Opening Night!!

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. 

Nutcracker Week!!!!!

Hey everyone, I'm back! Nutcracker is in less than a week, the final stretch of rehearsals is approaching fast!  On Sunday I have my normal rehearsal, 2-3:30. Monday and Tuesday I also have class as normal. Wednesday is a full rehearsal in studio (normally we'd be in the theater, but this year I guess it's full). That starts with a ballet class at 4, the run through starts at 6, and I'll be dancing around 6:30, so I'm probably going to be there from 3:45-7:00. Then, Thursday is Tech Rehearsal, which is in the theater. We run through everything, make any corrections, fix spacing, and (the most fun, in my opinion) decorate the dressing rooms! That'll be from around 5:00-8:00. Friday is opening night! The girls with huge parts report pretty early, most girls like Snow Queen and Dew Drop even skip school (with permission) to get to the studio, do a full ballet class, practice the dances with the orchestra, and then warm up for the show. I only need to be there about an hour early. Saturday is the second and final show, starting at 2. Again, I only need to be there about an hour and a half early, and then we're done! It'll be bittersweet, performing always is, because you're finally getting to show off your hard work, but at the same time, the hustle and bustle and fun of rehearsal is over. Then everyone starts looking forward to next year, guessing the parts they'll get.

How is your Nutcracker going? Tell me below!