Preview: Indelible Dance

This looks cool - and the company is run by Robin Cantrell, a dancer I worked with at Rebecca Kelly Ballet. They have shows this weekend, September 24th and 25th at Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn.

And look how cool the costumes are! There's an interview with more info on them here.

Tickets are only $10, but they're trying to raise money through Kickstarter. So if you pledge the $10 there you get a free ticket (ie. normal $10 price) PLUS a digital copy of the music score. So...I'd say that's the way to go.

curtain rises on rkb

Tonight was one of three performances of the work I've been understudying the past few months. What magic to see it finally danced on a stage!

I'm tired and will try to post over the weekend about it, even though there's a ton more I need to blog about after tomorrow (TAKE dance company blogger preview, seeing Cedar Lake's installation, and more...).

But the theme of the night:
I wish I had been onstage.

RKB Dress Rehearsal

While all the other bloggers were at the fabulous preview of Cedar Lake's Glassy Essence installation (wish I could have made it to catch up with everyone...I'm going on Saturday though...) I was at the dress rehearsal for RKB's performances this weekend.

It was so great to finally see the piece we had been rehearsing all this time go onstage with costumes and lighting and everything. I admit I was a tad jealous I wasn't up there dancing :( haha it's okay though. I'm in the program at least :) that was a nice surprise. The company looks great and it's going to be a good show for everyone, I'm sure. Some of the tech stuff was still shaky but it was still just the process. I'm looking forward to seeing the real deal with the audience on Friday night.

I should take this moment to say how glad I am that I got to be a part of these rehearsals and everything the past few months. What a good experience.


--
Lots of reviews and excitement in the next few days...RKB, Cedar Lake, Yasuko @ the Kitchen, Take Dance Co. blogger rehearsal preview, and more...

The Art of the Apprentice

Just sent out my teacher's monthly e-newsletter and here is my "Taylor's Tales" column of the month...
FYI- I'm a huge dork. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Taylor's Tales April 2008
The Art of the Apprentice: Rebecca Kelly Ballet

Rebecca Kelly Ballet, a small 20+ year-old company based in SoHo, will present its New York Season at the end of this month (see performance corner this issue) just blocks away from our classes at Ailey, at the Gerald Lynch Theater on 58th & 10th avenue. A choreographer with strong themes and a troupe of diverse, exceptional dancers, Rebecca has a remarkable program planned – one that I have had the honor of understudying for the past month or so.

From the day I auditioned I knew that working with this company would be different from my past experiences. Rather than focusing on the nitty-gritty technical details of dancing, her work is more concerned with expressing emotion and ideas through movement. Since January I've had the opportunity to get a taste of several of her ballets, with themes reflecting everything from environmental issues to the Iraq War. But the work I'm most involved with now is a world premiere titled, "Writing in Water."

A metaphor for the ephemeral nature of dance, the piece features 5 dancers intertwining in various combinations and phrases to music from Beethoven's "Grosse Fugue." The concept motivating the ballet is that a performance is a moment in time you can never get back. Like trying to write in water, it is fleeting, transient, and gone almost quicker than it came.
That feeling when you surface into the spotlight, out of the shadows of the darkness drowning you and into a state where no thought occurs but being alive – it can never be felt the same again. And if someone missed seeing you dance, that moment can never be returned. You are back in the endless stream of dancers in New York City wading desperately through to reach your dreams, resisting the tide of failure and rarely coming up for air.

Such a theme makes me appreciate the chances I have (had) to do what I love. Ironically, I was called in to be an understudy after one of the original cast members discovered a stress fracture in her foot. Sometimes I think we take for granted what a gift dancing is – to be free with movement, to express unconditionally, to challenge and improve daily, to possess the physical ability to embody passion.

I stand at the back of these rehearsals as the mere apprentice marveling at the beauty behind the steps. Every movement has a reason, and every reason goes back to the one theme that gets me out of bed every morning: the love of dance.

