Hello friends!
I was having dinner earlier this week with a couple of friends (so good to see you again, Sue Ellen and Craig!), and one of them pointed out that Words From Gavin rarely has much news about Gavin herself. So this week, which turned out to have a few Gavin-related news items to report anyway, it seems right to catch you up with what's proven to be one of the fullest summers on record (for me.)
In June, my family had a mini-reunion in Northfield, MN, where my father was born and raised, where he, my mother, and sister all attended Carleton College, and where I spent many of my childhood summers visiting my grandmother, aunt, and cousins.
The day after I got back from that trip, The Ballet Conservatory of Asheville's summer intensive started. I also had a couple of Pointe assignments (I already shared the one about dealing with summer injuries with you), and continued working on my collaborative book project.
The book, which you may already know is a dance photography/writing endeavor with the renowned photographer Gene Schiavone, is still early in its development but we're making exciting progress. I'm going to be mysterious and not give anything else away.
Since my summer intensive teaching wrapped two weeks ago, I've been working on another magazine assignment and a preview article about an upcoming premiere at Duke University, researching a potential editorial I'd like to write (which has involved a roundtable discussion with four of my advanced students about their perception of feminism in ballet-- pretty fascinating), teaching some classes and private lessons, conducting interviews for the book, and... taking glorious early morning walks around my beautiful Asheville neighborhood, staring at the leaves and drinking up the soft, gentle summer air. Pretty blissful.
I hope your summer has been a satisfying balance of enjoyment, relaxation, productivity, and peach consumption. Or watermelon, or mango, or sangria or Aperol spritz, whatever your summer passion of choice is.
Here's to endless summers!
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