Royale

Did my first paid gig at the Royale night club in Boston last Friday night. Got the gig through my good buddy Morgan and the Boston Circus Guild. Morgan is a talented hand balancer, acrobat, aerialist, and owner of "The Cat With The Smallest Arms In The World" (see previous blog posting). Boston Circus Guild is a wonderful bunch of people who are trying, with significant success, to grow the circus community and facilitate opportunities for circus performers in Boston. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to work with them a bunch in the future. It is a cool thing to hang out with fantastic people, making money, and doing what you love. The fantastic people I got to hang with on Friday night were Chuck of Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, and Mooch of A Different Spin. Both of these guys do a ton of work to ensure that the Boston Circus Guild runs smoothly and continues to grow. Also, they are a lot of fun, and they bring treats!

Morgan and I spent a bunch of the time the previous week up on the lyra (aerial hoop) together putting together our act for the night. Really, it was more like a series of poses and tricks than a polishes act, since the gig was ambient and not performed up on a stage. It was my first time working on aerial hoop, but lots of the stuff I've learned on trapeze over the past couple months helped me pick it up fairly quickly. And Morgan is a good teacher. She was also fantastic at putting together our costumes, doing my make up, and just generally reassuring me throughout the night that this was not a high pressure gig and that I'd do fine. And, surprise, I did! Both sets, performed between the hours of 12-1am went really well. And just as an added bonus, we shared the green room with was a fantastic Bhangra dance troup also performing at Royale that night. They were really nice guys, and their costumes were fantastic. Only bummer about that was the rival Bhangra group in the audience who made trouble for our new friends during their set. I guess when you're a Bhangra dancer in Boston you have to watch out for that sort of thing.

So here are some pics from the night. I really had a ton of fun. As soon as I get the video from Morgan, I'll post that too.

Me and Morgan feeling all good about things after our
successful second set.

That Chuck on the left, Mooch on the right, and the lovely
Morgan sandwiched in between.  

Super cute roomies

I just thought I should share that I live in Brattleboro with two totally adorable young ladies, Lauren and Emelia. They are both in the Protrack program with me. Together we live a block from school in a fairly big apartment that makes up one half of a duplex.

That Lauren on the left and Emelia on the right,
at my b-day party at Shin La.

Lauren and Emelia became good friends last year when they both did the Intensive program at NECCA. They fight and tease each other incessantly, and spend all their time together when they are not at school or working. I feel like I totally lucked out when I scored these two for roommates. Emelia, an absolute homebody, entertains my family or friends whenever they come to town. She became best buddies with both my mom and Nima both when they came to visit. Lauren is one of the hardest working people I know, seeming always to be either on her way to work, work study, or school. But when she's not, you'll find her hanging out with Emelia, and they'll probably be on the couch watching reality TV. Just where two circus ladies should be at the end of a long day.

On becoming an aerialist

So there are a few ways you can tell when an aerial habit is forming. Bruises behind the knees are a definite indication. Shore shoulders instead of knees is another sign. The last clue...landing a gig at a night club in Boston to perform...duo lyra? Yes, that's right, I'm headed to Boston tonight for my first paid circus gig. And it will be in the air (no mom, not high in the air), not on the ground.

Mucho gusto to my friends Morgan and Mooch for handing me this opportunity. I'm excited and looking forward to it...and also a little nervous. Morgan, my lyra partner, says it should be a low key, ambient gig, not like being up on a stage with an audience watching. So that's cool. A nice way to get my feet wet and hopefully it will open the door to working more with the Boston Circus Guild in the future.

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!