I hope you will make time to see their performances April 24-26 and consider your own appreciation for movement and for life.
The Gerald Lynch Theater of John Jay College is located at 899 10th Avenue at 58th St, NYC. April 24-26 Thursday at 7:30pm, & Friday and Saturday, at 8pm. For tickets call Ticket Central: 212-279-4200. (416 W 42nd St., 12-8pm) or click here. Student & Senior discounts are available.

a moment to breathe...

Instead of running off to morning class today I decided to take a moment to breathe after not stopping for the past 48 hours or so, haha. In efforts to organize my thoughts and start fresh today with mooorrre work, I figured I'd take the time now to blog about the past two days.

WEDNESDAY

-In the morning, the company had a master class with Karin Averty, a former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. What a great opportunity! It was nice to be in a small class for once, and she was such a good teacher...it was a super fast class, not just the combinations themselves but the way she taught them. For instance, petite allegro is usually my favorite because it's complicated and quick and something I can do, but even I couldn't get her combination! It was all tricky because it's a different style...not different in the same ways that Balanchine or Russian or Ceccetti styles have distinct differences in porte de bras or timing etc, but different in terms of transitions and in between steps. I really enjoyed the class, and hopefully she'll teach again before she goes back to Paris.

Right after that we had rehearsal as usual, and I had to fill in for a different dancer than I did on Tuesday. Luckily I took a copy of the rehearsal dvd home Tuesday to go over the different part...the way this piece works is complicated because everyone does similar phrases but in different timing and spacing and with different people, and it's a lot of patterns and crossing with people and such, so I really didn't want to mess up and be crashing into people, haha. It went well, though. It's kind of fun to be different people every day.

-That rehearsal ran late, so I barely made it uptown in time to teach as I usually do on Wednesdays. I gave the kids a really quick warm up because I wanted to push through the rest of the choreorgaphy to get this piece done, since it needs A LOT of cleaning. We didn't finish it as I had hoped, but we did get another minute or so done in only an hour, so that was good. They work well with me, which apparently is surprising to their normal teacher who doesn't get much respect from them. Interesting...I think it's good for people to branch out from their regular teachers once in a while despite leaving their comfort zone (myself included...).

-Took my usual night classes that night and broke in new pointe shoes...ouch. The only good thing about new shoes is that you can balance forever, so that was fun, haha.

-Also between Wednesday and today, the company (RKB) has asked me and been on me about helping them with publicity stuff. I'm honored that my opinions are valued, but it's so hard to help with such limited time. They're working on marketing plans for the season in April and want me to write some things, etc. More on this to come...I'm meeting with their development people next week to try to help out. As the director mentioned once before, "there's no problem that couldn't be solved with a lot more money." That's too bad...

Moving on.

THURSDAY

As I mentioned, my boss went out of town for the holiday weekend, so I basically had to take over for him, doing things way beyond my normal intern duties. He had shown me some of the things I'd need to do over the past few weeks, and he left my a details packet of directions (with added humor...hey, it's the cartoon department) so that I would be prepared for anything that came up.

So I thought! In the morning, the editors have their meeting to decide which cartoons to purchase from the artists, but those don't usually run in the issue right away. Well yesterday they decided to get one to go in THAT DAY's issue (the one that will come out this Monday, but it closed yesterday). So that put everyone into a frenzy and added a whole hurried process that I had to be a part of that I was unaware of. It was like treading through the dark, hands outstretched feeling my way around the unknown. I was pretty much clueless, and the editor people were like talking fast and assuming that I knew the process. I must have looked at them like they had 5 heads, because eventually they got the idea that I was lost, hah. Wasn't my fauly though, and they knew that and were super helpful with showing me what to do. We got it done and taken care of, but since it was a timely issue and everything it definitely added some stress! It was exciting though...I like the publishing world, haha.

Speaking of that, a few times recently people, both in and out of this industry, have mentioned to me that publishing is a "cut throat" industry. I would say no more so than dance! And in my experiences thus far, everyone has proven to be helpful in aiding a newcomer like me :)

Anyways. After the exciting morning things calmed down a bit. I followed all my directions and got everything done, but it was a long day. I stayed til 7pm to get some of today's work done since I knew I couldn't go in as long today. It felt good at the end of the day to have accomplished a full day of almost being a real contributor to The New Yorker (okay, I'm sure my little exciting escapade wasn't THAT essential to the magazine, but I felt like it was pretty darn important at the time, haha). I was so tired by the end of the day though!

