Cross company dancing, Part II

Here's a run-down of the last week of so:
Performances: I mentioned a while back that the company I danced with has been working alongside another Christian dance company. They loaned us a few of their dancers to perform with us in There is a Time; and last weekend our company performed as guests in their show. It was a really good, really happy experience. The beautiful thing about the Houston dance community is that we actually are a community-- everyone knows or knows of everyone else, and we're supportive of each other. One of the reasons it was such a nice run was because of all the good energy floating around.
Two of my students are attending that company's summer intensive, so I invited some of the studio folks to come check it out. My boss, another teacher, and three of my young students came. It was very sweet (those kids know to be good audience members, by the way, which is sort of becoming a dying art these days), and those kids got the privilege of seeing a Jose Limon masterwork/piece of modern dance history.

The neat thing is, two years ago some of the Spirit Moves dancers went to see Project Dance in New York City, and they mentioned seeing this dance company and how beautiful it was-- and oh, yeah, they're based in Houston, and hey, you should check them out when you move there! How wonderfully ironic that I two years later I get to work with their dancers/director and take part in a performance of theirs-- such a blessing.

Rehearsals with the company started at the end of April, and we are now eight days (yikes) from the big tenth-anniversary show. I am exhausted, I am bruised, I am having the time of my life. Let me tell you a bit about
The Ballets: I am truly lucky (and blessed, and honored) to dance these. One of the ballets my friend V and I have been excited about about since we were initially cast, five months ago. The music is Shostakovitch, each of the five dancers is a "character" with a different prop: I'm Umbrella Girl (cutesy but a little coy at the same time); then there's Stick Man (the Head Honcho with the 6-foot vaulting pole); Ball Boy (V--he and I fall in love in a very, very delightful pas), and the Hula Hoop Girls (part dynamic duo, part Greek Mini-Chorus and part Stick Man's Personal Vanna Whites). It ends with pandemonium-- everyone steals other character's props, swaps them around, partners together, and finally make a dramatic exit (after reuniting with our own props). It is so cute, so fun, so incredibly Not Easy. With so much prop work, pointe work, and pas work it's s earned the title of "Most Fun I've Ever Had Getting My Ass Kicked By Ballet."

And now, I must go forth and answer the call of Rehearsal.