Everyone Roots for the Underdog, Right?

Dance auditions came and went, and I've been left empty handed. In my mind I had a decent shot, which makes the disappointment even greater. However, I think back on my dance career and realize this is how it was meant to be. I have always been the underdog, and I identify with that. While I started dancing at 14, everyone around me started dancing at 4, and ever since then I've been trying to play catch up. Having to work harder than everyone else to get the same result has been the story of my life, weather it was in school or dance or life in general. But being the underdog has taught me how to take criticism and how to fight, which is what I'm going to have to do now.

I didn't get to where I am today because I had beautiful feet, I'm where I am today because of my passion and drive, which is something that is hard for the judges to see, especially when you're surrounded by gorgeous women with beautiful feet. I may have to take 8 no's before I get the 'yes' of my dreams, and like my best friend told me; don't forget that Micheal Jordon got cut from his high school basketball team. I'm going to take a note from Mr. Jordon's book and keep training, practicing, and fighting, because when it comes down to it, that's all I know.

Shooting the Breeze

As dance auditions are quickly approaching, there are some last minute things I need to take care of. The week leading up to auditions I try to hit the gym hard, eat healthy, wake up early, and finish up any untaken care of business. Which for me meant getting my head shots done! I hired an old high school classmate of mine who is now studying to be a photographer (you can see more of her work on her website). A requirement for the head shots is that your arms, abs, and legs are exposed in at least one of the pictures, so I chose to wear dance shots and my swim suit top to accommodate this.



You can see more of these pictures under the gallery tab.

Blazing Through

Quick pic before I run out the door

This past weekend I said goodbye to my Corvallis friends, moved to the Portland area, and participated in the Blazer Dancers workshop. Needless to say it was a busy week, but it feels great to dance again in my hometown. The workshop was successful, it was in downtown Portland and had about 50 people in each of the two workshops, for a total of 100 beautiful young dancers. With only 16 spots available, it seems like the odds are against me from the start, the only way to put the odds back on my side is to convince them that I'm the perfect candidate for the job.

The workshop is designed to help prepare the dancers for the actual auditions, which are in another month. During this month I know there are a lot for me to work on, primarily learning choreography quickly. They teach fast, which I didn't think I'd have a problem with, but with so many talented ladies you're competing against, you need to be at the top of your game.

One tip I'll give to future Blazer Dancer hopefuls is this; it's important to tone your body, but don't forget about trying to strengthen your neck as well. I know this seems like a silly tip but I wasn't prepared for all the 'hairography' involved and woke up the next morning barely able to move my head.

I'm so excited for the auditions (and also horribly nervous), but more than anything I'm thankful for the opportunity to have this audition and know that even if nothing ends up happening with it, I gave it my all and learned a few things along the way.

A Common Step

Last week, on the front page of the Oregon State website, there was an article on my dance team! The article come out beautifully discussing all the different styles of dance OSU has to offer. It was written by the amazing Tayler Worrell, and I was featured in both the article and the YouTube video.

Here's a taste of the article, for the full article and video, click on the links above.

Elite Dance Team Captain Rachel Kelly arrives early to the studio to warm up and stretch, but the moment she clicks on the music and begins to move, a passion for dance shines through in her mirrored reflection. She floats elegantly across the floor. A few minutes later, her team is ready to practice. She leads them with as much passion as she has for dancing alone.
“It is a sport that requires endurance, flexibility, beauty and grace,” says Kelly. “Dancing is a way of communication for me.”
Kelly studies nutrition in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences and minors in Spanish. She started dancing at 14, and is now the captain of the Elite Dance Team at Oregon State. Kelly will soon graduate and plans to pursue dance outside of college.

“I took a modern dance [physical activity course] class when I was a freshman, and a bunch of people from that class tried out for the Elite Dance Team that year, but I didn’t think I was good enough,” Kelly says. “So I tried out my sophomore year, ended up making the team, and have done it ever since.”
Established in 2005, the Elite Dance Team practices technique and performance style in modern, hip-hop and jazz. Currently, the team has 30 members, both male and female, from Oregon State’s 12 undergraduate academic colleges. Beyond practicing twice a week and performing at several events per term, these dancers find ways to combine their studies with their extracurricular activities. 

