Perm preparations are underway! And an article about me in The Forward!

If you’ve been following my updates, you will know that the last month and a half of my life was filled with some very exciting, life-changing news; along with that news came the slightly intimidating task of figuring out how to actually make it happy in the very short time frame between my acceptance and the start of the school year!

Until early August, I was still out of the country and away from home, so while we were already trying to come up with a plan, the real preparations started about a week and a half ago when I returned home after my long summer abroad. Writing this makes me realize how much I actually got done already recently! It feels like I’ve been home much longer than a week, but I suppose that’s because I plunged headfirst into all the preparations, checking off items on my to-do list daily (although, mysteriously, it just keeps getting longer). I also came home one day before the new school year here started – and therefore, fall ballet classes. I have of course been taking classes every day and will continue to do so until I go to Perm. It’s going to be so difficult to say good bye to everyone, especially my teacher, at my last class here…

That said, I still don’t know when that last class will be! It all depends on when I leave, which depends on when I get my Russian visa, which depends on how quickly the consulate processes everything. That’s ok, though – with all the arrangements still left to take care of, I wouldn’t be ready to leave tomorrow even if I wanted to badly and had a visa that allowed me to do so! I do, however, know that I must be in Perm by September 15. It makes me a little sad that I will miss the ceremonies of the first day of school on September 1, but I’ve realize that there’s no point in letting what I can’t change get me down – and anyway, I plan on succeeding this year and making it into first course next year, in which case I will have three more years of September firsts to experience!

I suppose you can consider this my first official “Perm” update! I’m not sure how great the internet will be in Perm; in fact, the question of it’s actual availability has still gone somewhat unanswered. However, I will do my best to find enough good internet connection to stay in touch and post updates as regularly as possible! And, despite the lack of pictures recently, I have not forgotten how to take a photo…I have just been slightly busy with other stuff, haha. But I do intend to take many, many pictures of my life in Perm because it is something I want to document and share, so you can most certainly count on my future updates from Perm to have at least a few interesting pictures!

And finally, I’m excited to share with you all an article that was written about me by Lisa Trager in The Forward, a New-York based newspaper: First Israeli to Study in Russian Ballet Academy

Thank you Lisa!

An Interview with Dance Advantage!

If Dance Advantage wasn’t the host blog for the yearly Top Dance Blogs contest, it would undoubtedly be crowned as the #1 Ultimate Top Dance Blog for infinity. And I’m not just saying that because I had such a fun time answering all of the questions Nichelle asked me during my interview!

That said – I did have fun with it! Talk about the perfect thing to do to fight boredom during a flight to another country 😉

Well, here’s the interview! Have fun reading, and don’t hesitate to ask me any questions if you are so inclined ^_^

Dressing Room Writers Interview

A big hello to all my readers!

Those that read my last post will know that I received really wonderful news about being accepted to the Perm State Choreographic School. This last month has been hectic and busy and full of dancing as I’ve been away at my summer intensive in Salzburg, and while I found it challenging to make time to blog (hence my absence), I was at least able to make some progress with my arrangements for Russia. After a lot of thinking and changes of plans, I finally arrived at the decision to go to Russia in September!

Yesterday, I finished up the program here in Salzburg (with an excellent show, I might add!), and tonight I will be flying back to Israel for a short while before heading back home to Atlanta. In all, I will have been away from home for two months, and I will have about one month at home before starting my new life in Perm, Russia. It will be difficult to leave everybody, but it is what I want most! And being away from home in different countries these past couple months has really provided me with some notions of what to expect in Russia, and I can only feel glad that I at least have a month at home to use what I learned here to help me best prepare for what Russia holds for me. I know it will be more challenging than anything else I have ever done in my life, but rather than be intimidated or worried, I am actually more eager than ever to get the ball rolling and start my training there!

One of the other things I’ve been doing in my [limited!] free time here is that I have set up a Go Fund Me account. I did this in order to try to raise at least a portion of the funding that I need to go to Perm. Any assistance I can get is appreciate and very much helpful! If you think you might be able to contribute to the fund, you can find my project here. I am so thankful to everyone who would be able to help me go to Perm!

I have not found a sponsor yet, but I still hope to do so. Having a sponsor would make a world of a difference!

In my quest to find a sponsor, I came across Dressing Room Writers, a newly launched dance website with a lot of promise to develop and grow to be a wonderful resource for dancers all over. I ended up being interviewed by them, and the interview is now live online! I am so thankful and honored to have been interviewed by Dressing Room Writers, and am hopeful that the interview might spread my news and assist me in finding a sponsor!

I hope you enjoy reading my answers to some very interesting [and difficult] questions. It took me a while to answer, but that was only because it was so important to me to really give an honest and thought-out response with my opinions.  Read the interview here! Enjoy 🙂

By the way – I have another interview coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled!