Nutcracker Memory

                My favorite memory of performing the Nutcracker ballet with IBT is the very first year Ray choreographed it. Can you imagine being the first one to dance a part? To be the first one in a brand new costume designed to fit you? Of course, every corps member had one just like mine. But it wasn’t the same one. And all of us together, we were dancing brand new choreography in our brand new costumes. It was magnificent. Never had I felt so beautiful in my life. My part is special. I performed Clara’s friend as a Party Girl, a Snowflake, a Flower, and Spanish. And I am very protective of those parts. I strive to help the people in them because I want them to look good, doing my part. I, myself, work very hard at the new parts I’m given, because those parts had an original person to them too. They even had multiple people before me. My mother role that I have now was even played by a principal dancer who danced with Ray at Ballet West. Nobody can tell me that isn’t intimidating.

                The best part about dancing with IBT is I’m lucky enough to not get 1 part, but more than one. And some schools, you get one, and you even share that part with another person. But I will never complain if it gets cut down because we have more people. Why shouldn’t other people get the opportunity to dance with us? Can you imagine watching a little girl take your spot that you had originally, and dancing it the best she can? I remember the joy I had when I performed Spanish and I love seeing other people get the opportunity to do it. 

               I am more proud to say I have danced with Imagine Ballet Theatre than I am to say I danced the Party Princess with Ballet West when I was little.

Lifestyle

Being a dancer is not what I do, its who I am. The feelings ballet brings to me are addicting. Legs shaped for sexy, laden with muscle complimenting pink tights, and pointe shoes to stand tall, above everyone. The black leotard envelops my thin muscular body to show off all the good curves and even the lack of. Then the actual dancing. The shape of a ballerinas arms are always elegant and meant to show off. They encompass the head and accent the face. The legs are built to impress. To turn, balance, linger and in general, impress. When you hear a piece of classical music, with no lyrics to dictate the feel, and you put your emotion to it in your body, there's a connection built and you grow to love that music. You know that feeling you get when something special happens, and you want to tell everyone? I feel that when I dance, and that's a feeling I wish I could share with the world.

What you don't know about cutting

Cutting is when a person will cut into their skin, usually on the forearms. Some do it on the top, some do it on the wrists. It's very cliche to do it on the wrists, but that's where you hit the best release. People do it for different reasons: to distract from emotional pain, to draw attention, to punish themselves, for a release. Yes, cutting is a release. It's also very addicting. Cutting is hard to deal with after the fact, and people look down on you because of that. Sure, you don't care what people think, because you are depressed and think that nobody loves you. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not.
The problem is, you aren't going to know until a few years down the road. In the state of mind you are at currently, you are hopeless. Nothing will get through your crazy, wild emotions right now. So go ahead, cut. But when your life is finally going right, you have a good job, you have a good guy or girl in your life, you are getting along with your parents, those scars on your arms don't go away. And guess what? You'll regret it. People at your job aren't dumb, and they see those. They can either see this two ways, and please remember that you yourself will look down on weak people because well, you pulled through your weak days and came out fine, so why shouldn't they buck up and do it right?
Well these people you work with will either see exactly that, that you were weak, having to do that to yourself, or that you pulled through and have straightened up. They'll see you as either unstable, or stronger than most. And when they see you as stronger, that's an awesome feeling. Unfortunately, that's 1 in 10 people. Most people judge, because most people don't go through this level of depression. Or they do but they had a different situation and their own releases. Ones that didn't cause physical scars that you will carry for the rest of your life. But still, people judge. It's only human. And they will cause your business customers and money one day. And that will come crashing down on you. Maybe not from your boss, but from you. You will feel like shit because you were weak for those couple years in high school. And guess what, that feeling will bring you back to the craving for the painful release.
But you can't do it, because it already screwed you up.
Your family won't judge as harshly, but they will certainly reprimand it subtly. And that will make you feel great. Not. That'll make you want to do it again too.
But you can't do it, because it will cause more than this, and your pride is greater than your release right now. Besides, at this point in your life there are different releases. Different happiness that you can distract yourself with.

