Top 10 Moments of 2015.
I wanted to write an overview of 2015 as a good "re-opener" of my blog, but I've been inspired by the lovely Hayley (find her blog HERE) to do my "top moments" of 2015, to make this post more concise rather than me just rambling on about how good/bad my year was. So, here are my top 10 moments of 2015, in no particular order!
1. Turning 16
My 16th birthday was early on in the year, in March. (It's the 21st, if you're wondering.) I had a great birthday with friends and family, and I felt quite proud of how far I've come since my 10th birthday when I was very unwell. I also had about half of my hair chopped of the morning of my birthday, and I loved it! I've had to grow it out so that it can be tied up or french plaited for dance and college, but I loved it whilst it was short! Maybe one day I'll have it short again, you never know....
2. Performing in "Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass"
Over the past few years, I've been various different stage productions, some very enjoyable, some a little bit more stressful, but overall all the shows I've participated in have been very fun experiences. My first show of 2015 was Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (the musical version), and I made some great friends over the rehearsal period, namely Jess and Daniella, as well as gaining more confidence in my singing (purely because I was chosen to have the longest and possibly hardest song in the show!), and obviously I love to perform so overall being cast in the show was a great experience. During rehearsals for this production, I decided that it was going to be my last show with that particular theatre company due to college and other commitments, so it made closing night of the show slightly bittersweet!
3. Seeing "Billy Elliot The Musical" on the West End
I've seen quite a few musicals either on the West End or on national tours, and Billy Elliot has been one of my favourites to see. I loved all the songs, the dancing was brilliant, and it was hilarious. I'm really glad I got to see it before it closes in April- if you're into musicals, then try and get tickets to see this before it closes in 2016! You can get them here.
4. Performing in Alice In Wonderland- again!
After performing in the musical version of Alice in Wonderland earlier in the year, my dance school also put on the ballet version of the show! It was a funny coincidence and although I wasn't able to perform in the more intermediate part of the ballet due to conflicting rehearsals, my dance teacher let me join a younger grade's dance so that I was able to still be in the ballet and I still really enjoyed it. (Also, I got a nicer costume and I got to be bossy to the younger ones, so really I got the best outcome ;)). The second half of the dance show consisted of tap, modern, street dance, and theatre craft, so I was also in the second act in a dance from Wicked (which we loving called the cabbage dance due to the unfortunate costumes.) It was really nice to be doing a show of pure dance after a while of only doing musical theatre, even if it was another version of Alice in Wonderland- I've been in three different versions now!
5. GCSE Results Day
I took my GCSEs at the start of 2015, and by the time results day came around I'd convinced myself that I'd done terribly and was doomed to retake maths for the rest of my life. However, when I got to school on the morning of results day and opened my envelope, I nearly burst into happy tears! I'd managed to not only pass maths, but also get a B! I got 1 A*, 1 A, 6 B's and 3 C's and I was very happy that I had managed to pass everything, especially Physics and Chemistry, not to mention Biology- I very nearly missed 2 pages of the exam and had to rush to do them at the end- oops. A group of us went out for dinner together and my best friend stayed over to celebrate, and despite my worries about getting my results it turned out to be a lovely day. (Side note- I have to credit my amazing maths tutor, Roger, for managing to bring me up from a D/C grade to a B, I couldn't have done it without his help and patience!)
My 16th birthday was early on in the year, in March. (It's the 21st, if you're wondering.) I had a great birthday with friends and family, and I felt quite proud of how far I've come since my 10th birthday when I was very unwell. I also had about half of my hair chopped of the morning of my birthday, and I loved it! I've had to grow it out so that it can be tied up or french plaited for dance and college, but I loved it whilst it was short! Maybe one day I'll have it short again, you never know....
Over the past few years, I've been various different stage productions, some very enjoyable, some a little bit more stressful, but overall all the shows I've participated in have been very fun experiences. My first show of 2015 was Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (the musical version), and I made some great friends over the rehearsal period, namely Jess and Daniella, as well as gaining more confidence in my singing (purely because I was chosen to have the longest and possibly hardest song in the show!), and obviously I love to perform so overall being cast in the show was a great experience. During rehearsals for this production, I decided that it was going to be my last show with that particular theatre company due to college and other commitments, so it made closing night of the show slightly bittersweet!
3. Seeing "Billy Elliot The Musical" on the West End
I've seen quite a few musicals either on the West End or on national tours, and Billy Elliot has been one of my favourites to see. I loved all the songs, the dancing was brilliant, and it was hilarious. I'm really glad I got to see it before it closes in April- if you're into musicals, then try and get tickets to see this before it closes in 2016! You can get them here.
