new class and more

Today was another super busy day.

I had rehearsal again this morning, and it was fine. Two of the dancers are going to be out next week, so I'm going to have to fill in for one or the other most days next week - so I had to really watch close today and try to learn everyone's choreography and traffic patterns. It's kind of hard with this piece becauase a lot of the phrases are similar with just minor changes in order and spacing for each person, so remembering who does what, when, and where is a challenge. Hopefully I'll get it all straight by next week, although all of them are still in the learning phase as well so I don't feel too bad.

After rehearsal I ran up to work with my high school kids. Since I was late from rehearsal their usual teacher gave them the warmup, so I just jumped into my choreography. We decided this week would be a review week, to go over everything we had done so far. They definitely needed it, and it seemed to be a productive rehearsal. I'm looking forward to moving on with the rest of the dance. The school is having trouble finding space for their performance in May, however, because they have basically no budget to rent anywhere (their usual place is being renovated). So if anyone knows of affordable performance space to rent for a night in May, let me know!

After that I came home to answer numerous emails and calls, etc. Sometimes I sit at the computer for hours and I have nothing to show for it really, but I am so busy as I sit there writing email after email about various projects. It doesn't help that my computer is super slow and keeps dying on me :( ugh.

Then later tonight I tried a new open class that I've never been to before. Since the usual teacher I take with (obsessively) is away this week, it was time for me to branch out. I am really glad I did tonight, because I found a great teacher! She is super Balanchine, which I haven't experienced in a few months now. It was SUCH a good class. Minus the fact that I'm still slightly out of shape, it went really well. I can already feel my inner thighs burning thanks to the strict Balanchine barre of a zillion tendus. As much as it is kind of a pain (literally and figuratively) I realized tonight that I kind of do miss that work. There aren't many other true Balanchine open classes in the city, and as much as I love my usual teacher (and the extensive benefits of her class) I feel like I need to have a little kick once and a while to push me in the way that tonight's class did. I'll definitely be going back later this week and whenever else I get a chance. Not only was the class good (and small...10 people or so! nice...with BIG studio) but she herself was nice and energetic. She asked me where I trained and told me to come back again. I'm glad I took a chance tonight, and I most definitely will be returning.

After my long day I came home to still more emails and calls. No complaining though :) Tomorrow is another crazy busy day, but luckily the weekend is pretty quiet.