the “c” word

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. College.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about whether or not I want to go. Obviously my parents want me to. The hard part is trying to factor in whether or not that really matters to me. You see, I want to be a dancer, there’s no mistake about that. The question is, how do I get there? I don’t want to be a ballerina. Contemporary and commercial dance are where my heart’s at. I don’t necessarily need to go to college to be able to do those, I just think my parents believe that all successful roads in life start with university.

The problem, part two: I don’t want to waste the first four years of my adulthood, when I could be joining a company/agency or getting better training and seeing the world (London, specifically), trapped taking jazz and working towards a useless bachelor’s degree. I wanna do exciting things and meet exciting people. I want to dance.

Some of my friends’ life goals look like this: graduate high school, go to college and get a meaningless degree, and maybe work a little bit before marrying a dude and raising his family. I’d rather not. I have ambitions. Every day college starts to seem less like an achievement to aspire towards and more like a roadblock on the path to what I really want to do. I’m in the eleventh grade and the reason for everything I do nowadays has been reduced to “It’ll look good on your transcript.”

I overheard a conversation between a friend and his mother when they were the car yesterday. He told her that he didn’t want to go to uni because voice acting was the career he was after, which made college somewhat unnecessary. His mother said to him, “Will you feel the same way when you can’t feed your own family?” and that swiftly ended the conversation. Tense silence in the car.

Our parents just want the best for us. But I’m not ready to dedicate more anxiety, time, and money thinking about something that will determine the course of my adulthood. It’s too big for sixteen. I just want to dance honestly.

— Bethany.

we like archaic kinds of fun

Hello, everyone, it’s Bethany. Been a while, hasn’t it?

Me and the girls haven’t been on the blog too much lately, I know. Sorry about that. I just wanted to get on here and give some updates on what we’ve been doing this winter. It’s been quite eventful for us, and I’m really excited to see how the rest of 2014 plays out.

Maddie started college this term. Hopefully she’ll be on here within the next couple of weeks to talk about that. She’s decided she wants to study to become an engineer, which I think is very fitting for her. She has started going to TNCC to study all her necessary intro college classes and, this is my opinion, I think she’s enjoying it. For the longest time she had no idea what, exactly she wanted to do with her life, so I’m glad that she’s found something to study.

Krysta is working as per usual. She’s the only one out of the three of us who has a steady job, go figure. We see each other more now that the new year has started; which is great considering we’re both so busy.

As for me? Dancing, dancing, dancing. My time is split somewhat equally between ballet, theatre, schoolwork, and writing. My music is becoming more important to me now as well. All my energy is geared towards finishing high school and muting the stress with my outlets. To be honest I think chaos is the nicest way to occupy oneself.

So that’s what we’ve been up to lately, I hope you’ve all had amazing winter breaks.

— Bethany.

I Know What I’m Doing, Really.

Well, sort of.

Lo and behold, it’s Krysta again. It recently occurred to me that I haven’t explained what I want to do overseas. Now I know it’s been stated that I’m the theatre major of the group–if we haven’t stated that, now we have–but there are quite a few details missing from that statement.

For example, very few of all acting gigs pay well enough to support one’s self (and her companions). Aside from blockbuster movie/TV/Broadway stars, only big theatre companies make enough to consistently pay their actors. It’s no wonder so many actors get crazy–you have to fight a lot of dreamers to get a job. Not only that, but you have to look a certain way. That means talent alone can’t get you a great job.

Now I know you all must’ve heard this before–it isn’t new information to me, either–but it’s just that this is all dawning on me very suddenly. It’s one thing to hear this information over and over again, but it’s another to face the facts as an aspiring actress. What puts me two steps (because one is not enough) ahead of the game? What makes me stand out?

And that’s when I knew I had to study theatre. I’ve been in multiple plays and played almost every improv game in the book, but learning from the best of the best is what’s going to separate me from the competition. That’s going to launch my future career. That is what’s going to help me be the best (and trust me, you need to be the best in this business).