Somewhere in all that work I found time to keep up with my own email and got another few writing assignments for the next week or two. Lots coming up...and lots of people asking for my help/advice with things, which I find amusing. I don't know that I have that much to offer these people in terms of advice, haha, but it's nice to be asked.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some details of the past few days, but that's enough for now. I'm running to pointe class now, before more New Yorker excitement. Later today I'm doing one of my interviews for movmnt...details on that to come...I may get to go backstage at a Broadway show ;) not positive yet, but that seems to be the convenient meeting place for the moment. Then taking class all night as usual. What a life I live, haha.

whirlwind two days

The past two days have been absolutely INSANE! Yesterday was the heaviest ballet day I've had this semester, and today was the heaviest work day! Two totally different aspects of my life, but equally exciting...

I'm still having computer issues, on top of not having a moment to sit down and blog without being interupted by a thousand emails, so this has to be brief. BUT I promise on my bus ride home to Boston for Easter weekend (Saturday morning) I will write details about it all...the bus I take has wonderful WiFi so thank goodness for that.

Yesterday, the company had a master class with a teacher from Paris Opera Ballet, followed by a good rehearsal where I actually got to dance!

Then I went to teach as I usually do on Wednesdays. We got another minute done of choreography, so we're finally making progress.

There's a lot more to write about yesterday but just can't right now...

Today I was filling in for my boss all day at The New Yorker. I felt confident that I knew what I was doing, and he left me an extensive (humorous) list of directions for everything I needed to do, but the morning brought some surprises. Such is life in the publishing industry...luckily there were people around to help (patiently) and everything was good, but it added a bit of stress, haha. I spent the ENTIRE day there, staying way late because I can't be in as much tomorrow. I enjoyed it though, and having the extra responsibility was exciting.

More details on everything to come...also got a few more writing assignments for some different things and more...I've been getting e-mails from blog readers lately, too, which I love!!! So please keep those coming...despite my insane schedule I find these emails refreshing and fun to answer :)

on being valued, etc

Today in rehearsal I actually got to dance instead of learning the back trying to stay out of the way in my little corner of the studio. It was fun!

Luckily I remembered all of the girl's part I was filling in for, and there was another girl brand new to the choreography, so we didn't run through it full force straight away. And another good thing was that we didn't go it on pointe, haha. It was more for musicality and details today rather than the pointe technique stuff, so I was happy about that. I think it went well, and the director laughed and said it was good to see my finally dancing out of my corner, haha. Good.

Tomorrow I get to fill in for someone else, although I don't know her part nearly as well. I got a DVD of a rehearsal they filmed last week, though, so tonight my job is to re-teach myself. I'm happy to spend the time doing it though...I love the choreography and even just getting to work it out during rehearsal without performing it is an experience.

There are very few places, to my knowledge and experience, in the dance world where a dancer, particularly an apprentice or low person in terms of importance, is made to feel valued. I am happy to say that THIS experience very much goes against the norm and is quite fulfilling despite what you may think. Not only does it feel good to know that I can step in at any time during rehearsal (even if others don't find it being "important," I see it as such) but since this is a relatively small company and the director very clearly knows everyone and personalities mesh, I feel like the dancers are valued as people as well. It's very collaborative and everything...

Also after rehearsal, she introduced me to their intern-type girl and their development person because they're looking to get publicity for the season in April. She knows I'm a writer and apparently the development lady visited my website and stuff and they'd like me to write about it somehow. We had a nice conversation about dance criticism and writing and how a lot of times things get so technical, and really the choreographers (like her) are much more concerned with the ideas behind things, and how a lot of criticism tears apart the art form rather than pushing it forward. So she asks me to brainstorm and write...

