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!

The cat with the smallest arms in the world

My friend Morgan has a kitten with unusually short arms and legs. Imagine a Dachshund, only feline. She moves like a ferret, slinking her normal sized kitten body around on those little legs. She is also incredibly sweet and cuddly. Here's a pick of her and her mom in which her short little arms are prominently displayed. Hehe...

Mom is here visiting and she and I have been hanging out at Morgan's with her little cat while she is away for the weekend. E-way(phonetic spelling) is her name, Japanese for spirit or wind or moon, I don't remember which.

Ringling Bros

One benefit of being in circus school is occasional free tickets and opportunities to see circuses that come through the area. A former NECCA student is currently performing with Ringling on one of their tours and offered Elsie and Serenity a bunch of comp tickets so we could come and see the show. Now, Ringling is not my #1 favorite circus experience, but there are inevitable nuggets of circus gold in any show, so off I went to Worcester.

Oh, no! I hope he doesn't fall!

This particular show featured the evil character Mr. Gravity who was trying to quite literally trying to take down the circus. The music was loud and poppy, there were elephants riders and tigers tamers, overpriced refreshments, kitchy souvenirs, classic clowning complete acts with tricking dogs, lots of perplexing disappearing tricks, and people being shot out of cannons. There was also a great high wire troupe from Columbia and an impressive acrobatic act performed on swinging platforms. We were amazed, impressed, and at times a little overwhelmed.

Performers practicing in the arena after the show.

After the show we got to go down on the floor and check out what happens in the aftermath. Turns out that the moment the audience leaves the performers break out their apparatuses and 

start training and practicing new acts. Keep in mind that this is at 9:30pm after they have just completed a two hour long performance. Impressive, to say the least.

One of the managers talked to us a bunch about what it's like to work with Ringling as a performer. He really didn't pull any punches. As it turns out, the only performers who have any job security with are the people who work with the animals. Most everyone else, clowns, aerialists and acrobats, works on contracts that are terminated at the end of each show. Like other circuses Ringling scouts throughout the world to find acts that will compliment their various tours. And like other circuses they are looking to show the audience something they have never seen before. So the competition is pretty fierce and in any case it's not a job you'll have for long unless you are a lion tamer. 

One of the sweetest things I saw all night happened after the show while we were down in the arena. A little latino boy, maybe three or four years old, came tearing out from back stage yelling "Papa, papa!", and threw himself into the impressively muscular arms of one of the tight-wire performers. Turns out Ringling offers free childcare services to performers with children so that their families can join them on tour. Not bad...

So overall my Ringling traditional circus experience was educational and entertaining. And just one message for all you kids out there..."DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!" Every time they said (or sang) that I thought, is that an invitation?

Vern's B-day Parade

Stealing a few minutes of time and internet connnectivity at Bruegger's before work at 5:30pm. So much to share from my weeks away from blogging. First off, Vern turned 30!! For his b-day Fallon had the fabulous idea that we should get dressed up in our most outlandishly fancy duds and parade down South Main Street banging pots and pans and singing. I was slightly skeptical at first I'll admit, but it turns out that this is truly a stellar way to celebrate someone's existence. I highly recommend it next time you're not sure what to do for your birthday. We paraded down South Main and through the Brattleboro Coop. They were delighted...really! Some guy behind the prepared foods counter cheered.

That's Vern on stilts, and Fallon and Alissa
banging pans as we paraded through the Coop.

Oops, I've run out of time. Off to work!