The end is in sight!

Well, as Adrian mentioned, we closed our season yesterday (although for some of us we still have  a bit more work to do... something about Washington D.C.). All day yesterday I kept thinking about all the growth I've gone through in the past season, and in the past few years since joining OBT. It's been such an amazing time, and I've gotten to do so much. I've worked for and with some truly amazing people and wouldn't change most of it for anything. It's really hard to put into words all the gratitude I feel towards everyone who has helped me along the way. This season has been one of so many opportunities for me, and if a year ago I had been told I would have been dancing all this, I wouldn't have believed them. It almost makes me want to bypass summer entirely and just get right on with Swan Lake (well, maybe in a week or 2). 

I know the break will do my body a lot of good, but the beginning of summer is always so bizarre for me. I get so used to seeing everyone from OBT everyday that all of a sudden it feels like time stops and I'm holding my breath until I get to hang out and play around with all my friends on a daily basis again. I mean, of course we all see each other from time to time, but not with the frequency that I've become accustomed to over the 9 months of the season. On top of that, summer always feels very nebulous. I have some plans, but nothing very concrete. I'm so used to my days being scheduled for me that once I'm in charge of it I just don't really know how to fill all that time. It feels very daunting. 

So, my summer goals are to teach as much as I can. Make new friends and reconnect with some old ones. Try at least one new dancewear pattern. Possibly work with Adrian on putting together some video logs for all of you about the goings on at OBT. I've been thinking about trying to improve my German. And above all else, try to keep you all updated on what it's like for us in the off season! 

Well, I need to get back to cleaning and packing and all that fun stuff. I'm going to do my best to blog daily about our DC trip and include tons of photos!

Here's a picture my friend Jessica Flores took backstage during Rubies. That ballet was what we call a "gut-buster". It's one of the most exhausting things I've ever danced, but also one of the most fun!

On the Mend

Well, my foot is finally feeling more or less back to normal. Phew. Although, I'm going to continue to baby it up until we finish the season, which means a nightly routine of rolling it out on a golf ball to help with the knots, massaging from the tips of my toes up to the top of my calf, and then icing.

That hurts a lot at first, but feels so good after about 1 minute. However, I can't do what a lot of dancers in the company can, which is sticking their feet in a bucket of ice water... That's just too much for me. :-).

It's been a very interesting experience sitting out these last couple of days. As I mentioned in my last blog, I've never taken a day off. I missed class once my apprentice year because my alarm didn't go off, but aside from that, perfect attendance. I guess it's comes from a combination of loving what I do (a lot), and also a fear that the one day I'm not there, something amazing/exciting/important is going to happen. Our careers are so short, and I don't want to miss a second of it. Anyway, I've been so antsy sitting up front and watching everyone get to dance around, I'm practically counting the seconds until I get to take class again on Tuesday. I'm sure this all makes me sound like a crazy person, but I'm ok with that.

I'm glad to see Adrian has finally started blogging. He is one of the people who helped me decide to write here, and he has a really unique perspective on things, so I hope you all enjoy what he has to say. A fun fact: Adrian and I first met at Pacific Northwest Ballet's summer program in 2003 and became great friends, we kept in contact after the program ended, and 5 years later, here we are working together. Small world.

Tuesday we will have our first complete run through of Rubies and I'm both nervous and excited. I've only danced my sections in pieces, and I've been told it's a tough ballet to dance all the way through because it's extremely athletic. We also have a rehearsal with the pianist(s?) who are playing RUSH for us in DC, and I'm very interested to hear what the music is like live (or at least the piano sections of the music). When you rehearse over and over to a recording you get used to hearing certain things in the music which are sometimes less pronounced, or not there at all, when played live. It can be frustrating for a moment, but then the joy of have live music takes over and you don't notice after about the third time you do it with the orchestra.

Ok, I think that's all the news from my corner of the world. I'll finish icing and watching Take Me Out to the Ball Game (starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) and then head to bed.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

~Steven

New kid on the blog

Hello Ballet Enthusiasts,

It seems everyone's got a fever for blogging, and I am no different. I'm excited to contribute to the blog community and give another male perspective on ballet.