I’m sure some of you are wondering why I don’t sound like I’m relying on a “normal” job for the time being. It’s partially because I get bored easily of things I don’t enjoy, and I don’t enjoy “normal” forms of making money. And I know a job isn’t for fun, but I have trouble with sticking to things I can’t stand. There’s no way to say, “I didn’t do as I was told because it was too boring” to your employer without getting in trouble. Now I have my nannying job (and will soon have another one, I hope), but that can only last so long. I mean, once we head to England, I obviously have to get a new job. As if it wasn’t hard enough just getting my first one….

So to recap, I have to get more jobs, go to theatre school, learn a lot, kick butt at auditions, become the Doctor’s companion as soon as possible, make enough to support self and friends. Simple.

I’ve got this.

~Krysta

Maddie’s Life #2

Mom and I have been refurnishing the sun room. We’ve taken out the ceiling and are currently putting up a new one. We plan on also taking up the carpet.

When we took out the ceiling we found black mold and sunlight… So that had to be taken care of. There is nothing quite like taking down a piece of dry wall and being rained on by black mold and dead bugs.

The night before I took the SAT I watched Batman and went to the hospital. I was having heart problems. I just so happen to take after the two people with the worst heart problems. Dad gave me his eyes, his freckles, and his irregular heartbeat; My Great Grandmother gave me her body type, jewelry, and heart thingy I can’t spell.

The SATs went well… it was pretty easy, I only had to skip five questions.

I’m studying CLEPs now.

I’m thinking about getting a new job. I think that I may end up working at Cracker Barrel. The place itself isn’t very cool but the job is; they treat their employees really well.

Oh! And I was Santa for Halloween. I made a lot of two-year-olds very confused.

~Madelaine (Maddie, Liabearry, Mac, The Honorary Black Girl)

back on my grind.

It’s Bethany again. This week my ankle has suffered a ballet-related sprain; and while it did put me out of three weeks worth of technique classes, I’ll have you know that the rest of my schedule has not slowed down in the slightest. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a girl in possession of at least one good ankle must be in want of something to do, and I’m no exception. I’ve been constantly on the go since my birth 16th birthday, and with my ankle quickly healing, school, and modeling season starting back up I’ll definitely have my plate full this fall.

Last time I was here, I was writing about dance schools I’d like to train at, so I thought I’d give you an update on how that’s going: I seem to have found the one. The Joffrey Ballet School up in New York City. It’s funny, because it wasn’t even on the list of places I’d mentioned before, but as soon as I found it I fell in love. The summer intensive takes place at the beginning of June until the end of July 2014, meaning that I’d be away for seven weeks. The tuition (including housing and meals) is steep, so this past Sunday I sent in an essay to apply for a scholarship. Since then I’ve been very nervously awaiting my results (which won’t come until Thanksgiving-time) and texting Krysta non-stop about it.

Me: “I really, really hope I get this scholarship.”

Krysta: “THERE’S PIE IN MY HOUSE, BYE.”

Even prior to my blog post about dance schools, I wrote about job-hunting, and I’m a little sad to say that I’ve had no luck so far. I have, however, applied for team member positions at Wendy’s and Subway, and if I get either of those, I’ll be working for about 20 hours a week. Gotta start saving up to help pay for dance and get to England. As weird as it sounds, I’m really excited to be getting a job. I love having things to do.

Wish me luck!

–Bethany.

snapshots [3/52]

A week of playgrounds, musicals, and injuries.

{bethany} elevating the sprained ankle

{maddie} found the best reference ever in her textbook

{krysta} the park she takes her girls to (and the rules that they ignore)

Madelaine’s (AKA Maddie’s) Life

Don’t hate me, I’m not a woman of many words.

I’m working on School; a lot. I’ve started calculus. I’m sorry, did I say calculus? I meant to say the decent into hell.

I’m in a play. It’s a musical. Bandi and I are in it together. The name of the play is A Pirate’s Life. It’s about pirates…

I tried to take the SAT’s. They wouldn’t let me in the building. They gave me the wrong time on my ticket. So I scheduled to take it two more times.

I’m going to the gym twice a week, at the army base gym. The gate guard asked my age the other day he was very disappointed to find out I was seventeen. Mom just sat there laughing.

This is Madelaine by the way.

I had pizza last night. It was good.

I finished a painting too.

I call it The Mountains.

