Christian Von Howard is an independent choreographer who is renowned in the world of contemporary dance as well as teaching at ACDFA and works in New York City (link on his bio and website at the end of this post). September 19th: This day was comprised of having Ballet at 11am, followed by contemporary technique, a Van Howard master class during PDPR, directly followed by the audition on the Winship building. During the master class, I felt very loose and his personality was crazy as he calls himself as well as funny to listen to. Van Howard made us worn out before we even finished across the floor jumps and walks. However it was so fun and thrilling to get to see the style of a guest artist who has gone through the same pathway which we are going (he graduated BFA from TCU) and to see how much he has accomplished on his own is quite mesmerizing as NYC is NOT cheap. I noticed two differing styles of his between the master class and the audition. The master class felt compiled of a mix with african, jazzy, contemporary movements with jungle and clubby music. It was fast-paced but well explained overall, and I truly found myself enjoying it regardless of my "bun-head" ways, I am beginning to manage to integrate all sort of dances thereby creating my own style. Now for the audition part, the piece he chose to teach us seemed quite lyrical in a way, not Balanchine all the way, but showed enough parts of a ballet contemporary work and enough "interesting" (weird) but AWESOME moves that I felt super loose and relaxed to do where I could enjoy it. His choreography is just stellar, elegant, and vicious. It intrigues you into thinking where in the world does this man come up with gorgeous movements! Don't even get me started on his imagery. He had us "pee in hydrants" like dogs to fully perform a bent leg turned in to second position. I repeat, he told us to "pee in hydrants." He definitely knows how to balance when to break the ice and make a class enjoyable. Did I mention he's crazy? he's the "feel good" type of crazy though. Even though I wasn't selected into the piece, I learned a lot about being relaxed and less tense. It's funny how sometimes things FINALLY click in your head and maybe its because we finally are able to find that place in our bodies where the choreography and combinations feel just right (YAASSSSS!). |
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I've discovered recently that I am, in fact, intolerant to lactose, allergic to nuts, and maybe even gluten (I don't have Celiac disease, but I know my body isn't receiving gluten very well so I decided to cut the majority of foods containing gluten). It comes to a shock to me how much food there is to eliminate, including some of my favorite things like pancakes, pasta, ice cream, Cocossette (the best Colombian snack from nestle EVER!) among many others. I didn't realize that I was going to be not only super aware of the foods I will eat when I go out or when grocery shopping, but also that I must maintain high hygiene when cooking in the kitchen as foods can cross-contaminate with other gluten/dairy products and thus, gluten-free foods will absorb certain gluten molecules that may affect a person who suffers from celiac disease as an example. Being a dance major, hoping to not only teach but to also evolve into a professional (and hopeful) ballerina/contemporary dancer, I thought this as a positive attitude towards becoming stronger and healthier since I had gained water weight this summer from eating all kinds of lactose and terrible gluten products that were damaging my pancreas, liver, etc... from this, I wasn't developing a healthy eating habit and much less a strong immune system (which is why I was sick sick on my bed writing about this issue which I personally consider incredibly important for everyone in general).
It had dawned on me that the food industry in this nation is in a very poor state. This is not to say that the FDA has not improved their system in manufacturing and checking products that aren't contaminated with polluted viruses or microbes, I'm simply stating that it's socio-economic impacts have not improved whatsoever. A great example comes from cafeteria food. Yes folks, I'm talking about high school. The awkward time transition period where you thought life was over because Susie didn't want to go out with you or how cool you looked for sneaking out during lunch time and going to buy Chik-fil-a with your groupie of seniors (how rebellious!...). I remember explicitly walking down the line on certain days to get pizza. Yes one big slice of pizza for a dollar or dollar fifty; who doesn't love that? Well let me tell you, I didn't. For one, it didn't make me feel satisfied and two: pizza is NOT a vegetable. Don't even get me started on that time I found an actual BUG. I stopped eating in that cafeteria right away; never again! Kids need a certain amount of protein, carbs, and healthy fats for a well-rounded nutritional diet. Pizza doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, Most of the time I couldn't get the better meals which had all the balanced elements a kid needs because it cost me five dollars. FIVE DOLLARS. Think about it, if I were to eat at the cafeteria every day for the rest of the school year I would be wasting twenty-five dollars a week. Now multiply it for 40 (for weeks of the year) and you get One thousand dollars. So, for eating healthy, you have to pay more? Yes you do. The U.S. is remarkable in that sense. Everything junk food, processed, or terrible for your health is very cheap compared to specific foods that are naturally made or "gluten-free" why? Because I believe these foods go through a greater process to clean out the impurities which cost more money and time for factories. And that is the sad part, that this nation doesn't promote natural and healthy crop-raising that can be economically efficient for us. Everything must go through a machine which then is processed because it wastes less time and money. Let's look now at Venezuela, for example. When I lived there, I didn't gain weight dramatically and obesity was never an issue to address. Neither was the food because the majority of people seemed and were healthier (note** I'm talking about 1994 to 2006 before things got uglier with the government limiting exports, flights out of the country, and a lot of corruption currently). But how incredible is it that even third world countries in general are capable of having healthier habits than most people in the U.S.? (I'm discounting the poor regions to not be completely biased). But once I moved here my ways of eating changed for the worse. And not knowing I was lactose intolerant or gluten intolerant made it terrible for my body to consume foods these past eight years or so. These socio-economic impacts on all the people should be addressed in some way. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Yes, some children have parents who are more than economically stable and can afford good foods for them but I'm advocating for those kids that may be homeless or with divorced parents or anything that can affect them socially, behaviorally, or environmentally. These kids don't have much support even from low-producing parents, they don't receive the same thing. Schools haven't realized that equality means the ability to give out the same opportunities to children as much as they can in ALL areas, Food industry being one of them. A child cannot be well-educated on an empty stomach. I just think that nutrition forms a bigger part in our lives that we tend to believe. Be smart, but also break the rules every once in a while (unless you have Celiac disease or allergic to nuts and have lactose intolerance). To my dancers, y'all know that food is our fuel and energy to dance all day every day, so understanding this concept is HUGE and can change our lives if we truly commit to it. One of my dance professor raised a point by saying that eliminating or adding certain kinds of foods and drinks shouldn't be called being "on a diet" but rather being smart in becoming a better decision-maker on the products and things we CHOOSE to eat. diets are for losing weight, but having a healthy eating habit lasts forever. "you are what you eat" after all! With love, V.
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