Success! Finally! I felt that Black Butterfly really really came together tonight. We moved properly within the structure of the story and really connected with the characters. I'm so glad that this is ending on such a positive note. There was so much right with the performance. I felt it more tonight than I have in the past weeks of rehearsing and dancing.
I only missed one step, and that was a minor one. I felt it was better not to take the spin with Anna after removing Lindsay's wings, because if I did, I would have fallen over. I can't wait for the surgery to fix my knee. So I didn't spin and my knee didn't give out, so I think it was for the best.
Carine and I used our soft shoes for our piece so we added some extra pirouettes (piques for me) and a little extra flair. I think it went really well. We got to dance it. Really dance it. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do this little piece with Carine. I had to quit ballet so suddenly. There was no goodbye, I was just gone. I never got closure. I've always felt torn about it. I had to, but I also felt I turned my back on ballet, my teacher and my studio. Particularly quitting in the middle of the season. But now, even if I don't ever do it again, I finally have closure. I got to say goodbye. I may permanently come down off pointe now. I've made my peace with that. And that is a gift I couldn't have received without this class, without Carine and without Daystar. So even if nobody reads this, I have to say thank you. To everyone in the performance, to our audience. And in particular to Carine and to Rosalie. So thank you. From the very bottom of my heart.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Thursday Performance
I feel like it could have gone better. Just one more week to practice and it would have been better. We got great responses, but part of me feels that the responses are just super positive to keep our spirits up so that we will dance it well and hopefully better tomorrow. I know I could have done better.
Our audience was excellent. They had energy and really helped the show maintain momentum. The quilters had good response and I got to see the quilt (finally!). It is already beautiful, but the finished product will be stunning. I was quite impressed with the Unity Singers - what a great way to start the show!
I know I forgot a couple things in Black Butterfly. I won't forget those same things tomorrow, I know that for sure. I feel like the whole performance could have used tightening up. I am actually quite negative tonight and that is very unusual for me after a performance.
The reception after was lovely and I got the chance to speak with some people I hadn't seen and meet some of the family of the girls in the show. Mine is coming tomorrow. I'm glad they will, because hopefully my pieces will be up to snuff. I can't believe it's almost over.
Our audience was excellent. They had energy and really helped the show maintain momentum. The quilters had good response and I got to see the quilt (finally!). It is already beautiful, but the finished product will be stunning. I was quite impressed with the Unity Singers - what a great way to start the show!
I know I forgot a couple things in Black Butterfly. I won't forget those same things tomorrow, I know that for sure. I feel like the whole performance could have used tightening up. I am actually quite negative tonight and that is very unusual for me after a performance.
The reception after was lovely and I got the chance to speak with some people I hadn't seen and meet some of the family of the girls in the show. Mine is coming tomorrow. I'm glad they will, because hopefully my pieces will be up to snuff. I can't believe it's almost over.
Dress
Dress rehearsal was L-O-N-G. We had lots to talk over. I think it was....okay...ish, for a dress rehearsal. I've been at ones that went better, but I've also seen worse. I think everyone is just exhausted from the practice and balancing all the other schoolwork at the same time. I have about a billion essays I am working on while trying to remember every step in Black Butterfly. Yikes!
Rosalie handed out some well deserved criticism (constructive, but quite apt). We all need to tighten up. I think adrenaline and the mystery of performance will bring it all to life. I'm happy that Ned was able to give us an alternative perspective - he is quite good at picking out problems and addressing them. Poor Daystar has been seeing the same mistakes all term - that must be tiring. Carine and I received excellent advice for Black Butterfly and we will talk to the girls tomorrow. We will get together and meet about our story. We're dancing, but we need to connect with the story and tell it. Become our characters. We'll get it.
I need sleep, or I won't dance tomorrow, I'll be sleeping in the locker! Just as long as my knee holds on until the end of Friday night.
