Personal Narrative: My Dance At The Ailey School

Improved Essays
Learn. Grow. Dance. These three verbs describe my goals for the next four years at the Ailey School. Dance is my passion. For the past fourteen years I have done more than take dance class everyday after school. For the past fourteen years I have immersed myself in the art of dance. I have studied the language, analyzed many different styles of music, and followed the best dancers in the industry. Dance is much more than an after school activity to me or a way to stay in shape. Dance has been my focus since before I could imagine all the paths that I could take with it. However, I haven’t felt fully fulfilled by the training that I have received. I spent the majority of my time training at a small dance studio. A studio where I wasn’t pushed …show more content…
I have trained in most styles of dance. I have done hip-hop, jazz, tap, ballet, and more. Yet I haven’t received training that explains, clarifies and deepens my knowledge of modern dance. I anticipate receiving this knowledge at the Ailey School. I desire to live up to the potential that I have. The potential that teachers have told me that I have. The potential that I know that I can reach. I want be in the atmosphere of other dancers who dream of dancing with the best dancers in the industry, similar to me. I want to be taught by instructors that have studied and learned the technique of modern dance. I know that honing my skills in this challenging style of dance will help me improve in all other styles. I know that challenging myself and disciplining myself to learn and understand this style of dance will help me to discipline and excel in all aspects of my life. Dance is my passion, and being an african american dancer the Ailey school has offered a safe haven. I want to understand myself as a dancer of color. The Ailey school will give me the opportunity to learn and understand the historic trials and tribulations that dancers of color have and continue to face. Continuing on after college I know that the Ailey school will give me the skills that I need to be successful in life. Although I wish to be sucessful in dance, I know that I will be disciplined to excel anywhere. I wish to dance professionally, with Ailey, Complexions or any of the prestigious professional dance companies across the world. I know that with the training that I will recieve at the Ailey school this will not be far from my

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Angela Wagenti's Vroooom

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Today in class we listened to Ms. Angela Wagenti the president and owner of Vroooom a web based service. Ms. Wagenti created Vroooom in1999 though it was not her initial dream. She explained to us that her passion is and always will be dancing. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in dance, and a minor in marketing. She has a long history of the many dance affiliated professions that she had been part of for instance being the dance coach for the Dallas Cowboys dance team.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He is very encouraging to his students and loves to help them better themselves. Growing up isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, and it’s no different for Trevor Lynskey. Those who have taken his class at Lincoln know that he is very passionate about dancing. He was around thirteen or fourteen when he really fell in love with dancing, thanks to his junior high teacher, Linda Martin. He didn’t like dancing at first, but Ms. Martin was the one who, “... really sold dance to [him] as a way of life.”…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dance Chapter 3 Summary

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Training as the medium through which”, chapter 3, written by Melanie Bales is a chapter that is written on the theme of self-discovery and how as dancers we could apply the ideas to ourselves. Melanie Bales is a professor at Ohio State where she graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy. Bales also studied at the Joffrey School and was a Harkness Ballet Trainee. Throughout this article, I experienced different things for myself when going through and reading each section. A lot of references that were stated in the book allowed me to see dance through a whole new perspective.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A New York Dancer Summary

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Back then there used to be a possibility of catching a rising star, getting in on the ground floor with an unknown choreographer and staying with their reputation and ability to offer employment growth. The success on modern dance is so low now that it is almost impossible for “emerging” choreographers to make the next step toward paid work for their dancers. In our dance meeting, last Tuesday, Professor Hapke and Dr. Sims proceeded to tell us that the arts funding was getting cut and that the opportunities we had, will no longer be available. This means huge things where choreographers right out of school, with no shortage of talent, brains, or hard work need almost impossible quantities of luck and personal connections to break through to the next level. The Joyce Theater’s “Altogether Different” series, spotlights “fresh” talent as well as now featuring the same choreographers more than once over the span of the few…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This had a huge impact on him because it led to his decision to take formal dance lessons with Lester Horton as the door to his foreseen future in dance. He was hugely intrigued by a dance he saw at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Dance Company perform and this inspired his dance debut. As a student of Lester Horton, after seeing Katherine Dunham’s Dance Company, an all-black dance troupe, Ailey then had a dream – to head his own dance troupe. Ailey trained at the Lester Horton Dance Theatre since 1950 after being personally recruited by Horton for being ‘the next big thing’.…

