MJs FaceTime by Sidni

MJs FaceTime by Sidni - November 2020 Scholarship Essay

I am an aspiring professional dancer and have been training for almost 13 years. I am extremely grateful for all the help that I have received over the years and strongly believe that if I hadn’t received the guidance I did, I would be going down a completely different path. The aspect of my education, specifically my dance education, that I am most thankful for is the lessons I have had with my private dance instructor, MJ.
Like millions of others, my life was heavily disrupted by COVID-19. My dance classes moved online, which proved to be very difficult, and when the school year ended, I was not able to take any of the summer intensives that I planned to take. This was especially hard for me because it was my junior year, meaning that over the summer, I would not be able to prepare for my college auditions to the extent that I’d hoped for. Over the summer, I tried to make my own dance classes or look up classes on YouTube, but it wasn’t the same. When you’re in person you have the motivation of your peers and teachers. You are challenged and given corrections. When I’m at home, I don’t have any of that. It is very difficult to challenge yourself or make up difficult combinations. I began to feel a little depressed and felt like my years of training were already deteriorating, until I found MJ.
One day while I was scrolling through instagram, I found out that a girl at my school, who is one of the best dancers that I’ve ever seen, takes FaceTime privates from a lady named MJ. I went to MJ’s instagram page and I found out that she is extremely talented at conditioning the body for dance. I decided to send her a DM on instagram to ask how much privates were and when we could schedule one. Luckily they were not that expensive, so I set it up and eagerly waited for the date.
When the time finally came I opened instagram and sent her a DM once more, confirming the private. When we FaceTimed, she asked what I wanted to work on and I let her know that this had been my first dance private, so I didn’t really know. MJ told me to stand in first position and point my feet, which I did, leading her to then give me a list of instructructions. The instructions were to sit with my feet in front of me, point my feet, and rotate my right leg. I thought this was a bit strange because, although I had never had a private before, I assumed there would be a little more movement involved. I began to question her in my head. “Does she think I’m new to dancing?” “Was this a waste of money?” About three minutes into the private I started to feel a lot more muscles activate and the simple action of pointing my foot and rotating my leg became harder to do. Throughout the private, MJ continued to give me instructions for what to do while I rotated my leg.
About an hour later she told me to stand up and get into first position. Already I could feel the work I had done thanks to MJ. We only did the right leg, but my leg had never felt so rotated and activated. Soon after that private, MJ started to have online company classes available, so I decided to take them along with scheduling a private every month. The more classes I took, the more potential I realized I had and the more I began to better understand and connect all of the things that I have learned over the years.
I am so grateful for everything MJ has done. She has really helped me grow as a dancer and tap into my potential. With her help, I will continue to utilize the exercises I’ve acquired from her, which will better prepare me for my future as a professional dancer.