In a World of Dance

(I am the yellow shirt to the left, ha)

As many of you know, this past winter semester at BYU, I participated in a dancing company called Kinnect. Last week, before we went to Texas, we had the opportunity to perform at the 100th birthday for the darling Aline Coleman Smith. She is the woman that first brought contemporary dance to BYU. The morning of the day of the performance, I didn't even know the womans name; after our all day rehearsal as a company, I became familiar with her story; by the end of the night, I came to adore the little woman herself. During our performance, she was constantly smiling amongst her friends and family that also attended the party. While we were cleaning up and getting ready to head back home, she spent some precious moments with us in our "dressing room" just visiting and giving us praise for our performance.

I am truly inspired by Aline. At 100 years old, she still does her own laundry, walks with coordination, cooks for herself, and can get by pretty well on her own! Before we even performed, she took it upon herself to make us cookies! What an incredible woman :) I would go on about her history, but if you go to this website, you will be able to read more about her and the experience we, Kinnect, had being with her. (The photos used in this post are from that linked website as well).

The world of dance has so much diversity in it, many areas of legacy, and such a miraculous spirit to it. As Albert Einstein said, "Dancers are the athletes of God". I am so grateful that my parents started me in dance at such a young age so I could experience so much joy while expressing myself through movement! I still find great joy in dancing, and I am touched by the spirits of those that I meet through the means of dance.


(That's me in the yellow shirt back there!)


(That's my head--- bottom center, haha. I promise, I'm dancing;)

Within a Week

I spent this last week in Denton, Texas. It was actually a wonderful place! It was very hot in humid, but considering how I have spent most of my summer inside, I was ready to soak up the heat and sun! I went to Texas for a dance conference put on by daCi (dance and the Child international). While at the conference, I got to take a number of technique classes and ethnic dance classes including African and Bharatanatyam (a style of dance from India). I attended the daCi with my dance company from BYU, Kinnect. We had the opportunity to perform a few times while there. Overall, it was a wonderful conference! I learned so much about the organization daCi itself and I also learned about how dance can impact people on a deeper level, particularly children.
It was a very neat week! I met another Rachel Kimball, so that was crazy! She taught classes during the conference and had a piece in one of the performances, so it was weird for me to see "my" name all over in the intinerary, program, and schedule and such for the week. She was pretty cool :) I was also able to get tickets for us to go see Harry Potter our last night in Denton! It was so fun! Some of us used the bedsheets from the dorms at the university to dress up as house elves, and I provided chopsticks for others to use as wands. It was lovely :)
I was deeply touched by the love I felt from each member of the Kinnect company, including Marilyn, our fearless leader. With all of the testimonies being shared in our group and the service being performed, I felt the love of Christ so strongly in our group of dancers. There were a couple people in Kinnect that especially left an impact on me by the end of the week, and I am so grateful to them for their examples.
Below are a few pictures from the week! I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to, but I hope to recieve copies of the pictures that other Kinnect members took :)
Much love

(Me and the other Rachel Kimball at the conference! She's an actual teacher and choreographer ;)

She is Love

During my senior year of high school, a dear friend of mine (Shelby Randquist), had to do an assignment with silhouettes in her photography class. She was so kind to ask me to pose for some of her pictures, and later she gave me a disk of all the pictures and the finished slideshow that she made (how cool is that?). However, it took me over year to actually put all of it on my computer (I'm a little slow, haha). But now, I would like to share some of it with you! I hope you enjoy it :)

President Samuelson

This week, Club Style (the hip hop club I'm in at BYU) performed at the last forum of the semester :) After the program was over, one of my dear friends, Mimi, and I had the opportunity to shake hands and speak with President Samuelson. I have only heard good things about him, and I can confirm that he is an amazing man-- very friendly and courteous towards others. What a day that was :)

What I find joy in ())-%--

I find joy in dance :)

Aerial Cartwheel

Last night... I did my very first aerial cartwheel ever! It was amazing! There I was, in the cultural hall of my church, goofing off with some friends, when it happened.... what was an attempt to do an aerial but assumed to be a regular cartwheel became an actual legit aerial! Oh my goodness! I freaked out as anyone could imagine. Today in my dance class, I tried to do it again, but only succeeded when no one was looking (of course; just my luck!). But yes, that was probably the most exciting thing in the last 24 hours of my life! Woot woot ;)

Well chicos and chicas, make it a great day! What do you have to lose? :)

Click here to see the original picture.

Inspiration from the Weekend: Ballerinas

Hello my lovies! What a splendid weekend we just had :) Although it did snow a little bit, the clouds parted every now and then to let the sun (or moon) show their happy face! It was a great weekend to relax yet get a lot of unfinished tasks done.
On Saturday, I was so blessed to go to a ballet with one of my dearest friends, Justin. Oh what a thrill it was to see all of those very talented girls on Pointe! They were very strong dancers, and I was in awe of their abilities. The last number was a tango (that's right, a ballet tango), and I just fell in love with the soloists! They did some outstanding lifts and partner work. The girl was full of grace (which includes flexibility and strength), and the guy was a very firm partner that helped guide the two of them around the stage. If I could be anything in the world, I would be a Prima Ballerina :) What a life that would be.
I have attached some pictures of some ballerinas that I hope you enjoy!

Ballerina 1

Ballerina 2

Ballet Shoes 1

Ballerina 3

Ballerina 4

Ballet Shoes 2

Ballerina 5

Ballerina 6