Don't be weak. Yes, this time in your life is difficult. Maybe there is nobody there for you, or maybe there is and you just can't take their help for whatever reason. Do not be weak and start this bad habit. It's worse than smoking. Don't smoke either. Sit on your bed and cry it out. Sit through the depression and the loneliness, and pull through.
The very best release if working out. Work your body so hard that you pass out every night and are sore every morning. You will get the same release and instead of it harming your body, it will clear your head and you will feel really good about your body. Remember, you don't have to go to a gym to work out. Google things you can do at home for cheap. And do that. Physical exercise creates the same release that cutting does. Work out. Don't cut.

If you mess with the bull, you get the horns.

When my siblings are I were being homeschooled, we didn't do our work very often. So we were often up late pretending to do it. My mom was working graveyards and we were to have some specific assignments accomplished by the time she came home. So naturally, we were all tired, but deserving of this unusual but worthy attempt to motivate us to do our homework. Anyway, Trina and I got in a fight about who knows what, and we started screaming at each other. Somehow I screamed "Mess with the bull, you get the horns!" and put little horns on my head made of my own fingers. A lot like this:

So Trina, not to be outdone by my theatrical demonstration of anger, made a cape and a nose ring. Like this:

But I yelled at her that you can't get the horns if the bull doesn't have any, so I made horns and a ring. Like...

Naturally, it was so funny all was forgiven and we moved on and it has been in our memories ever since.
These were recorded October 2013, but it was probably seven or eight years before. We decided to record this and blog it so that a record would hopefully be kept so that our children could see this one day and be encouraged by our weirdness.

Why do we do that?

We have all these traditions that half the society doesn't even know the history of! Here's some cool facts about traditions.

1. Designating a ring finger.
The traditional belief is that the "love vein" runs directly from the heart to the tip of the second to last finger on the left hand. The earliest use of jewelry to signify a bonding was often chains and bracelets. This evolved to the use of the symbolic ring. In ancient Egypt, the Sun and the Moon gods were feared and worshiped. A ring was a symbol of these spirits, both of whom were also related to the home and hearth. The endless circle showed the eternal nature of the bond, while the open center was meant to be a doorway to things unkown. 

 2. The Bride wears a veil.

The veil "proves" the bride's worthiness. By hiding her face it symbolizes she has let no one near her save her husband.

3. The bride wears a white gown.

Wearing white in the older days symbolized royalty and money. Poor people could not afford a white dress as it could not be cleaned as well as we do in these modern days. So they generally used a blue gown that they could use later in the future. It has become a tradition to wear white to symbolize the strength and richness of one's bond to their significant other.

4. Serving wedding cake to guests.

The crumbs symbolize tokens of good luck. It could be a crumb path towards good fortune.

5. Cutting wedding cake together. 

This symbolizes the couples shared future. Originally it was because it was tradition for the woman to serve, but wedding cakes were too hard and the knives too heavy for her to cut alone so the husband helped her.

6. Bride stands to the left of the groom.

Most grooms are right handed, and it is so that his right hand is free to protect his bride at all costs necessary.

7. Groom wears a boutonniere.

 This is to show the bride has claimed him. Wearing his lady's color on his chest displays his love.

8. Bride carries a bouquet.

The smells of the flowers can ward off evil spirits.

9. Wedding party dresses a like.

If everyone looks alike, the spirits who come to penetrate good fortune with evil may become confused as to who is being married. In the very oldest of times, all the women and men in the line up were unmarried so that if the spirits came looking and chose one of them, they would save others from the fate of unhappy marital status.

10. Ties cans to the wedding car.

Once again, to ward off the evil spirits who wish to follow the happy couple.

11. Bride wears something blue.

Blue symbolizes purity.

12. Men has a stag party.

To kiss the bachelor days goodbye. A last party free of judgement from the spouse.

