Journal #10 Querencia Rough Draft

The Dance Studio

By: Czarina Caberto

Sitting on the couch, being very still and quiet I looked at the digital clock that flashed neon green numbers, finding out that it was already 8:45am. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes for a bit. Only one thing was running through my head, “Ugh, I’m so tired!” I feel my body tilting toward one side of the couch as I nearly fall into a deep slumber. My best friend starts knocking at my door looking at me with tired eyes, as I jerked my body upward from the thunderous knocking. “Zee, c’mon we’re going now.” I rub my eyes with my hands feeling the dryness of my tear ducts, which made my eyes slightly itchy. I yell out to my dad, who was in the other room, “Bye dad. I’m going… love you!” I stepped out of the door and felt the sun’s ray’s hit me like a ball against a baseball bat, nearly blinding me. I step into the white, Toyota Venza and take in a sniff of the “new car smell”.

We were just about a couple seconds away from the building in which the studio was located. As we approach the driveway, I feel the car shake as it drives past a coarse road. My uncle pulls up into a tiny parking space as my best friend and I try to keep our selves awake. My hand searches for the door handle, for the reason that my eyes were half way closed. I finally find it and I step out of the door as I say goodbye to my uncle. My feet start to walk towards the mirror-like double doors as my best friend and I suddenly talk about something totally out of the ordinary. As I opened the door, I felt the cold air conditioner slap me in the face. Usually, that would’ve woken me up, but that didn’t work, considering how tired I was. The pure white walls and doors that surrounded me made me feel like I wasn’t in reality, like I was in a dream where everything was white and the only thing that had color was yourself. My friend see’s me gazing into thin air and looks at me with a strange look… “Czarina? Hello?” I snapped back into reality and said “Huh?” as she let out a small giggle. Not noticing, I was already standing in front of the navy blue elevator that had the feel of a carpet on its walls. I pressed the small, round “up” button that was on the right side of the elevator and saw it open slowly. I stepped one foot in and purposely left the other foot outside just to get on her nerves. I laugh a bit and entered the elevator with my entire body inside. Surprisingly, my laugh actually woke me up a little.

The elevator brings us up to the 4^th level and as the door opens we see five and six year olds running around the open area. To me, those little kids are like my sisters… They can be so sweet and loving, but still yet, they can be a pain in the buttocks. They all see me come out of the elevator. Two of them run up to me and grab me by the waist and one jumps onto my back. They laugh as they let go of me. They all look at me with those bubbly eyes of theirs and I look at them saying “Good morning, kiddos!” I walk into the room and hear the loud dance music that makes the insides of me stir! I feel the sudden urge to dance. The loud bass of the music makes the floor the floor shake. It felt as if I weren’t able to control what I was feeling. But, this feeling of wanting to dance, was the best feeling ever.

I walk up to the front desk to sign myself in and see the assistant smiling at me as we start a small conversation. The voice of the choreographer who was teaching the class that was going on made me grin a little, knowing that there are people who actually take the time to help us. My body automatically walks to over to the “team table”. The “team table” is where only team members put their bags, shoes, and other important items on. My dance mate sits there, quietly, listening to her sister’s iPod Touch. To us, the dance studio is like our home. It’s a place to hang out, do homework, and of course, DANCE! So, as I watch the activities going on inside the studio, I start to think of home, like the way everyone is just so comfortable with each other. The laughter that I could hear behind me cut off my train of thought. I looked back to see my two other friends laughing because of a tiny roly-poly that they thought was a bug. I laughed along with them. Minutes have passed and the class that was before mine has already ended. Time really does go by fast when you’re having fun. Anyway, I hear my teacher yell out “Jazz-ers! Class is starting! Did everyone sign in?” I see a big group of people rush over to the sign in sheet because they forgot to sign in. Everyone comes rushing back to the center of the floor so they can start swarming up. I, myself, start warming up, too. I feel the tightness of my knees stretch apart as I reach down to touch the floor and the energy coming out through my fingers as I reach my hands up to the ceiling. Then we start dancing across the floor in groups of fives. When I dance, I feel like I can just be myself. It doesn’t matter if I look silly or not. The main thing is I can express my self. As I do a jazz six-step across the floor, I could feel the wind from the fan right across from me blowing through my hair, I felt my hair go out of place as I do turns, and feeling of my feet getting blisters from being barefoot on the beige, wooden floor felt uncomfortable and aching, yet it’s all worth it. We learn the choreography, which makes me feel so anxious to get it perfect! We dance it over and over again, in groups, and sometimes we free-style in a circle at the end of class. The first class has ended.

I go back to the team table to grab my fleece pants that I use to dance hip hop with. I secretly hide in the storage closet, which by the way is restricted to us, dancers, so I could change comfortably. Once I get out, everyone is busy doing something else and they don’t notice me. What a relief! My second class is starting. My teacher yells out “Girls! Let’s Go!” Everyone fools around in this class, probably because our teacher is pretty chill with us and doesn’t mind if we aren’t perfect for him. I slip my soft; white low-cut socks and my worn-out converse shoes on and I run toward the front line. There’s just something about being in the front line, which makes me feel so calm and relaxed. Now, in this class I’m really hyped up. Once I start dancing, I can’t stop! My body is uncontrollable when I’m in Hip Hop class. I look towards the front door and I see people pouring in waiting for their class to start. I see one of my friends say hi to me and I say hi back. Kent (teacher) tells me to pay attention and I do what he says. We start dancing and my body just goes with the flow. It’s as if my body can feel the music. Hot and sweaty, I feel an adrenaline rush go throughout my entire body. I start to dance to the highest level and everyone else does the same. Finally, the class was done. I was back to my calm self. I run outside to the metal, water-fountain that supplied us with cold, refreshing water. A tiny drop of water falls unto my chin then it trickles down my neck. Running back inside, I see that my third class has started. I hesitate to get my dance paws (jazz shoes) on so I can join the rest of the class. We start dancing contemporary. The dance makes me forget about all the technique, but I start to think of an image in my head. I basically just explore the energy and emotion that my body is telling me. I feel like closing my eyes during this piece, because it makes me so relaxed. Suddenly, I feel a muscle cramp and I inhale deeply to help calm me down and get rid of the pain. I also smell some Papa Johns’ pizza. My friend comes with a box for all of us. Dance class has finished and we all head to the team table to get a slice of pizza each. Oh, how rewarding.

The dance studio… is where my heart is.

*In progress*