August 31, 2004

Now back to our week in Vegas at Pro Dance, I know what you must be thinking. A large group of dancers.. .in Las Vegas...and all we did was attend dance workshops?! Of course that’s not all we did! We saw some shows, which were awesome. One show that I had been dying to see and finally made it to was Cirque du Soleil's “O” at the Bellagio. OH MY GOSH! It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen in my life! If you haven’t seen it and you‘re in Vegas, you have to see it. Trust me, you’ll love it! Along with shows, we did get to experience some of the night life (I’m not gonna lie to you!). A couple other Magic Dancers and I stayed 2 extra days. I thought that New York was the city that never sleeps, but now I think it’s Vegas!

When we returned from Vegas we didn’t waste anytime getting back to business. Our annual photo shoot was scheduled for the next weekend. That meant getting back into the gym as quickly as possible to work off the tiramisu and ice cream I had in Vegas on my last night there! (it was so good!) This week consisted mainly of diet, exercise and a lot of primping. All of the dancers had individual hair makeovers scheduled. This is when our “look” for this year’s photos would be determined. I also had to get spray tanned and get my nails and toes done.

Throughout all of our preparations for the shoot, the weather was forecasting a terrible hurricane to hit Central Florida. We didn’t know if it would actually make it this far inland or not so we had to prepare as if we were still having the shoot as planned. Well, needless to say, I was in the nail salon when the clouds and winds started rushing in. I got home as quick as I could to take everything inside and just waited. Hurricane Charley had to be one the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I was in The Wizard of Oz! My family and friends were very lucky. We only suffered minimal damage. Nothing compared to what so many other families encountered. It was really sad driving around and seeing all the damage the storm had done. Myself and some of the other dancers on the team were able to help out with hurricane relief held at TD Waterhouse Centre that following Wednesday. I was in awe of how many people came out to donate blood, food, and pet food! It was so nice to see so many people willing to help others!

Obviously due to Hurricane Charley the photo shoot was postponed another week! The week following the hurricane was basically a repeat of all of the preparations done the week before, only it was a little more difficult because a lot of places didn’t have electricity for a few days. We all managed though and I have to say that our team looked amazing at the photo shoot. I can’t wait for everyone to see the pictures. We took photos in swimsuits and our costumes and all of the dancers looked gorgeous! We had hair stylists, make up artists, and a photographer that made the team look beautiful. It’s weird looking at the test shots of yourself, because you are amazed that you can actually look like that! The shoot was so much fun, we all felt like supermodels! The team really got to know each other a lot better that day. Everyone’s personalities came out so much and I’m even more excited now to get the season started. I can’t wait for everyone else to meet our new team! Until next time...