–Maddie

old school, new school, gently-used school

When I was a little girl, I’d always thought about being a ballerina or joining a contemporary dance company; but I never imagined that I would actually be able to pursue it. I even took a year off when I was a freshman to find out if there was anything else that I would like to do with my life, but there wasn’t. And there isn’t, still. But now I have to make up for the lost time by pushing my training into overdrive, and what better way to do that than a summer dance intensive?

Hi. It’s Bethany.

I know that summer 2014 is a long time away, but typically auditions for intensives take place the winter beforehand, so if I want to study anywhere, I’d better start looking now. And I have, except I’m not sure where I’d like to go. My top picks are the summer programs at Juilliard, Jacob’s Pillow, London Studio Centre, and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire. They’re all very far away from where I live (Virginia), but I’m really interested in their programs.

Contemporary dance has always been my passion, but I wouldn’t mind studying ballet, which is technically what I’m trained in, or ballet technique. I’d call it nearly impossible to start a career in dance without proper ballet training, no matter how old you are.

Juilliard is a three-week intensive taking place next August in New York City, focusing on ballet and modern dance. It’s very expensive, estimating at one thousand dollars in tuition and an extra thousand dollars for accommodation.  London Studio Centre is an English university I can see myself training at after I graduate, and it’s pretty cheap. However, the camp only lasts a week and it almost seems like a waste of time/money to fly out to London for only seven days of contemporary training. Trinity Laban is also in England; this intensive lasts two weeks and I’ve heard amazing things about it (free accommodation, too). At Trinity I would be able to tailor my timetable to the things I wanted to take (ballet, Graham-based contemporary, yoga, etc.) and that’s pretty cool.

Now, my dream dance school, the crème de la crème, is Jacob’s Pillow up in Massachusetts. They have a summer program for professionals and pre-professionals from ages sixteen on up, specializing in either ballet, commercial, or contemporary. Free accomodation for approved applicants, but it’s extremely selective; only twelve men and twelve woman get chosen each year. The contemporary program, which I would be auditioning for, costs about $1,800

I would love to attend any combination of these schools, although my heart is pretty set on Jacob’s Pillow. For an aspiring dancer this is an incredibly important decision; for me especially because next summer is my last season as a high school student. I’ll also have to decide how much out of my paycheck/savings I want to pay for tuition and/or audition fees (because I really want to help my parents out); but I don’t want to spend too much, because what’s the point of going overseas and doing all these intensives if I end up with no money for college? So many, many things to do.

— Bethany.

snapshots [week 1/52]

The first in a year-long series, where we’ll be posting weekly galleries of our various happenings.

{krysta} the adorable girls she gets to nanny

{maddie} preparing to take the SAT on Saturday morning

{bethany} posing (far left) at her informal birthday gathering on Tuesday with Maddie (far right)

So Basically

Hey, everyone, Krysta here. (My first post, finally!)

Since I’m out of high school, my posts won’t be the same as Bethany’s or Maddie’s. I guess that’s one of the good parts of not being the same age, we’ll always have different things to say–especially because we’re so different as people.

So anyway, I think my first post is going to be about this conference I went to recently and how it’s related to moving to England, okay? Try to follow along, even if it makes no sense.

So I went to one of a series of conferences called Culture Shift organized by YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in mid-August. It was a lot of fun, more fun than I’d dared to hope it would be. It was also how I met a lot of really great people from outside this area–England included. (Do you see where this is going?)

One of the girls from England was named Hannah and the both of us got on really well, though I won’t pretend we became the best of friends or anything. She was liked that I knew a lot of British terms and admired my talent (among other things, I’m sure), and I liked that she was British and full of life (and funny stories). She gave me a lot of tips on studying in England and navigating the whole thing, which was really nice of her to do. In return, I didn’t refuse her when she asked me to sing something for her–a fair trade. (Don’t judge me.)

So the point is that somewhere between the prophesying and the evangelizing, she told me that Liverpool is one of the best places to study theatre because of all the cultures coexisting in that one area. So now I’m going to look into colleges in that area for the 2015-2016 school year. And here’s the best part: Hannah told me college is only six months out of the year. That means you get half a year in between semesters to do whatever you want (provided you save your money).

In conclusion, I’ve got friends in English places so I think we’ll be alright.
Sorry if this was confusing. Bye.

— Krysta