Performance
Acting
Breaking plates, running from ghosts, and exploring an abandoned farm. As you can see in the above video, acting is great. (By the way, I am the boy in the red hoodie.) My modeling/acting career began when I attended a convention in 7th grade and walked away with an agent. My first trip to New York City lasted a total of 15 minutes and consisted purely of the audition for the above commercial. Then it was back to the car for a 9 hour drive to Augusta, Maine. Two days later, a telephone call told me I had the part!
My decision to put academics first and enroll in Maine's only magnet, boarding, public high school in Limestone, Maine (7 hours from Boston) also meant a pause in my acting career. In college, I know I'll be acting again!
Dance
Here's a performance from freshman year.
My dance styles:
Contemporary, Contra Dance, Modern, Hip hop, Showdance, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Bachata, African, Improvisation, Zumba (does that count?), Swing Dance, Ballroom Dance, and Tango.
Dance as a student
I began dance classes in 5th grade after seeing a dance performance and begging my parents for lessons. At first I was the worst dancer (and oldest student) in the lowest level class at the Kennebec Dance Center. But I was obsessed. I traveled to see my grandmother in the summer so that I could take classes at Gus Giordano Dance in Chicago. Later, I enrolled in the Youth Arts Program at Bates College. As a result of my efforts I improved significantly and found myself in the highest class offered: encore.
The above video is me dancing in a class at Kennebec Dance Center, summer 2016.
Dance as a teacher
Disaster struck for my dance career sophomore year. Putting academics first, I decided to transfer to the Maine School of Science and Math (MSSM)--Maine's only public, magnet, boarding school in Limestone. Their dance program was nonexistent and it seemed that I would have give up dance.
I could not have been more wrong.
As the stubborn person I am, the first thing I did at MSSM was start a dance club. If they wouldn't give me a dance program, I figured I would make my own. Although not accepted initially, it is now a regularly attended club. Even more exciting for me, we are able to put on regular shows for the MSSM student body! The communty of MSSM has really come together around dancing. I am also the president of tango club, and work with a Resident Instructor to teach belly dancing, swing dance, and ballroom dance.
Music
Music has been a big part of my life as a dancer, but also as a musician. I have played violin since I was six years old, and attended multiple violin and fiddle camps. I have found fiddle to be a comforting respite and even a way to express my creativity in composing new pieces. I especially enjoy how fiddle brings together a community of people. The video above shows my love of fiddle on my own and in community. I plan to create this community in college. The music is the music of contra dance allowing everyone to participate through playing, cheering, or dancing!
I have also picked up other instruments to a lesser degree like Taiko Drums, Guitar, and a little Flute. I also love the instrument of my voice. I was a part of Madrigals, an audition-only group at my high school, and was chosen for the All State Chorus. I am currently part of MSSM's audition-only Acapella group, Minor Violation. I love singing whether I am hiking with a group in the wilderness, or singing a solo for my classmates.