"It's what I've always wanted to do, to show the laughter, the fun, the joy of dance." ~Martha Graham

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The 12 Days of Recital 2014- Day 1

Okay, so I haven't exactly posted in an entire year. But I really really really wanted to come back to do the 12 days of recital again. I know that almost nobody reads these posts. But I do. I love going back every year and reflecting on all that happened it the previous years.


So here we are, 2 weeks out from our production of "Curious and Curiouser" more commonly known as "Alice in Wonderland"! It has been a busy couple of months, and we are now closing in on the end of it. But first, we have the craziness of the last 12 days. Here are the parts that I am playing in the show.




My lead character is the Duchess. She's in every version of the story except for the Disney version, thus nobody knows who she is. Basically, Alice comes to the duchess' house while she is exploring Wonderland. The Duchess is a crazy old lady who has crazy cooks who have an addiction to pepper, and she also has a baby who turns into a pig. I know. It makes no sense. That's Alice in Wonderland for you.




For my ballet class, we are the courtiers in the Queen of Heart's castle.




For my pointe class, we are swans in wonderland, and we are doing the four little swans variation from Swan Lake.




For my modern class, we are the river of tears that Alice cries when she can't fit through the door.




For my jazz class, we are all Cheshire cats.




For my tap class, we are the chess match  (I am the white queen!)



So anyway, that's the basics of what I do in the show.








Yesterday was a very busy day. It started off with normal ballet class from 9:00-10:45 am. We don't have a recital dance for this class, which is nice, because we can continue to focus on technique. Then from 10:45-11:30, we had pointe class. We spent most of the time working on our variation for the show. The four swans variation is EXHAUSTING. It is extremely anaerobic so we are always really tired when we're done. Not to mention, it is "The Four LITTLE Swans" and I am 5'8". Not really a match made in heaven. I have gotten a lot better at it though, so hopefully, it will go well in the show.




After ballet class, we had a little break until 2:00. My friend and I went out for lunch together, and then kicked around a craft store for a while. We decided to find the coolest thing in the store for a dollar or less. She ended up with a 2 inch top hat, and I got a butterfly cookie cutter.




Once 2:00 hit, we were back in the studio preparing for performance company auditions. The audition isn't usually nerve racking, because everybody gets in, and I have been in the Senior company for three years now. This time was different though, because all of the girls who are older\better than me have chosen not to be in the company next year, so I felt a lot of pressure to prove that I can be the group leader. Also, all of the teachers are watching you, so you always want to be on your best game for that.




After auditions were over, it was time for the lead cast run through. That means, just the lead cast practices the whole show from start to finish with our costumes and props. It is important to do these, so that we are sure that the show is coherent. It was not the best run through we've ever had, but I thought it was at least decent.




One funny thing that happened, was during our Cheshire cat dance. I don't think I particularly good in this dance, just because it's not really my style, and then we have these reeeeally UGLY costumes that are purple and sparkly and we have black sparkly masks to go with. So anyways, we were doing the dance at the run through, and afterwards the director came up to me and told me that I should dance with a mask more often because I made the character come to life and she couldn't take her eyes off of me. I still don't know what she's talking about. I'm terrible at that dance! I don't care though, I'll take the compliment ;)




P.S. I can't get any images to work, but they should be up soon.