girls. Here's how my day went:

I woke up early, again, and got ready. Packed my dance shorts, tied my ballet slippers to my bag, and tossed in a water bottle and some granola bars, since the auditions were four hours long with no lunch break. I dressed in my convertible tights, leotard, and a t-shirt and skirt over it.

Then I hopped on my bike and went to get breakfast.

(Off to work now. More later!)

(Here's the more!)

So I went to the nearby bagel place, bought myself a bagel and some apple juice and sat outside to listen to music and read until closer to audition time. (This was about 9-ish, and I didn't have to be to campus until 10:45-ish.) Blah blah blah, hanging out, bagel, juice, blah blah blah, time passes. I head to Whole Foods, pick up some anti-anxiety herbal pills (since by this point I'm so nervous I feel like I may puke) and some granola since I know we'll get hungry. Then I bike to campus.

I lock up my bike and head into the building where the dance department/classes/auditions are. On my way to the studio, I run into a classmate of mine who is auditioning again and a friend of his. We chat for a while, then someone else shows up and we walk to the studio together. No one had unlocked the studios for us to stretch yet, so a few of us are sitting around talking. Especially to this one cute girl who's an incoming freshman and was there with her parents. They were all very nice.

More people show up, and a woman from the dance department comes down to unlock the rooms. We dump our stuff in cubbies, strip to our dance clothes, and head into the studios to stretch. Some people are working on their solos, but most of us are just warming up for the day.

Then another lady from the department comes down to start getting us ready. She hands out the info folders (which contained, among a bunch of information, a 6-page application we had to fill out with all sorts of strange questions), gives us our name/number badge (I was number 11), and takes a headshot of us on her phone. We are then ushered into the main studio where the auditions will be to fill out the application as we wait for the rest of the people to show up. *insert sound of pens scribbling and us moving around constantly trying to get comfy on the hard floor that hurts our knees and ankles when we sit*

We take a break for the applications to have the faculty members who are judging us introduced. (Turns out the old guy who warmed up during the end of my class last semester is the head of the dance department. Woah.) Then we finish the application as the Ballet guy (with a very french name, no hair, and tiny glasses) moves the barres out across the studios. We hand in our applications and are arranged in rough numerical order (not strict numerical order because some people would be at barres the wrong height for them if we did) and began the Ballet portion.

And it was rough. The instructor had us in 5th position nearly the whole time, and we were moving constantly. He'd just be like, "Left hand on the barre, 5th, right behind, and kick, return, kick, kick, cheat to behind, and out and back, and twice more, and then turn and then to the side, and switch feet, and port de bra forward and back twice; any questions? Go." And we'd go. Oh boy. And it went on like this for about 45 minutes.

Then we moved the barres back to where they are kept and another woman walked out to start the Contemporary portion. No break at all except for moving the barres. We did a bunch of across the floor stuff, and it was really fun since we got to loosen up. Then she walks off and another woman walks out and starts the African portion. We shimmied and shaked and spun and twirled and it was a blast.

After that was all done, and it took a lot longer than writing makes it seem, we were explained how the solos were going to take place. Then we were sent into the other studio to wait until it was our turn. Then we did our solos, again in numerical order. Mine went well, I think. And they're so short that you don't really have time to get nervous during it. It's just over so quickly!

As we finished our solos, we all drifted into the lounge outside the studios, where I broke out the granola to share and someone brought our Red Vines. We talked about all sorts of things, and I told the incoming freshmen about how important the lounge we were in is. (There's a mini-fridge and a microwave; I'm not joking when I say that the lounge is a dance major's home.) I talked to one girl about photography since she used to model and found out that a couple of the people at the auditions have family living in the area I'm from.

Then we got to ask questions to the faculty about the program, and we left. I'm going to miss them all. Those girls were really cool. I love meeting people in intense situations like that and becoming pretty close really fast.

Anyway, that was the audition. I'll know in about a week and a half if I got in. And I am so nervous.