tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5683256910751507372024-03-13T13:42:53.424-04:00theinsiderBalletCollective dancer and New York City Ballet Soloist Ashley Laracey takes you inside the process, the lives of the artists, and the works of this unique, collaborative ballet company. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-37974006211516229462015-07-30T22:58:00.001-04:002015-07-30T22:58:58.116-04:00Telluride Round 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpbNkbHGxoQ/VbriBW_gFVI/AAAAAAAAA24/aD-u3Sg5950/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpbNkbHGxoQ/VbriBW_gFVI/AAAAAAAAA24/aD-u3Sg5950/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BalletCollective in Telluride </td></tr>
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Being in Telluride has been a breath of fresh air especially for me following my <a href="http://balletcollective.blogspot.com/2015/07/check-for-ticks.html" target="_blank">tick </a>ordeal. From the mountainous view seen from my peaceful terrace, the lush green landscapes, wildlife sightings and welcoming community, BalletCollective feels at home.<br />
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This week, BalletCollective has been hard at work and hard at play! Each day the dancers take ballet class, taught by Troy, and then begin the day's rehearsals inhaling bottled oxygen every step of the way. The altitude here in Telluride is over 8,700 ft, and takes time to get used to. Last year I tried to be tough and refrain from using the oxygen, but this year I have no shame. It is helping me with the Lyme diseases and with the stamina needed for the intense ballets. <br />
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This year's workshop performance at Telluride's The Palm Theater will include last year's <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>, the new Mark Dancigers male duet featuring David and Taylor, and the new group ballet composed by Ellis Ludwig-Leone. Both new works, though they were started in our Millbrook residency this past June, have been refined and polished here in Telluride. Troy's goal is to get the works in great shape for the workshop performance this Saturday which will then function as finished templates for our upcoming New York season at the Skirball Center November 4th and 5th. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ceEVjac4-w/Vbrh7m43mAI/AAAAAAAAA2s/7hOoeEJyVlw/s1600/IMG_1994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ceEVjac4-w/Vbrh7m43mAI/AAAAAAAAA2s/7hOoeEJyVlw/s320/IMG_1994.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David and Taylor in Bunker, Photo: Troy Schumacher</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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In the midst of rehearsing five hours a day, we make time for hot tubs to soak our muscles, walks along the river, nighttime gondola rides, fun family dinners, ice cream runs, and social events to raise awareness for our upcoming show.<br />
<br />
Additionally, Troy has begun filming at some of Telluride's most remote and beautiful landscapes to capture moments from each new work soon to become short films. Last year Harrison, Troy and I filmed the last movement of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> on Willson Messa (where Harrison's childhood home stands). The <a href="http://balletcollective.com/dear-and-blackbirds/" target="_blank">film</a> captures the emotion of our dance and the magical picturesque backdrop of Telluride.<br />
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Just yesterday, Troy, David and Taylor ventured to a brick bunker-like location with painted rustic doors, rough ground, and shot moments from the male duet. Today, Troy and Harrison are ATVing to a remote quarry near a waterfall in the mountains to shoot Harrison's solo from the new group ballet. I can't wait for you to see the footage. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7nf8nYzaNs/Vbrh-slw_1I/AAAAAAAAA20/nH8oxAnkJ7E/s1600/IMG_3588.JPG.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7nf8nYzaNs/Vbrh-slw_1I/AAAAAAAAA20/nH8oxAnkJ7E/s320/IMG_3588.JPG.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harrison in Quarry, Photo: Lauren King</td></tr>
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Tonight we have an open rehearsal for the community to come experience the residency and its creative process. Then the dancers, Brandon, Troy and I will head to a cocktail party celebrating BalletCollective followed by a pig roast in the park with the Telluridians!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-65187291848663450982015-07-26T20:04:00.001-04:002015-07-26T20:16:31.495-04:00TICKED OFF<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZT35iZBs9No/VbVw4KzHZII/AAAAAAAAA10/_qWe0I3b9bs/s1600/photo%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZT35iZBs9No/VbVw4KzHZII/AAAAAAAAA10/_qWe0I3b9bs/s320/photo%2B3.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Nantcket Photo by: Troy</td></tr>
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Two weeks ago yesterday, I awoke with intense head, hip, and back pain, covered in sweat, with a
fever, and swollen lymph nodes. By noon, after dropping Troy off at the
Saratoga Performing Arts Center, SPAC, for ballet class (which I had
planned on taking in preparation for that evening’s NYCB Gala), I sat in
a cold, sterile hospital room, alone. For the next five hours I was
poked and prodded. I was stabbed three times as they tried to take blood
(supposedly my veins are tricky), given a crystal light flavored
solution to drink for a procedure, and pumped with radioactive fluids
during the CT scan, all while an IV of fluids ran through my body. I sat
alone in the freezing, bright, uncomfortable 8 X 6 room. Troy came
rushing to the hospital after he was finished performing in the matinee
and kept me company as we awaited the test results. Hours of wondering
passed, with scared thoughts running through my head as I sat staring,
waiting for life to come into the ice box to provide answers.<br />
<br />
And then I was told that there was no infection or irregular levels in my blood and that the CT scan showed signs that possibly a cyst burst as there were some fluids in the pelvic area. The doctor could not explain the fever, night sweats, or lymph node swelling but concluded that I probably had a cyst that burst.<br />
<br />
It was now five o’clock. I was not allowed to perform that night so Troy took me home. As we drove I had a sandwich and felt a sense of relief as supposedly we had answers.<br />
<br />
That evening I was in bed by 6:30pm and slept till 10:30am the next morning, hoping to wake feeling like new.<br />
<br />
The pelvic pain was gone but new pains now existed. I began to feel my lower back ache that eventually traveled up spine and into my neck and jaw. I lay low that weekend, attaching a smile to my face as our Saratoga house hosted a pig roast. That night the pain grew, and the night sweats continued.<br />
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It’s now Tuesday and I was hoping to be able to dance, yet something wasn’t right. I hadn’t danced since Friday and yet I had intense joint, back, spine, neck, and jaw pain and a migraine like pressure that never seemed to go away. I became sensitive to light and my forehead seemed to appear different. As we drove in to SPAC I began to think something was really wrong. I abruptly turned to Troy and said, “I want to go home, back to the city.” He was confused and thought that I was feeling better. I explained to him that I had been trying to put on a happy face so that I wasn't a drag in the house. I knew something was wrong. Even if I was cleared to dance by the gynecologist, I knew, physically, I just couldn’t. I no longer could bend over and touch my toes, I couldn't touch my chin to my chest, I couldn’t move. I saw Marika Molnar for physical therapy hoping she could get my back to release, though at that point I had already made up my mind…I was going home. And Troy was coming with me. I was not about to go through more poking and probing alone again.<br />
<br />
Within two hours, we were driving back to the city. I had an appointment with an internal medicine doctor the next day.<br />
<br />
Wednesday morning was like the past five mornings, I woke up covered in sweat. Though just as we were about to sit down and have a morning cup of joe for Troy and for me tea, I noticed a light pink circle with a darker purple center-like rash, the largest one behind my left knee. I had four on my right leg, a few on my rear end, and two on my back. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TaiFYJltcMU/VbVwzx9uH8I/AAAAAAAAA1o/jrwRmj69HVI/s1600/photo%2B1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TaiFYJltcMU/VbVwzx9uH8I/AAAAAAAAA1o/jrwRmj69HVI/s320/photo%2B1.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rash Photo by: Troy</td></tr>
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Troy began to help me write a time line of events, symptoms, and travel locations to later help serve me while retelling this ordeal to the doctor. He also did some Google research and had an inkling that I had Lyme disease. Before the rash showed up, we thought I had meningitis. Even though I was not feeling well, with intense pain throughout my body and in my joints and spine, my migraine head pressure, sensitivity to light, and this new gross looking rash, I was happy to be in my own apartment. We were hopeful that this doctor and Weill Cornell Medical Center would figure this out, but I was also done being in the hospital/urgent care and dreaded this fourth visit to a medical facility.<br />
<br />
As we jumped in a cab headed to West 84th street I was beyond scared. Thankfully Troy was there to be with me.<br />
<br />
We entered the elevator and soon were checked in awaiting my name to be announced through the open doorway. A few minutes after my scheduled appointment time the nurse called “Mrs. Laracey.” Soon my vitals were recorded and the doctor was in the room. I retrieved my timeline and notes and explained each detail as she took notes herself. After a short examination, she began by saying that she was pretty sure that this was a “textbook” case of Lyme disease and that she was going to take blood and send it to the lab for extensive testing. In the meantime, I was to start on a 21 day dose of Doxycycline, the protocol for Lyme. She explained that she was going to do a full tick panel to make sure that in addition to the Lyme I didn't have one of the other three tick-borne illness parasites. But those test results would take up to five days to get back.<br />
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Troy and I walked the four blocks to Duane Reade to collect my new prescription, talking as we walked and thankful that we had answers. As I stood on the corner of 88th and Broadway, I took a swig of water and downed my first dose, hoping to feel more like myself soon.<br />
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A few days later, my aches and pain symptoms started to slowly ease and fade, yet the migraine head pressure remained. After day six of no activity and no dance (day three of antibiotics) I felt up to attempting a ballet barre. So I got myself to the theater and lightly gave myself a ballet class. I could barely stand up and had no strength but it felt good to be able to move a little. Each day got better and better, and I was able to do more and more of ballet class.<br />
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This past Monday, Troy and I traveled to Nantucket for the Nantucket Dance Festival where Troy had a ballet being performed. The piece is a bit unconventional in that its original performance was at the Players Club in New York City in 2012. The piece was a duet for NYCB principal dancer Jared Angle and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. I was heading to Nantucket to support Troy and his piece, also able to take ballet class every day with the festival and rehearse myself in Concerto Barocco for my upcoming debut in Vail on August 9th.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yNuBUfhUPjE/VbVzPMx9s2I/AAAAAAAAA2I/n8R4Lp_glGE/s1600/photo%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yNuBUfhUPjE/VbVzPMx9s2I/AAAAAAAAA2I/n8R4Lp_glGE/s320/photo%2B2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doctor's Orders Photo by: Me</td></tr>
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Tuesday I found myself sitting outside enjoying lunch and some quiet brief moments before heading into the theater to watch Troy’s piece when my cell phone rings. It is my doctor from New York. She explains that in addition to the Lyme I tested positive for Babesiosis and need to see an infectious disease doctor right away. I immediately run inside the theater and explain to the stage manager that I need to find a doctor ASAP. A very quiet-spoken woman interrupts me and says “Grab your things; I will walk you to the hospital across the street to see the Lyme specialist on the island.” Dr. Timothy Lepore is a leading man in tick illnesses and squeezed me in right away. He concluded from my lab results that I was one of those rare souls that got bitten by a nasty tick carrying both Lyme and Babesiosis. “Lucky me”, I thought. He listened to my long story of events and said I was a text book case of Lyme and Babesiosis and that the migraine and head pressure plus fever are signature symptoms of Babesiosis. He called in two additional antibiotics, one a pill, the other a thick golden liquid. Dr. Lepore said “ Take the gold liquid with fatty foods. We recommend French fries.” I thought to myself… “When in Rome! He said eat French fries, by golly French fries it is!”<br />
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After seeing Dr. Lepore, the fifth doctor in ten days, my ordeal seemed to finally have full answers and proper diagnoses. I walked back to the theater, hopped in my car and drove to pick up my prescriptions. By the time I finished, Troy was through with his rehearsal and we were off to Fifty Six Union for French fries and a pop. Doctor’s orders.<br />
I am fortunate to have been in Nantucket, supporting Troy in his choreographic endeavors, to be only steps away from the leading man in tick disease. Check yourself for ticks!<br />
<br />
Now that I’m on the road to recovery, stay tuned for more BalletCollective news! Next stop …Telluride!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-84416316559169979492015-07-15T20:10:00.001-04:002015-07-15T20:10:10.777-04:00A First Look at New Works in Progress<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eGRE3iA3ow4/VabzWTVFyMI/AAAAAAAAA0g/-bqji_NcGkA/s1600/image3%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eGRE3iA3ow4/VabzWTVFyMI/AAAAAAAAA0g/-bqji_NcGkA/s320/image3%2B2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Claire Kretzschmar</td></tr>
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BalletCollective has set out to create two new works this year.