    • 1772 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The following year he joined Horton’s dance team (“Alvin Ailey Biography”). Ailey learned modern dance from the great choreographer and he developed a love that would soon turn into a career. When Ailey was 22, Horton sadly passed away, and left Ailey briefly in charge of the company. He would spend his time taking extensive notes on how the Horton technique was taught in the studio so he could be as successful as Horton himself in teaching the dancers. Soon his success would take him to New York.…

    • 2119 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Alvin Ailey became an inspiration, creating one of the world’s élite dance institutions, embracing all races. He said “Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” Alvin Ailey’s vision and creativity lead him to create one of the major art institutions of our time “Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre”. Through this company Ailey’s work continues to inspire and touch choreographers and dancers and audiences all around the world including me and his pieces have left a distinct mark in dance history.…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alvin Ailey was an American choreographer who was born in Rodgers, Texas but made his way to New York City through the years of his life. Before beginning on his own company Ailey studied and observed many other choreographers. For example, he observed Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. He also was a student at Lester Horn’s dance school for many years. Ailey indulged very well in Horton’s style of dance and it displayed once Horton died.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As part of an old high school tradition, hundreds of students crowded into a dimly lit cafeteria and danced until the air hung heavy and sweat glistened off every square inch of exposed skin. The schools that began the tradition of the modern homecoming dance most likely did not expect it to evolve into what it is today; at some point, we, as students, lost the true purpose of the event and instead became preoccupied with image. Even though I would have liked to think that those things did not matter, I still found myself altering my appearance that Saturday night to try and show off the best version of myself. I was not alone; other females joined me amidst a pile of cosmetic products and styling tools, and we had the pictures to showcase…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In these classes you had to be able to take the teachers criticism and use it to get better at the dance. Every time she would criticize me I would go home and work at that one move until I could perfect it. After had done this I would thank her for helping me get better at the thing I could not do. This…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I have appreciated dance for so long. After my freshman year of dance, I learned that change can be a good thing. So as I sit here and wait, all I can think about is how much this one room has changed me more than I ever thought it would in passed years. I can’t believe how much I have changed since I started dance in fifth grade. I have improved in dancing as well as being able to express myself and my feeling through movement.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As stated before in our first lecture, dance is a living and fleeting art form. I believe that dance is a living art form because it is a three-dimensional picture to art. What I mean by this is that, art is normally seen on walls or as sculptures, but dance is an amazing opportunity to view art while in movement. If you are anything like me, when I look at a painting of two people or many, I always wonder what it would be like to see them actually dancing, singing, or even laughing. By watching dance, it is my living art form.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sample Dance Review Sample

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Walking into the Coker Repertory Dance Company on the first day was like an adrenaline rush. Not only did I develop new friendships within my peer group, but it allowed me to expand my knowledge of dance outside of my previous training with professional choreographers. During the fall semester, I learned the choreography of “Turn on the Blacklight” by Teena Marie Custer. This piece was the most successful performance for me as I was able to apply my jazz and hip-hop experience. Not only did I learn the choreography of “Turn on the Blacklight”, but a choreographer, Meg Schriffen, came in and taught a piece her company performed known as “Cosi Si Comincia”.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Weaknesses: Students need to see progress otherwise they will lose faith and seek dance training elsewhere. Students need to stay interested. Students cannot do the same thing in every dance lesson. Novelty is the key to keep students interested. AMS needs to take the time to cultivate relationships with its students and parents of children to increase the chances that those families will want to come back and register for more classes.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My First Dance Competition The first time I performed at a dance competition was a very exciting and memorable moment for me. I was six years old and insanely nervous. Typically the nerves hit me while I wait in the wing of the stage for my name to be called, but this time it began the moment I woke up in the morning. I remember having to wake up at about six in the morning in order to have time to get ready and be at the convention center in Wichita when the doors opened at 7:30 a.m.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays