Day Five: Final performance

Partner Candace Bouchard and I at the end of RUSH after our final performance at the Kennedy Center.

After a day of tourism and rest, I was eager to get back in the theater for our final show. From Steven's blog, you saw Studio 4 in which all three companies partook in class. It was a blast to have all that energy in the studio, the energy of new dancers and new teachers. This morning Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater taught class. It was great to have all three bosses teach a class each performing day this week. It was nice to see the similarities in the way they teach, as they were all at one point dancers in the San Francisco Ballet.

After class we had our final performance at the Kennedy Center (for now). It was a great run, and with a few tempo changes from the orchestra, it was great to be back out there on the opera house stage. This was a special performance for Candace and I, as it was our last performance with OBT as members of the corps de ballet. We've both been promoted to soloist for the next season. So it was great to share that on the stage of the Kennedy Center.



These are some t-shirts that each company received.

After the show I had a celebratory dinner with my parents and a few DC-area friends. And post-dinner we walked around the Jefferson Memorial, a sight we didn't get to see on our touristic voyage yesterday. It was really beautiful to see it lit up at night. A great final imprint on our fantastic tour to DC.


I'm counting down the day that we get to perform at the Center again. It was a great experience for all of us. I'm excited to come back to Portland and share that energy with the rest of the city. I felt such a sense of pride dancing here, and I hope our audience back home feels the same.

Thanks for being along for the journey. I'll be back tomorrow with some travel pics when we hop from the east coast back to the west. It will be a long day.

Day Three: The Big Show!

So, I thought I would start this post with some pictures from my walk to the Kennedy Center from the hotel.This is right outside our front entrance. I love all the old brick buildings in the area we are staying. It's been so sunny since we've been here (except today, it just started raining) and it's been such a nice change from the dreary Oregon weather we've been having.
Walking down Virginia Ave. You can just see the Watergate complex in the background.
A closer view of the Watergate complex. I had no idea how much stuff there was in the Watergate. There's a Safeway and a CVS plus a multitude of restaurants, offices, and a hotel. Very cool.
The Kennedy Center on the left and Watergate on the right.
A close-up of the Kennedy Center. I had only been here once before on a school trip and I had completely forgotten how enormous it is. It's such a spectacular facility for both the performers and the audience. There is everything you could ever imagine needing here and everyone has been so kind and efficient.

We had class at 10am followed by a quick walk-through of the ballet to refresh our memories of all the notes we were given the day before. After that we had a break for some food and to get into our costumes and do our hair and make-up. We then walked through the ballet on stage with the orchestra (I love live music!!) and then we did a full run.Ilir, Lucas, Matthew, and Brian all sitting in our dressing room. We each have out own individual mirrors with lights that turn on and off independently of the lights around other peoples mirrors. At the Keller you either have all the lights on a bank of mirrors on or off and it can make the room very hot very quickly.
My mirror spot. You can see all my make-up and everything organized below and various gifts I've received up on the mirrors. The stuff on the mirror I pack in my make-up case and take with me everywhere I perform. There is a picture of Suzanne Farrell I got from my friend Patrick, the merde gift I received for Vertiginous Thrill from Noah Gelber (the person who set the Vertiginous on us), that's the fake facial hair in the bottom right corner of the mirrro, and the wrapper from a Dove chocolate I had backstage up at PNB during the Celebrate Seattle Festival last season that says "Be Fearless." I always try to keep my mirror spot as organized as possible because I don't want to worry about not finding something right before a show. I always find the more orderly and methodical my preparation for a performance is, the more relaxed and ready for the show I feel.