Unlike years past where a librettist and painter were involved, this
year’s new works are collaborations with a choreographer, composer, and
photographer. This combination lends itself to an interesting and rather
different process than previous collaborations. With each photographer,
the choreographer and composer would discuss their own individual
processes and ideas that inspire them. From there, the photographer
would venture out to capture images that then become the driving force
for the music and dance.<br />
<br />
New Work Maffi, (let’s call it
until it is titled) is a group ballet with choreography by Troy
Schumacher, musical composition by Ellis Ludwig-Leone, and photography
by Paul Maffi. Maffi a fashion art photographer, whom Troy and I have
worked with closely in the past on shoots such as <a href="http://balletcollective.blogspot.com/2013/06/cr-fashion-book-shoot.html" target="_blank">CR Fashion Book Series 2</a> and <a href="http://balletcollective.blogspot.com/2013/07/cr-fashion-book-film.html" target="_blank">video</a> shoots. Maffi offered images that spurred
BalletCollective's resident choreographer and composer on to a new
direction. The outcome of this uncharted territory is a series of seven
songs and three interludes which take you on a journey of introspection.
BalletCollective’s Lauren King, Meagan Mann, Claire Kretzschmar,
myself, David Prottas, Taylor Stanley, and Harrison Coll are all
featured throughout this 25 minute ballet. The work is packed with group
dance, female pas de deux, male trios, and an introspective male solo.
Each dancer has moments of his or her own and moments that explore new
levels of emotion and connectedness through movement. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_ndF5U4R04/Vabzrq_a3WI/AAAAAAAAA0o/STHvs25HsC0/s1600/IMG_1839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_ndF5U4R04/Vabzrq_a3WI/AAAAAAAAA0o/STHvs25HsC0/s320/IMG_1839.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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New
Work Dafy Hagai, until titled, is an eight minute male pas de deux for
Taylor and David. The work introduces two new collaborators to
BalletCollective: Dafy Hagai and Mark Dancigers. Israeli photographer
Dafy Hagai and Now Ensemble director Mark Dancigers have created quite a
thrilling piece for their first go at BalletCollective’s process. The
source photography, a series of four images, provided a canvas for
Dancigers to create a well rounded score. The score explores tenderness,
angst, difference, indifference, joy and humor. Troy took this music
intended as a male duet and created a conversation. <br />
<br />
Creating
a male duet is a “first" for Troy but a dream come true. For as long as
I’ve known him he has always been interested in exploring the ideas of a
male duet and its rarity. The intensity, the roads uncrossed have
intrigued him. Troy’s understanding of both David and Taylor, their
friendship, their individual movement, temperament and qualities, were
invaluable to this new work. Throughout the process, Troy took moments
to check in with David and Taylor, hear their thoughts as he took the
duet into uncharted territory. As his assistant I found that watching
this develop gave me a new sense of dance. I hope to interview Troy to
learn about his experience collaborating with the two new artists,
Dancigers and Hagai, with whom he has never worked.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ieZgEtAVUjk/Vab0EpNCu7I/AAAAAAAAA0w/1bL5_GfmtIQ/s1600/IMG_1759.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ieZgEtAVUjk/Vab0EpNCu7I/AAAAAAAAA0w/1bL5_GfmtIQ/s320/IMG_1759.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
Both
ballets will be premiered on November 4-5 at NYU Skirball Center along
with last years Dear and Blackbirds and All That We See! Visit BalletCollective.com/tickets for Tickets!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-23839509732290421622015-06-29T19:37:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:37:11.859-04:00All Aboard!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Two weeks ago, BalletCollective boarded the 7:57am Harlem Line train at Grand Central to Wassaic, New York for an unknown adventure: our first Millbrook Residency! Suit cases were packed first with leotards, tights, dance belts, warm-up booties, tennis balls, pointe shoes, ballet slippers, and then sunglasses, bathing suits, sundresses, blazers and polo attire! </div>
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBRXfW6-B2I/VZG-wyrnvbI/AAAAAAAAAzE/lRN1cPwoXwA/s1600/DSC_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBRXfW6-B2I/VZG-wyrnvbI/AAAAAAAAAzE/lRN1cPwoXwA/s320/DSC_0172.JPG" width="320" /></a>Straight from the train station, with a quick pit stop to buy brown bag lunches, the dancers were driven to the Millbrook School where we were greeted by the school staff.(The greeting actually happened daily! They were beyond sweet.) We were then given a tour of the beautiful facilities, a studio with large windows with lush country landscapes in view, art work-lined hallways, a fully functioning kitchen, a comfy lounge, dressing rooms filled with fun costumes, and, most importantly, a quiet sense of calm. <br />
<br />
Troy set huge goals for BalletCollective during our two week residency in Millbrook. He and his collaborators, whom I will cover in detail in posts to come, had planned two ballets totaling 33 minutes! Troy figured that he should try to accomplish 3 minutes daily in an effort to complete all 33 by the conclusion of the residency. Yet even he thought this was near impossible. <br />
<br />
The dancers quickly dressed for the day’s work and Troy began creating. After a quick ballet class warm-up, Troy began with the ladies section of the group ballet, soon to be titled. A series of steps were developed on us, consisting of 4 counts of music per part: part A, B, C, D; the four ladies, myself included, were excited about learning the rest of the ballet. The music is filled with song, a jiving tempo and a deep sense of introspection. <br />
<br />
Troy then moved on to the second ballet, an 8 minute male pas de deux for Taylor and David. Having never started two ballets in one day before, Troy was unsure of how this would unfold. While I served as his assistant, working the ipad and blue tooth for music and documenting the choreography, Troy took off running. The conversation of the steps came skipping out. It soon was 5pm and Troy had met his goal of three minutes of choreography!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFQ37JKpEkI/VZG_4e8oXKI/AAAAAAAAAzM/eJ7EuIebWoI/s1600/photo%2B4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFQ37JKpEkI/VZG_4e8oXKI/AAAAAAAAAzM/eJ7EuIebWoI/s320/photo%2B4.JPG" width="240" /></a>We all piled into three cars, a Suburban, Expedition, and truck (generously lent for the residency by three board members who all have homes in Millbrook) and drove to our new home for the next two weeks. Pulling up to the beautiful, yet grand farm house was like something out of a movie. We were so excited to start our adventure of living and being immersed in the Millbrook community while doing what we love! A "Welcome BBQ" started off the BalletCollective festivities hosted by Karin, our host, that included sausages, steak, corn on the cob, summer pasta, a salad filled with greens from her garden and red wine. We toasted to a wonderful two weeks ahead, working hard and playing hard, and to the people who made this possible. We are beyond grateful. <br />
<br />
We'd like to thank the Millbrook School and Darren Henault, Claire Mann and Karin Day Kingsley (three of BalletCollective's board members), for their never-ending generosity, organization, love and desire to help BalletCollective and its artists continue to do what we love!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-89843514845036014272014-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:002014-11-06T09:33:38.631-05:00And the Show Begins! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TwEvc8A36Y/VFrftkLjy-I/AAAAAAAAAro/occkJ9IMw18/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TwEvc8A36Y/VFrftkLjy-I/AAAAAAAAAro/occkJ9IMw18/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0147.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dear and Blackbirds Photo by Matthew Murphy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>The Impulse Wants Company</i>, first on the program, is a very
communal ballet filled with tons of energy. The dancers were focused,
filled with excitement, yet perhaps on edge a bit (possibly due to nerves for
our own dance steps but mostly because collectively we all wanted this
event to be a huge success) Though as soon as we each arrived on the
scene and stepped on to the stage, our nerves and jitters subsided. <br />
<br />
The
ballet ended with an overwhelming response from the audience. The
dancers were encouraged and excited to now go on to perform the premieres. <br />
<br />
Up next, <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>.
Though this was a premiere, Harrison and I had performed excerpts in
Fire Island and Telluride this past summer so it didn't feel as if I had
never danced it. However, I had never performed it with Troy, so it was
going to be a different experience for sure. Troy and I rarely dance
together at City Ballet, but do occasionally dance together on projects
of his creative works, so this was not our first rodeo together. The
lights go to dim, we steal a quick "merde" hug and we begin walking.
After just four steps the musicians began playing. Everything happened
as planned thus far, except the musicians were off to a gallant pace.
Luckily for me, the beginning of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> is minimal
dancing for my part and starts out slow, unlike Troy who was flying around, jumping
and turning at the speed of light. We had moments where our eyes met -
both understanding by the look and expression that "Wow, this is fast!"
Before long we had settled into the quick pace and just went along for
the ride. Though, at times I felt rushed, overall the performance was
exciting and spontaneous. I enjoyed portraying a different woman and
telling a new story dancing with Troy and I think he had a blast too! <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxtFX4suKVw/VFrfnsbeERI/AAAAAAAAArY/fnWJ7kI3iN4/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxtFX4suKVw/VFrfnsbeERI/AAAAAAAAArY/fnWJ7kI3iN4/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0047.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All That We See Photo by Matthew Murphy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After taking our bows and during the three minute pause, I ran to start the laundry for <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i>
costumes, that way by the time the performance had finished, I could
hang the costumes up to dry overnight. I managed to make it back to the
stage before <i>All That We See</i> started. <br />
<br />
Troy and I, dabbing off our sweat, catching our breath and taking sips of water, stood watching from the sidelines. <i>All That We See</i>
is a wonderful ballet filled with great music, varied tempos, moods,
and interesting steps. Created for five dancers, with eight movements, everyone dances hard for 18 minutes and they are exhausted by the end. I love
watching this ballet and find it so diverse. I think it could be
Schumacher's best yet!<br />
<br />
The crowd was incredibly supportive of all three works. BalletCollective left feeling extremely accomplished and grateful.<br />
<br />
After
the performance Wednesday night we all headed to a party to celebrate the night that thrown by our
supporters! Needless to say it was a blast, but
also a late night. Thursday Troy and I slept in and had a slow start to
the day. Instead of getting up early and taking morning ballet class,
Troy taught a warm up class at 5:30pm for the company on stage. <br />
<br />
I
arrived at the theater early to finish dealing with the laundry and
making sure the costumes were ready to go for the evening performance.
