Thank you Isaac Tualauleilei for having me in your Carnival piece this month.  Performing is my dream, and I’m grateful for the trust and support you’ve given me.

It’s definitely been a while since I’ve attened a dance show.  I’m reminded of how beautiful and talented our community is and that none of this experience as a dancer should be taken for granted because to be able to witness this almost every week in LA is an amazing thing.  I love the ups.. and I’m beginning to truly appreciate even the downs that come with it, because in the end, it’s all worth it to be able to live a big dream.

In the end I just have to say thank you Lord for love, light, and blessings.  The struggle is real, but the experiences of this life continue to feed my soul.

Over the weekend, I was given the greatest privilege to teach in Nuevo Leon, Mexico with these wonderful people!  

I would’ve said wonderful “choreographers,” but… to be very honest, Tony, Matt, and Erica are astonishing human beings who are filled with so much light to share with others.  They aren’t just teachers, they are beautiful souls who see dancers beyond their movement.  They know how to look at people and see them beneath the exterior, which is very valuable in this world saturated with “teachers.”  It’s impossible to express in just a few sentences how much I’m inspired by them to become a better me, but thank you Erica, Matt, and Tony for being great examples of what a leader and teacher should be.

Thank you Renee for fun times and the laughs.  You protected me in the car from shooting up through the roof!  GOT EMS!  I owe you my life ;)  I hope to see you in LA more!

Thank you to Jason, Emmanuel, Maite and the whole crew for this amazing opportunity. Round 2 of Monterrey was even better than the first, and I was thoroughly pleased with everything.  You all deserve a vacation for your hard work!  You really know how to take care of people and I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality.

To all of the dancers and beautiful people of Monterrey— I am very blessed to have shared this experience with you.  I’m thankful for the laughs, the music, the food, the friendship, and the Tequila!  Your hunger and passion has reignited my fire.  Thank you for pushing.  Thank you for learning with open minds and ears.  Thank you for your culture and your friendliness.  My heart melts for you all, and I hope to see you again soon.

God bless Mexico.  Muchas gracias and I love you.

On finding your way

Where does your heart tell you to go (your passions . interests)?

Where are you most effective?

Where do people listen to you?

Where are you purposeful?

wherever it is… get in there and make a difference… 
the RIGHT one.

5 ways to stay positive in the dance industry….

1.  Seek and create genuine friendships.  No, not for the sake of networking, but to build a network of support in a very unpredictable world.  

2.  Keep your negative voices quiet.  It’s easy to give in, but negativity will cripple you .  Welcome experiences with open arms and an open mind… as much as possible.

3.  Simplify.  Make a list of very short-term goals, and start completing them day by day, week by week.  The feeling of accomplishment will empower you to do more.

4.  Continuously ask for help.  Ask for opportunities to be critiqued, to perform, to record videos, and to learn choreography. By putting yourself out there, you’re inviting others to care about you.  You’ll set yourself up for opportunity, growth, and progress.

5.  Remember why you’re there… 
and stay true to it.


with love,
April Rodriguez 

Humility before the dream…

A respected leader once expressed,

I’m not above washing dishes.  I don’t believe that any job is too small because these things NEED to happen for the team.  I used to pick up phone lines… I held the title of administrative assistant once… I’m not above this, because these jobs are necessary for progress.  This is what I had to do to get here and I would never ask anyone to do anything I didn’t understand.

It’s so arrogant… how I used to think—that I would be SO QUICK to judge certain jobs such as working in fast food, discount stores, etc.  Raised from the shanty villages and farmlands of the Philippines, I have absolutely no reason to be arrogant.  But a lot of people think this way… honestly.  I’m sorry that I didn’t give people enough credit.

Growing up independently, trying to survive as a dancer, and fend for myself has really given me a slap in the face.  This “starving artist” life has shown me how ungiving the REAL world is and that before we have anything to be proud of, we need to humble ourselves first.

