Advisors Note: Robert Shelley is PRHS freshman. He has a passion for dancing, and another passion for baseball. He agreed to offer a glimpse into his life with this journal.
Thursday 3/6
On Thursdays I take two classes. I help a little kids' hip hop class and I take a ballet class. In the hip hop class there are eighteen little kids. They are a handful.Friday 3/7
Today is one of the three days I have off from dance during the week. The other two days I have are Saturday and Sunday. The reason I don't do classes on Friday is because earlier in the year I did cross country and we had meets every Friday, therefore not allowing me to dance that day.Saturday 3/8
Again this is one of my three days off. Today I look back on my past experiences as a dancer, and when I look back at it, a lot of the times I was being bullied. When I was younger I used to be called gay because I danced. That is one stereotypical thing about male dancers. You say you dance and automatically most people think you are gay, but that is not true. One of the best quotes I have heard from a famous make dancer named Jacob Carr, "Back in high school those boys that made fun of me could go wrestle men in tights, and I could be in tights lifting beautiful women."Monday 3/10
Monday is one of my favorite days to dance. I dance for three hours and fifteen minutes straight – tap then modern. In my tap class I had just started about two months ago, but I am in the advanced class. The reason is when I was eight years old I did tap competitively. The class is hard but I am keeping up with everyone. My modern teacher, Ms. Amelia, has such a lyrical style to her choreography. She likes to make every movement suspenseful. It is absolutely amazing what she can choreograph. That is why modern is one of my favorite classes.Tuesday 3/11
Today is a ballet day for me. My teacher Ms. Elizabeth is not as strict as any of my other teachers, but she still pushes us to strive for better goals.Wednesday 3/12
Today I got to sit inside for the snow day and not go to dance. I go to a small dancing school, but we have talent. A girl I know is an amazing dancer, she's 18, and she got accepted into Merrimack College on a scholarship. Just because something is small doesn't mean it can't produce big things.Friday 3/14
Today I have off so I take a closer look at my dance life. As I look over the years, a lot of people have told me, "Robert, because you dance, a lot of girls are going to like you." I can say without a doubt that that is true. Many girls have gone in and out of my life and were attracted to me because I dance. One girl I was talking to a while back, I told her I danced and her first response to me was, "Ok right now I am crushing on you." Dance has its negatives, but they're outnumbered by the positives.Saturday 3/15
I can say within my life I have worked with some of the best. Back when I lived in Florida I was friends with a guy named Jacob Carr. He was one of the best dancers I have ever seen. He had amazing technique. He had taught me to do some moves that I have never thought of doing. When I moved up to Maine I thought he was one of the best in America. About a year after I moved I was intrigued with a show called “So You Think You Can Dance.” It was a competition show where contestants would go on, audition, and if they were picked, try not to get eliminated. I was watching the show during auditions, and to my surprise, my friend Jacob was there. When the show ended he came in second place, right behind a hip hop dancer. He had proved me right, that he was one of the best dancers in America.Sunday 3/16
I will be taking a break from dance in two weeks to pursue baseball. It is a tough decision to make, walking away from all my classes like that, but baseball is what I want to do when I grow up, so I have to make the sacrifices. Those sacrifices have to start in high school. As I come to the conclusion of dance for me I look back and realize, I have been with this dance company for five years, and this will be the first year I don't do the recital.Monday 3/17
My weekly schedule keeps repeating. It is the same busy week, every week. Because of that, today I had modern. I had to go and tell her I could not do the recital. It was hard to tell her especially because I had found her to be one of the best teachers I have ever had.Tuesday 3/18
As I progress day by day I come into ballet once again. I have to go in and say to my teacher I am not doing the recital, and that I have two weeks left at the dancing school. It is hard for me to do that because I have been so loyal to the dancing school and now I can't do it. It's really depressing.Wednesday 3/19
My last Wednesday class of the year. I could go next week but I have a band concert. I had to say goodbye to two teachers, my hip hop teacher and one of my ballet teachers.Thursday 3/20
As Thursday comes along I know that they've already found a new helper to replace me, so I will not help their class today or next week, my final day here. Out of anyone at the dancing school I will miss the kids the most. I really like working with the little kids more than just taking a class. I think it's because the little kids don't judge me like the older kids do.Friday 3/21
One thing many people don't appreciate about ballet is the classical music. Because of ballet, classical music is one of my favorite genres of music. It's because there are more than a thousand combinations you can play with just a piano. It is truly amazing.Saturday 3/22
One of the styles of dance I have always taken a liking to is breakdancing. Many people do not rate it to dance expectations, but breakdancing is just like dance. It was invented in the 1970's for black and Latino kids to express themselves, just like all other forms of dance.Sunday 3/23
I have written before about having no trouble with girls because I danced, but as I look back I realize, I have never dated a girl that dances. I think it might be because they don't want to date a guy that wears tights, or maybe because they think I'm gay. I'm not sure what the reason is, I just haven't. Have I wanted to date one? Yes. It just hasn't happened yet.Monday 3/24
Another day, another goodbye. As it is my final week this will be the final time I take any of my classes. My favorite teacher Ms. Amelia I had to say goodbye to. It was hard for me, but like I said before I have to make sacrifices, and those sacrifices have to start in high school.