A brief intro:

Name: Adrian
Hometown: Omaha, NE
Started dancing at: 6
First style of dance: clogging (that's a whole blog in itself)
Non-balletic interests: Scrabble, breakfast, coffee, bicycling, traveling, sunny days


Excited to share with you soon. More to come.

OUCH!

So, I'm in Rubies rehearsal today, dancing around with Yuka, and I do an off balance movement, my foot feels kind of weird, I stop moving for a second and... PAIN!

I'm not really sure what happened yet, but I know I feel nervous. I just got home from seeing the wonderful Dr. Zeller (she's a great doc, one of the ballet's biggest fans, and always there when one of us needs her) and it doesn't seem like it's anything wrong with my metatarsals, so hopefully it's just some soft-tissue inflammation/irritation. I'm going to get P.T. tomorrow morning, and then take the day off. I haven't missed a day of rehearsal since I started dancing here, so I'm not too worried about them being upset over that. Not that they would get upset, it's just they worry when a performance is nearing, and someone has to miss rehearsal. Anyway, I've just gotten a bottle of red wine and waaay too much chinese food and I am preparing to ice and elevate my poor foot.

Other goings on in OBT land: Jon Drake is unfortunately out for this rep due to an ankle injury, so we've had to hire Chauncey Parsons to come and dance Raymonda Corps/Soloists (I'm not entirely sure what we are in Raymonda) and Rubies Lead with Kathi. Chauncey currently dances with The Washington Ballet in Washington D.C. and he's a really nice guy. So, we're glad to have him around! Other than that, I think everything has been taught for this rep (I'm not positive about Tolstoy, but if it's not done I think it's close) and so now we're just cleaning everything. I was supposed to start learning someone's part in Tolstoy's Waltz tomorrow, and I'll still be there watching all my rehearsals, so I'll keep you all posted on that.

Anyway, I'm going to go watch a movie and eat my food and ice my foot.

Please send good thoughts my way!

~Steven

What a year...

Another comment from balletfan: "It would be interesting to read about how different it must be for a first year member of the company, who was a student last year, and the adjustments that had to be made."

Well, I have quite a bit to say about this, because this is a transition I made. Generally, it's not that big a contrast because you don't go straight from being a student to being a full company member. Between the two years, you are an apprentice.

Being an apprentice means you are both a student, and a company member, at the same time. Which means, you guessed it, twice the work. Every year the apprentice's situation is a little bit different. I can really only speak with any authority on my year. Some things have changed, and some haven't.

A general day for me would look like this:
10 - 11:30 am: Company Class
11:45 am - 2:30 pm: Company Rehearsal
2:30 - 3:30 pm: Usually lunch, sometimes a school show rehearsal
3:30 - 5:30 pm: Company Rehearsal
5:30 - 7 pm: School Class
7 - 8 pm: Men's Class, Pas de Deux Class, or School Show rehearsal

My apprentice year I was in two ballets a show, for almost every show (sometimes with more than one part per ballet). I was also dancing the lead in a very hard Balanchine ballet for the school show (La Source) as well as 2 parts in another ballet in the school show. I also had to send out videos and do an audition tour to find a job incase OBT didn't hire me. We were also rehearsing and performing a sort of mini introduction to ballet at various schools in the area. To top it all off, we received no pay. Fortunately for me, I grew up here and could live at home, but I know most of my fellow apprentices had to be supported completely by their parents.

Now, I don't want it to sound like it was all bad. I gained a lot of performance experience, and my dancing improved dramatically. I also got a taste for what company life was like while still having the security of being in the school and knowing that no one expected me to be perfect, and that I was still learning.

All in all, it was definitely a life changing experience. It worked well for me when all was said and done and now when I'm faced with difficult tasks I know that it's not going to be any harder than my apprentice year.

Everyone's story is going to be different, but that's mine.

