NEW YORK CITY....

In December, I was asked by a former student of mine to be his coach/choreographer for the Youth America Grand Prix competition. The semi-finals were in February in Los Angeles, and his scores qualified him to attend worlds which were held in New York City last week. I had the amazing opportunity to spend a week in the Big Apple, and it was an incredible experience. It was so inspiring to watch these young dancers perform and compete....talented young people from all over the world (China, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Australia...to name just a few!) These young people have dedicated so much time and energy into this art and it was so incredible to watch them work in class, try and communicate with each other with language barriers, and execute their variations on stage. And on top of the dancing....I then found myself in one of the greatest cities; with endless options of sites, museums, and shows.......where to go first, what to see??? All I can say is...... What a week!

I tried to capture the adventure......so here goes:

Our hotel was right on Central Park South....location, location, location! It was perfect! We were close to everything, and I even went on morning walks through central park : )




Our first full day in NYC, Eric had a higher education scholarship class at Julliard (talk about an amazing facility!).





The studio had floor to ceiling windows....check out the view......that's right?....the studio looked out to the LDS Temple!





Later this same evening, Eric had his first round of competition. He performed the contemporary piece that I choreographed and danced it better than I had ever seen him do it.



This was a hoot! These are some instructions for the competitors......in several languages! hahaha!




On the way home we stopped by the Metropolitan Opera House which is where American Ballet Theatre performs. Of course we had to strike some dance poses!