NUVO

I am also grateful for my FIT DANCE TEAM.

Last weekend we went on our first road trip to PITTSBURGH! For NUVO dance convention. I used to do conventions ALL THE TIME back in high school when I danced at The Dance Club but it was different this time. This time I wasn't there to win anything or because I had to, I was there to simply DANCE with my amazing friends, it was the best weekend I have had in a LONG LONG LONG time! I am SO happy we were able to bond as a team and spend the weekend dancing our hearts out. I couldn't have asked for anything else, it was perfect.

Our adventure started bright and early Friday morning. We piled into 2 FIT vans and started our journey to Pittsburgh. The ride was pretty long but I didn't mind and I don't think others did either, most caught up on their sleep-I read the book Fallen and figured out my Christmas shopping list. We arrived later than expected so we couldn't go to the 2 classes that were taking place Friday night BUT we did go to dinner!

Joe's Crab Shack was the only place that could fit us all in, no complaints here since crab IS my favorite food. I didn't get crab legs though, instead I got a lovely dinner of crab cakes, crab filled shrimp (which was delicious) and the most AMAZING fish and chips EVER. It literally melted in my mouth it was so good. YUM YUM YUM! Oh, and Max so kindly shared his chocolate milk shake with me, so I got my sweet fix as well. We were all so stuffed and tired, after talking with my roomies (Taylor, Amanda, and Alyssa) and Ashley, we went straight to bed to get some good rest before our 7:30 class Saturday morning! Let the dancing begin!

SATURDAY MORNING! We started the day right with Lyrical, Mark, and Celine Dion. Lyrical being the style of dance (my personal specialty and favorite), Mark being the choreographer/teacher, and Celine Dion-I Want You to Need Me as the song we danced to (one of my FAVORITE songs EVER) I was SO SO SO excited I could barely handle myself. The dance was AMAZING, absolutely beautiful and I loved it.

Our next class was Ballet with Cebar-again my other FAVORITE style. Cebar was wonderful, we learned a beautiful dance combination that was technical and lovely as well as our audition piece that I didn't love as much but there were a few pretty legs in it that made me happy. Our other audition piece (there is an audition for scholarships at this convention so we have to audition a ballet and jazz combination) was with Ray Leeper. It was an upbeat Jazz routine (not my favorite, but it was fun). The audition went fine, I am not good at auditions-I always mess up but Taylor and Max made it and got scholarships!!! Congratulations to them!

After lunch we had Jazz Funk with Kim (by this point I was really tired and I hurt myself in the first class-I did something to my hip/butt area... don't know what exactly I did-so I was in an awkward pain when I moved certain ways-that is why there is a picture of me laying in bed with an ice bag on my bum haha). The class was easy and fun it was to a song about whipping your hair back and forth so that is basically all we did the whole time. She is a really inspiring and fun teacher, I liked her a lot!

Next came hip hop with Ivan. DEFINITELY not my strong point. I tried and got it when it was broken into parts but once the music came.... I was a lost cause. I spent most of the time standing and drooling as I watched Ivan dance. WOW WOW WOW he is one of a kind. Simply amazing and mesmerizing to watch. Then came Travis. He is also one of a kind, one of the best choreographers and dancers ever. His dance that he taught was really hard and it had a lot of BIG movement and traveling which is hard when there are 200 girls trying to all dance at once. I was frustrated that I didn't pick up on the choreography is well as I would have hoped to. BUT it is all good, the day was amazing!

My favorite of Travis' choreography 

We finished classes at 2:30 and we all went to bed! I needed a nap BAD! So I did that, iced my bum, and showered then we all met up and watched a bit of the competition. I just want to publicly thank The Dance Club for being AWESOME! We were so blessed with amazing choreography, costumes, and dancers. My children will only grow up dancing at TDC! (elementary school and gymnastics in Michigan/Jr. High and High School in Utah-just like me haha best combo ever)

We went out to dinner at Buca di Beppo (thank you Talyn for introducing this into my life a couple summers ago) and it was so good! Salad, Ravioli, and Chicken Marinara FAMILY STYLE! I only got a picture of the cheesecake! It was SO DELICIOUS. Again we were SO worn out so after dinner we went back to the hotel to sleep.

Classes on Sunday started at 8 and they were even MORE amazing than yesterday!!! It was the best day ever! Nothing better than starting off with Ballet, man am I out of shape though, I can't wait to start up Ballet again at BYU. It was a GREAT workout and an amazing class! We then had a class with Ray where we did the combo from the day before (which was a LOT more fun today for some reason).

THEN the BEST THING IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO ME....

Stacey+ Contemporary+ My FAVORITE song of the moment Jar of Hearts+AMAZING choreography= P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N. PERIOD. It was literally the BEST hour of my life! I think it was at this moment that I realized why I LOVE dancing! I did the combination as many times as possible and I just want to do it more and more and more, forever! I never want to forget the combo, or  how it made me feel because it was so incredible!

Here is the song... I LOVE IT SO SO SO MUCH! 

We then had tap.... Anthony is AMAZING, but tap has never been my thing. After lunch we had Ivan again with Hip Hop, and again I stood in amazement at how amazing hip hop dancing is and how I wish so badly that I was better at it! Travis taught us a new dance that literally was hands down, the most ridiculously AWESOME dance ever. The music and movement was insane! I wish there was more room and more time to really get his dances down because like I said, they are memorizing and genius! We ended the day with Jazz Funk where we basically whipped our hair around for 45 minutes and again this class was A LOT more fun today than yesterday! Everything about classes today was perfect.

After classes some of the faculty performed for us and I just want to say I think I literally stopped breathing and could have died the happiest person after watching Travis dance-he danced the combo that he taught us and I literally have NO WORDS that can describe him and his dancing. I wish I could explain. Think of the most beautiful/perfect/inspiring/amazing/flawless thing in the world and times it by 10000... that is how this dance was. WOW. Ivan, Anthony, and Stacey were all breathtakingly amazing as well! This weekend made me wish I could re-live my Dance Club days.

After our long day we went to eat before hitting the road. I had French Onion Soup, a YUMMY Lemonade (my special treat, I usually only drink water (I had over 100 ounces today though... so I thought a lemonade would be nice!) a VERY delicious spinach salad and Creme Brulee! ALL for under $15. AWESOME!

The trip home was fine, I finished my book and my ipod died only an hour before reaching home. Taylor and I danced at a gas station out in the middle of nowhere because I wanted to remember the lyrical combination which I sadly have forgotten haha that is what happens when you are dancers who are high on life! You just can't help yourself, you dance anywhere! I finally made it back home at 3 am Monday morning with a lovely surprise in my mailbox.

Thank you FIT DANCE TEAM for the best weekend EVER! I love you all, and I am so glad I got to share this experience with everyone!