~Steven

A Day in the Life of Mia

You've seen it from Steven's eyes, now here's a look at what a day is like for Mia Leimkuhler, another OBT dancer that has agreeably let us virtually job shadow her for a day.

My very interesting life:
Gavin's been sending out emails, cajoling us for war stories, and I've racked my brain for a few. But really, I have nothing. Sure, I have odds and ends of mishaps and sordid details of behind-the-scenes type things, but they all seem like inside jokes: I'm not wholly sure they're amusing to anyone else but me and the people directly involved. I'm not sure, for example, that most people would find it funny that when we found out we'd have to run Nutcracker Act II all over again during one rehearsal, Matthew Pippin announced that Christmas was cancelled. But the fact remains that I'm pretty sure my life as a ballet dancer isn't exactly thrilling or wildly interesting. If they made a TV show based on my life I'm pretty sure people would change the channel after about five minutes because 1. it's exasperatingly boring, or 2. they can't understand the random things that are coming out of my incoherent mouth. So, my normal day:

I wake up every day at 7:40am. There, that's one hint to the deep-running OCD that accounts for so many of my idiosyncrasies--I wake up at 7:40 because it's ten minutes more sleep than 7:30 but five minutes more time than if I woke up at 7:45. And by wake up I mean that I am up, I am resetting the alarm that rouses me from my slumber with the classical radio station. I know a lot of dancers who don't eat breakfast (something about not being able to eat anything early in the morning), but I can't imagine that. Breakfast gets me out of bed. I honestly get excited if I wake up and remember that I have fresh berries in my fridge or a shiny, brand-spanking new box of cereal to rip into (for the record, I'm disturbingly addicted to the frosted flakes they sell at Whole Foods). I learned the hard way, though, to put my glasses on before embarking upon breakfast; when you're groggy and partially blind the carton of chicken broth looks identical to the carton of soymilk.

I drive to the studio around nine-ish, earlier if I have physical therapy that morning or later if I couldn't manage to put together a decent-looking normal, pedestrian, non-lycra/microfiber outfit. Once at OBT I change into a non-pedestrian lycra/microfiber outfit, coax my hair into something that resembles a French twist and stretch out my major muscle groups before class begins at ten. Once class begins we all focus and work very hard.

Rehearsals are scheduled in blocks from 11:45 to 2:30 and 3:30 to 5:30, and depending what I'm rehearsing/involved in I could have a short day (read: out of the building by 2:30) or be at OBT until 5:30. We rehearse the ballets that are to be performed in the next program, or even in the program after that. There's always something to be rehearsed, fine-tuned and perfected, and I'm happiest when I'm in the studio pouring myself into a piece of choreography. Fun fact: In a rehearsal day that lasts until 5:30, I usually go through a wardrobe change of about three or so leotards. Those things become un-ladylike-ly (I'm fully aware that that isn't a word) sweaty and stinky and really, it's no fun being in a wet lycra onesie. So by the end of a full-day rehearsal week I've plowed through at least fifteen leotards and just as many pairs of tights. Not to mention a week's worth of normal-people clothes. So much laundry! This is why I dream of having a lovely washer and dryer set in my own apartment. Not in my own building, which I have, but physically in my apartment. My heart flutters at the thought of never having to make that desperate run to Trader Joe's at 8:57pm to buy, oh, a tin of mints and ask for a roll of quarters as my cash back.

Once home I throw down my bag, kick off my shoes, open my fridge and think about dinner. That's a lie, I've most likely been thinking about dinner since four pm. I'm quite good about cooking for myself. It's a good way to save money, I make lunches of leftovers, and by cooking for myself I ensure that I'm eating exactly what I want prepared exactly the way I want it. My fridge is abnormally full; I've learned this by peering into the fridges of friends and coworkers. Not only does my Fridgidaire contain aforementioned leftovers from previous meals, but the leftovers of the ingredients that went into said meals, various condiments for various cuisines (Asian sauces, salsas, jams and confits, the ubiquitous ketchup/catsup and about half a dozen mustards), and the binding building blocks of baking (hello, alliteration!)--eggs, butter, sugar, flour. The only fridge I've seen that resembles my apocalyptic food vessel is that of my downstairs neighbor, and she has two other mouths to feed. I only have to account for my own. But I like cooking, and a little pottering about in the kitchen is a nice way to unwind. Except for when I burn myself or realize I'm missing one crucial ingredient. Then it's not so relaxing.

