Grilled Cheese and Spanish Web

These first weeks at NECCA they have us try out a bunch of different circus apparatuses and disciplines. Today my group did duo trapeze and Spanish web. Here's a short little video that demonstrates something like what we were doing today on Spanish web http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmT-mMTUPwQ.

On Tuesday we did wire walking and Chinese pole. I really liked being on the wire. I enjoy anything that involves balancing. Chinese pole was hard because of my pulled groin muscle, but I will try it again when I'm feeling better. My handstands are improving, which is really exciting. Practiced my tuck ups and pike ups a bunch this week since with my injury straddle hasn't really been my friend.

After a long day of circus my little Boston crew got together this evening at Morgan's place for grilled cheese and tomato soup. I brought the bread, plus Sabra hummus (the best!), pita chips, and chocolate. Alissa and Vanessa brought homemade glutton free corn bread and Jewels made one of his beautiful and delicious pumpkin pies complete with freshly whipped cream. It rained two inches in Brattleboro today and we all agreed that considering the dreary weather, this was the perfect rainy day meal.

And then we did what circus people, and many other people do when they get together. We watched youtube videos. I highly recommend both the literal video of The Safety Dance and You're Beautiful. They make me laugh every time I watch them.

Big E Festival

Anthony on the rig

Helped woman the aerial rig for NECCA at the Big E Festival in Springfield, MA today. Drove up around 9am this morning with my buddy Anthony who is also in Protrack. Arrived at the festival a little after 11am. Serenity showed us the basics of working the rig and how to bring the apparatuses up and down. I felt a might intimidated by the responsibility of the task, so good thing Anthony has loads of experience. He spent the summer touring eastern Europe with the Aerial Angels, so he's dealt with his share of rigs. Here's a pic of him cat the top of the one we used today.

Some great performances by young people who are students at NECCA. I particularly liked the duo trapeze act performed by Fern and Megan. And watching nine-year-old Emily on hammock. Awesome! Also, Anthony and I got to perform a little partner acro at the beginning of three of the shows. It was fun noticing my comfort with the crowd building each time we were out there.

After helping Serenity strike the rig we were free to explore the festival, and to go see the Big E Super Circus. T, another NECCA student, joined us. Ben and Jerry's gave us free ice cream cones for working the rig and I bought a hot dog for dinner, the single cheapest food item I could find at the festival. I got it with sauerkraut, so I sort of ate a vegetable today.

The Big E Super Circus was pretty fun. Amazing female tiger tamer act, great doubles trapeze, hooping, juggling and a quick change magic show. I had never seen quick change before myself, so I will explain briefly for those of you who are unfamiliar. Quick change is a version of illusion or magic show in which the performers appear to change their clothing multiple times throughout the act with impossible lightening speed. Sounds silly, no? Well, yes, but I must admit I was impressed. T pointed out that the woman appeared to be carrying more weight at the beginning of the act than at the end when she looked relatively slim. All those layers of clothes I'm guessing. Wow!

Overall a good third week at NECCA. We celebrated Anthony's birthday on Thursday by surprising him at Fireworks, a local Bratt restaurant, when he and his girlfriend Christina showed up for dinner. There were about twenty of us their and we all crowded around and sang to him when he arrived. He was so touched he even shed a tear of two. It was very sweet. Loving this Protrack crew and how we are coming together as a team of performance artists. It's very, very sweet.

Groin muscle pull

Grr! I pulled my groin muscle today doing aerials at tumbling class. I swear my body just does not want to be flexible in certain ways. Getting injured really sucks. Going to NECCA in the morning for Members Only and hoping someone will have some good advice for me about how to heal it.

Homework #1

Yes, we do sometimes have homework in circus school that requires using our brains and not just our brawn. Our first assignment was to identify two acts online that inspire us and write a couple paragraphs about why. Here's what I wrote. Read it if you want, but definitely check out the links to the acts. They are both really great. And let me know what you think...

Circus school study buddies homework session
over at Kelsey and Morgan's place.

Assignment #1

I chose two very different partner acro pieces for this assignment. In the first one, titled You & Me, we are drawn into an intimate moment between two young lovers. I like acts that tell a story and start by setting the scene for the audience. In this one we are sitting with the lovers under the stars. He alternately points out constellations and looks lovingly into her eyes. These first moments transition easily into the body of the piece, which highlights the skills of these two well rounded performers in dance, theatrics, acrobatics, hand balancing and contortion. The music and costumes are simple and add to the delicate tension. You really believe they are in love. 

The act itself is gorgeously choreographed, employing movements and shapes that enhance the tricks and allow the lines of the performers bodies to echo and compliment each other. There are so many beautiful little moments, like when she arches to lie down under his handstand. He balances over her in a split with his back leg bent, and she gently pushes his foot into the air once, twice. A number of times throughout the piece she provides a solid platform for his handstand. Her shapes and strength in these moments are impressive. The aspects I love most about this piece are the emotion that is communicated, the acrobats' skills as dancers, and their solidness and strength that adds to the levity and apparent effortlessness of the tricks. 

