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wow, i can't believe it..
another year of college all said and done.
i'm so excited for it to be over but also really sad because that means australia is almost a mere memory..
anyway,
i've tried to update for the past 2 days & it hasn't been working but, here i am now.
i still have to post abt melbourne, don't worry, i will..
and, i'm off to the OUTBACK, with kelly, on saturday!! i'm really excited.
for now, i'm off to woolworths with my wonderful, amazing friend vanessa.
today i went to paddy's market with camy & jami.i bought souvenirs. for everyone. i spent a good amount of money. i also took my biology 108 final. i'm not really too keen on how i did but, i'm done.i only have 17 days left in oz. it's cold. i'm a bit sick. i want a good book to read. or two. or three. i don't want to study. farewell dinner tmrw. until next timexoxdustialynn
i only have 19 days left!!!
eeekkkk! so crazy. so many emotions. bittersweet.
but, in the meantime..
my camera broke.
my ipod broke.
i'm almost broke.
but, i'm still in oz.until next time.
xoxox
dustialynnp.s. per yesterday, i have decided "dustialynn" will be my "stage name."
i have been using it as my signature for everything i write (emails, blogs, usernames, etc.) for a while so i decided i have been "making a name for myself" ..
i like it.
svena - germany
amber - england (yorkshire)
josh - australia (brisbane)
peter - australia (surfer's paradise)
rowan - australia (surfer's paradise)
kate - australia (sunshine coast)
kyle - australia (sunshine coast)
mitch - australia (mooloolabah)
stacy - canada (vancouver)
emmi - new zealand (auckland)
kevin - united kingdom (kent)
dave - canada (vancouver)
glen - new zealand (auckland)
gold coast: thursday to friday
sunshine coast: friday to saturday
brisbane: saturday to sunday
fun in the sun weekend!
the most beautiful ballet i have ever seen, in my entire life, was Greame Murphy's Nutcracker: The Story of Clara. (on may 11th)
it was a contemporary ballet, using (some of) Tchiakovsky's music but completely different dances. the difference between classic ballet and this ballet is: the original Nutcracker is beautiful and breathtaking but it has been done thousands of times and is what one would think of as a traditional ballet. The Story of Clara was beautiful, eloquent, and absolutely breathtaking but, it is innovative and puts a modern day spin on the dancing.
this is coming from an outsiders perspective. i have very little training in ballet but i can appreciate such beauty as this without having 15 years of dance under my belt.
i definitely loved it a lot more than anyone i went with. i was on the edge of my seat the entire time and my hands hurt from clapping so long and loud. it was wonderful.
not to mention, it was at the sydney opera house, which was unbelievable as well!
one of the most memorable nights here.
synopsis:
during a 'sweltering' christmas eve (yes, it says sweltering) in Melbourne, in the late 1950s, the aging clara, once a famous russian ballerina, struggles home from the store in the heat. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker plays from her radio and fills her with nostalgia.
clara's russian friends make their annual visit and one brings a film of young clara as a ballerina in the Russian Imperial Ballet. she begins to dance (this was an interesting part of the ballet, to say the least. weird holograms were on the walls and what not, not to mention the real ballet dancing hadn't begun yet so i was antsy). because her frail body is weak, the doctor friend who came to visit suggests everyone leave and he takes her to sleep while he waits next to her..
during her sleep, she descends into hallucination. she dreams that she encounters herself as a child and of her lover who was killed during the Russian Revolution, (this time her love interest was a soldier, not the nutcracker).
- the dance scene where clara is reunited with her lover left me breathless. i completely forgot that breathing was a requirement. it seemed so minute in comparison to the beauty in front of me.
act two:
- we are taking through her life as a ballerina.
clara's childhood is spent striving for perfection at the Imperial Conservatoire. years of training are rewarded by graduation and acceptance into the Imperial Ballet at the Maryinsky Theatre.
after graduation, she falls madly in love with a young officer.
already famous as a ballerina, she is introduced to the Tsar and Tsarina at an Imperial Ball. she also makes a debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. during the height of her life, the Revolution breaks out in 1917 and her beloved must leave for war. his death shatters her world, leaving the dance as her only companion (another absolutely amazing scene).