After dinner there's email, the gym, French class on Wednesday nights, television (sweet, sweet HBO), shower, reading, bed. Elaboration: the gym happens because it helps keep my stamina up if I'm not rehearsing much in a given week, plus I enjoy the endorphins and it ensures that I'm wiped out and will hopefully sleep well. French class is a recent development, I'm enjoying being back in a school environment and fall upon my homework with what can best be described as furious purposefulness. I indulged in HBO this past summer and, like any true addict who's "only trying it and will give it up really soon," I'm, well, not. I climb into bed squeaky clean and read until my eyelids become very heavy and I realize that I've been reading the same sentence for the past five minutes. I click my bedside lamp off, compile a mental list of what needs to be done tomorrow, and with any luck I'm out.

It's not all that interesting, and aside from the spandex part it's probably close to any other working stiff's day. Granted that I have to pay more attention to the upkeep of my body more than, say, the guy at Trader Joe's who begrudgingly hands me a roll of quarters, but everything before and after the OBT part seems like a fairly common routine. When people ask me to describe what my life is like, what my working hours are and what I do with them, I explain that my job as a dancer with OBT functions like your given nine-to-five job, except that instead of sitting at a desk behind a computer I'm on my feet, dancing around. They then nod and look at me as if I'm five. Or crazy. Or else they ask me if I'm going to school (ha, I can now say yes, thank you non-credit French class!) or if I went to school. Usually I'm honest, explaining that instead of going to college I took my job with OBT, that essentially I found a job right out of high school (you know, just like Kobe Bryant).

Hi Everyone!

Hi! So, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing for the blog for a while now, and with a little encouragement from some friends, here I am!

A little bit about me: My name is Steven Houser and I am currently a Soloist at Oregon Ballet Theatre. This is my 3^rd year as a full company member. The year before that I was an apprentice, and the year before that I was in the school. I was born and raised right here in Portland, OR (not too far from the studios actually) and couldn’t imagine a better city to grow up in.

Anyway, I thought I would tell you all a little bit about my day today and yesterday. Yesterday began with class at 10 am at our studios, as it does most days. Christopher taught, and I felt like I had a pretty good class. After that I had an hour of rehearsal for the corps of Rubies, the Balanchine ballet that is coming up in our Russian Program. It’s been really interesting learning Rubies, because the last time the company did this ballet I was in the school. I remember going to the show and thinking “Wow, what an incredible ballet!” Ever getting to learn and dance something that great seemed like somewhat of a pipe-dream at the time, so being in the studio learning it now is really a bit surreal.

After Rubies I had a long break (12:30-3:30), so I went up to my apartment and got to work on sewing some leotards and shorts that have been waiting to be put together for some time now (Brennan Boyer and I have a smallish dancewear business and finding spare time to work can be very difficult). After that was finished I had a little lunch and then made my way down to the studio for a 2 hour RUSH rehearsal.

RUSH is the Christopher Wheeldon ballet we are performing here in town for the White Bird “4x4” show this Thursday and Friday and again at the Kennedy Center for their "Ballet Across America" program. Our current challenge with the ballet is fitting the somewhat large cast onto the smaller stage of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. At times it feels a little bit scary, but I think that in the end all of us doing the movement in a smaller space is really going to make the ballet jump out at the audience a lot more than it would at the Keller Auditorium.

After RUSH I went home and finished Adrian’s shorts and Anne’s leotard. (pictured below)

Also, a shot of my little sewing table:

I finished off the day by hanging out with my friend Adrian Fry and some friends of his on the Eastside Esplanade enjoying the nice evening.