Then I got straight to my makeup and hair, giving myself plenty of time
to stretch and prepare before our warm up class. After class, Troy and I
ran <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> to get a "puff" in. It is essential to
get a puff in before doing something hard. (It makes it easier in the
performance having already danced hard.) And since the pas de deux is 10
minutes of non-stop dancing, we needed to feel winded. Some of the
other dancers did excerpts of <i>All That We See</i> to get moving as well. <br />
<br />
The
on stage call was announced and the dancers were ready! Interestingly
enough, the New York Times review came out online an hour before the
show was to start. Usually Troy, and the rest of us, would not jump to
read something that reviewed the same ballets we were soon to dance,
but Troy received word from his press advisor that he must read it. So
the article filtered through the theater, and caused a rush of
excitement and joy to all at BalletCollective. That night's performance
had an extremely different feeling. The atmosphere on stage and in the
orchestra pit was fresh, relaxed, joyful, and an excited ball of energy,
feeling lucky to again perform something so special to all of us.<br />
<br />
We finished the performance with hugs and kisses, all looking forward to BalletCollective's next and future endeavors!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-86423174116466557062014-11-05T09:48:00.001-05:002014-11-05T15:15:31.099-05:00Arriving at NYU Skirball Center <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fb8jybhv8Y8/VFo1WB6fRKI/AAAAAAAAArA/A2IH9-TeObs/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0215-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fb8jybhv8Y8/VFo1WB6fRKI/AAAAAAAAArA/A2IH9-TeObs/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0215-1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Matthew Murphy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
BalletCollective had an amazing run at the Skirball center! Thank you to all who attended our performances and supported our many artists. For those who missed it...<br />
<br />
Wednesday was a jam-packed day! Brandon Baker, BalletCollective's lighting designer, arrived at the theater at 5am to begin "set up" and lighting for the different ballets. After taking class at Steps, Troy arrived at noon to assist with lighting, and oversee any other theater doings. The dancers trickled in around 1pm to put on our stage make up ... because press photographers were going to be shooting our dress rehearsal. Soon after the musicians arrived and did their sound check, we were ready!<br />
<br />
Both premieres: <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> and <i>All that We See</i>, had complete dress rehearsals, meaning performance makeup and hair for both male and female dancers, and a full out run of the ballets with live music and lighting. However, each ballet began with a spacing rehearsal with the musicians playing through the piece, as the dancers took it easy (marked through the steps without going full out with energy and feeling). Then once the music levels sounded balanced and the dancers had a sense of the space, we danced each ballet full out. For <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i>, since it was not a new piece, we rehearsed in practice clothes and took it under top speed - to make sure we saved some energy on reserve for the evening's performance, which was a very quick turn around!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sU9L-OG29vo/VFo1UmQaH4I/AAAAAAAAAq4/RbqsxvcXeU4/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sU9L-OG29vo/VFo1UmQaH4I/AAAAAAAAAq4/RbqsxvcXeU4/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0117.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Matthew Murphy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's a hard day, entering a theater for the first time, having dress rehearsal and then the first performance all in a few hours. Getting ourselves organized and comfortable on the stage has to happen in about 60 seconds! Thankfully the Skirball Center is a wonderful theater. The stage was a great size, much bigger than I had imagined. It is rather wide compared to most theaters. There are two large columns that flank each side - though the stage extends about five feet farther on each side into the "wings". Yet, there were no actual wings. And the floor was not slippery nor too hard.<br />
<br />
At five o'clock, the dancers grabbed a snack and headed to our coed dressing room to relax before beginning our pre-show rituals. With the music blaring Simon and Garfunkel or the occasional "Call Me Maybe," we were pumped. <br />
<br />
Two hours before every show I start my makeup and hair. Once my face and hair are made up, I change into my Uniqlo warmup fleece sweater and pants, eat a banana, put on the last finishing touch: my Mac Russian Red lipstick, and head to the stage to start my barre. I love stretching and warming up on or near the stage; it gets me in the zone. One hour before the show I give myself a ballet barre warmup, similar to morning ballet class in that it works the whole body, do an ab series, and then put on my pointe shoes. I then change into my costume and grab two Altoids for the road!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYFu_F3Ny9U/VFo1YH9ilVI/AAAAAAAAArI/ciPGmSiPefc/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYFu_F3Ny9U/VFo1YH9ilVI/AAAAAAAAArI/ciPGmSiPefc/s1600/BALLET_COLLECTIVE_10_29_14_0005.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Matthew Murphy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
About half hour before the show, the audience started to file in; meanwhile the dancers were warming up on the stage, for all to watch. Troy loves to remove the wings and curtains from all our stages. He feels that it allows the audience to see what goes on behind the scenes: stretching, talking, hugging, heavy breathing, collapsing to the floor, etc. One of Troy's hopes for BalletCollective is to help ballet become more accessible by breaking down the barriers and removing the facade. <br />
<br />
Brandon, acting as stage manager and lighting director, called "places" and soon the audience grew quiet and the lights went dark. <i> </i><br />
<br />
Stay tuned for more about our performances!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-48972678222943890042014-10-26T17:58:00.003-04:002014-10-26T17:58:47.043-04:00Few Days Away - Unexpected Cast Change<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Few3s5IrX8/VE1t0Rq1hNI/AAAAAAAAAp4/iTN8zCMufwo/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Few3s5IrX8/VE1t0Rq1hNI/AAAAAAAAAp4/iTN8zCMufwo/s1600/photo.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me by BalletCollective's Wild Posting Ads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
BalletCollective is just a few days away from our New York season at the NYU Skirball Center! We have been in the studio at New 42nd Street rehearsing this past week, refining the ballets and preparing for the performances. With an unexpected bump in the road, we are in good shape.<br />
<br />
Just last Sunday, as our New York City Ballet fall season came to a close, Harrison Coll hurt his foot dancing in the last ballet of the matinee, George Balanchine's <i>Theme and Variations</i>. Sidelined for the next few weeks, on crutches and in a boot, Harrison sadly will not be performing with us this Wednesday and Thursday but will make a full recovery. <br />
<br />
After much discussion and weighing our options, Troy came to the conclusion that since we were unable to find a replacement for Harrison (with such little notice and time), and with a number of dancers already committed to other projects or on vacation... he would dance! Although Troy is wearing many hats: director, producer, now dancer, he is the perfect fill-in. Having created the ballets, he has a greater understanding of the steps, and knows exactly how they should be done; they are his steps and creation after all! <br />
<br />
Late last Monday night, soon after making the decision that he was to dance in both <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> and also the premiere of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>, I dared Troy to put on the music and run the <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> pas de deux with me. It was a sight to see! In our living room, at 10pm in my Uniqlo pajamas, he and I were jumbling through the ten minute piece. Not surprisingly, Troy basically knew the whole work. I knew plugging him into the ballets would be no sweat!<br />
<br />
In our late night mock rehearsal, I realized that <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> was going to be a new experience for me. Having a work made on you and another dancer creates a strong bond and connection. You develop your individual "characters" or impressions and mental connections with that other person. After working out the kinks, and having several performing opportunities, dancing excerpts in Fire Island and in Telluride, Harrison and I had built a chemistry that just kept growing each time we danced the pas de deux. It was intimate, refreshing and always a joy. In a way, I always knew where he was going to be or what his next move was, or even what the emotional arc was trending that day. With Harrison gone, I know this will be a new experience of exploration in dancing with Troy, and we have already begun reinventing the piece for the two of us and having fun doing it! (I only hit him with my elbow once! OOPS!) <br />
<br />
These past few days have been hard work but by the end of yesterday, Troy had been slotted in to both ballets and the second of two premieres, <i>All That We See</i>, was put back together. All three ballets are in great shape for tomorrow<br />
when we rehearse with the musicians for the first time!<br />
<br />
For ticket information go to BalletCollective.com We hope to see you there!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-9465322219366827002014-10-06T11:04:00.000-04:002014-10-06T11:04:24.919-04:00Behind the Scenes: Darren Henault<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KGrQbykZC3g/VBXrJAlPqmI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/fiWJcRD8P5U/s1600/Big%2BSmile%2BColor%2B-%2BDarren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KGrQbykZC3g/VBXrJAlPqmI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/fiWJcRD8P5U/s1600/Big%2BSmile%2BColor%2B-%2BDarren.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Darren Henault, Photo by Carolyn Jones</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being part of a
new ballet company from the ground up, it quickly becomes apparent how
much goes into making new work possible. It's more than choreographing,
composing, dancing, and writing; it's a combination of all that work
plus behind the scenes activities to help raise the continuing support
to make it happen. BalletCollective has a wonderful group of supporters,
and I thought it would be interesting to get to know one of our board
members. Darren is a fun, loving father of beautiful twin girls, a ballet lover, an interior designer, and a dear friend. Darren was one of the first people Troy told about his idea for starting BalletCollective. Here is my interview with him:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Me: What does BalletCollective mean to you?</b><br />Pure and simple it means that I get to participate in some small way in supporting a new and exciting talent. I believe in Troy and look forward to seeing where he'll go and take us.<br /><br /><b>What prompted you to get involved?</b><br />I like watching young dancers progress over the course of a few seasons. I've been aware of Troys dancing for the New York City Ballet for a few years now. When he told me his concept for a new dance company I was immediately interested. <br /><br />Being on the "inside" you get to attend rehearsals and develop a greater understanding of the work. Meeting the dancers gives one a direct connection and makes the performances more personal, more intimate. It's like having your favorite players on a sports team. You experience the "highs", and less often the "lows", with more passion. In a slightly parasitic fashion it gives me a creative outlet. <br /><br /><b>What do you love about dance?</b><br />What's not to love about dance? Honestly when someone tells me they don't like the ballet I think, "Lord, what a dolt!" Clearly they've only seen one or two very similar pieces, or maybe nothing but long story ballets. There's an enormous range in ballet and dance. If you don't like the ballet then ask a dancer to choose four things for you to see in a season. You'll change your mind.<br /><br />When you watch a beautiful piece being performed by an excellent dancer you're watching an instrument in motion. You're watching a body move that has been trained for years and years to express itself in ways that no ordinary person could possibly mimic. I'm not being melodramatic when I say that it's transcendent. The simplest movement can make me weep, as much as the bold tour de force makes me feel like jumping out of my seat.<br /><br /><b>What are you reading?</b><br />All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr<br />We Are Not Ourselves, Matthew Thomas<br />Astonish Me, Maggie Shipstead (yes this one is about dance)<br /><br /><b>What's your favorite ballet? Why?</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can't do just one... </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Troy Schumacher's <i>Epistasis</i>... I haven't seen it enough times to adequately put into words what I like about it. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Christopher Wheeldon's <i>After the Rain</i>... Because with just two people on stage he expresses all of the ennui, regret and hope that the world has ever known.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jerome Robbin's <i>Glass Pieces</i>... It's modern and energizing and crisp and dynamic.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Balanchine's <i>Symphony in C</i>... It's what everyone thinks of when they think of ballet. It's classically based, fantastically athletic and the sheer number of people on stage is impressive.<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Troy Schumacher's <i>All That We See</i>... I've been lucky enough to see a few rehearsals. I can't wait to see the final piece.<br /><b><br />Have you ever danced before?</b><br />Never. I wish.<br /><br /><b>You’re a decorator, which in many ways is similar to choreography. How does interior design compare with dance?</b><br />When we first started coming to the ballet we would sit in the orchestra so that we could see the individual dancers. It was Troy actually who suggested we sit in the first row of the first tier. That way we got to see what I call the architecture of the ballet; the full sweep of the movement in it's entirety. What I think the choreographer really wants you to see at first, only focusing on the individual movements or dancers as he reveals them to you. It's what I hope to achieve in my work. I'd rather you get the sense of the entire environment and only notice individual things after you've spent more time in the rooms.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-12263908626516624762014-09-30T08:48:00.003-04:002014-09-30T08:48:38.954-04:00A New First<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eRwiIxcslvw/VBYTieUTrvI/AAAAAAAAAoo/J3FsevN61l4/s1600/IMG_0358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eRwiIxcslvw/VBYTieUTrvI/AAAAAAAAAoo/J3FsevN61l4/s1600/IMG_0358.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Troy Choreographing, Me Assisting Photo by Devin Alberda</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This summer has been filled with many "Firsts": Troy and I got married (!), BalletCollective appeared at the Fire Island Dance Festival (where Harrison and I danced with the sunset as our backdrop), BalletCollective had its first summer residency in Telluride, and I took on the role of BalletCollective's Choreographic Assistant! <br />
<br />
The role of Choreographic Assistant is that of being the right hand person to the choreographer. Helping to take down notes, corrections, patterns, marks in the score, dancers' individual counts and/or steps, make coffee runs, film the daily progress of the piece, or even call when it's time for a five minute break - all are part of the job description. In this case, the choreographer is Troy. Since I was not involved in one of the two new pieces for BalletCollective this year, as I am featured in <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>, Troy asked if I would like to try ballet mistressing again, but this time for professional dancers. (You can read about my experience as his assistant for his School of the American Ballet Summer Intensive <a href="http://balletcollective.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-new-chapter-new-joy.html" target="_blank">here</a>.) I immediately jumped at the opportunity as I love to coach and be hands on in the process of learning and perfecting ballets.<br />
<br />
Taking on the role of BalletCollective's Choreographic Assistant is different than my other experience working with students. This time, I would be working closely with my husband (not my boyfriend) and with my fellow BalletCollective colleagues. I thought to myself, this will be fun! I love to help make things more cohesive and clean for the group or even help coach friends in variations. I thought my goal would be to help alleviate moments of uncertainty and keep the process moving smoothly for Troy and his dancers.<br />
<br />