I am MORE than happy to do this and think the program has so much to offer and write about - but sometimes I feel like people think way higher of me than I do of myself, haha. I'd love to WRITE about it, but I don't know where it would be PRINTED. She just finished saying she enjoyed my recent (online) article about the lack of dance writing in print...there are very few opportunities to have dance writing PRINTED besides in the few magazines out there (all of which need more lead time than we have here). So we'll see what I can do about this...I know I can post on the winger and reach lots of people for them, but I need to brainstorm what else I can do. The company is worth it!

Anyways, that's my rambling for the day. After my good rehearsal I went up to my old studio to meet about finishing up the PRINT newsletter (hah) I've been working on for them. It's being proofed tonight and then it should be complete! Finally. They usually put it up as a PDF on their website, so I'll link to it when it's officially up and done. That was a long project...another issue to be done in June.

Oh also, yesterday a girl from class asked me about a potential performing opportunity...she has a play in some Amazing Plays of New York something or other festival in May and is looking for dancers. Just confirming details, but if all goes well that will be another thing on the to-do list...and I'll get to perform :)

Anyways...the rest of my day is for sewing pointe shoes and catching up on work...tomorrow before rehearsal we have a master class with a teacher from Paris Opera Ballet who watched rehearsal last week. That should be interesting. Then rehearsal, and then running uptown to teach and rehearse my piece for the high school kids. Busy busy! New Yorker all day Thursday and Friday...and Friday I have the first of a few interviews to do for my next movmnt articles...should be fun. Then going home for the weekend for Easter. So much going on...love it!

back to the movmnt

Tonight I went to a meeting at movmnt magazine to prepare for the next issue. I'm super excited to say I have 3 article assignments this time! Should be fun even though it's lots of work with a pretty quick deadline (few weeks anyway). If you haven't already purchased your copy of the most recent issue (see cover above) YOU SHOULD GO GET IT. Haha.

That was just one highlight of my busy day...I literally was nonstop going all around the city today and finally got home at 10pm - my first breather all day. Rehearsal this morning went well. There was a guest watching from Paris Opera Ballet, who might teach a master class before rehearsal someday next week. That should be interesting.

Right from there I went to the New Yorker again. Pretty much a typical afternoon there...

Then had to stop by school to take care of some little errands (applying for 2 senior awards I was nominated for...hah) before heading downtown to movmnt.

After the meeting I met a friend nearby...the one who shot video footage of me in class last week so that I can put together an audition video. He helped me download all of the video to my ipod so I can look it over and see what else I need (and if I like it or not...). Thankfully, after a week off to free my mind from seeing it, it looked better than I was expecting. I absolutely despise watching myself dance, haha. Or do anything on film, for that matter. But it wasn't QUITE as bad as I had pictured in my mind. We watched a bit of it together, but I have to sit down and go through the whole hour long clip and see. Ugh. I'm glad I'm finally getting this done though.

Anyway, I'm exhausted from a nonstop day. Even though it's only been a 4 day week for me thanks to my travel back from Salt Lake City, I feel like this week was busier than all of last month combined. Crazy. But good!

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.

back to busy-ness

Upon my return from my weekend away in Salt Lake City (see details in post below), I had a VERY busy day today. The kind of busy I've been missing, ironically haha.

I had my first day of rehearsals with Rebeca Kelly Balle.t today after a few months away from working with her. I'm officially an apprentice/understudy this time around, so basically today I had to start learning everyone's parts in case someone (as one already did) gets injured or anything. Though it can appear as a blase position since I don't actually dance full out the whole time like those in the pieces, it is really a daunting yet exciting task to be the low man on the totem pole because I DO get the opportunity to learn everyone's part and be prepared on a moment's notice.

You know, I may not have the best feet or the best ballet body, BUT I can learn choreography and learn quick.

I think that's why they called me in, and even though I'm just in the back I'm really glad that I'm there. The whole process of creating the work that she's doing is soooo intriguing and I love the choreography itself. She speaks of how the ideas behind the movement should trump the technique no matter what, and how often times we get caught up the smallest, unimportant details and ignore the motivation behind movement. I couldn't agree more.

We have rehearsal all this week and most of next to prepare for a guest performance coming up, and then all through April we rehearse for her season at the end of the month. I'm excited to be involved.