Today was pretty similar to yesterday. Our Ballet Master Lisa taught class, followed by an hour and forty-five minutes of RUSH, a two hour break, forty-five minutes of Rubies corps (and some very intense counting thanks to Mr. Stravinsky), and a short company meeting discussing some changes being made to our contracts for next season.

So, after a quick visit to the Physical Therapist (nothing serious, just normal wear and tear), here I find myself sitting at home and writing this! I’m not sure what to write about other than my daily life as a company member of OBT. I remember when I was growing up I always wondered what life was like for professional dancers, and I think that something like this would have been absolutely fascinating to me. If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them in a comment here and I’ll be glad to answer them. Now, I’m off to go fold some laundry, make dinner, go over choreography, hopefully read a little, and then go to bed. 

Have a wonderful evening!

~Steven

Taking a Rest, but Already Looking Ahead

The day after an intense run of performances is an interesting one. The physical fatigue is almost enjoyable (my colleagues might be thinking I'm crazy right now), because you don't have to fight it-- it's a reminder of hard work, well done, and it can be indulged. There can also be a little bit of melancholy and anti-climax when you're faced with all the details of everyday life that have gotten ignored over the preceding days (the laundry, the dust bunnies, the groceries, the bills) but all you want to do is soak in a hot tub, stretch out a bit, and eat good food. Candace Bouchard, who danced Eden's Gates (very impressively!) and Slaughter last week, eased into her one day off before heading back into the studio to start work on OBT's next project:

"Coming off the American program, where I danced a quirky, quick role in Through Eden's Gates, and ran around doing high kicks in character shoes in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, I have thoroughly enjoyed my one morning off, delighting in a slice of ham quiche and some Stumptown coffee at Ken's Bakery while writing a bit and reading The Fountainhead. Already, I'm looking ahead to both our upcoming performances of Rush for White Bird's 4X4, and the Russian program. I'll be glad to be back in pointe shoes all the time. I miss being able to really stretch and use my feet as I dance! Rush has been beating us up on occassion over the last two weeks, when we can find time to squeeze it into the rehearsal schedule around performances of the American Program. We spin on our knees several times throughout the piece, and I have the bruises to show it! A small price to pay for two nights of dancing with PNB, San Francisco, and Eugene Ballet, though, not to mention our upcoming week at the Kennedy Center. Moving on to the Russian Program, Rubies was the first ballet we worked on my first day with OBT, as an apprentice almost five years ago. Revisiting it as the current version of myself rather than the both excited and frightened young dancer I was then should be quite a treat. I love being able to dig into something classical every once in a while, and the regal refinement I'm sure Yuri Possokhov will demand from us in Raymonda is a welcome challenge. Also, I'll be wearing the first tutu made specifically for me when we perform Raymonda, so that adds its own elegance and expectation to the experience. The only downfall to all of this is the unrelenting awareness that this is the last program of the season, and our exciting trip to Kennedy Center is followed by more than two months of far less dancing for us all. I plan to thoroughly exhaust myself over the coming weeks to culminate in a series of performances so vibrant and exciting, I'll actually welcome a rest over the summer!"

That's sort of how the life cycle goes for a ballet dancer. After pouring your body and soul into one very intensely focused piece of work, as soon as it's over, it's over. And then attention turns to the next item on the agenda, which is to start with a clean slate and sense of yet-unknown possibilities.

Chatting with Matthew

I've been talking to a few dancers recently about how we all prepare for performances. I know what kind of insulated world I operate in during the days leading up to a run, the mindset I get into on the day of a show, and what my own little semi-superstitious habits and rituals are, but I've often wondered how my fellow dancers' lives shift during these times. We get to know each other's habits to some extent (who shows up early for class, who dashes in at the last minute, who warms up in self-imposed isolation, who likes to chat, who wraps themself in multiple layers of warmups, who likes to feel unencumbered by clothing), but for all the exposure of being on stage, it's actually a very private experience for a dancer and we each develop strategies for preparing ourselves to handle that exposure.

