Week 1

Wish I had shade
So I just have to say I had class today from 9-10am and now have a break until 4pm. I'm sitting in the computer lab with my fake ray bans on because the sun is beating down on me. I'm so hot! Ugh. Gross. It fills up pretty fast in the lab. You can definitely tell that school is now in session. Today is Wednesday. Week one of class, third day in! I can't believe we have started school finally. I love my dance classes. (like I figured I would) My professor, Ralph Buck, is amazing. He is the reason I came to this school and I don't think I will be dissapointed. He did his undergrad in Physical Education, running around a track and doing all that sort of stuff. He ended up furthering his education and realizing that he could dance and did a dance studies major in London, England. After that he was writing curriculum's for dance in Australia. He ended up moving back to New Zealand and is now pretty much a head of the Dance department. I really like his teaching stlye. It's very laid back, but organized and fun. It reminds me of the teaching styles of Veronica and Julia. All have the teaching style I aim for. Yesterday we had our first class of studio work. We sat in a circle before class and played the name game. You know that game. Here's an example: hi, I'm Haylee, and I like hippos! Ralph could have stopped us when class started, but instead he let us be. We didn't officially start the class until 10 or 15 minutes after we were supposed to. It was cool, because it created a certain vibe for the class. Everything was relaxed and we were just getting to know each other. He talked about improvisation and the fact that even though he had a lesson planned, in his head he quickly improvised and changed it. We will always have choices when we are teaching. We did some other activities that made me think a little more abstractly. I was constantly thinking how I could incorporate the contexts of the lesson he had. I won't bore you with anymore of that, because that's what my other journal is for, but lets just say this is exactly what I wanted to learn about.

Fireworks!
I forgot to tell you about the AMAZING display of fireworks we saw on Sunday, the night before our first day of classes. The chinese new years festival had been going on all weekend at Albert Park and I believe it was the last night of it. There was food, live music, and lanterns that were lit up all over. It was one of the most unique festivals I've seen. The fireworks started out just being like normal fireworks, but the finale was the just outstanding. They shot off firework after firework. The sky was lit up with my favorite ones too. The ones that are just white and trickle down and sparkle. I don't know what they're called, but they're HUGE! Fireworks aren't always my thing, but I loved it.

So sore.
Yesterday I shouldn't have done the "Pump" class at the Recreation Center. I went to my first hip hop class after that from 4-7pm and had a hard time keeping my arms out to the side. Oh well, it's worth it. I actually enjoy being sore in a weird way. I feel like I really did something then! The classes at the wellness center are really intense. They sure like making you sweat. Although that's pretty easy to do especially when a gym is not air conditioned! Eek! Back to my hip hop class....it focuses on "breaking." Breaking comes from the bronx whereas poplocking etc was first started in California. Different styles. Not to be confused with one another. I learned about top rocking and how to go down to the floor. We did a six step, CC's, and some stalls. If you're looking for a workout, breaking will make you sweat! It's a three hour class, but it seems like it will go by pretty quickly.

Right now.
I have been thinking about this weekend. I'm so excited! We have our Boyz Noize concert, Rebecca's 21st birthday, and the horse races! I think we're goin to get big hats today if we can find some at a thrift store.

XOXO
Haylee