What I've Gotten Out of This
Since last week’s revelation, I’ve had a lot going on! The performances of the student-choreographed piece were this week, and though the dress rehearsal didn’t go so well, the performances were great. I worked on my character, and the cast even joked around a bunch before going on, so it was a really fun experience. My choreographer even noticed a big difference in my dancing since I’ve been focusing on my performance, and she was really excited about the change, which felt good.
The other two pieces I’m in won’t be performed until January, so I’ve been focusing a lot more on my schoolwork. I keep going to my dance classes, but I’m a lot more sidetracked by studying for my academic finals. Those will be over by the 20th though, and then I’ll be heading to Chicago, home to Kentucky, and then back to New York all before the New Year! Then we begin classes on January 5th, so I won’t have much of a break.
With the end of the semester coming up, I’ve realized that coming to Fordham and working with the Ailey program has really helped me as a dancer. It’s exposed me to a lot more than I would have experienced in my smaller Kentucky studio. We focused a lot on technique there, which was great, because now I can use that as a foundation. Now I have to work on other aspects like performance, creating characters, and filling in all the blanks to become a complete and wholesome dancer. I’m glad that I’m here, and I’m going to stay and keep moving onward and upward! —Aqura Lacey
