I’m Jenny Katlein and I’m a dancer aspiring to bring my faith to work. Because God blessed me with the ability to dance I want to express to others the gifts of God without words- through my dancing. Faithfully, responsibly, and encouragingly I can bring joy to others by way of my passion for jazz dance. I hope to bring awareness to the beauty of dance and the blessings of God through my dance journey. I am seeking a referral to work with anyone who desires to share an ability to perform for the good of others. I have found that dance is not the career path for me. I believe a dance minor is what I need. Just enough dance to fulfill my passion for it, but still pursue my other career interests. My dance skills will surely help me in pursuing sports management or whatever I change to next, because dance will always have a place in my heart and can serve as an alternative job or side opportunity to a desk job. I personally do not need to make my living as an artist, because I am choosing to opt out of the field as a career. I’m not sure I would be willing to run my own business, but God is in control so He will show me if that’s what I’m meant to do. I will serve a community who is far from the Lord, in hopes of bringing them to know God. Whether I do this through my dancing or through a desk job God will decide. My secret sauce is truly my faith, although it is no secret. I want people to see the presence of God in me and translate that to themselves. What is unique and different about me is that I will accept jobs that God brings me to, not jobs that will benefit me necessarily or better my own life. I will make money wherever God plants me a job. The skills I need are really my faith in God and trust in Him, because I have nothing to worry about and no decisions to make with God. As for marketing myself, I know the resources here at SMU will help me with that and from there, anyone who notices me is worth giving my time. I could make t-shirts, etc. but I feel like bribing people to hire me is unsatisfactory. I would be more than willing to do unpaid work, because if it is bettering my society I’m in; I know God will provide financially no matter what. I am thankful to have a father who part of his job is networking, so when I am in an emergency situation I can ask him for people to talk to. My parents have so many friends that have been my fans since day one, I know that nothing I do is on my own and I always have people to turn to which I am thankful for. I have no idea what financial plan I should make at this point, but I am not worried about it. I have all that I need right this moment- the Lord provides always and I am not worried about getting started in my career out of college because He has given me all I need and I just need to access it all. If sickness or injury or anything hinders me from dancing or my desk job, then the Lord was telling me I was in need of a break so that’s how He showed me.

http://www.dancing-times.co.uk/news/item/1065-century_of_spring

This article was so cool to read because now I know why SMU dance will be performing a rendition of Rite of Spring in the Spring- to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the very first performance. I’m ashamed to say as a dancer that I have never seen the original work, so my artistic response here was to actually watch the original, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP-XMTwuhfE

* The actual piece starts about 6 minutes in

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-tamils-probe-un-report-20121115,0,2386888.story

This article is about how the UN feels they failed to protect the civilians in the Sri Lanka War. They just backed out when they realized they were not protected and were not doing their job effectively. This is baffling to me, and made me think of the song Who You Are by Unknown. The song says that no matter how much pain, how much suffering, how deep you are in anything, You can still change and succeed. If the UN would have considered this, the outcome of this war would be much different.

1. What did I learn about Minnie’s and the community it serves?

It is in West Plano, a very wealthy area.

2. What is unique about Minnie’s Food Pantry?

Cheryl was once without food, so she knows first hand the place the people she serves are in.

3. What type of awareness would I like to raise in regard to Minnie’s food pantry?

A health awareness- the food donated should be healthier.

4. What have I learned about poverty and hunger in North Dallas?

Don’t assume the richest towns don’t have poverty.

5. Why was this engagement important?

By combining different organizations it comes together to bring one large awareness.

6. How can I use what I’ve learned through volunteering at the Food Bank to serve my art?

I can push myself 110%, because I need to acknowledge the opportunities and privileges I have.

7. What is the message I’d like to send out?

Use what God blessed you with to bless those less fortunate.

8. How can dance be a vehicle to catalyze social justice and social change?

A dance company can support/donate to organizations that bring awareness to the fact that society needs to change.

http://dancemagazine.com/issues/November-2012/Why-i-choreograph-cynthia-oliver

This article about why Cynthia Oliver choreographs is inspiring. I YouTubed her and found an old video of a class she taught.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/us/politics/obamas-quiet-return-to-the-white-house.html?hp&_r=0

This article is speaking of Obama’s quiet return to the White House after being re-elected. It seems peculiar to me, he must have been really exhausted. Here’s a foreshadowing for the 2016 election, enjoy.

http://www.theonion.com/video/after-obama-victory-shrieking-whitehot-sphere-of-p,30284/

http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/November-2012/Curtain-up

This article is all about women and our ability to do anything with will power. Strong women are so inspiring, and I was reminded of Melanie and Sasha’s dance from season 8 when Sonya choreographed a piece to show off their strength and power as women.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hurricane-sandy-update-20121101,0,7573411.story

Hurricane Sandy is so devastating. It is compared to Hurricane Katrina in the amount of damage it has done. When I think of hurricanes I think of spinning, and I think of people who can do a crazy amount of dance turns, like this girl. Granted she is in tap shoes, but still

http://www.dancing-times.co.uk/news/item/1039-dance_at_blue_elephant

This article about a dance tribute to Black History month in London reminded me of when I went to see the afternoon portion of Dance Africa here in Dallas. These African Americans were such a joy to watch, I couldn’t help but smile seeing them dance. It’s beautiful to see especially in the African culture how much they love who they are and what their history is.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/how-the-presidential-campaign-is-being-viewed-around-the-world/?ref=world

This article explores how different parts of the world view the Presidential Campaign this year. For some reason whenever I think of the Presidential Campaign, I think of SNL and all the skits they do making fun of Obama and Romney. I just wanted to share another view of the Presidential Campaign, from SNL.