At first, I would arrive during the choreographic process, finding my place at a chair in the front of the room near the music jack, ready to be seated and be mostly silent. I would start and stop the music, help count out steps occasionally and help clarify if Troy needed it. At home, Troy and I would watch the daily videos of his work and critique every move - weeding out the bad and showcasing the good. Once the ballet was mostly mapped out, I had more liberty to chime in with my observations on corrections, mishaps and or moments of weakness in the studio.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6g2F-JEXvvk/VBYSdmpW2fI/AAAAAAAAAog/QORLgE2Pz40/s1600/DSC_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6g2F-JEXvvk/VBYSdmpW2fI/AAAAAAAAAog/QORLgE2Pz40/s1600/DSC_0145.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me watching Claire Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When we were in Telluride, it was close to show time. The ballet was rehearsed on stage daily, which gave a better vantage point not only for Troy as a choreographer but also for me as his assistant. We could see what worked and what didn't, what was weak, and where things needed to be more together and precise. Each day we would run the ballet, Troy and me sitting out in the audience, he watching, and me taking endless notes and corrections. I wrote down anything that he said, but also in between writing down his thoughts, I'd watch and take my own notes. He and I have different eyes and <br />
different minds (thank goodness for that!) so we would see different things. I'd spot many more mishaps than he - he mostly focusing on the choreography and me on the execution of the steps and the way the dancers looked. Using my eye to help make the dancers better is something I consider a gift. I find that I can spot problems and often suggest good solutions or corrections to make dancers feel more at ease or better understand Troy's movements. I think I was helpful, at least I hope I was!<br />
<br />
My ideas and thoughts going in to this new role were all
correct, except I forgot to think about how I would feel not being a
part of the group - now being a slight outsider. Working with students was easy. You say, they do. With professionals, we each have different ideas, our own learning processes, ways of moving and taking corrections. As I respect each one of Troy's dancers as my peers, dancers, and friends, I often felt uncomfortable giving endless corrections to them. Though they were receptive of my input, it was a tough time, learning to put that discomfort aside and focus on my task of being Troy's Choreographic assistant. In the end, I learned so much about myself, my insecurities and the world of coaching.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-91867158832796726842014-09-15T08:12:00.001-04:002014-09-15T08:12:51.697-04:00Meet the Artist Monday: Claire Kretzschmar<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MfvckkGxEJw/VBXnYpFKPdI/AAAAAAAAAoE/xFZRB8bmuIo/s1600/DSC_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MfvckkGxEJw/VBXnYpFKPdI/AAAAAAAAAoE/xFZRB8bmuIo/s1600/DSC_0126.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claire Rehearsing New Salle in Telluride</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Claire joins BalletCollective this season bringing her crisp musicality and dynamic athleticism to the New Salle piece and <i>The Impulse Wants Company.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is my Q and A with Claire: <b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Me: What does BalletCollective mean to you?</b><br />BalletCollective is a very intimate company made up of some of the most talented, individual, and genuine artists I know. Throughout the rehearsal process, it is inspiring to be around such people, and so uplifting to see how much we truly value each other as dancers and friends. There is no hierarchy in the company, which adds to this egalitarian feel and gives us the opportunity to freely explore our artistry. I feel very liberated on many levels when I dance with the company. <br /><br /><b>What do you enjoy about working with Troy?</b><br />Troy really understands that dancers are individuals with distinct personalities and movement styles. During the choreographic process, he allows us to infuse our instinctive movement qualities with his steps, which gives his ballets very unique and personalized qualities.<br /><br /><b>After a hard day of dancing, what is your favorite meal?</b><br />This is such a tough question because I love all foods! But I suppose that one of my favorite comfort meals is a hearty plate of pasta loaded with meat and veggies, and followed by a homemade brownie sundae or perhaps a slice of hummingbird cake from Magnolia Bakery.<br /><br /><b>Your most memorable onstage moment? </b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I was 19, I got my braces off on a Friday morning before our evening show of <i>The Nutcracker</i>, and I couldn’t wait to get onstage and show audiences my new, smooth smile. That night I decided to make my first entrance in the snow scene extra big, particularly since I enter from the back wing by myself. Turns out the snow scene was a bit icy that night and upon taking my first step, my leg slipped out from under me and I landed flat on my bottom! After laughing and smiling enormously throughout the rest of the dance, I remember Megan Fairchild saying to me after, “Your slippery teeth must have made the ground slippery too!” I think that was my first fall ever onstage.<br /><br /><b>What's your favorite way to pass time?</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love to play good music on my speakers and bake something delicious in the kitchen.<br /><br /><b>What are you reading?</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’m not reading any books for pleasure at the moment, but I’m reading an interesting book for school called “Influence” which explains how people can persuade and be persuaded in everyday life.<br /><br /><b>What's the most recent song/album you've downloaded?</b><br />I just downloaded the Grand Budapest Hotel Soundtrack; it’s so quirky and puts me in the best mood!<br /><br /><b>If you could die and come back as an animal, what would you be?</b><br />Flying as a bird would be amazing, but I think I would want to be a sea otter because they look like they have so much fun swirling around in the water!<br /><br /><b>Your greatest influence?</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My parents - It’d be impossible to list the all of the ways that they have influenced my life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Claire is a wonderful addition to BalletCollective. It has been great to work with her both in coaching and as a fellow dancer on stage. I look forward to our New York season and watching her grow as a dancer. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-69339987459274741282014-08-26T08:21:00.000-04:002014-08-26T08:21:05.091-04:00New Salle<div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The <i>New Salle</i> piece is great. I know I may sound biased, but by </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the same token, I have been involved, in some </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">capacity, in all of Troy’s works and I think <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> and the <i>New Salle</i> are two great ballets. Each is a huge step forward </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">in his choreographic growth and maturity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The <i>New Salle</i> features five dancers, Taylor, David, Lauren, Meagan, and Claire. The music is composed by Ellis (with Troy’s influence) with the collaboration of David Salle who created artwork</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> (a series of 8 pieces) that helps drive </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the music and then Troy’s choreography. Each movement is unique in all aspects</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">. The music is distinct through all eight movements. One of the things that I find so special about this piece is that each movement is completely different from the next, musically and choreographically. It is varied and complex, yet simple and clean. The piece is complete dance. I mean pure dance! No drama or froufrou - it is dance </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">at its best. The dancers each have moments all their own</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> whether it be a solo for one or a pas de deux, it is jam-packed </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">with pure talent and joy. I love watching the piece. It makes me want to get up and dance. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Salle Photo by Troy Schumacher</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Though in the high </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">altitude, the piece was an extreme push for the dancers. As it is pure dance, they hardly stop moving. Oxygen was heavily used </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">throughout the rehearsals! (Thank you Palm for providing the tanks!) Not sure what we would have done without them. Like Impulse and Dear and Blackbirds, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we worked our way through each section daily, giving corrections, cleaning and making choreographic changes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Towards the end of the rehearsal week, Troy finished the 18 minute ballet! It was a day of celebration! He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to finish the piece before the workshop performance but being in Telluride was definitely inspiring and helped him to create!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Stay tuned for my experience being Troy’s Choreographic Assistant </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and our adventures in Nature!</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-77479694852343064652014-08-19T08:09:00.002-04:002014-08-19T08:12:54.029-04:00Telluride Rehearsal Fun<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire Island Dance Festival<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The next few days were hard work. No more easy days! We started every day with ballet class taught either </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">by Troy, Lauren or David. Each class was very different but our "teachers" </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">welcomed some </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">fun. Along with their varied </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">styles of teaching was </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">eclectic or pop music, depending on their mood, a nice change from formal classroom routines</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">. Though the studio space was limited, the room was fully equipped and had an amazing sprung floor (the floor was made by using tennis balls placed in the corners joining the wood planks to create spring). It was such a pleasant surprise to find that the floor was great. (Often times, when performing at smaller theaters or other venues, the flooring can be a problem - causing injures, and pain to your joints.) The class environment was intense. We worked hard, pushing ourselves to break through the altitude difficulties and move toward </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">better stamina. It was a process but BalletCollective is used to process!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">After class, we moved to the stage for rehearsals! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Troy usually began rehearsing <i>Dear and Blackbirds </i>with Harrison and me first</span><span style="color: #ff2500; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">because we needed only 15-30 minutes to run the piece (this allowed the other five dancers to take a quick break before moving on to </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the other two ballets). At the Fire Island Dance Festival we performed an excerpt of the pas de deux; in Telluride, we were to show </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the complete nine minute plus </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">pas. At this</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> intense degree of altitude, Harrison and I felt out of shape. Just</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> a week prior out by the ocean,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> we were performing seven minutes without </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">any problems. Yet, at </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">8500 feet above sea level, we couldn’t even get through the first movement --only 2.5 minutes! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We started out slow, stopping when we felt like we were going to “die”, making sure we did not overdo</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> it the first couple of days. We wanted </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to gain momentum but not peak too soon (a </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">dancer tries to time the readiness of the piece and the</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> performance just right so you are at your highest level the day of the performance). We worked our way through all four movements daily.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After that 15-30 minutes I was pooped! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But I still had another ballet to rehearse: <i>The Impulse Wants Company. </i>Putting together <i>The Impulse Wants Company </i>was refreshing but also tedious. It is always nice coming back to a ballet you are familiar with. Your body has wonderful muscle memory and, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">in a way, magically just knows what to do or how to move depending on the ballet. Especially when a ballet was created on and for you, the steps never seem to leave you. Six of the seven dancers were originals to the piece so we only had to work </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Claire into the piece. Troy, not having a </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">choreographer’s</span><span style="color: #ff2500; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">assistant to help with the staging, had to basically relearn Claire’s part to be able to coach and assist in her slotting in. Thankfully Claire had done her homework and taught herself most of the ballet on her own before arriving in </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Telluride. (It is very common for dancers to be asked to learn a ballet from </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">performance and rehearsal footage. It saves lots of time!) Most dancers check out videos of new ballets they are to learn anyway</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, just to begin familiarizing yourself with the context and style of the ballet, so teaching yourself is just one step further. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Claire fit in </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">nicely, beginning to make the role her own right from the start. We made it through <i>Impulse, </i>but it was definitely rough. Luckily we had six more days 'til </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">it was to be performed!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After a quick lunch break, Troy and I started to work on the last piece, title to be determined,</span><span style="color: #ff2500; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">with the other five dancers not involved in <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>. Currently it is noted as <i>New Salle</i> piece as the collaborators are Troy, Ellis and David Salle, an artist often exhibited at MOMA. I mentioned “Troy and I” because</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> I am his ballet mistress or as he likes to call it,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> the “Assistant to the Choreographer”. I have filled this position before, click<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://balletcollective.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-new-chapter-new-joy.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a></span><b> </b>to read about my experience during <i>Cut Capers, </i>and had a wonderful time working side by side with Troy and the other dancers, just in this </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">new capacity. The <i>New Salle</i> piece was a work in progress. Troy had choreographed about 12 minutes while we were in New York City, but had hopes of finishing the piece before our workshop performance in Telluride. Daily we would go through each section, of which </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">there are eight, work, clean and then </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">he would continue to create. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">By the end of the day, sometimes 5pm but mostly 6pm, we were all exhausted. A quick stop at the local market, Clark’s, to grab any needed ingredients for the evening's </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">meal and we were off to the Mesa for dinner and bed! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">More on the </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>New Salle</i> piece!</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-47314140955673254682014-08-15T09:03:00.002-04:002014-08-15T09:21:31.599-04:00Day 1...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Troy and I woke to the smell of fresh coffee brewing and bacon in the oven! BalletCollective was up and preparing for our first day in Telluride. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After breakfast, on the porch with a beautiful view, we gathered our dance bags, water bottles and, of course, the oxygen tanks (to help with the altitude) and packed everything</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">into our two rental cars. Troy drove and I worked the Sirius radio (40s on 4 or 80s on 8 were my favorites)! Before long, heading down the windy cliffs and endless fields towards Telluride, we arrived at The Palm Theater, our summer residency facility! