Who wants to go back in time??? You know you want to! We're going allll the way back to when Joseph Moore was but a wee lad. Ever since I could remember, the family always watched Emily's ballet recitals. Her first one was when she was 3 years old. I was 5. Yes, that was a long time ago. Moving on. Going to her recitals was usually a family reunion. It was easy since both my Mom's and my Dad's parents lived in Georgia; my mother's in the very same town of Newnan, and my father's lived up in Decatur at the time. ANYWAY, we would all congregate at Whatever High School auditorium to watch Emily attempt to skip around in a little tutu. It was so precious!
Elementary school. At least two or three days a week, Mom picked up Emily and me, and we'd head to Bettina's Newnan School of Dance. While Emily learned how to plie and tendu, I learned how to divide fractions and keep Ms. Pac-Man away from those pesky ghosts. Around the age of 11, I decided I'd give this whole dance thing a try. I started out taking tap, and because "Riverdance" was huge at the time, I took Irish dance classes as well. That didn't last very long, but I fell in love with tap. I could fuh-lap and shuffle all day long, annnd I was the only boy in a room full of girls so I was a stud! I'm just kidding. My class was the Teen and Adult Beginner Class. It was myself, and eh... three ballet moms, including my own.
My only role at Bettina's would be in 1998 as a tap-dancing soldier in a production of "The Sound of Music". Emily knew that in order to improve her craft, it was time for a change. We switched from a local ballet studio to one about 40 minutes away in Fayetteville, Georgia. This move was perhaps one of the best things to happen in my adolescence. The Studio, home of Georgia Youth Ballet, would become my home for the next 7 years. I didn't start dancing there right away. I helped backstage for the 1999 production of "The Nutcracker". Standing idly by in the wings, I realized how much fun it would be to perform onstage again. That December, I started taking ballet classes. I was 13 years old. A little to old to start? Not really. There would be 5 or 6 more years for me to hone my craft before graduating high school. Did I do that? In my first role at The Studio, I portrayed Father Carrot in a Russian folk tale about a war between fruits and vegetables. You tell me.
2001 was when everything changed. Emily and I (along with many awesome young ladies) became known as the Junior Company of The Studio. We were a pretty much the coolest group EVER. You just don't even know. That year was th
e first of many years in which we attended SERBA, or Southeastern Regional Ballet Association. Ballet studios from around (guess where) the southeast gathered for an intense weekend of master classes from instructors of any style of dance. Being Juniors, we were the runts of the group, but we still made sure we had a great time! For instance, in our first ever SERBA class, our hip hop teacher definitely lost her top, and she was not wearing undergarments. So we knew we were in for a whole new experience. (By the way, check out that picture above. We were sooo young!)As the years went on, we progressed more and more. (Well, I can't speak for myself, though I guess I did improve upon when I started ballet.) By 2003, we were officially part of the Senior Company of the Studio. We kicked major butt at SERBA that year with "La Deseada", a tango number choreographed for us by the amazing Mrs. Kristy Nilsson (Hey, Kristy! Oh, and Scott too!).
Let me dish a little about our summer workshops. Summer workshops were the best!!! Guest teachers (including Magda Aunon, Thom Clower, and Elie Lazan, etc...) from around the world came down for the month of June to teach ballet, jazz, African, modern, etc... to our little ballet studio. Thom even had a crunch routine set to "Enough is Enough" that I still do every now and then to this very day. (When I say every now and then, I mean extremely sporadically.) At the end of every workshop, we held a performance for our parents at Whatever High School, showcasing what we'd learned that past month. Ranging from classical (such as Le Corsaire and Swan Lake) to modern ("Youwarkee"!!!) to just downright silly (Beach Boys, Olympics, and 60s music mash-ups), each Summerfest was just as awesome as the next!
sweet 60s movesAbout mid-August, "Nutcracker" season began. Auditions and cast list drama were always oh so much fun. Every evening after barre work (for those unaware, think after warming up your muscles), we would piece together and rehearse for the upcoming performances. I recall always thinking how unprepared we were to open the curtain for opening weekend. Yet, somehow, we managed to pull it off every single time. That's how awesome we were.