4. Performing in Alice In Wonderland- again!
After performing in the musical version of Alice in Wonderland earlier in the year, my dance school also put on the ballet version of the show! It was a funny coincidence and although I wasn't able to perform in the more intermediate part of the ballet due to conflicting rehearsals, my dance teacher let me join a younger grade's dance so that I was able to still be in the ballet and I still really enjoyed it. (Also, I got a nicer costume and I got to be bossy to the younger ones, so really I got the best outcome ;)). The second half of the dance show consisted of tap, modern, street dance, and theatre craft, so I was also in the second act in a dance from Wicked (which we loving called the cabbage dance due to the unfortunate costumes.) It was really nice to be doing a show of pure dance after a while of only doing musical theatre, even if it was another version of Alice in Wonderland- I've been in three different versions now!
5. GCSE Results Day
I took my GCSEs at the start of 2015, and by the time results day came around I'd convinced myself that I'd done terribly and was doomed to retake maths for the rest of my life. However, when I got to school on the morning of results day and opened my envelope, I nearly burst into happy tears! I'd managed to not only pass maths, but also get a B! I got 1 A*, 1 A, 6 B's and 3 C's and I was very happy that I had managed to pass everything, especially Physics and Chemistry, not to mention Biology- I very nearly missed 2 pages of the exam and had to rush to do them at the end- oops. A group of us went out for dinner together and my best friend stayed over to celebrate, and despite my worries about getting my results it turned out to be a lovely day. (Side note- I have to credit my amazing maths tutor, Roger, for managing to bring me up from a D/C grade to a B, I couldn't have done it without his help and patience!)
6. Prom
If I'm honest, I didn't really have high expectations for my prom, or "leaver's ball" as my school liked to call it. It was my school's first ever prom (my school is only 3 years old!) so I wasn't expecting it to be very well organised. However, I was very pleasantly surprised, and I actually had an amazing time at prom! I even got a bit emotional at the end when the last few songs were being played, as my year group was so small- there was only about 50 of us- and I realised that I would miss my little dysfunctional "family" as well as quite a few of the teachers. From my experience, I'd say that even if you're not really that bothered about prom, definitely go because you might have a better time than you were expecting. (P.S- I couldn't decide on just one or two photo's for prom because I have so many!)
7. Tring Park Musical Theatre Summer Course
In August, I went to Tring, in Hertfordshire, to do a week long summer course at Tring Park, a very popular school for the performing arts. I was nervous about going, because I was staying in a dorm with other people who I'd never met before, I didn't know anyone on the course, and I was worried about feeling inadequate in comparison to everyone else on the course. I needn't have worried, because I had the most amazing time at Tring and I honestly think it was one of the best experiences of my life so far! I met some amazing friends (who I miss so much), I gained so much confidence and skill, and I fell in love with performing all over again. It really made me determined to work even harder to be able to pursue the career that I want. I'm too old to do the summer school this year, and despite being told that I should audition for the sixth form, I'm already on a college course that I like so I'm not sure if I will audition, but I loved going to Tring for the summer course and I would definitely experience it all again in a heartbeat!
8. Bournemouth 5K Speed of Light Run
In October, my family and I went to Bournemouth to join our cousins in running the 5K Speed of Light Run, to raise money for the charity Myeloma UK. This year, my great-auntie was diagnosed with Myeloma, which is a type of blood cancer, and we wanted to do something positive as she went into treatment. After our cousins signed up to do the run for the Myeloma charity, we decided to join them! Altogether, the 6 of us managed to raise over £3000 for Myeloma UK. The run itself was an amazing experience, the atmosphere was brilliant and I managed to finish in 45 minutes, despite not training and waiting around a while for my mum and sister to catch up with me! They never did end up catching up with me though, I was obviously too fast ;). (Side note- we are all doing another 5K run next year in March for the same charity, so make sure to follow my twitter to find out how to donate to our page.)
9. Performing in "Berlin to Broadway"
After doing a musical showcase at college, we then performed in our first musical of the course, called "Berlin to Broadway" by Kurt Weill. It is a little-known Brechtian musical, and rehearsing for the show was a challenge, but it was also exciting and rewarding. I really enjoyed performing in the show, and it has made me very excited for the future shows we do next year and the year after.
10. Christmas
The final "top moment" from 2015 has got to be Christmas. The Christmas period this year was lovely, we did our annual Christmas Eve craft activity- see above- and it was very fun to make as a family, even if it isn't the best looking nativity scene in the world, I saw lots of family and friends, I gave and received lots of great presents, I went ice skating without falling over!, and had 4 Christmas dinners! Ok, so I didn't ever actually have a roast dinner, I'm far too fussy for that. But I think I ate really well over Christmas, and I know that made my parents happy. (Although my mum said that me eating meat would be the best Christmas gift, but that isn't going to happen. I think she was joking. I hope.)
All in all, 2015 was a great year and I had so many amazing experiences, and I'm excited to see what 2016 holds! Have a lovely (and safe) New Year, see you in 2016!
Abbie Xx