13. Carrying bride over the threshold.

The bride tripping means bad luck

14. Honeymoon

To give the bride's family time to cool off

15. Ring bearer

Marriage can be doomed if the groom drops the ring

16. Why the flower girl drops petals

Flower petals symbolize fertility

17. Bride throws the bouquet.

To pass on her good fortune to the unmarried girls attending

18. Groom throws garter.

This is one of the oldest surviving wedding traditions and has evolved from the Middle Ages to the fun activity that it is today. It started in the 14th century in England, when wedding guests considered it lucky to get a piece of the bride's clothing. In order to preserve her dress, the bride started throwing her garter at the male guests. As the male guests became rowdier, they tried to tear the garter off of the bride's leg themselves. In an attempt to preserve his new wife's dignity, the groom started to remove the garter himself and toss it to the single men. Another old English tradition surrounding the garter had the wedding guests following the bride and groom into their bridal chamber. They would throw discarded stocking at the couple and the one that hung on either the bride's or the groom's nose was thought to be the next to get married. Today most brides wear two garters. They have one that they keep and one to throw away. They usually wear them on the right leg. It was popular for the groom to remove the garter with his teeth, but in recent years, it has been viewed as more appropriate for the groom to remove the garter with his hands. He then tosses the garter to all of the single men in attendance. The man that catches the garter is thought to be the next to get married. 

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.
A sixpence is a coin made of silver and worth six pennies. So this wedding tradition is definitely English, and many sources say that it began in theVictorian era.
Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. "Something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's family and the past. "Something new" means optimism and hope for the bride's new life ahead. "Something borrowed" is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family.
As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."
And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings.

Ways to be a cool bride

1. Team bride or team groom badges
A fun way to help your guests get to know each other is by giving them “bride” or “groom” badges at your wedding day or at an event prior. Guests can wear the badge so that they can easily tell if someone is an acquaintance of the bride or groom – it’s an automatic icebreaker, and makes for a great conversation starter among your guests as well!

2. Save wedding cards as a book
Did you get tons of heartfelt, sweet notes with your gift and don’t want to throw them away? Well luckily for you, you don’t need to! Simply 3-hole punch the cards and put binder rings through them to make a simple but meaningful book of all the cards from your wedding day.

3. The balloon release first-look
This is one of the most adorable ideas for the first look photos that we’ve seen in a while! The idea is that each person hold a bunch of balloons as they’re being led to their first look. When it’s time, they release the balloons and get to see their future spouse!

4. Wedding programs with deets about the bridal party
Everyone wants to know who the people in the bridal party are – but oftentimes, it’s hard to get the whole story without doing some serious wedding sleuthing! Make your curious guests happy by providing brief bios of your party in their programs – that way, you’ll be able to automatically introduce your party to the guests, and honor them at the same time!

5. Wedding photos with messages to loved ones
Have a relative who can’t make it? Create unique signage for your wedding photos so you can send them a special, heartfelt message from your special day. Even if they couldn’t attend, they’ll feel like they were still a special part of your day, and they’ll have a meaningful keepsake that will last forever.

6. Show how each bridesmaid knows the bride
This is a wonderful idea that helps to remind the bridesmaids and the bride about their relationship! Have your bridesmaids hold signs that tell when they first met the bride, or their special relationship to her. You’ll all be able to look back on the photo and feel amazed at how far you’ve come together!

Get guests home safely with artfully displayed taxi information
This idea is as practical as it is pretty! To avoid unsafe situations with drinking and driving, provide an easy way for guests to contact cab services in your area. This way, everyone will have a great time at your wedding, and not have to worry too much about finding their way back home or to the hotel!

8. Single drink kits as souvenirs or gifts
Looking for a unique and affordable way to say “thanks” to your guests? Or maybe you just want to gift your bridal party with a little pick-me-up? Either way, single drink kits are a fun and novel way to charm and delight your friends.

9. Wedding decor with personal touches
We love incorporating meaningful touches to your wedding day – and old family photos as decor is a great way to do that! We love how this creative couple added copies of old family photos to their reception dinner menus. It’s unexpected, yet sweet. There are tons of great ways to incorporate old photos with personal meaning, from escort cards to table numbers to menus…the possibilities are endless!

10. Photos of the bride before the wedding day with countdown signs
This is one of our favorite ideas we’ve seen in a while! At various wedding-related gatherings or special events before the wedding day, have the bride take photos with a sign that shows how far away her wedding day is. That way, you get a cool photo countdown effect to the special day that you can look back on a cherish forever! Because the big day is so much more than one day – it’s a culmination of all the planning and efforts that went into it, and being engaged is a year of your life that you’ll never forget. (Psst – one last tip…our app is perfect for a cool photo project like this!)

www.weddingpartyapp.com