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I've come to the conclusion that I am not the greatest writer in the world....and that is OK. It has taken me about a week to even think of something to write about.
The polar vortex is finally gone in Duluth, Minnesota area. We had 3 snow days (or cold day) in a row....... and the boredom definitely set in. Temperatures dropped below -50 degrees last week. Cars wouldn't start, the inside of your nose froze the second you stepped outside and most businesses were closed. All of us college students got bored real quick, so during those snow days I forced myself to sit down and write on my blog.
I decided that for my first post it is important to me to tell you about one of the greatest passions that has shaped me into the person I am today.
My full name is Mikaela Marie Sarran and I am 23 years old. I am from Rochester, MN and I am currently studying Public Health and Dance at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I have an older brother named Rick Sarran and a pet blue and gold Macaw named Savannah. For the most part, people know that I have been dancing for a long time but don't necessarily know how long. WELL it has been 20 years since I strapped on my first pair of ballet shoes and hit the dance floor and I have been in love with it ever since. It's incredible to think that one decision my parents made when I could hardly speak, let alone think for myself, could spark such an intense desire to pursue for 2 decades.
Over the past 5 years here at UMD, I have tried to incorporate dance into my studies as much as I could (that is besides my dance minor). I was a member of the UMD Dance Team for 4 years and have taught ballet and competition classes at a local studio the past 2 years. This year was my first year not being a member of the UMD Dance Team. It was definitely hard for me to adjust too, but not being on the team this year didn't mean my dance career was over... it just meant it was time to explore a new path.
After taking many different dance classes at UMD and other institutes my "dance mind" has expanded immensely. This year was the first time I started to realize that I had an interest in the Arts and Health field.
This past fall semester, I was working on a really special dance piece through the theatre department at UMD that would end up being my senior solo that I would perform in UMD Dance Works. This piece meant a lot to me and is what now has changed my mind set of dance as whole .
As I was listening to music on Spotify, I came across a song that grabbed my heart and got my attention from the first sentence. This instantly sparked my idea for my now senior solo, but at the time just a spontaneous dance piece.
This piece was called Breathe and was roughly choreographed in a month. The song is called "Breathe", written by Forest Blakk. Forest described this song as his attempt to share the depth of the feelings we often never speak about. If you take a listen to the song... it speaks for itself. As for myself, since it is a struggle of mine to express how I feel through words, I figured I'd let someone else's words guide my way through my own movement. This piece I choreographed is about being stuck and struggling to catch your "breath". Each day we experience things that change who we are and sometimes make us question ourselves. We quickly get stuck in daily patterns and stuck in our minds and struggle to reach out to others for help. Well, know that you are not alone. Suicide is a major problem and we are living in a society where more and more people are considering suicide. This piece was not meant to be happy... it was meant to open viewers eyes and help get a glimpse into the sadness that is in existence in this world today that is not spoken about. I am very proud of this piece and thankful/grateful to have the opportunity to perform this piece one more time at the American College Dance Association this Spring. I have had such amazing feedback from this piece from students, professors, parents and grandparents.
This semester, I will be interning with Anne Labovitz on her new project called the "I Love You" institute and will be UMDs first intern in the Arts and Health field (Ahhhhh... I'm so excited). I can not wait to create more movement similar to what I have been creating within this internship and be able to provide a way for people to express feelings that are hard to express through words. I think the Arts and Health field will be a good fit for me and I can't wait to see where it goes.
Thanks for coming and reading my first ever (rough) blog post.
......and that's a "Sarran" wrap!