Made for dancing

When I was cleaning yesterday and listening to one fabulous CD after another, and occassionally dancing, I realized how incredibly much I’ve missed my dance class this fall.  I miss learning new steps, I miss my teacher, I miss my classmates and the silliness.  I miss doing something so lovely and healthy with my body.  That class cheered me up during the hardest of days last winter.  Pure joy!

They are going to try to offer another session of the dance class starting in January.  If it doesn’t run, I’m going to need to find some other dance class to take because these feet were made for dancing.

No dancing :-(

My dance class for fall is officially cancelled due to much lower than typical enrollment.

*sobs*

Randomus Mondayus

Random, randoma, randomi, randomus!

… Still sick.  The creeping crud has made it’s way into my lungs (sigh), so now the real battle begins.

… My dance class was supposed to start today, but they are four people short of getting the class to run.  So they delayed it a week, sent out an e-mail that our old teacher (who I love!) is back, and are hoping that news gets the enrollment up.  It feels like forever since I had a dance class, and I’m eager to get back into it!

… I’ve had dozens of hilarious conversations with my cousin’s four year old lately.  And some math conversations!  Like me saying, “Two and two and two is six!” and him saying with such indignation, “I thought two and two was FOUR!”  And me saying “Two and two IS four!  But two and two AND TWO is six!”

… Watched the Emmy’s last night.  It’s a little weird when I haven’t even heard of some of the shows, much less seen them.

… One of my friends had a preminition of sorts that I’ll marry a guy who has a beard and two daughters.  Okey dokey!

… I feel a bit unsettled lately.  Perhaps the aftermath of my u-turn with work/school.  No really bad unsettled, but just unsettled.

Itzhak Perlman

If I were on a desert island and could only have five music recordings with me, there is no doubt in my mind that one of them would be violinists Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern playing the Bach Double.  That is one of my all-time favorite pieces, and they are two of my all-time favorite musicians.  The recording is breathtaking.

Isaac Stern, who you hear as the fiddler in the movie version of “Fiddler on the Roof” and who is said to have discovered Itzhak Perlman, died several years ago.

Itzhak Perlman was much younger than Stern and is still going strong, despite the polio that has limited his leg mobility for nearly all of his life.  And, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing him in concert today.  My heart literally began to race as soon as I found out he would be in Michigan, and I knew I had to be there!  I got my ticket early, knowing the show would be sold out quickly (and it was).

Itzhak Perlman is brilliant.  It is amazing to see him in person, to see how he can do anything with his violin.  He had three pieces scheduled for the program today, and the rest was open for whatever pieces he wanted to add on.  He introduced each piece with some funny story or joke, poking fun at the composers or at the wonderful pianist who accompanied him today.  He had us laughing, and then nearly crying with his tender renditions of some of the quieter pieces.  And we all watched in amazement at the impossibly quick and precise technical performances of other pieces.  More than once, the two women in front of me looked at each other and mouthed “WOW!” in the middle of a piece.  Yes, wow is exactly right!

When I was leaving, an older woman saw my face and said, “Everyone is leaving with a big smile on their face, including you!”  Indeed.  I would have never guessed that I would get to see Itzhak Perlman in person.  Never.  It was a day to remember.  Always.

Appassionata

All I ever need to get very involved in playing piano again is a piece that I’m dying to learn.  And very often, I’ll hear a piece of music in the background of a TV show or as I’m walking through a store or something that catches my interest, and I have to find out what that piece is.  More than once, I’ve used a tape recorder to tape pieces directly from TV, and then carried around the recording until I found someone, anyone who knew what it was.  Of course, that was before the internet.

Yesterday, I was watching season two of Everwood (finally came out on DVD) and fell in love with a piano piece that one of the main characters plays at the end of the episode.  It was a piece that was familiar enough but I couldn’t quite place it, and I know it’s not something I ever learned.  So I did a quick search online.  Aha!  It was part of Beethoven’s Appassionata.  Thank you, internet.

So today, on a very busy day during a busy, stressful week, I had to find time to get to the music store and pick up the piano music for Appassionata!  This could not wait!  So now, I’m at home with the music and no piano to play it on.  Sigh…  But I have access to pianos on campus daily…and at my parents’ house and church (though both are across town and not in my normal path except on Sundays).  I will carry the music wherever I go for as long as it takes to learn at least the andante movement of the piece (which is gorgeous).  So Beethoven and I will do some bonding through music this summer.  It will be good to play again.

