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| This is the theater! Not the best picture, but the only one I could find. You can see the balcony floor at the top right, and the little private balconies as well. There aren't stairs leading up to the stage, or that row of lights across the stage shining on the curtains when we dance. |
Hey guys! Tonight is opening night for Nutcracker! I'm super excited! On Wednesday we did a complete run-through the whole ballet in the studio, and yesterday we did a Tech/Dress Rehearsal in the theater. I got to the theater at 3:45, and we had a dance class from 4-5:30. It was pretty strange, because we didn't have a studio with barres, we went upstairs and used the railings for the balconies as barres! It really looked awesome. Then we went down to the stage for center. I totally messed up center, with the lights, size, and different floor, I was completely disorientated and couldn't get much right! Ah well. Then, we had an hour to hang around for dress rehearsal to start. We planned on beginning earlier, but our Clara had an interview. I waited until about 6:15 to get changed, and hung out with two other girls in the Jr. Corps who weren't in the first scene, the Party Scene. Then we went backstage in a little room connecting to the wings and helped the girls getting off stage do a quick change out of their big party dresses into their soldier dresses. I'm unofficially in charge of helping with two of the girls, one is a party boy so she doesn't need too much help, and the other is a party girl, and their dresses have 10 little clasps to undo and a big bow, so I need to work quick. Then I run behind the stage to get to the other side to make our entrance. After soldiers, I don't really have anything to do, so maybe I'll stand in the back and watch the performance for a little while, or help the girls in the dressing room.
Tonight I'm reporting at 6:45, the show starts at 7:30. The other girls in the company reported at 11, (yes, they missed school!) to take a class, do a run through of snow and flowers, and then practice with the orchestra. I'm a little nervous I couldn't practice with the orchestra, because they don't always play the same tempo as the CD, so we may have to go faster or slower than we're used to. Tonight, my boyfriend is coming to see me, even though I told him not too. Our costumes aren't exactly cute, and I don't dance much, but he insisted.
Well, I'm going to go get ready! To those new to ballet, in the ballet world instead of saying "Good luck!" or "Break a leg!", we say "Merde!, which is a french word for a four letter word beginning with s.
Well...learned something new today! (see last paragraph) Merde, then! I have tech/dress tomorrow, and I'm beginning to get nervous! :D
ReplyDeleteAwesome, merde to you too! I'm sure everything will be great! Tonight was a lot of fun, I'll make a longer post about it when it's not 12:02 am, haha.
DeleteOhh that sounds so awesome. Well, merde! I hope it went well :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, it did!
DeleteYour theater looks amazing and I hope your show went well!
ReplyDeleteIt really is, we're lucky we get to use it! Thank you!
DeleteAlso could you please put a link to my blog? It's itsallaboutdanceblog.blogspot.com. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I'll add it to the sidebar. If you could just mention my blog sometime in return that would be great!
DeleteYour school seems to professional! Jealous!
ReplyDeleteHaha, it is very professional. No where near a pre-professional school like CPYB or anything, but the company dancers are dancing all night and every weekend! We have a bin in the dressing room for dead pointe shoes, and it's overflowing with old, used up pointes.
DeleteAlso, I've just started a new blog, could you take a look?
ReplyDeletehttp://the-balletjournal.blogspot.com.au/
Absolutely, if you'd like I'll ad it to the sidebar :)
DeleteThis doesn't really much to do with the entry above but I had a question. I took ballet from the time I was 3 until I was about 10 (stoppped becuase there was some severe bullying at the studio)I decided to get back to ballet about 6 months ago on my 15th birthday. the studio I am at now only offers one class a week (its mostly a competion studio). I want to start going to the pre-professional school in my area as well to supplement so I can take more classes... I know in some of your older entries you say you take lessons from two studios. I was wondering what that is like, pro, cons whether you think its a good idea in the long run and any tips you have for juggling two studio schedules. Thank You so much! I love your blog and am a regular reader, You're inspiring!
ReplyDeleteHi! I know you're not specifically talking to me, but I couldn't help but put in some input. One of my friends had this problem (except for the bullying; sorry about that). They were going to two studios, and told me what it was like.
DeletePros: Get more professional dance training, more serious, get better dance knowledge than if
if you take one class a week
Cons: Studios might be far from each other, dance schedules might not work out
Personally, I think it's a good idea to go to two different studios if you like to do ballet, and you're serious about. It's also up to you on wether you want to go to two studios or not. I hope this helped!
This helped me out, too. Thanks a lot. Love itsallaboutdanceblog.blogspot.com by the way!
DeleteHello, sorry it took so long to get back to you! Bunhead balletina had a really nice answer, here's my pros and cons:
DeleteProfessional studio:
Generally focuses on technique more, and you really have to learn the basics. You get more classes, and generally the teachers have more ballet experience. You'll probably also get more performance oppertunities, like my Nutcracker. However, the schedule is more intensive, and it's also more expensive usually. It will probably be more strict as well.
Competition studios:
They are more flexible. You get to do routines to modern music (usually) and generally it's more about fun. However, the teachers generally don't have as much ballet background, so your technique may suffer, and you may learn less and reuse the same steps. There are also less classes in just ballet available.
I currently just go to the more professional one, because my other studio got a little too lenient and girls were skipping, the class didn't start on time, ect. I love the professionalism at my new studio, but I do sort of miss the fun routines and my old friends.
Hey there! What role did you have in this production? I like this blog and plan to follow. I'm a dancer too- Irish- and I'd be thrilled if you drop by at treblereeler.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHello! I was a soldier. Thank you so much, it means a lot! I'll check out your blog in a minute! Irish dance looks so fun, I'm half Irish so I got to see some Irish dancers when I visited Ireland, it was amazing!
DeleteWe haven't heard from you in a while... Hope everything is okay! I hope to see new posts soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the concern, I really appreciate it! I've been super busy with finals, but I finished them on Friday and am back!
DeletePlease post more! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm on it :)
DeleteI hope that everything is going great for you (especially in ballet!) Please post again soon! I know I'm not the only one who's been missing reading new posts! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, it's going pretty good! I have some new posts up, and have more planned for tomorrow!
Delete