Notes from the weekend's performances

Three down, nine to go, and we are rocking.

We did performances Friday and Saturday evening and a matinée this afternoon. Today's matinée was, overall, the best. We had a packed house, the energy was high, the dances fired off without a hitch, and we had the most amazing audience. The applause was loud, they laughed when appropriate, and when the lights came down at the end of There is a Time, they literally screamed for us. It was an exhilarating performance.

For me, I'm happy to report that my recent stress of worrying about the dances and how well I do them has dissipated, I'm finally able to just relax into the choreography and really dance it. The piece that I was worried about (with the African-influenced section) has been going well-- the first section is theatrical, and the choreography in the second section has grown into my body well enough that it's no longer a "panic point" for me (by the way, that ballet got wild applause today. Someone left a comment on the company's blog saying that it will "leave you wanting more." Yeah!!).

The vibe within the group is wonderful. We support and help each other when needed, we're relaxed backstage, nobody's snapping or snarling. When we get nervous, we loosen each other up. I have to take a second to commend everybody for their quick change help. It's like having a pit crew in NASCAR-- I run backstage for a fast change, and other dancers spring up "Do you need help? Which costume? What do you need?" I've never really asked for/been offered help in a change before-- I always figured it would be faster to fumble through it myself-- but these ladies were such an awesome help. Thanks!

I noticed that my overall stress level, now that we're in performance mode, has lessened significantly. Now that my brain is no longer screaming AHH WE OPEN IN X DAYS AND YOU AREN'T READY YOU NEED WORK ON THIS PIECE AND THAT PIECE AND ARRRGGH WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO YOU BETTER CONCENTRATE , I actually have enough brain capacity to think ahead two days (That hasn't been the case of late)! I started making some plans for my company's first rehearsals next week, and was able to start preparing for my crazy next two days.

Haha. Speaking of that, Monday and Tuesday are hilarious. Witness: 2 student matinees, followed by: teaching a baby class and rehearsing a brand- new section of Coppelia with my older students (tomorrow)/teaching/rehearsing the studio kids for three and a half hours (Tuesday). Basically, including traffic-fighting time in between, that's 8am-9pm both days. Whee. Bring on the coffee.

Now, I'm off to choreograph for Coppelia. Happy weekend to all, and much love to the company for a fabulous weekend of public performances.