Taste every moment and live it outloud

On my agenda for this month (possibly for tomorrow) is to make two CDs at Borders’ Mix and Burn station.  One will be a CD full of songs that I love to dance to from my dance class.  One will be a CD of a great mix of music that I love (from several decades), and at the top of my list is David Cook’s “Time of my Life” which was the main theme of the U.S. broadcast of last year’s Olympics.  I love the song, love the lyrics.

Time of my Life
by David Cook

I’ve been waiting for my dreams
To turn into something
I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it
Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time
To be more than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished
Into the air
Left me in pieces
But now I’m rising from the ashes
Finding my wings
And all that I needed
Was there all along
Within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart

and I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

And I’m out on the edge of forever
Ready to run
I’m keeping my feet on the ground
Arms open wide
Face to the sun

I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
This is the time
This is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life.

Dancing, Last Day *sniffles*

Yesterday was the last day of my spring session dance class, and our teacher is taking a new job and won’t be teaching us anymore.  Even though somebody else is supposed to teach in the fall, and I plan to continue, last night was definitely an end of a great run of classes with an incredibly fun and patient instructor!  I will miss her a lot.

I didn’t write much about this session — it was short but sweet!  The other people taking the class this time were some of my favorite people to dance with so far.  It was one of the first times that people routinely start practicing as soon as they got to class (rather than sitting around waiting for class to start).

There was a Russian woman who danced next to me and rarely spoke, but she got really excited about doing a dance called “Seduced” (which was my favorite too!).  It is a very flowy dance that feels so perfect when you dance it.  When we’d dance it once in class and the teacher would say, “Do you want to do it again?” she would immediately break her silence and say “YES!” and do a little jig! 

There was an 80 year old couple who amazed us all — they have taken dance classes for years, and they also play tennis and golf.  They are more active than just about anyone I know!

There were about six people who had taken the class before, so we are old pals.  It was just great!  Good times.

Teaching + Dancing = (Sore) Happy Feet!

I taught today!  This was my first day lecturing since last June.  It was not a great lecture (I said “ummm” about 87 thousand times!), and I’m a little rusty after all this time, but it was very good to get back in the groove.  And I don’t think I scared anyone away.  *grins*

Immediately after class, I went to my dance class (spring session started two weeks ago), and I realized very quickly that being on my feet to lecture for two hours and then going to dance is a sure recipe for sore feet!  And our teacher chose a harder dance than she intended for us, so we had a challenging evening.  BUT, we ended with an easier dance, AND we spent a lot of time pointing our toes out to the side which is one of my favorite dance steps!  We also learned “sailor steps” tonight, so I can add that to my repetoire along with mambo steps, the jazz box, and the Monterey turn.  I am learning to speak dance, just as my students are learning to speak math!

A night with friends, but no dancing

I was not able to perform in the dance show tonight.  My lungs are still hurting (and they object to lots of activity), and my asthma has gotten kicked up by all this, and it just wasn’t a good idea to push things.  I thought about going to watch the show and cheer from the audience, but I decided that it would be very hard for me to be there and not dancing.  Next time, I’ll be out there to show off my groovy moves!

My classmates from school had all wanted to come see me perform!  People I know who’ve been in graduate programs that are uber-competitive and cut-throat just can’t believe how bonded my cohort is, and this story of how they wanted to come see me dance will forever be one of my very favorite grad school stories!  That one story tells so much about these great people who I spend my days with.

Although I wasn’t able to dance, I was able to join my classmates for dinner and since they had all blocked out their evening for my dance show anyway, we went out for a casual dinner.  We had such a nice visit.  We all compared notes on summer plans, courses we’re taking in the fall, and just regular life stuff.  And, we decided that we’re going to take a field trip to the zoo sometime!

Dancing: Run, Sue, Run!

Today was a fabulous day at my dance class!  We’re dancing in a show (again!!) in about a month, and we learned our dance for the show tonight. It goes to the oldie “Runaround Sue” (the dance is actually called Run Sue Run!).  It’s a really fun dance and easy to learn.  I was practicing it when I got home and just wanted to dance and dance!

I was thinking today that a year ago, I never ever would have guessed that I’d be taking TWO dance classes per week right now!  It’s such a huge highlight of my life and a source of joy and fun.