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Palm Theater is a lovely theater, attached to the Telluride academic school and</span><span style="color: #ff2500; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">filled with a music room, basketball courts, dressing rooms, rehearsal studios and a performance stage and theater. Brandon gave us the grand tour (he was up and at ‘em early as he had to get the stage ready for us - have lights hung, the floor cleaned, oxygen tanks filled, and marley taped) and within minutes we were settled into our dressing room and then headed to the rehearsal studio for our first ballet class at high altitude. We all grabbed a spot at the barres and began stretching, doing our individual warmups. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Troy started class around 10:30am. (Sometimes it’s nice to stick to your normal routine, so morning class suited all of us.) Barre was tough, and center was even harder. We found ourselves out of breath after the easiest things (even walking up or down a flight of stairs). The altitude was more difficult than we had expected. I had a constant headache from the moment we landed in Montrose that lasted for 48 hours (and on and off all throughout the week) and others felt light headed or just plain exhausted. After class, and a few hits of oxygen, we walked through the three ballets in the small studio (all scheduled to be performed on August 2nd), taking it easy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Day 1 was a light dancing day as our goal was to acclimate to the conditions. But that did not mean go back to the house and rest…Tour Guide Harrison had plans for us! We set off for a small .25 mile hike to a water fall near the theater. Some of the dancers braved the freezing cold water and stood under the water fall! We then took a gondola ride to the next mountain, and relaxed at the Mountain Peaks Spa soaking in the Jacuzzi, swimming pool and having fun on the water slide! Harrison is a pro going down that slide!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Dinner and S’mores followed! Star gazing occurred too! More soon…</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-28184259395276660762014-08-12T07:46:00.001-04:002014-08-12T07:46:31.628-04:00Traveling to TellurideEarly last week, BalletCollective (all seven dancers, plus Brandon - lighting designer, and, of course, Troy) boarded a plane en route to Denver, Colorado followed by a quick transfer to Montrose, where we were to be shuttled an hour and a half to our home sweet home for the week, on Wilson Mesa outside of Telluride, for our first summer residency!<br />
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BalletCollective has always wanted to have a summer residency so when we were asked to come to Colorado, it was perfect. The thought of having the opportunity to be in a breath taking place such as Telluride, surrounded by nature, endless outdoorsy activities at our reach (to take advantage of after or in-between our rehearsals), and for Troy to get to create, and the company to rehearse and perform - was a dream come true.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Room with a View<br />
Photo By Ashley Laracey</td></tr>
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"Welcome to Colorado", the Captain announced. We quickly jumped off the plane and were immediately out of breath as the altitude in Montrose is just over 5000 feet. After grabbing some water at the concession located near baggage claim (supposedly to avoid altitude sickness one should drink tons of water) and collecting all our checked bags (yay they all made it!), we piled into the waiting 10 passenger van and began our journey to the Mesa. Upon arriving at Wilson Mesa, elevation over 8000 feet (located just 30 minutes outside the town of Telluride), we were all blown away by the beauty of the massive landscapes unique to Colorado. Waterfalls, large reddish rock, deer grazing in the fields, and the occasional brown bear or elk were our entertainment for the week. We were living in a National Geographic magazine or, even more, a NGC episode in high definition! It was truly unbelievable.<br />
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The house up on Wilson Mesa was generously donated for the week to BalletCollective. Just so happens it is home to one of our dancers, Harrison Coll, and his parents. It is their family home that they frequent often and for many weeks at a time most summers, winter and spring breaks. Harrison was in his childhood vacation home and definitely ready to be our tour guide for the week! He made our stay memorable and full of adventure! We are very thankful to him and his parents for their generosity. More on our adventures to come...<br />
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After receiving the grand tour of the "cabin" house, and everyone finding their new rooms, we began preparing our first meal on tour as a BalletCollective family. (The Coll's so kindly stocked the fridge with enough food for all nine of us for a few days, so we didn't have to make another trip into town for groceries after our 12 hour travel day.) Troy and some of the dancers cooked and a few us, including me, were the "Dish Queens". We had steaks, sweet potatoes, salad, and zucchini! It was delicious. We toasted with non-alcoholic beverages, as it is advisable to refrain from consuming alcohol (or other dehydrating liquids) your first few nights as it makes getting over the altitude sickness and adjustment to it harder. After a quick clean up we headed to the fire pit for S'mores and banter! <br />
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Soon the stars we shinning, shooting stars were shooting. We settled in for the night after everyone had witnessed a lucky shooting star! The adventures are just beginning... Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-63829037323407325992014-07-24T08:29:00.001-04:002014-07-24T08:29:46.187-04:00Fire Island Continued...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Performance<br />
Fire Island Rep Picture</td></tr>
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BalletCollective is "on deck"! I disrobe, taking off my Uniqlo warmups and my American Apparel legwarmers, and Troy gives Harrison and me one last "Merde". The hosts of the event begin announcing<i> Dear and Blackbirds</i>, talking about BalletCollective and its mission, as Harrison and I give each other a tight hug! We head to the stage stairs, I dab one last bit of rosin on my point shoes, and we both make our way up on to the amazing stage. The view is breath taking, the sun is smiling, and the audience is attentive. As we take our places, I look at Harrison and say "This is so freaking cool!"<br />
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The music begins! We walk.<br />
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<i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> is a ten minute pas de deux, yet only seven of those minutes was premiered. It is an intense duet that portrays a journey in the relationship of these two people, Harrison a young lad, and I an older, more experienced woman. He, at times, is a bit rambunctious, filled with young energy, not quite sure what he is doing or what he yet wants in life. As for my role, I know exactly what I want and need and go after those desires. We begin by walking, yet even at the start we each want to be going in different directions. The push and pull of our dynamic is evident. I get feisty; he accidentally throws me to the ground. After some time we meet in the middle - both in regard to each others' energy and personality as well as their journey to togetherness. I won't give it all away... but it is one of the most special pieces I have ever danced. It feels right in every way.<br />
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The first performance was interesting, though a bit nerve-racking at the start. As Harrison and I held hands to begin, the energy was flowing with slight shaky waves coursing through our bodies. Soon after five counts of eight we were off and in it. No more signs of nerves! The middle transition musical cue went well and before I knew it we were in the last movement. The emotions were there, Harrison and I were connected.<br />
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Troy was super pleased with the ballet and I could tell he was happy (It was the first time he had seen it performed, ever!) though he mentioned to me that "the last movement was too sad." I was shocked at his comment. The last movement felt so real for me and I was really moved at our connection. I felt as though Harrison and I could read each other's thoughts, feelings and hearts. Yet, somehow it came across as too sad to him. I was utterly confused. I took a moment to unwind by myself, grabbed some water and then returned to await the final group bow.<br />
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The first show was done! It was 6:45pm and we were all headed back to the green room to freshen up as the second show was about to begin in fifteen minutes.<br />
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Since the turn around time was so short, the second show to start at 7pm, there was no need to re-warm up. I covered myself in my warm-ups and stretched to keep the blood flowing.<br />
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"Five minutes to the top of the show!" called the tech crew. After the opening number, the Romeo and Juliet balcony pas de deux, a speech was given. During the speech I was stretching backstage. Soon into the speech, the talking stopped, and the EMT's arrived. Someone in the audience needed medical assistance. Fortunately the gentleman was able to walk out of the venue with the EMT's to receive treatment. The audience and performers sat patiently while this played out.<br />
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Before long the show resumed and we were on deck again...<br />
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Due to the medical emergency, the show was delayed about 20 minutes, unfortunately for the gentleman who got sick, but fortunately for BalletCollective because <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> was now to be performed in the prime sunset lighting!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset Show<br />
Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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Harrison and I stripped off our warm-ups, got our "Merde" hugs from Troy, and began to get pumped! I ran forwards and backwards to make sure my feet were awake (normally when you perform you have a chance to be on the stage a few moments before the piece starts to get the blood flowing or to try out a few steps). Seconds before we got the go ahead from the stage manager, I said to Harrison "It might be a long time before we do this pas de deux with sunset lighting again, so let's enjoy!"<br />
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We held hands and began...<br />
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The second show felt even better than the first. I hit my swivels (a swivel is a tricky step that seems like luck every time you try it - it's when someone basically just spins on one leg multiple times), the lighting was absolutely perfect and Harrison and I took the last movement to a different, less sad place emotionally. We had one minor glitch - in the third movement, but the audience didn't seem to react so we can't wait to see the video to analyze exactly what happened. (I would try to explain what happened but honestly I have no clue - one minute we were doing the steps, and the next we were both rolling on the ground.) We recovered quickly, maintaining our "in it faces" and finished out the pas de deux.<br />
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After the final bow, we all headed back to our hosts' houses, freshened up, and had a celebratory drink before the scheduled "performers dinner". After a delicious dinner, on our way back to the 50's beach house, we made a pit stop at the local bar Sip N Twirl, checked out the scene, and then called it a night!<br />
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It was a long day, and I was exhausted. More on our last day in the Pines tomorrow...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-70553175987277968082014-07-22T08:55:00.000-04:002014-07-22T08:55:35.406-04:00Fire Island - Dancers Responding to AIDSBeing a part of the Fire Island Dance Festival was an absolutely incredible experience! BalletCollective not only made its company debut appearance at the festival, we also premiered an excerpt of our newest work <i>Dear and Blackbirds.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awaiting the Pines ferry<br />
Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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The journey to the island is a bit of a trek - an hour and half bus ride from the city to The Pines Ferry, a 20 minute ferry ride, and then a casual walk on the boardwalk to the location. But once you set your eyes on the Pines and the Fire Island Dance Festival performance venue, you fall in love.<br />
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Throughout the weekend, the performers and dance companies were on tight itineraries to ensure that we could make it to all the wonderful events, see the amazing beach houses (our hosts have an original 50's beach house!), take a dip in the many pools, and of course be wined and dined by the amazing people who make the Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA) possible.<br />
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Friday, after arriving on the island, we made our way to the first of our scheduled events - a pool party! We relaxed, had some lunch, and then freshened up for the opening night cocktail party. We were then punctually whisked away to the cocktail party, met a few hundred people, and enjoyed a performance by the Mark Stuart Dance Theater. Immediately following we were graciously met by our host families holding up a sign that read "Troy and Ashley Schumacher". Troy and I were hosted by Jim Streaker and Scott Ahlborn. Upon arriving at their beach house we were immediately struck by its 50's charm and detail! Jim and Scott were so welcoming, respectful, open, <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50's Beach House<br />
Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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funny and just a joy to be around. Troy and I were greeted in the morning by coffee and a freshly made frittata with vegetables from their garden, and in the evenings after the performances yummy Malibu cocktails or martinis with pickled green tomatoes! We sat, watched the passers-by from their all-glass windowed living room, and enjoyed each other's company!<br />
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Our host family's house was conveniently located two doors down from the dancers' greenroom and four doors down from the performance venue. We had the best and most prime location for everything! It made life so much easier (the other dancers had to lug their performance clothing and dance bags to and from events to make sure they'd have all that they needed for the tech run through and performances). I just had to walk next door.<br />
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Because the greenroom was so close to my house and the performance venue, Harrison Coll and I warmed up in my hosts' kitchen. It was more comfortable and less chaotic than the greenroom, as we were only two, instead of 20, trying to warm up and get in the zone. <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> was fifth on the program, so at the top of the tech rehearsal or show, Harrison and I would make our short walk to the green room, put on our costumes and make any last minute adjustments before being escorted to the venue.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rehearsal "Dear and Blackbirds"<br />
Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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Saturday was performance day! After a brief orientation and coffee time with our hosts, Harrison came over and he and I gave ourselves a ballet class warm-up in the kitchen. Our tech run-through was at 1:40pm. This was our first time up on the stage, feeling the floor, etc. The intense natural sun light was blinding, and the no wings or backdrop (just the ocean) was disorienting, but after a few minutes of trying things we were ready to begin our walk through. Troy went over the musical cues with the tech crew while Harrison and I took our places for the top of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>. In the midst of our tech rehearsal, Troy says to us, "Get together... picture time!" We do as we are told, and then look behind us and there, waving, were Jim and Scott... kayaking behind the stage! It was the coolest thing ever! They watched our run-through from the ocean. <br />
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After our run-through, Troy, Harrison and I took a dip in Harrison's hosts' pool to cool off and relax for a few. At 3:15pm Troy and I headed back to our 50's beach house to regroup and get focused for the first performance. At 3:30pm I jumped in the shower to warm up, then started to put on my face (do my stage makeup). Since the lighting is "au naturale" my stage makeup reflected that: mascara, a little eyeshadow, blush and lip gloss. At 4pm Harrison came over and we began our joint warm up together. An hour later, the show began. We headed over to the greenroom, slipped on our costumes-- mine a blue dress from Lord and Taylor, and Harrison's a Uniqlo polo shirt and mustard yellow Zara pants cut into shorts--styled by myself, Troy and Jeff from the DRA. I sewed in my point shoe ribbons, grabbed last minute rosin and a sip of water. Soon we were escorted to the "on deck" position and awaited our turn!<br />