Rosalie handed out some well deserved criticism (constructive, but quite apt). We all need to tighten up. I think adrenaline and the mystery of performance will bring it all to life. I'm happy that Ned was able to give us an alternative perspective - he is quite good at picking out problems and addressing them. Poor Daystar has been seeing the same mistakes all term - that must be tiring. Carine and I received excellent advice for Black Butterfly and we will talk to the girls tomorrow. We will get together and meet about our story. We're dancing, but we need to connect with the story and tell it. Become our characters. We'll get it.
I need sleep, or I won't dance tomorrow, I'll be sleeping in the locker! Just as long as my knee holds on until the end of Friday night.
Week 9
I can't believe that the show is next week! OMG! It has come up so quickly, but I still feel like we need about 3 more weeks to bring it all together! Though there is something to say for it not being all dragged out and too long. Focus is key. I feel like we fell apart in the run through on Wednesday. Hmmm. It will come. We've scheduled an extra rehearsal. It will come.
Tech day was loads of fun. Got to see lots of the pieces. Almost everything actually. I'm worried about Carine's ankle though. Wish she'd be careful. I know how dancers are though. Dance on broken bones, most of them. It's just pain.
With Carine's ankle and my knee, we've taken it pretty easy when rehearsing our pointe piece. I love that bit. Probably because we choreographed it and it is the only "typical" ballet piece I've done in 10 years. It's a bit of my heart. I love it. It makes me so happy to be free and in my dance gear again. I know I'm not as good (re: discipline) as I once was, so I might not be as tight or as precise, but I'm happy and I'm dancing with my heart.
Tech rehearsal went well, overall. We worked hard and I think we've got it settled. I want to see the pieces I didn't get a look at - mainly Claire's monologue. I've seen I think everything else now:) Well, the show continues, but it somehow feels like a runaway train!
Tech day was loads of fun. Got to see lots of the pieces. Almost everything actually. I'm worried about Carine's ankle though. Wish she'd be careful. I know how dancers are though. Dance on broken bones, most of them. It's just pain.
With Carine's ankle and my knee, we've taken it pretty easy when rehearsing our pointe piece. I love that bit. Probably because we choreographed it and it is the only "typical" ballet piece I've done in 10 years. It's a bit of my heart. I love it. It makes me so happy to be free and in my dance gear again. I know I'm not as good (re: discipline) as I once was, so I might not be as tight or as precise, but I'm happy and I'm dancing with my heart.
Tech rehearsal went well, overall. We worked hard and I think we've got it settled. I want to see the pieces I didn't get a look at - mainly Claire's monologue. I've seen I think everything else now:) Well, the show continues, but it somehow feels like a runaway train!
Week 8
Well, it really is coming down to the wire. We still have patchy bits in Black Butterfly and difficulty with cohesion. We're dancing the choreography, but it has no life. I'm sure it will come, it always does. Performance is a powerful thing.
Carine and I have been working on our individual. We had one focus for choreography and some great ideas, but now we've trashed it all and reworked it. We have the basics written down and hopefully with practice it will come together. I want it to be a light piece. Airy. Fun. Ballet can be seen as super traditional, but we want to laugh and to dance as we live. Both of us had to quit, and it is so liberating to be back. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I always spent time in my house, alone but for the dogs and just going through some of it. But not with another dancer. Hardly ever with music. It was secondary but nothing I gave up.
I'm concerned about the Metis jig. It doesn't seem to have come together even still. It will be a fun dance, but I don't know if it will be ready for the show. I must have faith in Rosalie, even if I have little faith in myself and my fellow dancers.
Carine and I have been working on our individual. We had one focus for choreography and some great ideas, but now we've trashed it all and reworked it. We have the basics written down and hopefully with practice it will come together. I want it to be a light piece. Airy. Fun. Ballet can be seen as super traditional, but we want to laugh and to dance as we live. Both of us had to quit, and it is so liberating to be back. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I always spent time in my house, alone but for the dogs and just going through some of it. But not with another dancer. Hardly ever with music. It was secondary but nothing I gave up.
I'm concerned about the Metis jig. It doesn't seem to have come together even still. It will be a fun dance, but I don't know if it will be ready for the show. I must have faith in Rosalie, even if I have little faith in myself and my fellow dancers.
