New Years Resolutions

Well we're now a couple of days into 2013! If you're anything like me you begin the year with the best intentions and set yourself resolutions that you'll probably give up on within a couple of weeks. The one resolution I set myself last year was to keep this blog, and it's the only time I saw a resolution through for a whole year! Proud!

I'm a smug kitten

I usually find that writing things down makes me more likely to stick to them, especially if they're written in a public place, as then you feel like you're letting people down if you fail or don't follow through with your intentions! So in the spirit of New Years Resolutions, here are mine for 2013...

1) Begin Dance Classes Again!
I trained in Musical Theatre and for three years took daily classes in Jazz and Ballet, and several classes a week in Tap, Ballroom, Pointe and Street Dance alongside various other complimentary dance styles and regular partner work classes. Outside of college I also went to various Hip Hop and Contemporary dance groups and took private Pole Dance classes for over two years!
However, due to various physiological issues (I was born with a shallow acetabulum) that caused me a lot of pain during my years of intense dancing, I was warned that if I continued dancing at the level I was at, I would probably be in a wheelchair by the time I was thirty! (I am also a complete klutz and injure myself constantly so there's still a chance this prediction may come true!) Added to the fact that I moved around several times over the following years, often in areas where there were no adult dance classes offered at a professional level, I let my dancing lapse, and while I took Ballet classes here and there, it is a source of great disappointment to myself that I no longer dance regularly.
So for 2013 I intend to join Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden and re-join classes there! With the best intentions I would like to go to at least two Ballet and Jazz classes each week, and as my confidence re-grows, maybe go back to Street Dance and Tap classes and possibly even try out a new style I've never done before!

2) Take Horse-Riding Lessons

Yes, I know it's super-girly, Ballet and Ponies in one fell swoop, but one of the things I would love to do this year is take horse-riding lessons. There's a lovely stables not too far away from where I live, the prices are actually quite reasonable and they offer different levels of lessons from complete beginner to advanced and jump classes.
I have only been horse riding a handful of times in my life but it's always been something I've wanted to do better; I've been on a few guided treks through forests or countryside and there's something so wonderful about these magnificent animals.
It's also a very selfish resolution as it is something that is completely for myself; most of my resolutions have some kind of professional aspect to them and are quite career-centric, whereas horse riding lessons will be something I love that is totally removed from other aspects of my life. And it'll be good exercise and great fun to boot!

3) Learn A Language

Okay, not exactly a unique resolution, but sue me, they're mine! I can speak a little French and Spanish, and one or two words of Italian but I would love 2013 to be the year I become 'proficient' as opposed to just 'basic' as I'm hoping to travel abroad more this year and don't want to be a typical 'Brit Abroad'!

I love the French language; it's romantic and flowing and beautiful. I also adore Spanish for the same reason, and Italian is so musical and passionate.

It's probably not realistic to expect to learn three languages so I'll probably focus on French as it's the language I currently know more of anyway (so it's a bit of a cheat I suppose!) so it'll be easier to become more fluent, which will hopefully give me the confidence to also look at Italian and Spanish too!

4) Apply for International Festivals
I'm a little bit scared of competitions and things like that, for a couple of reasons; for a start, Burlesque styles are so unique to each performer that I don't really see how they can be judged and compared as one being 'better' than another. Also, I'm scared that I'll be shit and make a tit of myself on an international stage, which petrifies me!
However, New Years Resolutions are all about achieving things and conquering fears, so in the spirit of this I have decided that this is the year I apply for a couple of international competitions and festivals. I probably won't even get accepted, but even just applying will mean I have conquered a fear in a little way!

And there we go - they are the goals I have set for myself in 2013. There are many, many more things I would like to achieve and so many experiences I want to have, but many of them are not really within my control. My New Years Resolutions are achievable targets that are in my sphere of influence and things that I can work on myself.

What New Years Resolutions have you set for yourself? What did you set yourself last year, and did you achieve them/maintain them for the whole year?
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