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To be continued...<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-44560798415799113472014-07-16T09:54:00.001-04:002014-07-16T09:54:15.356-04:00Day 1 Fire Island Rehearsal Period<div>
After a hard week touring with NYCB in Saratoga, Troy, Harrison and I are back in NYC, working on <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>. An excerpt of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> will debut this weekend at the Fire Island Dance Festival!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rehearsing in Saratoga<br />
Photo by Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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Yesterday's rehearsal was so much fun! Up until then, we had worked on <i>Dear and Blackbirds </i>in segments meaning section by section, continuing to choreograph the lengthy pas de deux and rarely going back to the beginning. This was because we were rehearsing with limited time in between NYCB rehearsals or during performances, so the priority was to keep making progress on the choreography and save the connecting and cleaning for this rehearsal week. </div>
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Troy's plan worked! We started the rehearsal with a calm confidence knowing that the excerpt of <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> to be performed at Fire Island was finished choreographically, so Troy could focus on piecing it together. To aid in the connecting of sections, Harrison and I did our homework (meaning we watched the rehearsal videos the night before so we could come in prepared knowing all of our steps). </div>
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Harrison and I took our places for the start on the ballet and Troy pushed play! We were off! Though not making it too far without stopping, we managed to work our way through the seven minute pas de deux. Fixing heads, arms, timing, and working on character development, within an hour we had gone through the entire ballet. Harrison and I grabbed some water, and then while looking out the window into the hustle and bustle of Times Square, both thought "We should try running this thing!"</div>
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So that's exactly what we did. "Taking it easy," we said, but easier said than done. We didn't take it easy, we ran <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i>! It was a great feeling to be able to run the ballet and see our way through to the end. As the ballet is only two dancers it is physically demanding so to reach the end pose we were both beyond thrilled. We did it! No mess ups, no stopping! </div>
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Harrison, Troy and I all left New 42nd Street Studios feeling excited!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-10053741664574296052014-05-22T08:57:00.000-04:002014-05-22T08:57:37.033-04:002014 Season AnnouncementBalletCollective is back!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> <br />
Photo by Erin Baiano</td></tr>
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After our successful season this past summer at the Joyce, BalletCollective is up and running again, gearing up for our 2014 New York Season to be held at NYU Skirball, October 29th and 30th. It is exciting to be back in the studio again working on new pieces for BalletCollective.<br />
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This year BalletCollective has 2 new dances planned in addition to last year's<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/arts/dance/troy-schumacher-and-balletcollective-open-eyes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&" target="_blank"> <i>The Impulse Wants Company.</i></a> The first new work is to feature the collaboration of director and choreographer Troy Schumacher, indie rock composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone and artist David Salle; the other new piece, titled <i>Dear and Blackbirds,</i> will feature the second collaboration of Troy, Ellis, and writer Cynthia Zarin.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5RUdDBoU-7I/U30DW-QyDnI/AAAAAAAAAgI/Xc_hP35pH-s/s1600/130814-335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5RUdDBoU-7I/U30DW-QyDnI/AAAAAAAAAgI/Xc_hP35pH-s/s1600/130814-335.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Impulse Wants Company</i><br />
Photo by Erin Baiano</td></tr>
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The process of creation for <i>Dear and Blackbirds </i>is off and running. The poem is written and the music is mostly complete. The dance, a 10 minute pas de deux for Harrison Coll and me, is in the beginning stages. Troy began working with us one evening last week before a NYCB performance to get a sense and feel for the ballet and the direction it should take. Harrison, an energetic young lad, portrays just that in the piece. I am an older woman (as I am about 10 years older than Harrison, AHHH), annoyed at his youth but interested in his vitality. The piece starts out fast paced for Harrison and slow and steady for me. It has been fun and interesting working with Troy and Harrison on this pas de deux. Harrison and I have a very playful dynamic which seems to be perfect for this project. We are both open to ideas and feel quite comfortable working together (we should, considering Harrison was my first "Party Scene child" in the Nutcracker about ten years ago!). I am encouraged by our first three rehearsals and like what Troy has created so far.<br />
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Stay tuned for more about <i>Dear and Blackbirds</i> as the ballet progresses along with all the inside scoop on BalletCollective and its company!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-33863760364868286812013-08-27T19:19:00.001-04:002013-08-27T19:24:05.204-04:00BalletCollective in The Times<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">The moment BalletCollective had been waiting for... The New York Times Review!</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether you're a dancer, musician, choreographer, librettist, composer or director, you are all conscious of the reviews about the performances. Monday, August 19th marked a "first" for BalletCollective: our first review by the toughest critic for the New York Times - Alastair Macaulay. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stepping out on stage for the first time opening night at the Joyce Theater, one of my thoughts was... "I hope they like us!" Being theinsider, I was aware that many critics were to attend BalletCollective's performances. Who would write reviews and who wouldn't was up in the air. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Days after the performances, Troy and I were still on such a high. It was an exhilarating experience. We kept thinking what great performances we showed. Yet, what we think isn't everything. What the critics think is important too. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then The New York Times review by Alastair was published. It is an incredible review. Alastair comments on all art forms of the collaboration (naming the dancers and collective members), and raves about Troy and BalletCollective. He calls Troy's ability as a choreographer, "a completely fresh use of familiar ballet language. And it’s the firmest sign, among many in the two works shown by Mr. Schumacher and BalletCollective last week at the Joyce Theater, that his is an intriguing new dance voice."</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alastair acknowledges the way Troy allows the audience to see into the society he has created, and also talks of his refreshing style: "He's addressing central questions about the genre of ballet — music, gender, body language, academic vocabulary — and without strain. His answers look both direct and unforced, experimental and refreshing."</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He concludes by saying that BalletCollective and Troy Schumacher are the Joyce's "Balletv6.0's real discoveries"! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you missed The Times article, you can find it <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/arts/dance/troy-schumacher-and-balletcollective-open-eyes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hearing the audience roar at the end of each performance was special. Reading the review in The Times was the icing on the cake! Cheers to many more years for Troy and BalletCollective! We look forward to the future and our next performance.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-84800209395444636542013-08-21T08:38:00.000-04:002013-08-21T08:38:06.533-04:00The Second Time Around<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Erin Baiano</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday was BalletCollective's second performance at the Joyce Theater. It marked a "first" </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">for BalletCollective: our first two performance season. BalletCollective has never had two consecutive performances. Usually we have a one night only performance so having the second night was a special treat for the company. The dancers and musicians had a second chance to perform these ballets, and the collaborators another look at their creation, while Troy had an opportunity to take a second look at his company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we had performed Wednesday night and celebrated 'til the early hours, Thursday was scheduled as a late start day. Even though I was up late celebrating, I rallied to take Willy Burmann's 10:30 am class at Steps on Broadway. Although Troy was offering company class later in the day, I knew my body needed to get moving early. Each dancer is different. My body tends to function better if I take an early ballet class, then rehearse and perform in the evening. However some dancers prefer to sleep in, rest 'til warmup class a few hours before the show.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Willy's class I grabbed a quick lunch and took a cat nap just in time to head to the theater for Troy's company class. Troy taught class on the stage. I took again, even though I had already taken ballet class. For me I was hopeful that it would work for my body as a rehearsal does. I don't like to perform without having rehearsed that day. My muscles perform better when they are tired and have been pushed earlier that day. After our warmup Troy opened the time up for anyone wanting to rehearse. A few of us wanted to get a puff in (this means getting your heart rate up and getting out of breath) as it helps with stamina. If you have been puffed during the day in rehearsal the performance usually feels easier. I ran the first movement of <i>Epistasis</i>, Fireflies, with some of the dancers. Fireflies calls for a lot of energy and involves fast paced jumps. Running only the first movement allowed me to get that needed puff without completely exhausting my legs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warm and my blood flowing, I banged my pointe shoes on a brick wall (banging the pointe shoes helps to minimize the sound of the shoe on the stage. It is never good to hear dancers running or clunking around.) and headed downstairs to begin my pre-show make up and hair.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon I was ready and in the studio warming up. My third barre of the day. My legs were finally starting to feel like my legs: a bit of tiredness mixed with adrenaline. I did my crunches, got a hug and "Merde" from Troy, and off to the dressing room I went. Moments later, an Altoid in my mouth, I was beginning my traditional on-stage warmup as the audience filled up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday I felt strange. I was excited, relaxed, and tired. I wasn't sure how the performance was going to go. Some nights you have a feeling that the show will go one way or the next, but that night I was unsure. The lights went dark and we were on stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> was in motion. Kaitlyn nailed her first solo. From that moment on I knew the show was going to be a good one. Twenty minutes later all the dancers but Taylor were off stage in the wings. We had just finished our last steps. While we watched Taylor execute his intense solo, some dancers were happy with their performance and some had complaints. It is interesting to do a ballet with live music two days in a row. Musically things sound different, there is a different energy amongst the dancers on stage and with the music. Therefore it is normal to have a different experience each night you do a ballet. For me <i>Impulse</i> went better Thursday night. No matter the difference in tempo or energy, I felt in the zone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bowed and ran to the dressing room to change modes into <i>Epistasis</i>. My quick change (costume and pointe shoes), hair change and make up refreshening happened much smoother than Wednesday. I was up and practicing on stage within minutes. I tried a turn from my pas de deux that didn't go as well as I would have liked on Wednesday. Then it was "places".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Epistasis</i> was happening. Right before I made my first entrance I remember thinking, "enjoy every minute, you never know when you will get to dance this again." As I am an original member of BalletCollective and <i>Epistasis</i>, this ballet is very special to me. And to be given the opportunity to dance the central pas de deux, something I have watched and admired for years, was a dream. Each section of <i>Epistasis</i> I relished in the moment. Dancing my solo in silence and the pas de deux with Taylor were amazing. I remember thinking how quiet the house was when I was making my way through my solo. Then smacking my foot on the ground at Taylor was the beginning of the end. After meeting eye to eye we parted to our respective sides of the stage. The music began and we were connected. The musical cues met us at the appropriate times and we were in control of our time together. As we joined in a series of crouching steps, Taylor whispered to me " here we go!" The "break down" music (the fast break and transition into the coda of the pas de deux) jolts and then moments later we were breathing hard and in the end pose. We slightly catch our breath and the ballet continues. For a quick moment Taylor and I find ourselves off stage about to enter for the last time. It was a last push till the end. We looked at each other, high fifed and said "We got this!"</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Erin Baiano</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One last look and Taylor and I were slow dancing in an embrace as the lights went dark. I will remember this moment forever. Together BalletCollective had made it. All seven dancers were joined in that instant together. The bond and the memories had been made. We bowed together as a group, and each separately. It was an incredible feeling to be applauded and recognized alone, each of us, for our performance and hard work as dancers. I want to feel that again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BalletCollective had made its mark. We are officially on the ballet map. Thank you to our supporters and all who were there at the Joyce.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That night BalletCollective was excited. Troy was thrilled and encouraged for the future of his company and mission to create collaborative work. The dancers: happy, relieved and hungry. We as a group celebrated at BareBurger. We cheered to the future (and for a fair review from the critics)!</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-23971492657286892612013-08-19T10:15:00.001-04:002013-08-19T10:15:59.445-04:00Joyce Performance Recap: Wednesday<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Erin Baiano</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I am somewhat rested, a day under my belt in Tennessee and my dog Bailey on my lap, I<span style="text-align: center;">thought I would share my insider's view of BalletCollective's experience performing at the Joyce.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday the nerves were flowing. Why? Because there was much to accomplish in a short amount of time. With the ballets in performance-ready shape it was now a matter of configuring the lights and working the ballets on the actual stage. The Joyce's Balletv6.0 festival only allows a day of the show load in and load out. This tight set up and take down enables the Joyce to have six companies in the short two week run. Yet, it makes for a stressful start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As BalletCollective had never performed at the Joyce theater, we were all unsure of what the experience would entail. Troy and Brandon headed to the theater bright and early Wednesday morning. With only two hours allotted to hang, prep and configure the lighting, Brandon needed to have his design set before he entered the theater. Troy's dad and stepmom acted as dancer doubles by walking around the stage while Troy and Brandon worked out the kinks of the lighting. By noon, the lighting had been cued and the stage was ready for the dancers and musicians.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BalletCollective arrived at the Joyce in time for our one and only rehearsal in the theater, which so happened to be our dress rehearsal as well. The Joyce Theater designates the company's dress rehearsal as the official time for the press photographers to shoot. This then makes for a pleasant performing experience for the performers and the audience members, as there are no photography/photographers allowed during performances.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our dress rehearsal went off without a hitch! We ran both <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> and <i>Epistasis </i>smoothly. BalletCollective was ready!