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Elizabeth Lloyd

Ms. Little

Honors Ballet

10 May 2019

Spring Concert Reflection

I had a great experience dancing in my second spring concert. After spending two years

with the sophomores and upper classmen, I feel much closer to them and have made lots of

friends. I really enjoyed having fun in the concert, even though ballet is my least favorite style of

dance. I am very glad that I got to dance in the sophomore contemporary piece in addition to the

ballet pieces.

Some of my strengths throughout the performance was putting all of the energy I can into

my dances even though there are parts that I didn’t enjoy. In my variation, I was very nervous

about performing it because of the tempo being very fast and steps were very quick. Although I

felt very scared thinking about it throughout the day, once I knew that my best friends were

coming I didn’t feel nervous at all. I tried to give the brightest, most genuine smile I could. After

I performed, my friends told me that I actually looked happy and many of them said I looked

cute which made me very pleased with my performance. A goal that was met during my

variation was completing my pique turns. I was very scared that I would fall out of them or fall

off the stage, but I was able to do them, although I did end very, very close to the edge of the

stage. Another one of my strengths from the concert was exerting as much energy as I could into

the sophomore piece. This dance was my favorite because it was a modern style that I really

enjoy, so I wanted to make the dance look very lively.

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One of my weaknesses in the performance was an issue with timing. Throughout the

freshman-sophomore contemporary-ballet piece there were moments where I was moving before

or after the rest. Some of my specific movements could have been neater and more coordinated

with the other dancers. I also feel that I should work harder on stretching and pointing my feet. In

case of a second show, I would try to pay more attention to the other dancers to synchronize our

movements.

I enjoyed the thursday show much more because my best friends came were cheering me

on which gave me strength and helped me calm my nerves. The audience’s response was very

positive on thursday which encouraged all of us to dance passionately. On the friday show, the

audience still cheered but I feel there was more of a reaction on thursday. For the first time ever,

I did not have extreme performance anxiety before and during the concert. Normally my stomach

will hurt a lot before a show, but I was à lot more excited than I was worried or nervous this

time, which was a very pleasant change that I hope will continue throughout the rest of my dance

career.