As much stress and craziness as "The Nut" usually entailed, nothing really beat springtime. On top of school and all of THAT nonsense, the Senior Company (and Junior Company) had two things to worry about: SERBA pieces and our spring recital. Every year we had a handful of pieces choreographed for an adjudicator to watch and decide which piece, if any, were to be performed at SERBA that year. Rehearsals were always scheduled for weeknights, Saturdays, AND Sunday afternoons. Basically every single day except for Friday. Not a lot of sleepytime, folks. We also had to prepare for our spring recital. We usually performed that, eh... a week or two after SERBA exhaustion. Spring was always extremely hectic, but I have fond memories, and I wouldn't trade all of that chaos for anything.
The one thing I will always remember quite fondly about my time at The Studio is the lifelong friendships I made.
just a few GYB "Homedawgs"These young ladies were part of the reason I enjoyed spending the majority of my adolescence at The Studio. Chowing down during post-performance meals (usually held at either Chick-Fil-A or Steak'n'Shake) and watching slash quoting countless movies (The Emperor's New Groove, Moulin Rouge!, and Donnie Darko, to name a few) were just a handful of the good times we shared outside the realm of ingrown and/or bruised toenails. There are far too many girls to name so in fear of an oversight, I just want to thank you ALL for the memories. You know who you are!
I would be ashamed if I failed to give a shout-out to our amazing Artistic Director. Ladies and gentlemen, let's gi
ve a great round of applause to the one and only... Magdalena Maury! Without her incredible experience, talent, and guidance, I have a feeling that none of the vast number of students who EVER took from her would be where they are today. Not only was Male (pronounced how it looks) a great mentor, she was a great friend. She also had a very abstract sense of humor, which is absolutely necessary when dealing with as many young dancers as she did. For instance, for the wolves number in our performance of "Beauty and the Beast", Maggie decided it would be humorous for a bunch of white dancers with a ballet background to break out into Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Good times, folks. So thank you, Malangagunga! We love you!
I would be ashamed if I failed to give a shout-out to our amazing Artistic Director. Ladies and gentlemen, let's gi
ve a great round of applause to the one and only... Magdalena Maury! Without her incredible experience, talent, and guidance, I have a feeling that none of the vast number of students who EVER took from her would be where they are today. Not only was Male (pronounced how it looks) a great mentor, she was a great friend. She also had a very abstract sense of humor, which is absolutely necessary when dealing with as many young dancers as she did. For instance, for the wolves number in our performance of "Beauty and the Beast", Maggie decided it would be humorous for a bunch of white dancers with a ballet background to break out into Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Good times, folks. So thank you, Malangagunga! We love you!As much as I enjoyed dancing, I never really took it seriously. Do I regret that? Yes and no. There are times when I think that I should have focused more about bettering myself as a performer. I'm not saying I didn't try. I did try. I just never felt that I was going to make a career out of dance so why bother with all the stretching and spotting and whatnot if I wasn't going to do anything with it later in life? Ballet was just a hobby. It was a great hobby! It was where all my friends were! But again, it was just a hobby.
Little did I know, I would end up using my experience at The Studio shortly after graduating high school. For the past 4 1/2 years, I have been having a ball performing here at Walt Disney World. If there's one thing I know I can do well, it's acting like a total ham on
stage. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am extremely shy and introverted. However if you toss me in front of a group of people, whether it be on a stage or in a theme park, I shed that layer to become a completely different person. I think that's the one thing I've always enjoyed about performing. It's pretending to be someone you're not, and for that brief moment, it doesn't matter what other people think about you. Not that it does matter what people think about you. I just have low self-confidence. It's something I'll always fight with. At least I feel secure enough to throw on furry sweatpants and some sunglasses so I can tap around as one of the "Three Blind Mice."What was my point again? I don't know. What I'm trying to say is, I had an absolute blast during what is supposed to be the worst years of your life. Countless hours learning from excellent instructors, performing onstage in front of hundreds of people, and goofing around (see what I did there?) with the best friends a guy could ask for has followed me into my adult years, and I wouldn't have it any other way. So a big thank you goes out to my GYB Homedawgs, the Studio wouldn't have been the same without you; Malani (yet another nickname for Maggie), I wouldn't be where I am today without your help; my mother, whose constant love, support, and lots of stops at the gas station led to some of the happiest times of my life; and last but not least to my younger sister, Emily. There really aren't words to express my gratitude. If it wasn't for you and your love for dance, my life would be completely different. So thank you, Sistah Gurl, for making my life so fulfilling. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wake up in about 5 hours. Gotta go make some magic by signing autographs and dancing around a giant fake tree. I love my life.
I leave you with one final image...
...and some sage advice: "If you hold a duck over your head while on the treadmill, it would be good." I still have no idea what that means. Gooood night, everybody!