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a short break, a chai tea and a banana (my pre-show snack) I was ready to begin my performance make-up and hair. The dancers, all in the same dressing room (this may be unconventional to most, but we enjoy being together no matter our gender. Bathrooms suffice for changing and keeping privacy.), have the music blasting as we put on our stage faces. With many jokes being made and fun stories being told, the dancers were calm and seemed to be pumped up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An hour before the curtain goes up I am in the studio warming up. First some stretching and light strengthening exercises, then I am ready to begin my barre (a series of ballet exercises that we do to ensure that our muscles are ready to perform). Sweating in my LuLu Lemon warmups, I do my last part of my warmup: my crunches to ensure a tight center and also in hopes of showing cut abs (for both my costumes I was wearing a midriff top which showed my tummy... yikes).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we were all finishing up our warmups, Troy entered with "Merde cards" (comments on our work) and began his pre-show pep-talk. Troy acknowledged how a year ago he didn't know where BalletCollective would be, let alone be debuting at the Joyce Theater. He expressed his appreciation and gratitude for all of the dancers' hard work over the past few months. Getting choked up, he slowed down and took a deep breath as he explained how much he had loved working with each one of us, and that he couldn't have done this without us. He rounded the room with hugs for all while wiping tears. (It was extra hard for me to hold back tears as I watched Troy get emotional. We and BalletCollective have come so far that it was a great sense of joy to be where we were.) He said Merde and out he went to the audience. It was now up to us to pull this off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Costume is on and I head to the stage to practice before the "curtain goes up".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of BalletCollective's signature moves is to do away with the curtain. In all of our seasons we have never had a curtain for the performances. Most companies keep the pre-warmup and practicing a mystery but Troy thinks that it breaks down a barrier that makes the process more interesting for our audience members. It creates a more intimate viewing. The audience is able to learn about the dancers and their individual personalities and quirks. For example, I like to practice many steps and go over the ballets on stage right before the performance begins. I also do a specific on stage warmup which consists of running the perimeter of the stage, a few turns, and then 16 jumps (8 small, 8 big) followed by a high five on the last jump. Other dancers do not do as much. Some stand and chat, stretch or pace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon the house was packed. The sounds of excited audience members filled the stage. Brandon gave us the "places" call and the dancers cleared the stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The performance was about to begin. The musicians tuned and the lights dimmed. Hugs and exchanges of "merde" occurred. The first notes of <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> were heard... BalletCollective's debut performance had begun!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo: Erin Baiano</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The music to Impulse is quite difficult to count but the challenging rhythm must be counted because it determines where we are in the music and when we are to enter or do specific steps. Since it is not typical, easy to count music, we count as a group to stay focused. After all of us counting 6,10, 8, 10, first David went out and met Kaitlyn, who was already on stage. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dancers remaining in the wings kept their focus and before long Meagan, Lauren and I were counting our 10, 6, and three 8's. Then we were on stage. My first appearance at the Joyce was in action.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I knew it the lights went dark and we were running on stage to bow after <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i>. Throughout the ballet the energy on stage was incredible. Everyone was like one. The focus was intense. Each dancer was in the moment. It was an amazing feeling to be on stage with the entire group of dancers each giving 150%. This energy was matched by the audience. They seemed to be very into our performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bowed a number of times. Then the dancers scrambled off the stage and downstairs to our dressing rooms to quickly change our hair, costume, and shoes. After a quick refreshing of my makeup, and a new midriff shirt and shorts, I grabbed an Altoid and headed to the stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quick intermission was great because we had just enough time to change our clothes and freshen up but not enough time to get cold (staying warm is key to a great performance). I immediately reviewed my steps to <i>Epistasis</i>. Within minutes "places" was called. The lights went dark, and we were off!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I am an original dancer in <i>Epistasis</i>, this year I was also doing the central pas de deux in addition to my original parts in the ballet. My nerves were heightened for sure. The ballet calls for great stamina for all the dancers. I just wanted to dance well for myself and for Troy. We begin the ballet with a high paced energetic opening number which leads in to a series of solos (6 dancers have a solo). Immediately following my solo the central pas de deux begins as Taylor and I meet face to face. We locked eyes and I knew we were connected. Like <i>The Impulse Wants Company,</i> each dancer was living in the moment, intently focused, and filled with intense energy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before long Taylor and I were embracing in our final slow dance sequence. This is my favorite part of the ballet. The music matched with Troy's movement is quite touching. We had made it through <i>Epistasis</i>! All drenched in sweat, we were thrilled with the performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the lights came up, BalletCollective bowed. The dancers and musicians love seeing the enthusiastic crowd. I felt accomplished and so did BalletCollective. Thank you to all of you who supported us!</span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-89468856738599180702013-08-16T18:16:00.003-04:002013-08-16T18:17:29.477-04:00Joyce Performances<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BalletCollective's debut season at the Joyce this Wednesday and Thursday was an incredible experience. It was an amazing opportunity for the artists to share their work with a diverse and enthusiastic audience. Both nights the house was sold out with people lined up around the block waiting in hope of scoring one of the few remaining seats. Such a great feeling!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dancing the premiere of <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> and the reworked <i>Epistasis</i> at the Joyce was memorable. I can't wait to tell you all about it! But I am getting on a plane to visit my family in Tennessee where I will catch up on some much needed </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">R & R. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The full run down on BalletCollective's first season at the Joyce is coming soon, watch for it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, here are some captured images of both <i>Epistasis</i> and <i>The Impulse Wants Company. </i>Enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photos by Erin Baiano</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-20856446333094970212013-08-12T09:05:00.004-04:002013-08-12T09:05:55.835-04:00Meet the Artist Monday: Troy Schumacher<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">As a prominent dance critic characterized Troy Schumacher’s work, “Everything is alive, everything breathes, everything is now.” Inspired by historic ballet, music and art collaborative efforts, Schumacher has created BalletCollective as a twenty-first century model. Its mission is to present ballet-based work in an intimate setting with live music that represents contributions from the choreographer, dancers, musicians and artists who engage in an ongoing give and take process. Schumacher’s vision originated with BalletCollective’s predecessor in 2010, Satellite Ballet, and resulted in the production of three ballets, including “Epistasis” and “Warehouse under the Hudson.” In addition to founding and directing BalletCollaborative and Satellite Ballet, Schumacher has created original works for the Atlanta Ballet’s trainee program, the 92nd Street Y Fridays at Noon series and an interdisciplinary duet for a New York City Ballet principal and a Metropolitan Opera countertenor. The New York Choreographic Institute offered Schumacher a residency for its Fall 2012 workshop, during which he created a ballet to William Walton, as did the School of American Ballet, during which he created a ballet to Poulenc.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Here is my Q and A with Troy:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Me: What does BalletCollective mean to you?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Troy: BalletCollective is a venue for artists to collaborate as equals. It’s an opportunity for me, as a developing choreographer, to work with other artists across genres to be influenced and influence others. On the other hand, it’s an amazing opportunity for me to learn how to run a non-profit organization from the ground up. It’s a fascinating learning experience that puts me in touch with the amazing people that make ballet possible.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you enjoy about working with your collaborators?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Every time I participate in this process, it’s life changing and makes me think differently about both ballet and the other art forms that go into making our ballets possible. This season had an even greater effect on me. Working with Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Cynthia Zarin and Brandon Baker over the past nine months has been an amazing experience and I’m honored that they’ve devoted an amount of energy above and beyond what I expected. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What inspires you to choreograph?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So many things! But, above all, you can’t have a ballet without dancers. I’m so fortunate to be working with such an amazing group of dancers. Each of them is individual and strong, both as people and dancers. I’m very inspired by them and I owe so much to the hard work and hours they put into making BalletCollective possible! I strive to make them all look more like themselves and to give them each movements that make us all understand them more. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After a hard day of choreographing, what is your favorite meal?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love to cook. It’s an amazing way to unwind-- chopping vegetables. But I can’t always commit to a full meal after six hours in the studio, so lately I’ve been settling for just salad dressing and Seamless Web. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Your most memorable onstage moment?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I would say, bowing after our first [BalletCollective] performances as Satellite Ballet in NYC. It was such a huge accomplishment to start a non-profit and present a performance in New York that, when the show ended, I was overcome with emotion, which was something I hadn’t experienced at that level before.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What's your favorite way to pass time?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There’s something very meditative about sitting down at the piano. It’s just me and this amazing instrument, and it takes a lot of focus, which clears my mind.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What are you reading?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I wish I had the time right now. A book that I </b></span></span><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">recently read and </b><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">loved was Stephen Greenblatt’s <i>The Swerve.</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What's the most recent song/album you've downloaded?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The past few months, I’ve been in real focus mode, listening mostly to the music I’ve been choreographing to. But, last week I indulged with a little Robin Thicke, Daft Punk, and Hunter Hayes.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If you could die and come back as an animal, what would you be?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I would love to be a hawk. These are creatures that instantly mesmerize me: to be able to fly so effortlessly. If that wasn’t an option, I’d opt for shark, mainly so I wouldn’t be so scared in the ocean!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Your greatest influence?</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ah! So many. But, I really can’t ignore Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, for inspiring me to continue dancing.</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Anything else you'd like people to know about you...</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love to paint. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy has been working on BalletCollective's 2013 New York season for the past nine plus months. While dancing at New York City Ballet he often is wearing multiple hats: director, choreographer, collaborator, dancer, fundraiser, secretary, etc. to make this non-profit ballet company thrive. I don't know how he does it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy is so excited to see his hard work and dedication unfold onto the Joyce stage next Wednesday (and Thursday)! As a dancer in his company, and also his fiancée, the butterflies are building as we are only 2 days away until the big day! I hope we make him proud!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-65622542397525202332013-08-10T23:32:00.000-04:002013-08-11T17:22:21.239-04:00Four Days Until Showtime!<br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today marks the half way point in BalletCollective’s eight day rehearsal period leading up to Wednesday, our opening night.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As our Joyce debut is fast approaching, we have been rehearsing six hours daily. Like BalletCollective’s first rehearsal period, where we accomplished a 22 minute ballet - <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i> - in just 9 days, this time we managed to put back together </span></span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">The Impulse Wants Company </i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">meaning we left the ballet for a few weeks so now when we are back again, the dancers and other artists have to remember the choreography and get the piece looking whole again)</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and re-work </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Epistasis, </i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">an older work, (the second ballet on the program) in just four days.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy and the dancers did their homework and certainly came prepared, but this rehearsal period is functioning slightly differently than our previous rehearsal time. We have a ballet mistress, Glenn Keenan, to help the dancers and to assist Troy. Glenn, a former New York City Ballet dancer and now a ballet mistress for the company, is trained in this field. Having her being in the studio has allowed Troy to focus on wearing one hat: choreographer, rather than trying to fill two. As Glenn becomes more acquainted with the ballets and Troy’s choreographic style, the ballets are looking sharper. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glenn’s previous experience as a ballet mistress has enabled her to join BalletCollective’s process seamlessly. I must say that having Glenn in the studio makes everyone's job much easier. Before we had a ballet mistress, I tried to help Troy out by wearing both the dancer and ballet mistress hats. It was difficult to dance and try to focus on everyone else. Having the extra pair of eyes in the studio allows me to focus on myself and my dancing. At the same time we as a whole look better and have a clearer picture of what the steps are supposed to be, and on what counts exactly to move. Glenn is a life saver!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Troy Schumacher</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tonight, Troy and I are celebrating (as I'm sure the dancers are too in their own way) with dinner and drinks at Cafe Frida. Yet not celebrating too hard, we still have a lot of work to do before Wednesday! </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up... continue cleaning, tweaking and running both ballets in sequential order to build stamina for the big night!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568325691075150737.post-57425695301160895712013-08-06T07:40:00.000-04:002013-08-06T17:36:07.121-04:00A New Chapter: A New Joy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 25th marked the end of something special, an experience I will treasure always. