Living the Life of an SAB Summer Student

Wow! There is so much to say, I don't know where to start! On Sunday, the move in day, I got up so excited to see what the dorms, studios and building was like. Unfortunately, to see all that, the taxi driver would have to take us to the right street! We ended up going about 10 minuets past our destination because my mom "said the address wrong"...haha. After standing in the crazy long line to get into the check in...We found out our dorm room number! I was lucky to room with Amanda, whom i met at an audition in Seattle, and be in the same suite as Emily who goes to PNB with me. After I got settled in my small room, all the floors had a quick meeting and then came the ice cream social where we got to meet new people and play some games. Since our curfew started that night, I had to rush back up stairs and waited in my room till they came in to call role...while waiting, I met all the other dancers in my suite. Surprisingly, Bella (also a PNB dancer) was in my suite, then there was Rocio who was from France,Tess from California, Sarah, Destenie, Emily and Amanda. It felt so weird the first day to think that I would be practically living here for the next 5 weeks.At 11, I finally feel asleep wishing I was in my own huge, cozy bed at home.

When I woke up I got ready for my placement class which happened at 10:45.I later found out I was placed in group 2 for my classes. I would have 12 classes a week varying from 1-2  hours for each class. I have technique, pointe, character and variations each week. When I came back from my placement class, I realized that my pointe shoes were missing. I was never sure if they were stolen or simply just feel out of my bag. We reported it to the front desk and they didn't have any clue...I was so disappointed, especially since it was the FIRST day! I went out with my roommates, trying to shake it off. When I returned, they were on my bed.I still can't figure out who put them there. I just hope this doesn't happen again!

The following days consisted of my classes, exploring the neighborhood around SAB and some fun activities. I got to go on the Double Decker Bus Tour, which was cool to see Manhattan all lit up at night, then I got to go to American Ballet Theater's Swan Lake, which was an amazing show.My favorite activity was Zarkana! It was an amazing Cirque du Soleil show at the Radio City Music Hall. I would go see it again anytime! My favorite stores around SAB are Pinkberry (the best frozen yogurt shop around), Bed, Bath and Beyond (which has everything you need) and Himalayan Crafts ( which carries muck lucks, a new trend in the ballet world).

My daily routine would be getting up at 7:30 to go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Then go back up to my dorm to get ready for my 11:30 technique class down on the 5th floor where all the studios are. After my 2 hour long technique class, I would go to lunch and change into my white leotard for pointe at 2-3:30. If I had 3 classes that day I would go to that class but normally Some of my friends would check out to go somewhere outside of the Rose building. Later, we would come back to dinner (which I love their pizza!) Sometimes they have in house activities for those who are not out, some of the activities count for our color war points. Color Wars is a big thing here...this is basically how it works: Each dorm floor has a color (ex. I am on the 18th floor and our color is light blue), We compete against the other colors by earning points and at the end of the summer they add them up to which the winning color earns a pizza party.

Finally Sunday came around. I was planning to sleep in, until the thunder woke me up! It was super loud, I thought It was a gunshot or something! Later on, I went to church, just a block away. It is so convenient to have it right there.It was weird not sitting with my family, but everyone was welcoming (even though half were visitors). Later I did my laundry.. which i didn't know how to work because it was different from my one at home. That ended my first week at SAB! Very exciting and crammed with fun and learning.