Day 1 Fire Island Rehearsal Period

After a hard week touring with NYCB in Saratoga, Troy, Harrison and I are back in NYC, working on Dear and Blackbirds. An excerpt of Dear and Blackbirds will debut this weekend at the Fire Island Dance Festival!

Rehearsing in Saratoga
Photo by Troy Schumacher

Yesterday's rehearsal was so much fun! Up until then, we had worked on Dear and Blackbirds 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. 

Troy's plan worked! We started the rehearsal with a calm confidence knowing that the excerpt of Dear and Blackbirds 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). 

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!"

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 Dear and Blackbirds! 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! 

Harrison, Troy and I all left New 42nd Street Studios feeling excited!