February has been a great month for new experiences as I’ve done quite a bit of sight seeing – visiting new places and revisiting some of the ones I’ve already visited but getting a new perspective on them now I feel at home in Moscow.  I’ve visited the Pushkin Art Gallery, which I’d been dying to see for so long before, and saw lots of originals by my favourite artists including Kandinsky, Matisse and Gauguin.

I also visited the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which is the largest Orthodox church in Russia, and possibly the world, standing at 103 metres high!  And I also celebrated Chinese New Year in Russia for the first time.  A group of us went to a Chinese restaurant and really enjoyed the food and an evening out!

Our class also took part in the audition that we had been practising for.  This was by far the most exciting part of the month as we had been working on our solos for so long- when the day of the audition finally arrived, we almost couldn’t believe it. I was nervous in fits and starts all throughout that day, and there was quite a bit of waiting due to all the younger years going before us.

I already, however, felt like I’d achieved something personally with my variation, as never before had I felt as though I’d really ‘gotten under the skin’ of a piece of repertoire.  After all the months of rehearsing, my chosen variation (Fairy of the Woodland Glade, Sleeping Beauty), it felt really good to be able to perform it to an audience on the Academy’s very large and grand stage. Therefore, after performing it in the audition, I felt a huge sense of completion which I think was also felt by all my other classmates. Also, our teacher gave us all really positive feedback, including praise from the director and other teachers. None of our class were chosen for the concert and yet I particularly felt as if I was part of a great process.

We’ve now begun work on another solo and I’ve chosen the 6th variation from Paquita. We’re also working really hard in class in preparation for our end of year exam.  It’s approaching fast and our teacher is really gearing us towards that so I’m anticipating more challenges ahead, all of which I’m determined to rise to.

I’m excited to see what March 2013 has to bring – also, at the end of the month, my Mum and Grandma are coming to visit me which I’m looking forwards to!

If you’d like to follow my career as a professional classical dancer, go over to my Instagram page here.