vivre.

Joie De Vivre.

Enjoy your evening & see you in 2012!

sparkle.

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness.

I hope you read some fine books

and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful,

and don't forget to make some art;

write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.

And I hope, somewhere in the next year,

you surprise yourself."

-Neil Gaiman

Happy New Year.

rhino.

By far, the best (and my most favourite) scene from the exquisitely beautiful Midnight in Paris.

graduate.

First off, my apologies for my less-then-frequent posts/content.

I always forget how little I am near a computer when I'm back home. Your priorities are totally reestablished, and I find myself saying (sometimes too late in the day) "Oh my! I forgot to post something on my blog!"

Not today though!

Here we are again, only a few days away from another eve to another year.

It's hard to believe that this year, the time that I've look toward graduating from school, jumping in to another chapter, and finding out more about who I am us only mere months away from happening.

Not that the time leading up to this hasn't been a journey all on its own. But there's always been something about 2012 that stuck in my mind.

I remember thinking when 2008 was so far away to graduate from high school, and looking back, I have those same feelings now about graduating from university. I can feel the effect that time has taken on me, and it's been primarily positive.

I just can't help but wonder about what I've experienced in the past 22 years, through my own actions, witnessing and being involved in my friend's as well has opened us to in the future.

"Live like you'll die tomorrow" is one of the most common sayings I've been hearing over and over again as of late. Part of me wants to jump on the next plane to Paris then. But there's still a part of me that needs to have a peg somewhere down the road, just in case that plane has to be taxied back to the terminal because of the weather.

Is that bad? Can I live freely and fearlessly each day, but still have security? I know it may be ironic, but I think that balance is the only way I can stay sane in my life.

Being home always helps me reconnect and check back in with what's going on the world and those closest to me. This holiday season has been beautiful, and I'm thankful for the opportunities that this community has given me over the past (and other) years.

May this is why I don't do New Year Resolutions. I think you should live your life the way you plan it everyday. Why waste the time thinking of tomorrow - think of next year, but not so much that it throws off today.

I know, I know, easier said than done. But it's worth a try, don't you think?

Here's to 2012!

marion.

I have successfully completed my last rehearsal of contemporary solos and duets for the year - looking forward to some downtime and a little bit of a winter break (yippee!)

journey.

Merry Christmas and (almost) Happy New Year! I hope that you all enjoyed lots of time with family and friends this holiday season.

2011 has been an amazing year full of opportunities in both dance and journalism; I'm hoping for the same in 2012!

Upon my return to Toronto I will be starting work in the Ryerson newsroom and then interning at CTV's Canada AM for my practicum placement. I'll still be running the social media for McClung's Magazine, and it will continue to have constant updates about the issue through the semester (check for the winter issue coming out in January!) I'll be graduating from the journalism program this June - needless to say, I'm excited!

In the dance world, I have completed six contemporary solo and duet pieces for dancers at Reflections Dance Studio and they will compete across western Canada in cities such as Vancouver and Calgary this spring. My open choreography/music theatre piece for Kelowna Secondary School's dance team will also be travelling to perform and compete in the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan in the coming semester.

Thank you to so many of my friends and who have believed in me and my vision (whether it be for something dance or journalism) and supporting me through this journey.

As I stand on the edge of my next chapter, I owe so much to those who support the dreamers. I couldn't do this without you.

Stay posted for updates about journalism, dance, life and everything in-between here and on my Twitter (@PortiaLoretta) for the coming year - this is only the beginning!

(PS here's another sneak peak of one of my dancers...beautiful lines!)

engage.

Merry Christmas!

Just found out that my cousin got engaged today - here's a little video from my family to theirs in classic Favro fashion.

Hope you are all having a lovely day full of family, friends and joy!

twas.

Twas the night before Christmas...

I hope that Santa is good to you, and that you are enjoying this time surrounded by those you love and are the most important.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas!

Joyeux Noel.

lana.

Current soundtrack: anything and everything by Lana del Rey. Cannot wait to hear her entire album.

Again, another throw to artistic music videos that I'm having an obsession with lately. Her crown of flowers, tigers and the cinematography? J'adore.

fuel.

It never ceases to amaze me what it's like to be on the other side of the curtain.

I've spent most of my childhood (and parts of young adulthood) training and performing in as many styles of dance as possible.

After my injury a few years ago and being unable to take classes with the same free abandon as before, my perspective changed.

I turned to teaching. I had learned, seen and thought so much about dance and choreography, that it felt like the most natural step.

It wasn't all rainbows. There were actually a lot of butterflies. That's what three to five year-olds want to dance as in recreation centre classes.

This grew to teaching contemporary classes to the dance students at my old high school, many who have no dance experience. There were tough days, where it felt like you were speaking in a different language to a group of people.

However, there is choreography for everybody...a difficult but true mantra from an old director that I've adopted for myself. We are all equal, just stronger in different ways.

swoon.

I die.

merry.

inspiration.

Where does inspiration come from?

Yes, we see things everyday that may make something inside us click, tick, or just feel something warm. Sometimes these things stay with us an materialize through our work, but more often than not, they drift away as the world takes over our minds.

I'm still trying to figure that out. Sometimes my ideas are so clear and then fall apart when I try to make them happen. That is probably the worst feeling in the world.

However, is this were we fall back and challenge our creativity then? I think so.

Being creative doesn't necessarily mean having to be the next Picasso, but rather challenging the norm of what you consider normal. For me, the lines that others draw in normality are individualistic, and feel that they should be left. Who is to say what we consider real to actually be untrue?

There is something very comforting about following the rules...relaxing even. There's something liberating and challenging about breaking them.

Finding the balance between them is the moment for inspiration. How far can we push our "normals" before things get too mixed up? There lies creativity.

Just a thought.