I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to spend two weeks of my summer at the Nederland’s Dans Theater Summer Intensive in Den Haag. I sent my audition video in the middle of Swan Lake back in February and found out in March that I had been accepted. I was honestly perplexed by the fact that I was literally seeing a dream come true right in front of my eyes. Of course the initial dream was to be a part of the company someday, but I was going to be living it in another and I was beyond satisfied with that. During the program one of my favorite aspects was being around the young dancers who have yet to be in a company. Their drive and hunger to dance, be present, and challenge their bodies in ways we may typically view as impossible was the best gift I received. The reminder to be a student, and I am not sure that it was a perception that left me, but it was a great refresher on how much I can choose to take in and it can be even broader than I once had perceived before. I found myself each day fighting the resistance of wanting to go into my box, or my ballet mindset of perfectionism. Finding the freedom in my movement quality was hard because I found myself constantly comparing of what my quality was versus the other dancers who have a much broader range within modern and contemporary movement. I was stuck in the comparison, but as a few days past I found myself finding the gratitude in my own version of movement and owning all the years of ballet training and being in a company for ten years. It was a challenge that I accepted and I found myself rising above. In this episode I will be sharing with you these moments of self-doubt and the how one can find pleasure within their movement. How we can perceive our bodies in different ways with a different approach to a different task that is at hand. I find myself sharing with you what crossed my mind during the program, what book I was reading at the time, and how we must do nothing without intention. Please enjoy.