First day of camp

The studios where the camp is held is in the school of the Richmond Ballet. They are gorgeous! The floors are beautiful (very important for a dancer, the floors can't be too slippery or too sticky), there are lots of windows and natural light, and ballet barres in the hallways for in-between class stretching. After registration, introductions and lunch, we had a technique class where Heidi (the director of the camp) has an opportunity to check that you have placed yourself in the appropriate level. I assumed I was a 3A because Joyce said she was, and I think we are fairly comparable. The technique class today was taught by Randall, who will end up teaching us the Repertory piece and the pas de deux for the performance. Kathy taught us Pointe and I realized that I should have spent more time in my pointe shoes before camp because this class is 45 minutes long!! Ouch!

I took my first ever modern class and it was so much fun. Theresa Bautista taught the class, she is also one of the level 4 campers. It was amazing to see how Theresa put the leg movements with the arm movements to create something beautiful. Part of the warm up involved walking and running around the room and she told us we had to look our fellow dancers in the eyes! She has us do a little routine which involved getting down on the floor, very 'modern'. Throwing yourself on the floor is harder than it looks. My butt was sore after this class!