Our European Adventures

Seeing that school has already started

(our last semester, woot!)

It might be time to update you on the adventures we had this summer ;)

To start off, we went on the trip of a lifetime. 

As you read in a previous post, 

Stephen and I spent a significant portion of our time January-June

working with the BYU Ballroom Dance Company on light dresses. 

In May we left with the BDC on a month long European tour. 

First stop: Blackpool, England for the British Open Championships

where the dresses made their debut and both the Ballroom and Latin 

formation teams took home the first place trophy.  

The remaining weeks were followed up by performances all over 

England, Germany, and Switzerland. 

Fortunately, we were able to have fun despite the anticipated dress stress

and here are some pictures to prove it.

Enjoy!

Why We've Been Absent

The last thing you heard from me was a sob story about the stressful semester I had ... 

and then I dropped off the face of the blogging world. 

I know, not good timing. 

To catch you up, 

Stephen and I have been working the past 6 months on 

light dresses for the BYU Ballroom Dance Company. 

You can read about the dresses and the major competition we won at

BYU News 

BYU Dance News 

Salt Lake Tribune 

Mashable 

LDS.org

LDS Philanthropies

Swarovski

BYU Dance Department 

YouTube

and there are more...

but they all take bits and pieces from the articles above. 

To read about the other things we did on tour, check out these Ballroom Dance Team tour news posts: 

Ballroom Dance Company in England

Ballroom Dance Company: England, Germany, Switzerland

Phew. 

It was one roller-coaster 6 months

full of major highs and ultimate lows. 

In the end, 

it was worth it.

Will share pictures and tour stories another time

xo

ALi 

Coexisting

Tonight, Stephen and I were able to attend BYU Ballroom Dance in Concert - Stripes and Stars

This was a lot of fun for multiple reasons: 

a) Dancing

b) ENGINEERING!!

say what?

Engineering? 

At a dance concert?

Yes. 

The Ballroom Dance Company teamed up with an Electrical Engineering Department senior project team to design some of the coolest lightsuits, syncopated to the music.  This teamwork made the homepage of the BYU website! Woot woot!

I'm not doing my senior project until next winter (I'm saving it until the bitter end), but if this one is still in existence AND I decide not to use my research for some reason... then I hope to be on the BYU Ballroom Lightsuits Senior Project. 

The concert was awesome.

Of course it was, BYU Ballroom Dance Company is one the best amateur ballroom dance teams in the world.

  If you have a chance, there are two more performances tomorrow!  Buy your tickets here :)

It's all worth it!

Calloused hands and feet,
blisters,
aching back..
And I love every minute of it!

This semester I decided to have a little bit of fun
so I signed up for 2 dance classes.
Modern and Latin Ballroom.

Last night,
we had a mock competition between the International Ballroom students.
I danced rumba.
Seeing as there are 2 more girls than guys in our class,
the shortest girls (aka ME) had to second partner.
I didn't mind because I paired with one of the better guys in the class.

As the competition went on,
couples were getting cut,
but Josh, Caitlin and I kept making it.
Exciting right!
Except soon there was only one heat,
which means Josh could only dance with one of us,
which means because I was partner #2 -
I had to find a new partner.

Thanks to our wonderful teacher Christina,
she hand picked another good guy from our class who had been cut.
New partner!
We danced semi-finals,
then were called on to the floor to dance in the final round (6 couples left!)

Guess who messed up BIG TIME in that final round?
me.

But apparently the judges didn't notice because my new partner and I won!

I love dance.
Can't wait for more :)

Don't critique this too bad - I'm a beginner

BYU International Ballroom Mock Competition {Samba} from Ali Fredrick on Vimeo.

it makes me miss dance

This was made by BYU professors

Thought of You

SYTYCD - Season 8 {Turn to Stone}

I love this routine.
I love Marko and Melanie.
I love this song.
I'm loving this season so far.

DWTS {Classical Week}

Yes, I watch Dancing with the Stars.
I LOVED classical week.
(perhaps because I loved the music)
but I've shared some of my favorite dances from the night : )

Ralph Maccio and Karina Smirnoff's Viennese Waltz

Hines Ward and Kim Johnson's Paso Doble

Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas' Viennese Waltz (Harry Potter style)
I don't know exactly how I feel about this one...

Aloha Oe

once again,
it was a blast reuniting with my Hawaiian friends
and the culture that I have grown to love so much.
Aloha Oe, until we meet again : )

  

 

BYU Luau

This Tuesday and Thursday evening in the Wilk is the 

BYU LUAU

Every Saturday morning starting @ 6

I have been dancing away preparing for Luau (Hawaiian Section). 

It's going to be an awesome show, 

with dances from

Hawaii

Samoa

New Zealand

Tahiti and

Tonga

Presented by BYU Multicultural Services, 

the BYU LUAU is an event to raise money for international student studies

All proceeds go toward scholarships.

It's a fabulous cause, an exciting event, and a delicious meal.

Buy your tickets now!

