ABT Austin

So I got back last weekend from a month in Austin, Texas where I was at ABT’s summer intensive. It was an incredible month, for sure…I learned so much, but not only about dance. Here are some things I learned, though I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot.
-taye


Things I learned, oh so much!

1. No matter how good you think you are at something, there is always a TON of room for improvement. That’s one thing I love about ballet and dance in general, you always have something else to work toward. Over the past month I danced in a class full of people that were really great dancers and I got to take class from some of the best teachers I’ve ever taken from. Doing this taught me that I still have a lot to work on in dance and that hard work is good for me. In dance, I have bad days where I feel like crap and wonder why I continue to do this, and then I’ll have good days where I realize why I’ve been dancing for the past 14 years, and why I love it so much, and what I can do with it in the future. I’m so thankful for all of the teachers that helped me grow as a dancer and a person over the past month.

2. I learned that when you live with a bunch of girls for a month, there is drama. This is one reason I think I was meant to be a guy. But God blessed me with friends that stayed out of drama and I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet those girls and get to know them, even though we’re all from different parts of the country. I learned and grew so much from spending so much time with them, and I’ve come to love them very much and I know we’ll all be friends for a long time. Girls, you know who you are.

3. Even though I was there to dance, throughout my month in Austin I managed to grow spiritually as well. I’ll admit that I didn’t always make time to read the bible, and some nights I fell asleep before I had a chance to talk to God, but I realized a few things while I was there…one, that God is present even when you aren’t thinking about him. Two, that dependency on Christ is something I lack very much. At the beginning of the summer I went to Camp Marannook and so many people were saying how they wanted to be more dependant on God, me being the stubborn teenager that I am thought to myself that I didn’t need to work on that…haha God showed me.

4. I’m realizing that with dance, there are a lot of options for my future and that I’ve just got to have faith that where I’m supposed to be is where I’ll end up this time next year.