A new beginning...

Welcome back to tutudiaries!

I haven't posted in a very long time for no good reason other than I 've been pretty "uninspired" and have been trying to figure out my life for the past few months (who isn't at this age, right...?!). But in the meantime I've still been following some (dance) blogs and actually got to meet one of the writers in person! It was no one less than Cecilia Iliesiu former soloist with Carolina Ballet!!! To get back in shape for the upcoming season, she was in one of the classes I regularly take. She will now be dancing with PNB as a corps de ballet member! I am so happy for her!!! Congrats Cecilia!!! :D It was a total coincidence that we met and at first I didn't even realise it was her! After watching her in class and chatting afterwards I can truly say Cecilia is a very humble, nice and caring person not to mention a totally awesome(!!!) dancer! She inspired me in many ways, one of them being to continue my blog. Thank you sooo much Cecilia! All the best in Seatle and I hope to see you again soon! :)

Summer Plans 2014 / Part I

As I mentioned in my last post, I'd like to share with you my plans for this summer. As most of you probably know, auditioning for ballet summer intensives and deciding on what one to attend is not always that easy. There are so many to choose from! This year I actually didn't go to any summer intensive auditions in person. There are literally no schools that hold auditions here in Switzerland and I didn't have the time or money to travel to other countries. Due to that, my choices for this year were pretty limited. First I was considering CPYB's 5-week program but after talking with my parents several times and considering my limited budget it didn't seem very realistic. I decided to apply for different schools in Europe instead and am now actually pretty happy with that decision. Here summer vacation isn't as long as in the US, we only get 5 weeks. Because of that the SI's in Europe are shorter. They usually go from 1 to 3 weeks. Unfortunately two programs that I'm interested in are both at exactly the same time. Since I really would like to do both, I'm going to one week of each program (both SI's are just 2 weeks). But this won't be until the middle of August. (I'll tell you more about the programs I chose later). June and most of July I'll be dancing at my home studio.
Anyway, not too long ago we found out that my aunt from New York will be visiting London in June. My mom had the great idea to go and meet up with her there. I'm really excited, I haven't been to England in five years. The last time I was there I wasn't even dancing ballet or had just started, so we didn't do/see anything dance-related. But not this time: I just got tickets last week to the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. They will be performing a mixed bill consisting of three different ballets; The Dream by F. Ashton, a new Marriot ballet (premier!) by A. Marriot and The Concert by J. Robbins. Sarah Lamb, Natalia Osipova and Matthew Golding are among the principals who are dancing lead roles. I am very much looking forward to see these amazing artists perform. Of course one can watch them on YouTube but that's just not the same as seeing them live on stage! =)
What I'd also like to do while I'm in London is go to the Freed store and take some open classes at Pineapple Dance Studios. Of course I also want to visit museums, do some shopping and have the famous English afternoon tea with scones. 
Do you guys have any tips, must-see's or favorite things to do in London? Or any advice on cheap but nice places to stay? Would love to hear from you. 
So just feel free to leave a comment below.
See ya. 

Photos by me

Hi there, I'm back!

Omg, this is not good! How long have I left you guys hanging...? I hardly dare to say... September....! I'm really sorry about that. I've had a lot of changes and decision-making to do in the last few months which left me pretty stressed out. So I didn't really have time or the strength to keep blogging. 
Anyway, I'm back now and seriously want to try to stick with you guys :-) I just recently ordered a new book on blogging so I hope that will give me some help and tips on how I can make tutudiaries more fun and exciting for you.
When I read other blogs, I first get so inspired and enthusiastic but then I start to think of my blog and how it looks like and think: "Omg, my blog will never look that good!" But if I don't do anything cause I'm afraid to fail or not be good enough, I won't get better either. How does the saying go...? "Practice makes perfect" or something like that...
So yeah, I'm still a beginner in terms of blogging, but I'm eager to learn and discover more about this awesome way of social media :-)
Okay, so as I said before, the last time I wrote was in September. As you can imagine a lot of things happened in the meantime. One of the biggest changes that occurred was my decision to come back home to Switzerland. Things were just not working out for me in New York in terms of ballet, work and other reasons. It was definitely not easy deciding to leave the city of my dreams with all it's possibilities and opportunities. I sometimes still regret that I left and didn't try to make it work for longer. But in the end, I think for that time/moment in my life I made the right decision.
So now back at home I'm trying to stay in "ballet-shape" and (already) have made some fun plans for the summer, which I'd like to share with you soon. So stay tuned and till next time.

Exploring West Village

Today was my first time in West Village. I know, pretty bad considering that I've been in New York like almost 10 times in my life... Anyway, I finally went and loved it! All the little shops and cafes between beautiful buildings and trees, it's so pretty! I would definitely recommend checking it out if you're ever in New York City.

Love the pink!

Magnolia Bakery

Notice the terrace between the buildings ;-)

Life in the City

I wanted to share some pictures with you. As I mentioned in my last post, I am currently in New York City. Last Sunday was a total lazy day. I didn't leave the apartment until 1pm and then headed downtown just to stroll around. Fortunately I found some fun things going on and took a few photos for you. 

This guy was awesome!

Beautiful music in the park

This was the view from my window when I came home

Back from a long summer break

Hi there,

I am so so sorry that I left you waiting for so long with absolutely no blog-posts. I just was doing so many different things, figuring out where I want to be/go next year and had literally no time to write or blog. I was lucky to at least occasionally find time to post some photos on facebook.


So you might be wondering what I've been up to all summer...? 
My journey started by going to Ballet Chicago's 7-week summer intensive. Well, actually it was spilt up into two parts: the 5-week course and the 2-week advanced intensive. 
I really enjoyed both courses, even thought it was a bit challenging for me at first because I come from a Vaganova basis and Ballet Chicago is all Balanchine. We had great teachers and got to learn amazing repertory. At the end of the 5-weeks,  my level performed the Pas de Neuf from Balanchine's Swan Lake and an excerpt of Who Cares?. I got to be one of the girls in the Pas de Neuf. This was my first time performing on pointe for an audience, but luckily I wasn't so nervous. 
The 2-week program was definitely more competitive and at a higher level (as opposed to the 5-week program). A lot of girls were coming from top notch SI's like SAB, PNB and SFB, just to name a few. I felt like we were getting more individual attention and corrections; I guess because we were not as many people as in the 5-week program. For the finale performance my level got to perform Serenade! I was so excited when I found out! :-) The first time I saw Serenade was this past January at Lincoln Center, performed by NYCB. I loved it immediately and never would have thought I would be dancing part of it this summer! There is something very magical about this ballet that words can't describe.

I am very grateful and happy that I could go to Chicago, learn Balanchine choreography, meet new teachers and friends and get to explore a new city. This has probably been my best summer yet! :-)

Studio 3 

After performing Serenade; Level 1 girls

After my 7-week summer intensive I went to New York, to meet my mom and my cousin from Switzerland. But you'll here more on that in my next post. Stay tuned.

Photos from my time in Carlisle

Hi guys, 
Sorry I haven't been posting so much lately. Next week is our performance "Chatouille", so we are pretty busy at my studio.
Anyway, I wanted to share some photos of my time in Carlisle PA with you. I know it's a bit late since I posted about CPYB a while ago, but I thought it would be nice if you'd have some impressions from the area. 

Me in front of my place. I was actually just renting a room
but since I was the first person to live there, I had the whole house to myself!

My street; East Pomfret St. Carlisle

A side street 

The balcony off my room

At the market. Mom took the photo :-)