Creative Movement, Ballet, Tap, Children's DVD, Burlington, NC
What a day! We began our journey this morning departing at 8:00am. Girls eagerly hugged their moms goodbye and we boarded our cars with "UDA or bust" on our minds. After touring the Wake Forest campus for around 20 minutes because Miss Kim could not find her way we finally located the registration desk. The girls unloaded their bags and started there journey to their suites. This year I had several parents who helped me until Miss Karena arrived. They helped with my van, my luggage, paperwork, you name it and they were there... I almost convinced a couple of moms to stay but their daughters might not have liked that. The girls had one thing on their minds... DECORATING! Themes are just amazing this year. Christmas, Casino, Pretty In Pink, Candy Land, Rainbow, and Rock and Roll to name a few. After decorating we walked to Subway and filled our bellies. Quite a few bees joined us so we decided to eat at our dorm. The girls had a thousand questions... what do we do first... when do we go... are we the youngest... will it be too hard... and so on and so on.
We did our headcount and headed to our camp opening. I attended a meeting while the girls had their first warm-up. They split up and learned two different dances. I went back and forth to each class making sure all the girls were doing ok. I saw smiles on their faces, bounces in their steps, and screams coming from their lungs... they were finally at camp. After learning A routines we had our home routine practices. The girls listened to the criticism given by the UDA instructor and immediately looked even better than before. Then the instructor said the magic word... time to eat!!! I laughed so hard because of one particular dancer that is generally always last... run to the front of the pack... briskly walking to the dining hall. Nothing was getting in her way. The girls found themselves in a wonderland of food not knowing which way to go first. Some started with dessert while others ended with dessert. One tiny little girl put away almost an entire plate of Oreo delight! The girls sat all together and laughed until they could not laugh anymore. They cleaned their area well because TMS Dance Team would never leave a mess!
After dinner we quickly changed into our uniform for our home routines. Girls lined up in my room as I poofed several heads of hair. We had several photo ops as we traveled back to the gym. The girls danced their dance in front of filled bleachers... and they did it like they were pros. I appreciated Western Dance Team's girls cheering my girls on... thank you! The girls did not seem nervous at all to me which made me feel like a million bucks. After home routines they got to start their drill downs which is basically a dance version of Simon Says. Bethani, Lilli C., and Cameron were winners for TMS bringing in 8 yellow ribbons! We headed back to the dorm at 8:30pm to practice. We practiced for a full hour outside in our common area. I am so proud of my girls not going and laying down... instead they worked and worked hard. I saw an intense desire to do well from some of my dancers which made me feel so good. Showers began around 9:30 and some girls started to call parents when all of a sudden... the fire alarm went off! It was 10:15 I think and all of us learned a lesson (although it was not my team)... when flat ironing one's hair you should look up and make sure you are not directly under a smoke alarm! We made it back to our rooms around 10:30 to finish our showers.
We had a short meeting to talk about the day and what was upcoming on Saturday. I gave two awards... Hardest working: Becky Thomas... .Biggest Dessert: Cameron Clark!!! I did a bed check and door check and all is well tonight. I had one dancer a little homesick but that quickly passed when her roommate told her she could sleep on her air mattress with her. That made me have a little tear... my team is coming together... helping each other out in ways they never thought they would. Today these girls danced together, ate together, cheered together, laughed together, sweated together, and now are quietly sleeping together. The bond is forming. Thank you UDA for this opportunity to show these girls what being a team is all about.
Goodnight,
Miss Kim
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Posted by MissKim on July 23, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
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