Ideally, we’d like to do only that which we dream, but we can’t just jump to our dream job without finding ourselves doing not-so-glamorous things first.  For anyone to think otherwise is to have really high expectations above what life is REALLY like.  Sometimes in order to pursue your dream, you’ll find yourself in very humbling positions, and this I believe is necessary to understand what it really takes to survive… to be accountable for your own life and face your real-life responsibilities while pursuing your fantasy.  I’ve seen that dreams are attainable, but “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”  There’s no skipping the length of hardship in between.

To learn humility is quite a difficult experience, but I’ve seen it to be the spine of many great and respectful leaders.  I’m constantly praying to trust this more and learn progress through the hard choices life calls me to make.

Lady Gaga Auditions

10:00am - Prep: hair, makeup, outfit
12:00pm - Call time
5:30pm - Done with 330 girls.  Finish first cut
9:00pm - back for callbacks only to be told to come back tomorrow @ 12:00pm

12 hour day for this audition -__-

Taking a risk and progressing further than you expected is a pretty great feeling.  All in all, through the downs of today—waiting, nervousness, practicing the routine over and over again for 5 hours, I’d say that today was pretty successful.  Making it through the first cut was surprising.  I haven’t been to an audition in a long while.  Due to several conditions, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle the stress today, so I wasn’t too excited to go…. or… could I be making excuses?! 

Usually, everytime I get a call about an audition, there’s a big battle going on inside of me—my insecurity versus my will to pursue this life long dream.  It seems like everytime an audition comes up, fear strikes me to figure out some rational excuse not to go… but my willpower always opposes telling me that if I don’t ever push myself to go for this, I’ll never, ever grow.  What did I come here to do again?!

In the midst of it all, thanks to the support I’ve been receiving.  It really does mean a lot, and regardless of what happens tomorrow, to get this far is success enough.  I can sleep happy :)

My 2012 Wake-Up Call

We hear this cliche normally enough… that LIFE IS SHORT… but to be so young, and have God make it clear to you by shaking your very existence, is extremely frightening and eye opening.  I’ve been there.  You hear about friends of friends who have close calls, but these things have never happened to you or anyone you personally know.  I’ve been there…

It really sucks that many of us have certain epiphanies about the shortness of life, then don’t proceed to do the things we know we were meant to do… or FIGHT the demons we need to fight for ourselves and our relationships.  We spend time as if we have ALL the time in the world, and we wait to be the better person we could be, when we should always be striving to move upwards everyday.  

We say that life is short, but we so easily take time for granted.  

Recently, God called out to me in the loudest possible way and reminded me of the work I’ve put off to strengthen my soul and discover His blessings for me.  Before the New Year, I thought hard about my resolutions and decided that I’d be ready for whatever 2012 would teach me even if I would be hurt by it—like a kid being disciplined painfully by her stern and loving parents.  I’m ready to bear the pain, because I know too well that the struggles of our lives can be our biggest teachers if we keep our hearts in the right place.  I didn’t realize God would slap me with a lesson like that, but He (my most stern and loving parent) did.  

“To whom much is GIVEN, much is EXPECTED.”

As a result, I truly believe that we’re born with gifts, for a reason bigger than ourselves.  To be where you are is NO COINCIDENCE.  To go through what you’ve gone through is FOR A PURPOSE.  We should have the courage to LEARN… then LOVE through our pain and experiences.  I’m thankful that God has once again saved my life and soul.  I only hope to pay it forward, backward, left, right, and everywhere I turn, but most importantly upward to the One who created me.  

Wake UP.  

All I want for Xmas is to get out of my bubble….

Thanks for the ReBlogs on my previous posts!  Spreading the word about this tragedy even a little bit helps, because so many people haven’t heard about this and you never know who may want to do their part to contribute or donate.

@Orangepoopz, I agree—it’s pretty sad that NOT many people have reblogged.  I expect that.  I think that most people won’t because, naturally, people are more concerned with things that concern them.  Personal blogs are all about me-me-me, and that’s.. what …they’re made for… right?!  

