First rehearsals

Yesterday was our first rehearsal for the holiday show, The Flying Nut. The theme of the acro dance piece I'm in is FIRE. Deena is choreographing with input from those of us who are in it, Kelsey, Morgan, Fallon, India, Roger and me. She wants to invoke the feeling of burning embers and dancing flames. We had fun yesterday climbing, rolling, crawling on and lifting each other in attempts to make different fire related shapes. We rehearsed right next to the trapeze group. Amy has created a multi-level trapeze, which I admit I'm a little sad not to get to work on. But since my interest in the intersection of dance and acro is a big part of what brought me to NECCA in the first place, FIRE is a good group for me to be in.

Today is Weds, not a school day, but the day of the week when I try to get as much time in at Members Only as possible. Went to the gym this morning and did cardio and weights for a while before heading over to NECCA at 10:30am. Did some stretching there, played on the German wheel, and did some handstands. Home now for lunch and dragging my feet about going back. Tired. But Micah and I have hand to hand acro lesson with Bill this afternoon, so that should be fun.

Physical Theater

Last week Kali Quin came to coach us through two full days of physical theater activities. As human beings we experience life, in large part, though our physical interactions with each other and the world. Physical theater basically tries to incorporate the body into theatrical performance to the fullest possible extent. Like Sunshine says in Harold and Maude, an actors body is their instrument...anyone, anyone?

This type of acting is particularly relevant to circus artists. The use of our bodies to perform interesting and amazing feats is already at the heart of what we do, and bringing depth to the characters and stories we create can make those pieces even more powerful.

There's a ton more to say. For one, Kali was fantastic, very down to earth and competent. I noticed how close we've gotten as a group. We laughed a lot. I almost cried a couple times. One of those times was during an activity where we had to start lying down, get up very slowly, see something on the other end of the room that we wanted very badly, move toward it achingly slowly, get close and realize we couldn't have it, turn around and slowly, slowly head back to our original location and lie down again. Wow. The group I worked with took nine minutes to complete the activity. Kali didn't ask us to say what we were thinking of when we moved across the room, but later on one of my classmates informed me that he had been thinking about this incredible pizza he can only get back home. Hilarious. Let's just say, I wasn't thinking about pizza.

More later...now, off to pursue another day of acrobatic excellence!

Starting rehearsals for The Flying Nut

We found out today what acts we will be working on in the NECCA winter show, The Flying Nut. Protrackers will be performing a rope act, a hoop diving act, a trapeze act and a dance acro act. I'll be in the dance acro act with 5 other students in my program. I am super excited to start rehearsals on Tuesday. The final show will include acts by NECCA students and guest performers of all ages and various levels of skill. It should be pretty great.

Yesterday we had classes in single point trapeze and German wheel. Learned that wheel is a competitive sport in Europe, and that single point involves a lot of swinging and spinning (whee!). I'm deeply distracted by the emanate decision about what to do for my major and minor acts for the final show in May. I think I want to do some sort of trapeze act, maybe single point since I love the dynamic swinging and spinning that is possible on that apparatus. Other contenders are hand balancing, wire and German wheel (totally loved my first lesson in it!). Still open to the possibility of falling in love with another discipline before we leave for winter break and have to make our final choices.

Starting to work on a duo-lyra act with my buddy Morgan, hopefully to perform at a Bat-mitzvah in December. If it works out it will be my first paid circus gig. Fingers crossed...

Happy Birthday to ME!!

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I love making a big deal of my birthday. This year I got to celebrate with friends in both Boston and Bratt. Boston friends joined me for Dim Sum in China town last Sunday morning, and Shin La hosted my Brattleboro circus buddies for dinner last Tuesday. My coworker Alyse treated us real special to the point of decorating the table with cups full of pipe cleaners, colored pens and paper, which kept us entertained and entertaining throughout the meal. On Weds my mom flew in from Colorado. I picked her up at Bradley International in the afternoon and we spent the next six days hangin' in Bratt and beyond, climbing mountains, eating tasty meals, and watching circus performances. Also, bunches of sweet people gave me gifts, from earrings to cards to chocolate bars to home made bread to pipe cleaner creatures.

So big, big thanks to those who brought me into this world and those who help me make the most of my time here. Sometimes they are one and the same!