Day 1 in Beijing

After some rest we needed breakfast,well the breakfast here is not like the breakfast we have.

Thoriso calls this boiled lettuce

 Breakfast is a bit tough but we just sit and enjoy our rice.

more boiled lettuce

We then needed to get our bodies going after the long and tiring travels. So we walked around and found the National Centre of the Performing Arts(NCPA)
Here are some pictures. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! very modern.

 We then took a taxi to a ballet school to do some class and rehearse. It was very tough, but that is to be expected. this is why I like to arrive early to get this feeling of jet lag out sooner rather then later.
We rehearsed for about 5 hours. We are performing the Satanella pas de deux for the first round.
I have the most beautiful tutu. I will post a picture later on, It is the most stunning tutu ever!!!!
Thank you Alta, once again I get to have one of the best costumes at the competition.

We are now being registered for the competition, where we received some amazing gifts. Leg warmers, a jersey, a bag and even a pair of pointe shoes along with some other goodies.
After registering we got to go inside this beautiful theatre. You actually walk underneath the water to get to the theatre. The ceiling is glass with water above it.
I have not managed to take photos of this yet, but here are some of the other photos of the rest of the theatre.

Tomorrow we will be choosing our numbers at random and this will determine our placement in the competitions running order.

I hope I get a good number.

Arriving in Beijing

I apologize for this post being so late. I am unable to log into the blog here in CHINA(its amazing)
So, I have asked my lovely fiance James Fraser, to take my messages and put it on this blog for me.
It feels strange not having him here as my partner for the 3rd Beijing International Ballet Competition.

This is my 5th International Ballet Competition, and people ask me "why do you do so many ballet competitions?".
Well, my answer to that question?. It is the best way to push myself as a dancer and a person. In doing competitions I learn from other dancers too. The atmosphere is energetic and you get to meet so many people from so many different countries.

My partner Randol

Regarding learning and other countries. My sensational coach Thoriso Magongwa who is experienced and is also dancing in a country in Europe is here to take my dancing to soaring new heights. I am blessed to have him here sharing his knowledge and experience with me.
For this competition my partner is Randol Betancourt who hails from cuba. We will both be competing in the senior category.

On the 5th of July we left for Beijing.
It was hard yet exciting at the same time as I had to say good bye to my friends and family for now, as I will not return to Johannesburg after this competition.
But, I will be joining my fiance in Seoul(South Korea) and will be working with the Universal Ballet Company directly after this competition.
It was a big decision to make, but due to the passing of both my parents over the last 6 months. I need to be away and give my grieving heart a chance to heal.
I miss my parents dearly, but I know that they can now watch me dance wherever I am in the world. In this sense, I keep dancing not only for myself but for them as well.

Our flight to Hong kong was extremely long. 13 hours!!!
Randol and I sat together and got to each other better. But Thoriso on the other hand had the pleasure of someone brushing his teeth in their seat and snorted for the duration of the flight. Hence the man earned a nick name. "Snorty".

Once we arrived in Hong Kong, we had a 3 hour wait before flying to Beijing. The jet lag was starting to kick in already because Hong Kong as well as Beijing is 6 hours ahead of Johannesburg.
Randol kept telling me to stay awake to try stay awake on the flight to Beijing so that my body gets used to the time difference. Well.... That was impossible. my eyes would just close and the next thing I knew we were there. in passing through customs I was one of the lucky people selected at random to have my temperature checked due to the MERS breakout. But i was cleared.
Then coming out of the arrival terminal, there was no one there to fetch collect us. Normally the organisation that runs the competition will send a cab or a driver to collect us from the airport and take us to our hotel.
Now. The issue with no one there to collect us is that English is not a first language in China and to find someone who speaks it is difficult. It is really hard to get around by yourself.
Thank goodness Marise (a very good friend of mine) told me to have the address of our hotel and the phone number of the person who organises the competition.
We managed to organise a taxi and we were informed that it was an hour travel to the hotel "if there was no traffic".
We were so tired after such a long journey that all we wanted to do was eat and sleep.

After finally arriving at the hotel(which is lovely) we had to find food. It being 11pm at night, everything is closed except luckily, McDonalds, and like everywhere in the world it is open almost all the time. But this is a problem for me as I love McDonalds but because my first round of the competition is danced in a tutu. I  need to eat healthy. But it was the only place open so that a great excuse have the good old Big Mac.

That first night. We all slept very well.

A cute picture from McDonalds