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It all began towards the end of our New York City Ballets spring season, when Peter Martins, the head of the company, approached Troy about participating in the School of American Ballet Summer Course's Choreographic Workshop. Although Troy already had a busy summer lined up, he felt this was too great an opportunity to turn down. So starting July 15th, the day after we returned home from our New York City Ballet Saratoga season, "we" began working with the students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mentioned "we" began working with the students. That's right! I was involved, not as a choreographer or my usual position as a dancer, but as Troy's ballet mistress. This was a position I had not experienced before. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last fall when Troy was choreographing for New York City Ballet's New York Choreographic Institute, I came as close as I ever had to experiencing a position as a ballet mistress. I "helped" out the two days leading up to the workshop showing. My job was to "clean up" arms and heads, which means make sure the positions are crisp and clear and relay corrections from Troy to the dancers on their movements; I was a last minute "dust bunny". (This was only a small taste of what I would come to experience this summer, which would turn out to be ten-fold more work and responsibility.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For nine days, during the last two weeks of the School of American Ballet summer course, the advanced levels, both male and female, take their normal two, two-hour classes, daily and in addition work with a choreographer from 6-9 pm. The goal of the program is to give the advanced students an opportunity to work with a professional, experience new movement, and perform. Not only does this benefit the students but it also allows the School of American Ballet faculty to see what the dancers can do outside the academic ballet class. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Monday, July 15th, Troy entered the studio as choreographer and I entered as ballet mistress. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy began and so did I. As I had no hand in casting the ballet, my first step was to learn each student's' name, all 18 of them! This was the easy part. Getting them to dance the way Troy and I wanted them to was the most difficult part. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being a dancer, not only at City Ballet, but also working under Troy as a dancer in BalletCollective, I have a pretty good understanding of what he likes and what he is looking for. Although Troy usually tries steps out on me before the rehearsal process begins, for this SAB ballet, just coming off choreographing his latest BalletCollective ballet, <i>The Impulse Wants Company</i>, he wanted a more spontaneous approach and to feed off the youthful energy of the student dancers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy's job: to choreograph a great ballet. My job: to help with the demonstrating of steps, cleaning arms and heads, helping the students grow as dancers, building their confidence, and teaching them to perform and use their whole bodies to help them when they dance. All of us, the choreographer, the dancer and the ballet mistress, each face challenges!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Troy's Challenges</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">It's a really fun and different challenge to work with students, especially those on the brink of making the transition from dance student to professional dancer. As opposed to simply just choreographing, I also get to teach them how to be choreographed on, which is always very different from ballet class. It was fascinating to watch all sixteen kids grow exponentially from the first day to the last."</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Dancer's Challenges</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is an interview I did with Olivia Behrmann, one of Troy's dancers. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Olivia describes her experience this way:</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: Where are you from and how old are you?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Olivia: I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana and am 15 years old.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">What are the challenges you face as a dancer in a new choreography piece? </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think some of the challenges I face as a dancer in a new choreography piece are being able to pick up the choreography quickly and doing it exactly the way the choreographer wants. Also, it is important to understand the mood or tone of the piece and what the choreographer's vision is so I can convey his message through my dancing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;"><b>What helped you the most in this experience?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What helped me the most in this experience was having you and Troy there for the rehearsals. You were both good at explaining the steps and paying attention to every detail. It was helpful that you were there to clean sections while Troy worked with a particular dancer or small group of dancers. It was also helpful that Troy explained what the piece was about before we started. We knew the piece was supposed to be happy and playful.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Did you feel accomplished after the showings?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I definitely felt accomplished after the workshop performance. It was a great feeling to have the piece come together because of everyone's hard work. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">What did you learn or take away from the SAB summer course workshop experience?</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;"> </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took a lot away from the SAB summer workshop performance, and for me, it was one of the best parts of the summer course. First of all, it was amazing to have the opportunity to work with you and Troy, two real New York City Ballet dancers! Also, working together as a group to get a new choreography piece performance-ready (and something you and Troy would be proud of) was hard work, but very gratifying. It taught me that you have to be ready for the unexpected and be prepared to do your part to fulfill the choreographer's vision. The SAB summer course workshop was an example of how hard work and team work pay off!</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">What were your feelings after the workshop performances?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My feelings after the workshop performances were mixed. It was bittersweet because I was happy that the performances went well, but I was sad that the experience was over. I was also hopeful that you and Troy were proud of how the piece turned out. It was such an amazing experience, and I was so grateful to be a part of it. It was truly one the highlights of my summer course!</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Challenges</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being on the other side of the spectrum, now as a ballet mistress instead of a dancer, lent itself to different challenges. Such challenges include:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Clarifying the Choreography:</b> I would translate what Troy showed and help to make everyone unified. Yet, there were 18 students to coordinate! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Corrections:</b> Getting the kids to remember their corrections from hour to hour and day to day. As a ballet mistress, I could clean the piece and have the dancers looking great one minute and the next, they have forgotten everything we just talked about! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Counts:</b> Learning the counts to the whole ballet was tricky. I now know why at times Troy counts wrong or forgets the counting sequence. There are so many counts and it's hard to yell them out, while watching for mistakes, and counting for all different groups (at times three dancers maybe counting something completely differently than another group or solo dancer.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Young Students</b>: Working with young students. These students ranged in age from 15 to 17 years old. Some have had lots of choreographic experiences and some have had none. It was a process to get the students to watch the choreographer or me explain the step and then replicate it. </span></li>
<li><b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corps de Ballet</b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Getting the students to work together as a corps de ballet. The dancers were not great at staying in lines or dancing as a group. Each dancer would be "dancing to his/her own drum!"</span></li>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lessons Learned and Techniques Used</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">In an effort to combat these challenges I turned to simple techniques.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Communication: Learning how to saying things in many different ways helps with the </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">absorption of corrections and choreography. Each dancer responds to different words. Learning how each dancer thinks and processes is key. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Break steps down: Learning to slow down helps tremendously. Steps can be complicated, so taking one step at a time often helps with </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">coordination. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Show don't tell: Some dancers respond and perform better by watching you or their peers try the steps and/or apply corrections. If they can see the difference, often times they can then apply it to themselves. </span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pizza Party</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the students often only had 30 minutes (dinner break) in between their last class and the beginning of our rehearsals, Troy and I threw them a pizza party one night during our first week of rehearsals. It was an opportunity for Troy and me to not only feed the dancers, but also to get to know the dancers outside of the studio. Soon after the initial scramble to get pizza, each dancer settled into a spot on the couch. Pizza in hand, casually chatting amongst each other, someone bravely asked me a question: "What is it like being a professional dancer in New York City Ballet?" For the next hour, small talk seized the stage and all of us were conversing about the professional world. </span><br />
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Pizza Party Talk with Ashley</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never thought the pizza party would turn to this subject, but I was so delighted to talk to them. To share with them my experience, my ups and downs as a dancer, and the things I have learned throughout my career was amazing. I hope that through our conversations I was able to provide clarity and answers about things one could only know by going through a professional career in the ballet world. The students left that night hopefully more informed, hopeful about their dreams, and with more confidence. Troy and I left feeling closer to these dancers and inspired by their love for ballet and its art form.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday night presented the biggest challenge of all! </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just two days before the showings, as the clock struck 9 pm, Troy finished the ballet! It was a very exciting and relieving moment to have finished the ballet with two days to clean and perfect. That night as Troy and I boarded the 1 train, heading back home, we both felt accomplished a lot. It had only been 7 days but the dancers were looking great and had come so far. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday morning I headed to the School of American Ballet to take the highest level ballet class. During the last few minutes of the difficult class, one of our dancers, who danced the lead in our ballet, tweaked her ankle. I panicked for only a split second because in a blink of an eye she was dancing again. She even finished out the class doing quick pointe work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I returned home to relax before our last late night rehearsal before the showings. At 3:30 pm Troy suggested that he and I both go get massages at the new massage place just steps from our apartment. He referred to it as "His Treat! And thank you for all the work I did". An hour later I had a 45 minute body massage with 15 minutes of foot reflexology. It was pure bliss!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Troy and I left, he got a phone call from the School of American Ballet's registrar, who sadly had bad news. "The dancer, who tweaked her ankle, was injured and would not be able to dance in the workshop showings". Our relaxing state of mind and body lasted all of two seconds. We scrambled to the School of American Ballet to re-stage the entire ballet; this time in only three hours!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the show must go on, Troy and I came up with a reasonable solution: to split the lead girl's part into six parts. This allowed more dancers to benefit from the experience and gave Troy and me a way to get the ballet ready for the showings the next afternoon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a stressful few hours, but we pulled it off! Both the dancers and Troy and I worked together like a team! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Cut Capers</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early Thursday afternoon, Troy and I conducted our last rehearsal for the premiere of his ballet, titled </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cut Capers.</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We wished everyone "Merde!" (a ballet dancer's tradition for good luck) and in that instant our jobs as choreographer and ballet mistress were done. I explained to the dancers that the ballet was now theirs and theirs to have fun with. It was up to them now to remember all that we had discussed the past nine days and to put their performing touch on each step. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Both showings went extremely well! The music started and the students danced! The dancers showed off their individual personalities, performed and executed the steps with ease. It was a joy to watch. Each teenager entered that studio as a student and walked out as a dancer. Troy and I couldn't be more proud of the work they have accomplished in such a small amount of time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>Cut Capers</i> was a hit!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">The Ballet Mistress - Dancer Bond</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ballet mistressing has proven to be emotional. Throughout the process I began to notice attachments toward certain dancers. Working with the students day in and day out created an undeniable bond. Seeing them blossom into dancers only made that bond grow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the conclusion of the two weeks, while writing their "merde cards" (a tradition that most choreographers/ballet mistresses perform for the dancers in their piece. It is a way to write a personal message about your time working with each dancer), my heart was sick. I knew this was going to be the last time I saw them dance <i>Cut Capers</i>, but also the last time I would be in their presence, there as an encouraging light in their ballet careers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't know how attached I was to the dancers until it was time to say goodbye. Each good bye was hard, but giving my last hug to Olivia Behrmann was by far the hardest. Both of us in tears, and with a sick tummy feeling, it was then in that instant that I knew my experience as Troy's "dust bunny" was all worth it! Olivia is something special. Someone I will never forget. </span></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exceeding Expectations</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back at Thursday, July 25th, which marked the final day Troy and I would work <span style="line-height: 18px;">with the most amazing group of students at the SAB summer course, </span>I smile and then fill up with tears. <span style="line-height: 18px;">It was an indescribable experience that I will treasure always. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The dancers all performed so well! Each dancer pushed his or her self to the max, performing with such energy, and personality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I never thought this experience, as a ballet mistress, would be this rewarding. Not being compensated for this adventure, as a choreographer might, I definitely underestimated my reward. My experience was priceless! </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I learned so much about working with students and the choreographic/staging process. N</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">ight after night, seeing the students learn and grow, was beyond refreshing and opened my eyes to the other side of dancing: the creating or staging of a ballet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Still today, almost two weeks now, I get emotional when I think of my <i>Cut Capers</i> experience. The feeling of having an impact on these young dancers and possibly inspiring them to grow and become better is a feeling I will hold on to forever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Cut Capers</i>... </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Thank you for opening my eyes to joy and a potential future as a ballet mistress!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12467197218964677533noreply@blogger.com2