More of my busy day...right from rehearsal I had to head up to the New Yorker to work. It's getting interesting there because next week my boss is away, so I'm kind of filling in for him. The past few weeks I've been learning the ropes more than I may have as an intern otherwise, since I have to take all of his responsibilities for a few days. Good opportunity.

They let me go a bit early, so I went to take class with a teacher I've never taken from before (since my teacher is away all this week, sadly). I hadn't taken class since last Wednesday (in a brief attempt to rest my burisitis-plagued foot, which at the moment isn't doing too bad) so I was a bit out of shape, but it could have been worse. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow though, as I always do when I take time off. Class itself wasn't my favorite either...I guess I'm just used to working differently...

After all that I went to the library at school to do some work. On top of everything, this week I have midterms for grad school, which equals lots of essays and papers.

As much as I needed to get away, I am glad I'm back to my busy schedule. Things were kind of blah in February, but thankfully they're picking up back to my tiring pace that I thrive off of. It's good to get away to get a fresh perspective...

irony of life

So very last minute a few days ago, I made plans to go visit two of my best friends whom I haven't seen in months, in Salt Lake City. Next weekend happens to be completely free of plans, which is rare, so I decided to take the opportunity while it's here and book my flight. It also happens to be one of said friend's birthday on Monday, so I thought it would be perfect.

Then today I get an email from the director of the contemporary company I was working with a bit back in January, saying that she needs an understudy immediately because a dancer got a stress fracture in her foot and needs to be replaced. She asked if I would come, and rehearsals start next Monday.

I am THRILLED - but of course it comes during my first "vacation" in like 8 years, haha. Luckily she said I can come starting Tuesday, so it all works out. I just find the irony of life amusing sometimes.

I'm excited to cover the part though...it's for a performance in April, and she may have one of the company members available to actually do it, but I'm glad at least I can go learn and everything.

Anyway, that's today's news. I'm looking forward to my little getaway...I leave Friday, so there may be a lack of posts over the weekend. But forgive me, I REALLY need a break, haha. And it's only a short time.

Choreographing tomorrow for those high school kids...better get prepared...

lecture demo

This morning with Rebecca Kelly ballet we did a little class/rehearsal thing for a group of middle school students...kind of a lecture demonstration type thing. It was fun...

The first hour one of the other dancers taught a basic jazz/modern class for the kids, which we all took to warm up. I was impressed that the teacher from the visiting school even took class! They were into it :)

Then we went through all the choreography we learned in the workshop last week while the kids watched to see the process of creating a dance. The rehearsal itself was quite good now that all the choreography is in my body and I can play with it more rather than being focused on remembering what comes next, like when we learned it all at super speed last week.

It was a nice morning, and being with young people not familiar with dance always makes me appreciate it more...it's like fresh eyes, fresh take on art.

Anyways...so much writing to get done today...I'm behind and on major deadline for 2 articles (NYCB review from the other day and one for Dancer Magazine) so I better get cracking...

workshop's done

Today was the last day of the workshop I was doing with that contemporary company. We put together a whole 8-minute dance we learned bits and pieces of over the last week and ran it in groups...3 times in a row, back to back! Talk about stamina. It felt oddly wonderful after the last run, like I had pushed so hard and almost "felt something" as was encouraged a few days ago. Quite tiring though, needless to say.

This was such a great opportunity and I'll try to post more about it when I get the energy. I don't know if/when I'll get to work with them again, but I'm so grateful to have been able to do so the past few weeks. I need to start doing more of that kind of work...

Anyways...tonight I'm planning on taking open class at my old studio, which I have been....dreading doing for unexplainable reasons. But I think I need to suck it up and go, so I'm on my way.

Countdown: 48 hours til I finish college.

is age only a state of mind?

Warning: this post kind of goes on and on about nothing really, but it's just me thinking out loud...you can ignore me :)

For the past 2 days I've been doing a workshop with the company I was understudying with last week, and instead of standing in the back trying to learn choreography by staying out of the way, this week I actually get to dance. A LOT.