The second act employs more dynamically powerful tricks and movement than the first. These two women are warriors, super-heroines, amazons, pirates. They're connection is solid as they perform tricks in hand to hand, acrobatic drops, lifts and counter balances. It's an act that I could watch over and over again because of how quickly it moves through unique tricks and transitions. There is no less of a story here than in the first act, but more is left up to the imagination about who these two women are and what they are up to. It's an act that would be hard to watch sitting down, especially because the driving music makes me want to move or at least clap. The costumes are also fantastic. 

These two acts represent aspects of the strength, beauty, subtlety, and dynamism that I aspire to bring to my own act creation and performance. They also reflect an interest that I have in challenging limitations and stereotypes about what it means to be a female acrobat and performer. 

Enjoy!

Amanda

Homesick Hike

OK, it's finally hit me. The first couple weeks of school everything was so new and exciting that I could kind of forget that I had just picked up and moved myself away from everything and nearly everyone familiar. It took a while, but after 12 years Boston is definitely the place I call home. Who would have guessed it? Not me. In fact, I like to tell a story about visiting my Aunt Wendy and her family in Boston when I was about 10 years old. At the time I remember having the distinct thought, "I will never live here." Funny. I think that at the time it just seemed so different from my midwestern home of Ann Arbor, Michigan that I couldn't imagine settling there. And because I moved to Boston for a dude it just took a while for me to claim the place as my own. But you know what did it? The Cape. The ocean. I love the ocean. And now I really can't imagine living far away from a giant, salty body of water. Not to mention the fact that I have built an incredible community of friends and support there over the past decade plus. So despite the many wonderful people I have met since moving to Brattleboro, and the few Boston friends who came here with me, I have been feeling a little homesick this past week.

So, when Elizabeth called me on Sunday to say that she, Andy and a cadre of friends from Weston were in Amherst for a day hike I cancelled my other plans and drove there as quick as my little Honda would allow (look ma, no speeding ticket!). It was really wonderful being enveloped in a sea of familiarity and caring all day long. Everyone generously listened to me blab on and on about school. They obligingly asked lots of questions and oohed and ahhed at all the right moments. Thanks guys! Below is a pic of me and Elizabeth from our day on the mountain (Holyoke Range I believe).

Happy 100,000 miles little Honda!!!
Here's to 100,000 more!

P.S. On my way down to Amherst my car turned 100,000 miles old. I pulled over and took a pic to mark the occasion.

My Schedule

A number of people have expressed an interest in my weekly school/work schedule, so I thought I'd post it. Here 'tis...

Monday
11-2pm Lunch shift at Shin La
3:00-5:00 Member's Only (otherwise known as open studio time at NECCA)
6-9pm Dinner shift at Shin La

Tuesday
8:45-12noon Protrack
12:30-3:30 Member's Only plus weekly lesson

Wednesday
10-3:30pm Member's Only
5:30-9 Dinner shift at Shin La

Thursday

8:45-12noon Protrack

12:30-3:30 Member's Only

Friday

8:45-12noon Protrack

2-3pm Tumbling Class

Saturday

9-12noon Member's Only 

5:30-10pm Dinner shift at Shin La

Sunday rest day

NECCA requires we put in a minimum of ten hours training outside class time each week. That can happen during Members Only or at Outer Limits Gym(where membership is covered by NECCA tuition). We also get a weekly one to one lesson with a coach. So far those lessons happen on Tuesdays.  

That's all folks!

A

NECCA Week Two

Somewhere in the middle of this past week I lost track of my computer cord and, seeing as my battery lasts about 10 minutes without it, the ability to blog for a few days. Luckily, my lovely roommate Lauren tracked it down at NECCA and returned it to me. Thanks Lauren!!

Acro with the Boston crew. Me, Micah, Roger and Ellen.
And Morgan took the picture.

School was awesome and challenging this weeks. Whew, could I feel my lats by Thursday! Tuesday morning we got up on the trapezes for assessments and conditioning. Turns out I have some skills up in the air after all. Worked a bunch Tues afternoon and Weds on a basic trapeze routine, which is why my lats were killing my by Thursday morning. Did a bunch of acro with Micah and others on Weds, including some hand to hand and fun multiple person tricks. On Weds afternoon I got an amazing Thai massage from Rhada that helped my hips and hamstring feel much better. They've been bothering me since the program started.

This man can balance on anything!

Thursday was an acro assessment with Bill and Amy (all these assessments!), first solo then partnering tricks. There's a big blue fuzzy mat at NECCA that we call Grover (hello Sesame Street). Most acro related stuff and stretching happens on Grover. Anything that requires a little cushioning underneath. In the afternoon on Thurs two dancers from Pilobolos came and taught a three hour partnering dance/acro class. Pilobolos is an awesome company that's been around since the 70's and combines a lot of what I love about circus and dance in it's pieces. Lots of cool counterbalancing moves that allow smaller and bigger people to take each others weight.  Damon and Molly were our teachers.

Friday morning was running, then yoga, then more conditioning with Amy and Bill. In the afternoon we had our first tumbling class at Woodman's. Back handsprings, tucks, front handsprings, aerials and illusions. Alyssa threw a front aerial, which is a fairly difficult and very cool looking trick that she'd never done before. She landed it beautifully on about her second try. We were all very impressed.

Other exciting events of the week included Roger's 30th birthday, Karaoke at Rocky Top Tavern, and me getting just a little better at my waitressing job at Shin La. I'm there again tonight. Everybody cross your fingers.