Dancers in New York

Hi Parents,
Thought I would do a quick update each day and hoping this will work. Well, I'm hoping the city that put them to sleep last night will actually wake them this a.m. by the time we leave the hotel at eight!
It's been so much fun and so exhausting. We have to remind ourselves that we had been awake since 5:00 a.m. yesterday. The flight was beautifully uneventful though it took a good while to get from Queens into Time Square with all the luggage and train changes. It was our least expensive way in, but watching them hall those suitcases up and down subway stairs, makes me want to opt for cabs to the airport on the way back no matter the price. We'll see. The real trick was learning how to swipe a subway card for some and gracefully make it through the turnstyle. The subway workers in every situation have been AMAZINGLY helpful. Is this the New York I know? Someone has given them a pep talk.

The students have been delightful. All on time(for the most part) and so much fun to be with. We didn't actually get into our rooms until 3:00 p.m so exploring our neighborhood was a little longer than we expected. We delayed the Central Park visit as it started to rain and kids were so beat. Instead they went into their rooms and for some opened their HUGE extra carry ons packed with food and organized themselves,took naps or watched "Tyra"!
Abby C. was greeted by the birds of New York by having one plop a memorable little dump on her head! I said it was good luck. She begged to differ. Some of the students that had travelled the subway before, headed down to Soho to shop a bit. Some got their picture taken with the "Naked Cowboy"(who's that?) in Time Square and others found little delis and stores to revisit later. We all went to see HAIR last night and our luck pulled us down from the top rows of the theater to the front of the balcony. Another kind New York worker/in this case usher. So much fun! It culminated with the cast inviting anyone that wanted to come down to the stage to join them dancing and singing "Let the Sunshine In " and what a gas that was to perform(so to speak) with a Broadway cast on a Broadway stage. I think the students loved it. I'm sure you will get there "blow by blow" accounts on a regular basis but thought it might be fun to hear my point of view. In her excitement, Shannon left her purse on her seat and we had a bit of a panic moment later. Luckily one of the students had picked it up for her. Whew!

The chaperones(Heidi and Dave) have been fabulous. We have split the rooms up so we each have three "Team Heidi", "Team Callahan" and "Team Dave"( We are having an inside competition to see who's rooms show up first for our timelines). I am not in the lead. I'm pressing my rooms for a leg up today. We checked on the students at midnight and they were tired and ready for a good night's sleep. It's so much fun to hear their excitements and concerns after Day One. As I mentioned before , it's the "Wake Up" I'm hoping for in the next few minutes. Off we go to Broadway Dance Center for our class with the choreographer from "In the Heights".
More later. Feel free to contact me in this way if you so desire. Thank you for this opportunity. Colleen