At the beginning of the year nutrition majors partnered with the Elite Dance Team to organize a flash mob promoting healthy eating, allowing Kelly to combine her passions for dance and nutrition.
“We worked with Be Well and the Elite Dance Team to create a campaign to eat more fruits and vegetables.” Kelly says. “We handed out bananas and carrots to all the people that were watching us. It was a great way to integrate both nutrition and dance.”

End of the final year

This last week I had my final dance performance with the OSU Elite dance team. After three years on this team I can't believe it's all over. The performance was in the Memorial Union Ballroom, which was the perfect send off because that is the same place I auditioned for the team three years ago. The event we were performing at was one for high school administrators to come and see what Oregon State has to offer for future students.

We performed to Micheal Jackson's "Slave to the Rhythm," and did an MJ inspired routine. The fun part was the host of the event wanted to dance with us! This was a fun challange, I had to figure out a way to show these high school administrators what we are all about while incorporating Carl, the host, into the dance. What I ended up doing was having Carl perform an easy 30 seconds with us in the beginning and then also at the end of the routine. It worked out nicely because Carl had such a playful attitude about it which put a smile on everyone's face. Overall, it was a great night and a perfect way to end the season, couldn't have asked for anything more.

A couple days before our last performance the team had a photo shoot. It was scheduled to be outside, but of course it started raining, so we had to move it into the studio, which ended up working out and the mirrors in the background were actually pretty cool. These are some of my favorite pictures.

Mom's weekend

This week's dance performance was for Oregon State Mom's weekend. Despite coming down with a chest cough, I got my team together to do a great performance to "Timber" by Pitbull and Kesha. I love this song because it's a hip hop with a country twang.



 The thing we struggled with in this routine is filling time. We had four practices to put the dance together, so we started the dance 13 8-counts into the song. Then to fill those 8-counts in the beginning we did a half circle, which each person went in the middle and did a solo. This was an effective way to add on to our routine without much rehearsal time. 


Another successful performance and it all got to happen with my bother and mother in the audience.  Hope everyone also had a good weekend!

We love our Sparts!

Ending of girls dance

For the past 6 months I've been working with 32 wonderful high school girls and boys in the efforts to teach them 3 dynamic dance routines. I was working with the Mr and Ms Spartan program, which helps raise money for charities, such as The Regional Cancer Center and The Oregon Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. At the end of 6 months of fund raising a big pageant is thrown, which is where the students perform the dances.

Girls Dance

At the end of the pageant it is finally revealed how much money was made. This year, the program raised an amazing $137,850! I could not be more proud and grateful that I was part of such an important program. Using my dance skills to help people in need is more than I could ever ask for.

Clip of Boys dance (right when the pull away pants come off)

Back Again

Elite dance team performance

Hello again everyone! I know I've been gone for a long time, but I want to start blogging again. I've done a lot since last time I blogged. I've been dancing with the Oregon State Elite Dance Team and this year I'm the captain of the team, so that has certainly kept me busy.

I'm graduating college this year and the golden question has been on my mind, "what now?" I have a loose plan on what I'm doing next, including moving back to the Portland area and looking for a job, but the one thing I've learn about myself within this last year is this; I can't live without dance. So I know one thing I'm doing for sure is going on dance auditions.

To help get me ready for auditions I've completely changed my diet and work out routines. I've cut out most processed foods and focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. At the gym I'm kicking up my weight lifting (even though it can be intimidating in the weight room, it's worth it!). I'm going to be sharing my diet tips as I continue to gear up for summer auditions.