I asked Matthew Pippin, who is just finishing up his first season with us at OBT, about his mindset and rituals before performances:

"I would have to say that my mind switches into a mode of being focused before performances because it takes my mind off of my nerves. I am typically not nervous about a performance until about an hour before the show, when I start warming up, putting my makeup on, and reviewing what I have to do over the next two hours. The days before the performance can be very exciting and tiring, especially when our schedule changes and we move from the studio to the theater. In the studio rehearsals we spend hours nit-picking the finest details but as we get to the theater we have to concentrate on our spacing and the logistics of the entire production. It can be difficult if you are in different casts of different parts and often times different ballets because you have the luxury of time in the studio rehearsals to perfect all the various parts that you contribute to the show. But in the theater, time is of the essence, so you have to rely on watching another cast in the same role spacing something first and working out all the kinks and be prepared for your chance on stage before the show. It is a lot of last minute attention to detail but it is always worth finally getting to show an audience what you have been working so hard on in the studio."

Matthew brought up a point I'd thought about, too, which is the stark and almost shocking transition from the "nit-picking" studio rehearsals, when we analyze every step and repeat things over and over in a nice, comfortable, familiar environment, to the one or two stage rehearsals which are focused on spacing and production elements that we have no control over. (That's when all the lighting and spacial challenges that I talked about a while back come into play).
I also asked Matthew about how he approaches an actual performance day to set himself up physically and mentally to get onstage that evening:

"I tend to keep my pre-performance rituals very calm. From the minute I wake up on the day of a performance I try and keep my nerves to a minimum and just approach my day as I would any regular day at work. Waking up and approaching your day with a positive attitude is essential in maintaining a high energy level. We usually get to sleep in a bit on performance days, which is great for me because I am a night person, but before you know it you are taking class on stage. Christopher and Lisa usually schedule rehearsals for things that need to be done and give the dancers the opportunity to request rehearsals if they feel they need a little more time before they present their work. After rehearsals I try and have a nice lunch to give me the energy for the next couple of hours and I always have to go and have a cup of coffee before I return to the theater from my break. I like to warm up a little before the show and at our “half-hour” call I begin putting on my makeup. This usually leaves me about fifteen minutes to go on stage and mentally review what I am about to perform. The America program has changed my routine a little because there are a lot of little details to remember in “Through Eden’s Gates” and I find myself getting ready a little bit earlier as to have more review time before the show. “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” has been a little bit calmer for me because I feel relaxed having already danced one ballet and the nature of “Slaughter” seems to put me at ease."

I think Matthew's routine echoes what a lot of us try to do-- replicate a "normal" day as much as possible to create a calm sense of spirit and prevent over-anxiety. At the same time, there's a little part of your mind that all day long is reminding you of what you are going to do that evening, keeping you somewhat in a heightened state of alert, so to speak. We all try to play it cool, hang loose, joke around with each other, be casual, because we know we're all in the same boat--- AND because it really helps to laugh if you do happen to be anxious about a particular performance. I remember being very young and experiencing stage performing for the first few times with distinct butterflies in my stomach, but then that faded away and for years I never felt the slightest anxiety about performing. Nowadays, it depends on what particular ballet I'm about to do, but there's always a tiny sense of something, a little edge of adrenalin or endorphins or whatever those things are. And of course, from time to time there are the full-fledged butterflies. The neat thing about it all, though, is that the very moment I actually get out of the wings and on stage, that unsettled-ness disappears. There's just too much else to think about!

How'd the first few performances go, Matthew?

"The first shows of the America program were so incredibly fun and rewarding. The audience seems to receive this production very well and I totally have fed off their energy each show. I am so proud of how well everything has gone because we have all been working very hard and this is the most gratifying time of the season for us. I am looking forward to the final performances because they are just such fun ballets where you can let your own personality shine through and find something new each time you dance them. It will certainly be a hard last weekend but well worth all the hard work."

Merde for tonight and the rest of the shows, everyone!