Personal Narrative: New Jersey Preforming Arts Center

I have learned a lot of lessons in the past years in my life, but the most helpful lesson that I have learned occurred about two years ago. It was the summer of 2015 and my dance studio, Central City Dance, decided to go to Charleston, South Carolina for a national competition. Days before we traveled there, my team was told by our dance teachers that many dance studio in South Carolina are very serious about dancing. We were told that they dance about 10 hours a day and get home schooled, so they can improve at dancing. My team and I were all not looking forward to competing against these hard-working studios, but deep down everyone on the Central City Dance competitive team knew that we could possibly win the entire competition with our huge

Anderson Theatre has truly shaped me into the mature young adult I am today. My freshman year, I decided to join theatre not knowing what to expect. None of my friends were in theatre, and it was something I decided to do completely on my own. I walked into the first meeting, late because I had cheer practice, and sat in the back of the Fine Arts Room by myself. I then let cheerleading take over all of my time, and did not return to theatre until Dry Tech. That day, I walked in and started working. In that 12 hour day, I realized that doing hair and makeup is something I am really great at. In that 12 hour day, I met dozens of people with whom I am still friends with today. Because of Anderson Theatre, I met my best friend. I laughed more than

On the 5th of December, I attended my second concert in Cypress Recital Hall. It was an amazing experience. I got to fully appreciate the sounds of the violin and the piano. Erika Salas, played the Violin accompanied by Yoko Mizuno, Doris Wang and Michael Cooper each individually performed a different piece on the piano. The first song was Sonata in D major HWV 371 by George Frideric Handel and performed by Erika Salis and Yoko Mizuno. The structure of this sonata was made up of four movements. Affetuoso feeling, tenderly, Allegro lively, fast, Larghetto slowly, steadily, and Allegro energetic, fast. Each section had a specific form the first movement reminds one of a slow symphony. The Allegro is written in a fugue, polyphonic style. The

This past summer, I was lucky enough to travel with Burklyn Ballet Theatre to Edinburgh, Scotland, and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Each day after performing, my group would travel all throughout Edinburgh and nearby cities, exploring nearby historical sites and castles as well as attending performances, such as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. After the dancing portion of the trip had finished, my family met up with me and stayed for an extra three days. While visiting Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, I became extremely intrigued with the line of Scottish and English succession. More precisely, the merge between Scottish and English monarchy with the rule of James the VI of Scotland/1st of England’s Merger of the Crowns. Not only

My first Jazz concert was a faculty Recital by the members of CCNY. The band that was playing was called the Pittson Family Band. Suzanne Pittson was using her voice, Evan Pittson was on the electric viola, Jeff Pittson was on the piano, Giacomo Tagliavia was on the bass and finally Anthony Pinciotti on the drums. There was a total of six songs and in this essay I plan to discuss what I heard during the concert.

My attachment to NJ is as old as the day I landed in the US at Newark Liberty International Airport for my first US visit in 1999. I used to stay in NJ with my uncle whenever I visited the US in summer vacation. After going to college in Boston, I continue to visit my cousins living in NJ who I grew up with. The NJ medical school is in close proximity to my first cousin who is recovering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He is like a little brother to me since he is only 4 years younger and attending medical school in NJ will allow me to be there for him. Since his parents work full time, it would be gratifying for me to be the support him for his scheduled follow-ups in the hospital. Currently, I am only able to visit him on a quarterly basis

I walked in with a friend and we took a seat near the bar. It was a quaint little restaurant; the tables were very close together but then that was because the stage took up half of the floor space. And tonight, for the first time, I realized how large it really was. Usually when I came here, I never paid attention to the music. I never thought of this as a music venue. In my mind, when I go to listen to music it has to be at a concert hall like Roy Thomson or the Musikverein.

Coming to the Interlochen Arts Academy I knew that I would be surrounded by a very talented and diverse community of unusual artists. It never occurred to me though that a large percentage of the school’s population would be from international countries. When I was in public school, there were only a handful of people that I knew from foreign origin, but they had already assimilated to American culture and were well aware of are virtues and manners. As I arrived on my new campus the first person that I met was a young man named Bassett. Bassett was from Afghanistan, so naturally I was excited to see some diversity in my new community. As the weeks went on Bassett and I became really good friends, until I started to notice some odd things about

It was a cold, snowy day in New Jersey. When I woke up my mom made me hot chocolate and pancakes for my first game in basketball. My mom was cooking pancakes for everyone. My dad was getting his big, brown boots to go to my older sister’s game. I was so excited to go on the court where players have fun, win games, but sometimes get injured. When I was done with my delicious breakfast, I quickly went upstairs to put my jersey on that just came out of the dryer. My mom called me with her loud voice and said, “Gab, it’s time to go! Get your sneakers on and grab a water bottle! I will be outside, but don’t slip on the ice when you come out.’’ I was so beyond happy it was finally time, but I was full of fear. Because it would be my first game and

When I started high school, I was a shy and withdrawn person. I kept my distance from others. This was mostly due to the fact that I didn’t know anyone, and I was always told that high school was this big scary place. I didn’t really embrace school, because I didn't feel connected to the other students. Then I met someone who would become a very close friend of mine. This person always pushed me to meet new people. She suggested for me to join technical theater, or tech for short.

“Be Right down.” I text back as I pull open the glass door to the aged Orpheum theatre. Ambling into the lobby the familiar buttery scent of popcorn mixed with soda and old wood wraps around me and whispers memories of the last time I was here. After standing in line I check in I leave the lobby following the path etched into my mind from years of performing here. As I walk through the antique doors into the auditorium, I am struck once again by the beauty of the ancient theater.

Sunday, the morning after my off-site ecology lab. Extremely exhausted from yesterday’s trek through Lakes Hodges, I dreaded getting up from bed. I took a shower and ate breakfast. I had to do a couple of errands before coming back home. And my first priority was to purchase a magazine for my writing class. I drove to a local bookstore called Bookstar, the former Loma Theatre. The traffic was light so I got to my destination swiftly. I parked my car and proceeded to the front door. I took a short pause to analyze my surroundings. The interior design of the theater still remains intact, which provided an interesting juxtaposition between two forms of entertainment: reading and watching films. I admire the aesthetics and how they paid homage

Every time that the town of -------- is mentioned, my thoughts trail off to my dance recital in the year of 2010. Back then, I was a dancer at a studio called Dance Mania. My closest friend at the time, --------, and I were the only students enrolled in that class. We beamed about the recital since day one. We pondered over who would be in the audience and how we would receive this immense trophy with our names in cursive engraved on a gold strip across the bottom. I have to tell you, the costume had everything a girl in the second grade could ask for: a fluffy pink skirt lined with black sequins, all accompanied by a pink neck tie and a long sleeved shirt attached to the skirt. Just a couple weeks after the costumes were distributed, we got our pictures taken; when both of my arms were used to emphasize strong emotion to form a statuesque obtuse angle in the

Dance Gallery Festival, on a whole, was a fantastic experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the master classes I attended, as well as appreciated all of our guest artists, not only as teachers but also as performers.

4. Describe the surroundings and the general ambiance. Did the venue seem appropriate? Did it enhance or detract from the experience?