This tattoo means a lot to me, I got it last July and in Spanish it says Always dance. It reminds me that dance is something that will always be there for me and it's something that will always be in my life. But the reason why it's in Spanish is a whole other story. In first grade, I started speech therapy, and continued it for the next 7 years. I had trouble pronouncing words and it wasn't until 7th grade that I could speech without an "accent." In second grade I found out that I also had a reading disability, and was put into the "special" classrooms. This is something that I've made great strides in but still struggle with everyday. It took me an unusually long time to learn the English language as a child, so learning any type of second language was almost out of the question.
But at age 14, I wanted to learn Spanish. This was truly a struggle in every way, but through all the frustration and times of almost giving up, I am now graduating college as a Spanish minor. I will admit I do not know fluent Spanish, everyday I'm still learning and practicing. The tattoo represents to never give up on a dream, no matter what kind of obstacles stand in your way.

Organic or Not?

Introduction

You walk into a grocery store to buy some grapefruit for your favorite fruit salad recipe. Sitting in front of you are two choices: organic grapefruit and regular grapefruit. The organic versus not organic question is one that confuses consumers every day. You know that organic uses fewer chemicals, but is it healthier than the other option? Is it worth it to spend the extra dollar?  It seems that, it would be more beneficial to buy organic produce than regular if you have the extra money.

Higher Nutrients in Organic

Some nutrients are higher in organic versus ordinary produce, such as Vitamin C. As humans, we need vitamin C to keep our bodies healthy. It’s known as an antioxidant, which means it helps fight off cancer causing materials. Vitamin C also helps repair our bones and teeth. So, having an increased level of vitamin C in our foods would be beneficial. It’s been shown that vitamin C levels are higher in certain organic produce, such as tomatoes¹.

Other nutrients are also considered to be antioxidants, such as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is high in carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach. The body can make vitamin A from beta-carotene, which helps with our eyesight. It’s still argued if beta-carotene is higher in organic or regular foods².

Flavonoids, also called vitamin P, are another compound that has antioxidant capabilities. They are typically higher in organic foods versus regular foods. One farm that switched from a traditional farm to an organic farm kept track of the flavonoid levels in the food. They noticed that every year the flavonoid levels increased. With organic soil it lets the food make more flavonoids. That means, the longer the soil has been organic; the more flavonoids will be produced.

Why there are more Nutrients in Organic

There is no clear reason why organic foods have more nutrients than regular foods, but there are some ideas. One idea is that regular produce comes in contact with more fertilizers. Fertilizers are high in the nutrient nitrogen, which allows the plant to develop more. So instead of the nutrients being available for us to eat, the plant uses them for its own development. Another idea is that organic produce has less fertilizer and protection. Without the fertilizer protecting the plant from pests, the plant must protect itself. So it creates its own defense system, and that defense system contains nutrients³. It’s similar to the ending sense in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The king’s castle is under attack and even though Aragon and his army are doing their best, they need more help. Then Gandalf and his army appear on the hill and ride in to help fight off the bad guys. Think of the King’s castle as the plant, and Gandalf and his army as nutrients. When a plant is organic it needs more help to fight of pests, so it builds a stronger “army.”

Other Views

The American Dietetic Association (AND) is a respected organization of food and nutrition experts. They don’t promote organic foods to be more nutritious. However, their reason is simply because they try to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables overall. AND doesn’t want people to think that organic produce is too expensive, and thus not eat any produce at all.⁴ They believe that eating any apple is more important than eating an organic apple.

Conclusion

As your looking at all your grapefruit choices, it may seem confusing. But know, you’re not alone in the confusion. Here is the bottom line: if you have the option and the extra money to choose between organic versus regular, the smarter choice would be to choose organic. This is because of its lower pesticide residue, the increase nutrient content, and the higher levels of antioxidants. Evidence is still being released on this subject. However, with the knowledge we know now, it would be more beneficial to buy organic. 

Work cited

1     United States Department of Agriculture. National Organic Program. Available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop. Accessibility verified February 2, 2014.

2     Cardoso P. Vitamin C and carotenoids in organic and conventional fruits grown in Brazil. Food Chem. 2010; 126: 411-416.

3     Winter C. Organic Foods. J Food Sci. 2006; 71: 117- 124.

4      Wunderlich S. Nutritional quality of organic, conventional, and seasonally grown broccoli using vitamin C as a marker. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2008; 59: 34-45.