Week 7
Well, it's getting quite close. I feel like there isn't enough time to practice Black Butterfly. It is such a complex and interesting piece and I want to do it justice. Conflicting schedules really make it difficult to have more frequent practices. Not to mention the 5 other classes I am taking - I really don't have much time myself.
I am still enjoying the routine of having a regularly scheduled dance class again. Knowing that I have it and I must attend is wonderful. I get to move, to stretch and use parts of my body and mind that have been sitting unused since I had to quit dance many years ago. It feels good - this uniquely physical method of learning and knowing. I feel so much more at home communicating through dance than with words. Even though I can talk all day long about anything, there is something for me about dance. I think it is that with the concentration on the physical body, I finally feel centered. As opposed to thinking about theory and academia, where one thought spawns another until it is utter chaos in my head. But using body parts independently and together creates a focus and clarity that allows me to calm down and slow down so that my brain isn't whirling. I didn't realize how much I used that in my daily life until this semester. I have been dealing without dance for so long, that I didn't realize the loss of it had such a huge impact on me.
Breathe. Focus. Emote. Move. Hold. Pause. Breathe.
I am still enjoying the routine of having a regularly scheduled dance class again. Knowing that I have it and I must attend is wonderful. I get to move, to stretch and use parts of my body and mind that have been sitting unused since I had to quit dance many years ago. It feels good - this uniquely physical method of learning and knowing. I feel so much more at home communicating through dance than with words. Even though I can talk all day long about anything, there is something for me about dance. I think it is that with the concentration on the physical body, I finally feel centered. As opposed to thinking about theory and academia, where one thought spawns another until it is utter chaos in my head. But using body parts independently and together creates a focus and clarity that allows me to calm down and slow down so that my brain isn't whirling. I didn't realize how much I used that in my daily life until this semester. I have been dealing without dance for so long, that I didn't realize the loss of it had such a huge impact on me.
Breathe. Focus. Emote. Move. Hold. Pause. Breathe.
Week 6
Things are getting quite busy. It is crunch time for learning choreography, which makes me slightly nervous since we haven't finished black butterfly. What we have is pretty good - we pretty much know where we're supposed to be during the music, but we still haven't finished it.
I'm learning alot about choreography through this process. We're going through it bit by bit. Sometimes using what Rosalie has already done for it and sometimes adapting or creating new bits that suit us as dancers better. I'm happy there was at least a template for it, partly because the piece is so long and complicated and partly because we have no time to get this together and ready for showing.
I'm getting quite interested in the personal pieces. Not sure what there will be besides Carine's and my pointe piece, but I think besides Raya, there is Anna with her Latin dance, Lindsay with her hip-hop, some of the girls have Jingle Dress and Shawl experience (which I would love to see - especially the jingle dress) and there is also others I am forgetting. It should be interesting to see what we as a class can come up with, particularly since there are such diverse backgrounds.
The diversity in knowledge and training is difficult in that jargon is unfamiliar to some and basic steps need to be reviewed. On the other hand, having no experience allows the dancers to be free to be sculpted and molded through this process of choreography. It will be interesting to see which approach works better in the end.
I'm learning alot about choreography through this process. We're going through it bit by bit. Sometimes using what Rosalie has already done for it and sometimes adapting or creating new bits that suit us as dancers better. I'm happy there was at least a template for it, partly because the piece is so long and complicated and partly because we have no time to get this together and ready for showing.
I'm getting quite interested in the personal pieces. Not sure what there will be besides Carine's and my pointe piece, but I think besides Raya, there is Anna with her Latin dance, Lindsay with her hip-hop, some of the girls have Jingle Dress and Shawl experience (which I would love to see - especially the jingle dress) and there is also others I am forgetting. It should be interesting to see what we as a class can come up with, particularly since there are such diverse backgrounds.
The diversity in knowledge and training is difficult in that jargon is unfamiliar to some and basic steps need to be reviewed. On the other hand, having no experience allows the dancers to be free to be sculpted and molded through this process of choreography. It will be interesting to see which approach works better in the end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