Since I AM Filipino, this tragedy speaks to me on a personal level.  Whatever I can do for my homeland while out here in the U.S., I would do because I’ve realized that whole families in the PI are forced to share a packet of Instant Noodles for a meal… while we in the U.S. delight in our buffets and huge portions of food that would feed multitudes in other places of the world.  The $5 we spend on a Big Mac Meal can feed a whole family for a couple of days?!  How freakin’ ridiculous!  Most of us are unaware and so detached being oceans away.  It’s SUPER NORMAL not to care.

I would hope that in the holiday season, people are doing their part to put others before them.  Happy Holidays, everyone.  Tis the season for giving!  Most of us will experience the joy of opening presents this year and some may greedily wish for more.  Sadly, many of our brothers and sisters will be far from that and experiencing the saddest grief of their lives.  

What can we do?

It was really crazy to go back and see where I grew up after 19 years… THE FARM vs. LOS ANGELES. I burst into tears when I finally got to visit my “home” and revalidate old memories of my childhood—my sisters and I running around in our stone house, boiling water on the stove for a warm bath, waking up to roosters crowing in our yard, climbing trees, playing with sticks and stones.. or insects…, wandering the dirt roads of our town, and playing with the other farm animals in our lot.  Recently, I cried to my parents and felt a completely transformed kind of love towards them—which I didn’t think could happen considering how much of a brat and a rebel I’ve been my whole life.  This trip brought me to a closer understanding with them, and even with myself.  I’ve realized the hardship of my parent’s youth, their lives, and what they’ve had to endure to bring my entire family from the Philippines to America.  My sisters and I were in the Philippines away from our parents for a year while they established their careers and tried to save money to finally bring us here.  Any parent would’ve wanted to slap me for showing ungratefulness and for the way I talked back to my parents everyday of my teenage years, but I’m happy to have grown out of that phase and that their love was revealed to me this way.  After being in the streets of Philippines, it’s like I finally knew after all the years what my parents were trying to teach me about appreciating my abundant life and opportunities in the U.S.—relatively abundant, even when I NEVER thought so.. and learning to appreciate what I have when I live in a society that always wants MORE and feel like it’s never enough. I’ve also realized why sometimes I think the way I do and see life in a certain way.  This is because I’ve finally realized how strong my Fiilipino roots are.  I’ve never felt more proud of my identity and who I am, after rediscovering the true place I came from.   Thankful for my parents.  Thankful for my family.  Thankful for my Filipinos.  Thankful for my country. That’s all :) click picture for more photos
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It was really crazy to go back and see where I grew up after 19 years… THE FARM vs. LOS ANGELES. I burst into tears when I finally got to visit my “home” and revalidate old memories of my childhood—my sisters and I running around in our stone house, boiling water on the stove for a warm bath, waking up to roosters crowing in our yard, climbing trees, playing with sticks and stones.. or insects…, wandering the dirt roads of our town, and playing with the other farm animals in our lot. 

Recently, I cried to my parents and felt a completely transformed kind of love towards them—which I didn’t think could happen considering how much of a brat and a rebel I’ve been my whole life.  This trip brought me to a closer understanding with them, and even with myself.  I’ve realized the hardship of my parent’s youth, their lives, and what they’ve had to endure to bring my entire family from the Philippines to America.  My sisters and I were in the Philippines away from our parents for a year while they established their careers and tried to save money to finally bring us here.  Any parent would’ve wanted to slap me for showing ungratefulness and for the way I talked back to my parents everyday of my teenage years, but I’m happy to have grown out of that phase and that their love was revealed to me this way. 

After being in the streets of Philippines, it’s like I finally knew after all the years what my parents were trying to teach me about appreciating my abundant life and opportunities in the U.S.—relatively abundant, even when I NEVER thought so.. and learning to appreciate what I have when I live in a society that always wants MORE and feel like it’s never enough.

I’ve also realized why sometimes I think the way I do and see life in a certain way.  This is because I’ve finally realized how strong my Fiilipino roots are.  I’ve never felt more proud of my identity and who I am, after rediscovering the true place I came from.  

Thankful for my parents.  Thankful for my family.  Thankful for my Filipinos.  Thankful for my country.

That’s all :)

click picture for more photos