Fiona Carlone Semester Reflection 6/2/19

This semester has been one with significant progress in dancing, in school, and in life. I

have become a stronger individual on and off the dance floor. I have met goals and I have new

ones to encounter, but I am thankful for each learning experience I had this semester.

In dancing, I have multiple sides to myself as far as styles go. I train in almost all styles

of dance, but the biggest ones are contemporary and ballet. As a ballet dancer, I have made

significant progress. While of course I am nowhere near perfect, I have seen significant growth

in my overall technique. This semester I have had multiple variations, danced my first pas de

deux, and had a major lead role in my studio’s production of ‘La Bayadere.’ For me, these are

huge steps towards furthering my career as a ballerina. These accomplishments have given me

more confidence in my ballet dance, which has been a source of insecurity for a little while

now. Looking closer at technique, my turnout, flexibility, and stability has improved immensely.

These were goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the school year, and I am so happy to

see the improvement.

While I am satisfied with my progress this semester, I hope to continue to improve in

more than one area. As I mentioned, my ballet has improved, but I have not seen the same in

my contemporary. We do not get a lot of contemporary and modern classes at my studio, so

the contemporary dancers are far and few. However, this beautiful style is a majorly important

part of my dancing and my individuality. I live and breathe for contemporary, so having little to

no improvement is disappointing. Because of this, my biggest goal for the summer is to improve

upon this style that is one of my absolute favorites. The balance between contemporary and

ballet classes is also something that is difficult to achieve. I find that if I am improving in one

area, I am not doing the same in the other. Another goal is to try have a balance between these

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Fiona Carlone Semester Reflection 6/2/19

two sides to my dancing, seeing as they benefit the other immensely. Back to technique, I hope

that my back flexibility and feet flexibility can continue to grow and become stronger. This will

lend itself to all of my dancing and be an asset if achieved. While these goals are somewhat

time-consuming and difficult, I know they can and will be done.

My technique and artistry has grown and been shaped a lot in my life this semester, but

philosophical ideas have as well. I have begun to notice just ow much the attitude we hold in

dance is translated into our every-day life. Each day we come into dance and are taught to be

respectful, polite, elegant, quiet, and considerate to other peers. These practices become habit

for us. If we are polite all the time in class, 9 times out of 10 we do the same in regular school

classes, walking down the street, and interacting with store clerks. While these are all positive

things, they are not always the case. Dance is a very competitive environment in which we live

in. Consistently, we want to be the best dancer in the room. The strongest. Most talented.

While this is a fuel, it can cloud what we do in the regular world. We can become competitive in

almost every aspect of life. This is something I myself am guilty of, but it is another area I hope

to improve upon in my future endeavors.