We've had a short contemporary barre/center before learning repertoire, and I really like the alternative way of taking class. It's very different from a traditional ballet barre (specifically in the music, which is WAY more fun than the overly-familiar melodies of the classics). She has a lot of emphasis on moving really big and feeling the movement through your body.

Class itself is defintely a challenege because after years of doing tendus, your brain goes a bit on auto pilot...even though I constantly feel a struggle in turning out and pointing my feet in an easy tendu combination, there's still a level of monotony. With this kind of class the combinations of familiar exercises are different, and different parts of the body are used (the head, deep in the lower back).

Moving on to the rehearsal aspect of the workshop, we've learned a long exercept from a piece her company has done and it's all taught really really fast. Then we put it all together and do it in different small groups a few times before learning more. Again since some of the movement and style is foreign to my ballet brainwashed body it's tough to pick up all the nuances of the choreography. It's great though! And since there's only 9 of us in the workshop (3 are in the company, the rest are other dances from various places in the city...all of whom are at least 4 or 5 years older than me...) the teacher can really see us...

After we put together 3 or 4 sections of the long work, the teacher (who is wonderful, by the way) stopped after me and another girl did it as a group and said she wanted us to go deeper inside to feel it. She proceeded to give me an excellent, lengthy "lecture" (it wasn't really a lecture but...) on how it's important to FEEL the movement and show it, especially through your face. She complimented me a bit but said that I AM young, and I haven't really 'suffered' (which got a laugh from the others) but that that comes with age.

It was a very inspiring speech because to this point being drilled into ballet land nobody has asked me to actually FEEL anything while dancing. Besides 1 teacher in particular, they demand turnout, feet, etc etc, but not that you really reach inside and express it through your face. Isn't expressing emotion through movement was dance is really all about? I was really thankful she took the time to say this all during the middle of rehearsal because it made me think.

Isn't it ironic that one of the major values of ballet, youth, is the same thing that causes a disadvantage in modern/contemporary dance?

In recent years I have been reminded time and time again that "a ballet career is short" and if "you're not in a company by the time you're 18 then it's not worth it" and, particularly in my last year of real pre-pro training, being made to feel as if I'm too old for a career since my body won't allow for the level of technique necessary or whatever. And now, not just in this one instance, but a few times recently, my 'young' age has cropped up as a (minor) issue.

Is age really a state of mind or a number or a level of experience or what?

All of this comes just a week before I graduate from college at age 19. I'm starting to think that I've overcompensated in my real-world life for not being a ballet prodigy child, and now it's coming back to bite me. Or confuse me.

Anyway, all in good spirits. I'm exhausted from rehearsal, but I'm off to class tonight as always, followed by our Friday night rehearsal thing. Hopefully tonight we're going to start the Rose Adagio for the student showcase thing. If I can muster the energy ;)

Parsons & rehearsals

Today was another looong day, as always.

I had another set of rehearsals with Rebecca Kelly, this time with the whole company. The piece we did yesterday that I had learned from the video I know pretty well, but today they went through 3 or 4 other dances that I'm clueless about! It's great choreography and all her older dancers know it all, so it was basically just for them to go over it and get it back in their bodies for Monday's APAP showcase...so me and the other 2 new dancers hung in the back mostly. I felt bad that they had to stop and teach us some of the combinations and such, but it's definitely a challenge trying to follow along! Let's put it this way - I'm glad I'm just understudying for now and I don't have the pressure of performing after just these rehearsals.

After 3 hours of that my brain was quite fried, but I still took class all afternoon. It was decent.

Then tonight I went to see Parsons Dance to review for Explore Dance. Some of it was really really good, and some of it was really really not. Real review to come on Explore Dance soon.

I'm super tired tonight...I'm going through one of those phases where I dance more hours than I sleep. And last time I did that I pretty much got burnt out. Luckily it's only for a few more days...though I'm so grateful for the opportunity to understudy!

PS- Welcome new readers from The Winger! Feel free to go through the blog archives to catch up...a ton of stuff is going on...

2 days of firsts

The past two days have been insane!

Okay, first things first: official Cedar Lake review here on Explore Dance
And most recent post about the event on The Winger

Moving on...

