Busy Busy Busy and a little bit more Busy

It's blog time!

Sorry for the wait, I have been quite busy and that's not just an excuse, it's the truth. So busy that I have not written a chapter of my book in a few days!! Here's what's been occupying my time:

Work: I had two days of work with CPCA which was strange considering for so many years I was one of the little kids coming in for a t-shirt and bag. You may have guessed I was on t-shirt sales. I wouldn't say it was fun, but it was fine, and money's money right? I also had a night shift at work which went nice and quickly.

YABC: had another session on friday which was good fun. We're being taught tap by an original tap-dog (!!!) and Polka and I had a good chat to him after class just about the industry. We seem to be having these conversations a lot at the moment, all about what we should be prepared for, whether to go to WAAPA or NIDA or VCA or do short courses... it goes on and on and on. Who knows if we're making the right choices? Anyway, we learnt some more of Turkey Lurkey and that song is starting to grow on me.

Classes: started Tap on saturday with the more advanced girls. I was a bit out of my league and I felt quite frustrated that my tap education had been so patchy. Also, I started to wish that there were classes for people like me who are starting things late but want to get to a high level. If I want to start from scratch, I'm with either the very very little kids or the middle-aged people who do it just for fun. So, as neither of these classes are right, I am time and time again the worst girl in class struggling to do those wings! But you have to start somewhere, right? Despite my complaining, I did enjoy tap (the bits that I could do anyway).

Auditions: I had my Spelling Bee audition on sunday (which made me miss the YABC workshop and therefore a good chunk the dances, as well as solo auditions!!) which went really well. I ended up singing 'Two Peas in a Pod' from 'Grey Gardens' and 'Unusual Way' from 'Nine'. I also did my monologue from the YABC drama workshop and they seemed to enjoy it! I got a call yesterday saying I have a callback for two of the roles on thursday so fingers crossed :)

Movies: Went and saw 'The Blind Side' with dracula (whose codename is still not totally permanent) and enjoyed it. It was a good movie and it was nice to see dracula again after a very long gap.

So there you have it. This is why I have been terribly busy.

OH. Also wanted to recommend some good books to you. I've been a long time fan of Terry Pratchett, but have recently discovered Neil Gaimon. They both wrote a book together called 'Good Omens' which is fantastic. So go get some books by these two brilliant authors! They're very funny and their stories are incredibly unique, so off you go!

On another note, I'm seeing Alice in Wonderland this weekend and am absolutely dying of excitement. I cannot wait. Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Helena Bonham Carter + Anne Hathaway + classic story = very happy Emily. (brilliant math skills? I think so.)

Well that's all from me for now!

Ballet Slippers: Creative ambitions

To start off with, let me just apologise for the unnecessarily large font of the last post. I'm still getting the hang of the website, after all :)

So I thought I'd give you all a little bit of insight into the Ballet Slippers part of my life. In essence, it is the most important part, really. I absolutely adore musical theatre with every theatrical bone in my body. The Liza Minelli's, Judy Garlands, Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly's inspire me to leap onto the stage and launch into a song and dance routine with a couple of tap steps thrown in. I only really started being interested in musical theatre after my Dad showed me our old VHS of Jesus Christ Superstar. After that I was hooked, and Jesus Christ Superstar has remained my all time favourite musical: thank you sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

At the moment, my life is about preparing for a career in musical theatre. I know how difficult it is to get into the industry (with performing parents I've grown up being warned about it) and I know that you can't rest on what skills you already have, you have to constantly be developing and growing and learning every day of your life. So, I've started Ballet, Tap and singing lessons, as well as continuing with my dance group YABC and hopefully doing some amateur theatre... well that's the plan anyway. Then, at the end of the year, I'll audition for WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) and will hopefully get in to the three year musical theatre course.

*sigh*. It's a bit of a mouthful really. Every time someone asks me what I'm doing this year, I launch into this explanation. Maybe I should just write a pamphlet and hand it out...

Anyway, back to the topic. I had my second ballet class yesterday. The first one doesn't really count as I had to leave after fifteen minutes for work and didn't even finish barre, but yesterday I got the full deal, and boy was it a workout. Ballet must have once been a medieval form of torture, judging from the way I can barely stand today. Too many pas de chat's and ronds de jambes can probably kill a person. But it's obviously incredibly good for my leg strength.

Also started singing yesterday. I've never actually had formal lessons in singing, just YABC and constant singing everywhere I go, so it was good to settle down into some technique. I already did my practice today, being the vigilant girl I am, but I think I'll forgo my routine daily stretches today.

So I'm giving my first question to any readers out there. (Although first I should probably check that I even have readers, but what's the use of a blog if you don't throw yourself out into the void that is the internet once in a while?) To any of you musical theatre ambitionees out there, what are you doing to prepare for your career? I mean, really, this industry doesn't need prerequisites like others do, it's the talent that gets you through, but everyone starts somewhere and I'm curious to know where you all start. So leave a comment, if you have something to say. I can talk about it a little bit in my next Ballet Slippers blog. I hope to hear from you!

Until next time...