You won't want to miss it!!

For information click here

Luau

Last year, I attended this beautiful university;

the experience of a lifetime to say the least.

Unfortunately, I could not stay forever - 

BUT I still have the chance to be involved with the amazing Polynesian culture.

At 6 AM this morning, 

I attended rehearsals for the BYU Multicultural Luau, 

a performance to raise scholarship money for international students.

Every Saturday morning I will be up in the Wilk dancing away, 

reminiscing...

I guess this will have to suffice until I see that beautiful island again.

Aloha Oe'

Until we meet again

SYTYCD 7

another amazing couple weeks.....

last week dances of note:
Adechike and Comfort's Hip Hop
Amazing.

this week:
Billy and Ade's comtemporary
best part, when they look at each other and see that they are old friends...
Robert and Kathryn's contemporary
beautiful. the twist at the end was unexpected but wonderful.

It was sad to say goodbye to Billy, especially after his and Ade's performance. But it is what it is.  Shocking to see Lauren in the bottom; I honestly thought it would be Adechike, Billy, and Jose in the bottom three and a toss up between Adechike and Billy as to who stays....

but I guess I am wrong...

beautiful

Robert and Allison's routine choreographed by Travis Wall moved me to tears last night.  It was beautiful. 

SYTYCD 7 is something else this year. 

an exciting week for SYTYCD

A couple things about SYTYCD 7 blew me away this week;

Kent and Lauren's contemporary routine was beautiful.  I believe they may actually be in "like".... or maybe that was just good acting.... below is the video :)

On a much sadder note, Alex will officially be leaving this season.  He was one of my favorite dancers of the season.  I LOVED his HIP HOP routine with Twitch, as well as his CONTEMPORARY routine with Allison. Fortunately, Alex will be returning to compete again for SYTYCD 8... 

So You Think You Can Dance

This season of So You Think You Can Dance is turning out to be something pretty spectacular.
ballet boy ALEX dances some hip-hop that is off the wall

Dancing with the Stars

Best dance of the season, perfect score. AMAZING. Evan and Ana's Argentine Tango, check it.

another chapter of adventures

This weekend was a long weekend because of Prince Kuhio day on Friday... for this reason, I was able to have another adventuresome weekend!!

Friday I went to Waimea with Tessa, Dustin, Pono, and friends :)

There was a sailboat out whale watching, and boy were they in luck!  There was a whole pod of whales and we could listen to them underwater!  They really do sound like Dori in Finding Nemo, Listen for yourself below!! I know the visual is of nothing interesting, but listen to the whales!

After a wonderful afternoon at Waimea,  we headed to Ted's Bakery for some delighful treats :)

MMMMM Chocolate Macadamia Nut Creme Pie :)

After a long day in the sun, I got home in just enough time to shower for our wards Relief Society CAMPOUT! (more details on sydneys blog post :) )

We camped out in Alyssa's backyard in Hauula, and then the next morning, headed over to the beach for some fun in the sun!

After a morning at the beach, Alyssa Jessica and I headed down to Kanaohe for a Dance Party!

Its not a very clear picture, but after watching the DVD of the concert, Sister Foster brought out this beautiful cake!

We left the Foster's and headed to Ross where I bought some adorable new sandals, headbands, and a new wallet :)

We then returned home to Laie where I showered then crashed for a wonderful LONG night sleep :)

TODAY: Church was wonderful, and you can read about my inspirational thoughts in my last post!

all the world's my stage :)

In the midst of all the CRAZINESS a couple weeks ago, I forgot to mention that I was a part of a big dance concert! Abuliz Dance International: Rhythm of Love

The students of Nina Abuliz Foster's modern and advance dance classes performed a magnificent show with many different styles of dance.  Below is the pre-show video as well as some pictures and videos from the show!

Pre-Show Video

backstage before the first show

evacuate the dance floor

crazy little thing called love

Live Your Life

large chunk of the classes

AND I participated in BYUH's Culture Night with the Swing Club. 

Culture Night is a BIG DEAL here at Brigham Young University Hawaii.  It is a night where all 25+ of the Culture Clubs at BYUH get together and perform songs and dances from their home countries.  2 whole nights of FANTASTIC performances.  It reminded me why I LOVE this school and all the amazing things that our world cultures have to offer.  Truly remarkable. Here are some pics from some of the other clubs

Tahiti

Tonga

Hong Kong

Fiji

Japan

Thailand

Hawaii

Samoan

(thats my roomate :] )

Culture Night photography by Marco Mak

Sorry, I know its a long post, but I just LOVE pictures and my school!!!

Simple post

Introduced to this designer by the blog of a totally awesome person I discovered through a random chain of friends. Completely in love with the Tyrant Collection. Especially the white braided leather wrap bracelet featured below.  Click to order : )

Also today, we began discussing our plan for "So You Think You Can Swing" Winter semester '10... I am so EXCITED!!  And we were asked to perform for multiple things like the winter ball!

'twas a good Day :)