Yesterday was my first day at The New Yorker, and today was my first with Rebecca Kelly Ballet. How exciting...

The New Yorker was good from the start. The people are nice, and they put me to work right away. I guess their other intern can't start for another few weeks, so they really need all the help they can get right now. I had to go in again this morning when I wasn't planning to in order to get more work done. It's nice to know that you're needed, even if it's just for doing intern-type work. More details on all that to come. I go back next week.

Today after working there for a bit I had my first day of rehearsals as an understudy/apprentice with Rebecca Kelly Ballet. It went really well! The first rehearsal was a piece I learned a bit of during the audition back in November, and she had asked me to look at it on youtube. . I've been trying to learn it from the computer screen all week, and it definitely helped...we only had an hour, and they two who are actually performing it (at APAP at City Center on Monday) have done it before, so me and the other new person were kind of struggling in the back. I think I got it though, by the end of the rehearsal. I went back a little later to learn a pas de deux. No partner to work with, but still started to get it in my body. It's such great choreography. More rehearsals over the weekend...will update soon.

After ALL that I headed back to class as I usually do on Friday nights. It was exceptionally good tonight. For those who don't know, I usually take two classes back to back and am usually totally dead by the end but go on to have either partnering class or rehearsal afterwards (yes, until 11pm...long story, but it works for us). Tonight was really good though, and rehearsal was super fun! We're working on a group part from Swan Lake for a mini-showcase in February. So fun.

Anyways, that was today. Crazy busy as always, but I love it that way. Busy weekend ahead, too, including rehearsals and a review of Parsons Dance...

holiday update - finally

Okay, sorry again for not posting for a few days. Even though things weren't too busy I tried to take some time away from the computer instead of my obsessive excessive attatched-at-the-fingertip hours on end online. Haha.

So here's what's been going on and what's coming up, bullet style:

*went home for Christmas and it was a nice, relatively quiet holiday



*since coming back to the city I've gotten to catch up with some old friends spending some time here and it has reminded me how small and tight-knit the dance world is, and how close everyone really is. Even though I go months at a time without seeing some of my closest friends, we get together and it's like we haven't missed a beat. I love that.


*I got an email from the director of my old studio asking if she could hire me to take over the studio newsletter, writing and designing the whole thing. I'm meeting with her next week to discuss details, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it, which will get me back involved over there after a 6 month absence (well, maybe not quite that long)

*remember how my foot has been bothering me? Well, my left Achilles tendon has been hurting on and off since about April, and it was only on Christmas Eve morning that I finally had a chance to get it checked out (mostly because insurance doesn't cover out of state, and I'm hardly ever home long enough to make it to a doctor there). So I have Achilles bursitis. It's basically inflammation of the bursa, a sack of fluid between the tendon and the skin, and there's not much to be done besides rest, ice, and anti-inflammatories. My main concern was that I wasn't making it worse by dancing on it, and the doctor said I'm not, so that's good. I should be starting PT soon so I should be just fine.

Coming Up...

*understudy/apprentice with Rebecca Kelly Ballet. I forget if I mentioned it on here, but I auditioned for her a while back and had some vague dialogue later, but she emailed recently asking if I'd understudy a little showcase they have in January and also come to her choreographic workshop as a guest the following weekend to learn some rep. So I'm looking forward to that.

*Dance Research Forum Ireland. Again, forget if I mentioned it but I submitted my senior thesis dance journalism proposal to this big dance scholarship/research thing and they accepted it and want me to present it via poster at their conference in Ireland in June. Yay! Work paid off. It's expensive though, so I'm not positive I'll be attending yet...

*starting to rehearse for a little student showcase with the people I take class with all the time, to be on February 24. Fun. I love them.

*internship at The New Yorker starts pretty soon after the new year. I'm sooo ready for that, but I'll miss my current internship.

Ah. Well, I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but there's an update for now. I'm back in the city and sore from class (since I took almost 2 weeks off besides a single class here and there). It's nice to have a few days of "vacation" to enjoy the city before getting back to school and work and such the day after new years.

And I officially graduate in 4 weeks.