Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2015 - (Page 36)

IN MY FOOTSTEPS by Maggie Wildermuth ACCORDING TO MY PARENTS, I ASKED TO START TAKING DANCE CLASSES AT THE AGE OF THREE. I DON'T REMEMBER ASKING, OF COURSE, AND I ONLY VERY VAGUELY RECALL MY FIRST CLASSES: A BALLET CLASS AROUND CHRISTMASTIME THAT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH A TEDDY BEAR, AND TAP CLASSES WHERE TEACHERS PLAYED THE SAME MONOTONE RECORDINGS THAT MUST HAVE BEEN USED IN EVERY BEGINNING TAP CLASS EVER. I KEPT AT IT, AND WHEN I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD, I BEGAN TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT DANCE. THAT YEAR, I AUDITIONED AND WAS SELECTED FOR MY STUDIO'S COMPETITIVE TEAM, AND DANCE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME FOR ME. I n recreational dance, dancers and ensembles present their work in annual or seasonal recitals. But in competitive dance, recitals are replaced by performances typically in front of three judges (usually professional dancers), who award or deduct points for elements such as technique, costumes, difficulty, choreography, and musicality. Awards are distributed based on what score range dancers fall into; other awards are typically given out for the highest-scoring routines for groups of each size, age, and experience level. Competitions are super important to the studio, because a good showing can mean more prestige. Competition season usually runs from January to April, which is when recreational classes are just learning their dances for the final recital. Being on the competitive team therefore meant learning dances and performing earlier than I had before. And being on the competitive team required far more maturity and focus, as we were not just learning the dances but perfecting them. Both practice and competitions required me to be present and at the top of my game at all times. 36 imagine Competitive dance is hard, and it's not for everyone. But I loved it. My favorite part, oddly enough, was the nerves. Because I'd been performing for so long, recitals rarely made me nervous anymore. But performing in front of judges made my heart pound, and the nerves would turn into exhilaration when I was done. My Own Message When I was about 12 years old, my family moved from Ohio to Iowa. I started at a new studio, joining their competitive production for a year as a trial run. Around that time, I choreographed my first piece: a simple combination to "Born to Be Wild," mainly using moves I remembered from warm-ups in my jazz technique classes, and I danced mostly in place since I was choreographing in our apartment, which didn't have a lot of space. My parents clapped and enjoyed it, so I decided to do more. My next piece was a short jazz combo to "Born This Way." After that, I realized that I liked coming up with my own message in Nov/Dec 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2015

Big Picture
In My Own Words Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns
National Treasure Volunteering at the National Archives
Driving My Future, Exploring the Past The many rewards of genealogy
Past in Focus National History Day
People-Powered Movements Studying revolutions at Phillips Academy Andover
Hooked on History From paleontology to conservation science, four graduate students share their research
This is History My summer at Crow Canyon
The Benefits of Majoring in History
Making History My journey to the inaugural International History Olympiad
Historians in Training The Concord Review Summer Program
The Ultimate Game
In My Own Footsteps Putting my choreography in the spotlight
Selected Opportunities and Resources
Off the Shelf Review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options Interview with archaeologist Inna Moore
One Step Ahead Be your own priority
Planning Ahead for College Choosing the best college for your major
Students Review: University of Washington
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2015