years of touring around the world led her to Australia in 1940 with the Basil Ballet Russe. world war breaks out again and she is forced to remain in this new land. at war's end, she dances her farewell performance with the newly formed Borovansky Ballet. as an adoring audience applauds, age quickly reclaims her and the hallucinations of the christmas eve fade into darkness; but, clara's past and present are complete and her dream in now eternal (spoiler: she dies :D ).
some of the ballet was a bit hard to follow, especially if you had the original in mind. the whole thing was to seperate the two. this was not a remake. it is similar to Wicked in comparison to the Wizard of Oz. two completely different stories. both beautiful, in their own right but, not meant to be compared.
i was a bit sad when it was over too. i could've sat there and watched the performance again and found something new i enjoyed.
it was truly magical. xox
dustialynn
vanessa & i before our journey.. this post is long long over due.
a month to be exact but, i've just been really busy with school and life in general.
bad excuse maybe but, it's legit :)
anyway,
this post is about the "invisible children: rescue me" event.
on saturday april 25th, my roommate vanessa and i participated in the 3rd annual Invisible Children awareness event. i went to the "Global Night Commute" in 2006 in Dallas, "Displace Me" in 2007 in Austin, and then now "Rescue Me" here in Sydney.
A little background: invisible children is an organization started by 3 men who went to Africa just to document the war taking place in Uganda, and what they found was something beyond what they could ever fathom. they discovered that Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) was kidnapping young boys ranging in ages 5 to 14, forcing them to learn how to fight. these boys had to hike 2 to 4 miles every night to the camps or to run away and hide.
the first year was to simulate what it is like for the children and we walked in silence for 3 miles and camped out, writing letters to our government officials.
the next year in austin, the theme was "displace me" where we brought cardboard boxes to build "houses" for us to stay in. we also had a 23 minute silence to remember the 23 years the war has been taking place, and wrote letters to government officials.
after this event, a peace treaty/cease fire was signed between Joseph Kony and the leaders of Africa so the people at IC thought a change was taking place.
however, when the 3 men went back to Uganda to check up, they found that Kony was kidnapping the boys again and forcing them to fight.
this year, IC decided it was time to bring mass awareness to this problem. the point was to be "abducted" and walk to a certain "LRA camp site" and wait for a mogul (celebrity or person of influence) to rescue us. 
we also were to have media come and do a story on the event. we started the event at 3 when we walked across the harbour bridge (starting at milson's point, ending at the fleet steps) and then sat and waited for our mogul or the media to rescue us. there were about 3,000 people at our event and it was absolutely beautiful. we also walked in groups of about 20, holding on to a rope, as to simulate the rope the children are tied to every night, so they don't run away. my friend vanessa and i walked in silence and just thought of the children. 
holding onto the rope. when we arrived at the site, we took pictures and footage for the film the organization is going to compile together and then just hung out for a bit. we wrote letters to the Prime Minister, Mr. Rudd, and the Governor of New South Wales. we even had an awesome dance session to Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier." it was so so good. we waited and waited for the media to come and cover us but, unfortunately no one ever came. however, our mogul did. it was an actor named Damien .. and he was on the hit tv show "Underbelly." Vanessa and i had no idea who he was but we still took a picture with him and felt cool.
around 10 o'clock, everyone got up and we hiked to the site where we would be sleeping. we stayed at the barracks, on the gravel, where the first immigrants stayed when they first got to Sydney. we only had our comforters from our beds and sweaters to keep us warm. needless to say, it was not the best night sleep but we were doing it for the children.
one point of the event was to raise the 4 flags we were suppose to raise.
red was for media rescuing us
green was for $5,000 raised
white was for 5,000 letters written
purple was for the mogul rescuing us.
we only raised the white and purple flags but almost the green.
it was sad that the media never came to rescue us but the Sydney Harold interviewed the leaders of this site.
this event took place in 156 cities all over the world and i am so thankful and blessed that i was able to be a part of it.
i will continue to pray and do my best to help stop Joseph Kony from mistreating and kidnapping these young children, and i hope you all would maybe take a look at helping this organization and these children too.
www.invisiblechildren.com
at the LRA camp site where we waited for our mogul & media
i love you all and am sorry i haven't written in a while.
i will be writing a post about my trip to the opera house & the ballet soon, so, keep looking..
xoxox
dustialynn
