Hi, my name is Morgan Thomson, I am Sharon’s daughter and here is my view of living in Newport Beach!
41 hours a week. It’s my life… Dancing is a way to express emotion without having to worry about what others think about you. Dancing in Costa Mesa at Endeavor School Of the Arts is the BEST choice I have ever made. I’ve been dancing for 5 years, and as a freshman made the Junior Varsity Dance Team at Newport Harbor High School. Dancing is the funnest experience, and I have made so many new friends that will last forever. I am so blessed to have such an ability and an opportunity to dance at school and at a private company team.
Sometimes it gets hard going from 1:30 – 5 pm at school for practice, then having training at Endeavor from 5:30 -9 or 10. THEN having to do my schoolwork, eat dinner, shower, and sleep… But it is definitely possible and teaches you how to manage your priorities. I learn something new everyday and am getting better every class.
At Endeavor School of the Arts in Costa Mesa – As a member of company, I am recquired to take 2 ballet classes, 1 jazz class, 1 leaps and turns, 1 lyrical, 1 hip hop, and 1 pointe class. On Monday, I have choreography class first, where I learn and perfect the dances for competition, then I have jazz for an hour and a half. Then I have more choreography classes afterwards. Tuesday I have choreography class then ballet. On Wednesday, I have Hip hop, Leaps and Turns, then choreography classes. Thursday I have ballet class, Lyrical, then choreography class. I have NO CLASS ON FRIDAY! Then on Saturday morning, I have choreography class, Barre & Conditioning, Pointe, then more choreography class. It definitely is a hecktic year for me… and I dance year round, so in the summer I am back in class. In the summer, I usually have a few morning classes and more night classes. The schedule changes every year.
Then if I have a competition, we do something called SPIRIT WEEK! Everyday will be a different theme when you take class. For example, Monday will be “Too long in the drier day” and etc. Everyday is something different to get excited and pumped for competition.
Newport Harbor High School Dance Team– Dance team is such an amazing way to show off your talent while supporting my school. The Newport Harbor High School Dance Team perform at rallies, football games, and sometimes even basket ball games. We perform with other schools, and sometimes even a competition. We spend all year learning and perfecting dances for our annual ArreiS show. The Varsity dance team choreographs, teaches, makes formations, picks lighting fort the show. Which is great practice for future dance careers out of dance training. Several of the seniors are majoring in dance in college. The varsity captain has a full ride scholarship to Chapman University for dance. She has danced at Endeavor since her early years, and made Varsity dance team her freshman year. Now she has been a captain for 2 years, and she plans to teach at Endeavor and pursue a further dance career.
Dance is the best decision I have ever pursued. I love to dance and express my feelings through movement. Dance is for everyone, all shapes and sizes.
*The opinions and views expressed in the “Teen Life in Newport Beach” column by Morgan Thomson do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Newport Beach Real Estate Cafe or Sharon Paxson, who are not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied.
Thank you Morgan for a fantastic contribution to the site. Look forward to reading more from you!
Morgan – You are such a beautiful and talented girl! I absolutely LOVE your line “Dancing is a way to express emotion without having to worry about what others think about you,” this is SO true.
Thank you fo sharing your life of dance with us.
P.S. Will I ever see you on “So you think you can Dance?” 🙂
What a fabulous contributor, Sharon. She is passionate about what she does and writes about it so well.
Hi Michelle – thank you so much – what a wonderful compliment and I so appreciate it!!!
HI Jane – thank you so much – Morgan is an incredible writer and able to articulate her feelings. she is most definitely passionate – and would love to meet my friends!!!
Morgan, You are a beautiful young lady inside and out. Not only are you a gifted writer but obviously a gifted dancer as well. Welcome to the world of blogging. You are a special young woman!
WOW, Megan! Your first post is just chock-full of great information about your dancing life! I admire you for realizing your priorities by way of a tight dance schedule–keep it up! You will be wildly successful!
I second what Michelle asked…any hopes of seeing you TV one day?! Great first post–now I know why your Mother is SO very proud of you!