Healthy Meals 48, 49, and 50
Breakfast- Quaker cinnamon oatmeal 
Lunch- All Fruit Smoothie (blueberries, bananas, strawberries, mangoes, and peaches)
Dinner- Southwest Salad from Lime Jungle (mixed greens, grilled chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and carrots)
Daily Practice
Time: 1 hr +
Songs: When I Fall in Love and I Hope You Dance
I started the morning with vocalizations in my room, using the Full-Voice CD. Later in the afternoon, I met with Kurt for an additional private lesson. His biggest note to me is that I need to find the balance between continuing to practice and improve me technique, and actually starting to sing and perform-- which is the exact revelation I had earlier this week. Especially after watching several fantastic open mics and live performances this week, I've been starting to reflect on what moves me as an audience member. I've been picking up on the difference between people who are very technical with their approach versus those who are more emotional with their approach. Obviously, we're all striving for the best of both worlds, but in my eyes, the one with emotion and intention wins 9 times out of 10-- even if their technique is not perfect. We don't love performances because someone shows off their technique; we love performances because we connect to the story in some way or form. Right now, I'm not telling stories, I'm just singing notes. So as I transition out of this 30-day Challenge into my Every-day Challenge, I'm going to start pushing myself to take risks and "just go for it" as Kurt would say.
Dance Classes 19 and 20
Instructors: Goheen and Jill (subbing for Salsberg)
Type: Ballet and Tap
Today I took my FIRST tap class in 12 years! It was really fun, and I was surprised how much of it came back to me so quickly. I didn't realize how physically demanding tap is. You think it should be easy because people are just moving their feet, but I was drenched with sweat. I also took ballet with the wonderful Beth Goheen. She always has great words of wisdom: today she told us to "always dance from your center". We often hear this term meaning, using your core or abdominal support to engage all of your movement. She touched on that concept, but she also revealed a dual meaning to the word to discuss the idea of dancing from within. Again we come back to this idea of story-telling. All of your movement should be an outward expression of something from inside of you, not just a string of shapes that you force upon your body.Final Week Challenge Stats
Closing Reflection
So this theme of communicating from within keeps coming up, and it will be my focus during my next stage in training. Coming to NYC for a year has given me a tremendous opportunity to build my technical vocabulary in both singing and dancing. But moving forward, I want to start exploring my own 'voice' and style to figure out who I am and what I am wanting to share through my art. Thankfully through this challenge, I was pushed off the high diving board, so now I don't have to be held back by fear any longer, and I can just swim.
Without being cliche, this experience has truly challenged and transformed my mind, my body, and my soul. Thank you Kurt for organizing this-- although from the outside, it may just seem like a fun, exciting event; in reality, this has marked a major turning point in my life, and to that end, I am eternally grateful to you. More importantly, thank you for believing in me!
----
I came across this quote a few days ago, and I think it's the best summation of these past 30 days:
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-- Anais Nin
To all the artists out there, thank you and keep going.
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