After our dress rehearsal Adrian and I had to go back to the hotel to get our outfits together for the post-performance reception. We then ended up having lunch/dinner with Jon Ulsh in the hotel's restaurant. It's always so interesting to hear about the non-dance aspects of making this company work and really makes me feel like I'm better able to understand how and where I fit into the organization aside from just "soloist." So, after we ate we walked back to the Kennedy Center to get ready for the show.
Two great quotes from Kennedy that Adrian and I noticed carved on the side of the building: "This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor." And "To further the appreciation of culture among all the people. To increase respect for the creative individual. To widen participation in all the processes and fulfillments of arts - this is one of the fascinating challenges of these days."
This was the first quote we spotted and I got goosebumps when I read it. "I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. And I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well." It's so inspirational to hear that someone who lead our country had such a strong dedication to nurturing the arts.
A view of the Opera House where we're performing. It looks big in this picture, but in reality it's a very comfortable size.
The incredible chandelier. I spent about five minutes staring at it when I first saw it. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but I don't know that any picture could.
Adrian, Ronnie, Brian, Ansa, and Holly warming up for the show. There is only a three minute pause to run on stage and jump around before we start our ballet, so we have to do a lot of warming up and reviewing during the ballet before ours. Having a pause instead of an intermission can be very disorienting because you don't really have a chance to be in the space and get grounded like you do when you have a full twenty minute intermission.
A group shot right after the curtain came down on an extremely successful debut performance (Christopher Wheeldon is standing on the far left). It wasn't perfect, but I don't know that any performance every will be. What I do know is we all had a wonderful time performing, and the applause at the end was copious. What more do you really need? I feel so lucky to have shared this adventure with such great people; It truly was the experience of a lifetime.
After the show it was time to unwind and enjoy our success. We were invited to a reception hosted by the Dance Critics Association (DCA) and we all had a blast. There was food and drinks and, to my surprise, a large number of our supporters from Oregon. It was so comforting to see some familiar faces and to know that some of our hometown crowd flew all the way across the country to see us made me feel so honored. A big thanks to all of you who came, we all appreciated it so much!
Matthew, Lucas, and Linda talking at the reception.
After the reception we were taken to dinner and drinks in George Town by Christopher Stowell and Jon Ulsh. It's so nice to be taken care of after a performance. Sometimes it's very difficult to find food late at night, and even when you know where to find it actually getting there can be somewhat of an ordeal since we're all so exhausted, so it was great to not have to worry about it.
Anne, Kent Stowell, and Francia Russell. It was so nice to see Christopher's parents at the show. They are so wonderfully supportive of us and of Christopher that I can't even imagine such an important event going by without them.
Candace and Adrian enjoying dinner.
Later that night we realized that the fabric on the vanities in all the rooms looked identical to the fabric on our Mother Ginger costume, so we had to get a shot of one of our Mama Gs with it.

So, that was my day in a nutshell. All of the rehearsal was extremely tiring, and it felt like the show would never come, but I think we all really came together and gave a wonderful performance that I, my friends/co-workers, and hopefully the audience, will never forget.

S

End of the season...almost

Yesterday we closed our Russian Program, the last stop on our Grand Tour of a season. We had great audiences as we visited some former territory and broke some new ground. We revived Rubies from five years ago, premiered a new Stowell ballet entitled Tolstoy's Waltz, and premiered a new Raymonda by Yuri Possokhov. As the audiences stood to recognize our hard work and artistic leaps and bounds, it felt like they were sending us off on the right foot on the eve of our premiere at the Kennedy Center (later this week!). I will be updating you as much as possible from the Kennedy Center as we make this monumental premiere on America's stage.

I leave you with some behind the scenes photos from the Russian Program.



The girls rosin up before the curtains goes up

Kathi Martuza's Raymonda Variation

Anne Mueller mid-air in her Raymonda variation


The men fastening each other into their costumes

Opening Night

Although I hope it will be the last time, last night I once again had the experience of watching my colleauges and friends from the "civilian" perspective. The performance was glorious in every way. The costumes that Mark and the entire wardrobe crew have slaved over for so many months now looked truly heavenly, and of course the dancing was more than wonderful. I think I was better able to understand what the typical ballet-goer experience is like than I usually am, because of being so unfamiliar with the three ballets on this program. (I know Rubies well, but hadn't seen a single second of Tolstoy's Waltz and only one rehearsal of Raymonda). Usually when I've seen performances from the front I've gotten caught up in watching tiny details that are only visible if you know they're there, and therefore miss catching the overall impression and the impact of the piece as a whole. Last night I could only sit there and enjoy it. And so I did, with the usual amount of awe that I feel at watching my friends become superhuman artists up there on stage.

I've been off long enough now that it's getting hard to imagine myself actually executing those steps and choreography. I do remember this feeling from previous injuries--- after a certain amount of time away from dancing, it starts to seem incredible that you ever did that stuff, and that you will do it again. The neat thing is that all it takes is one step back into a studio, a few plies and tendus and port de bras, and though getting truly back in shape takes eons, that feeling of being a dancer comes right back. Also, as much sadness as I have at being on the other side of the footlights right now, it is also a wonderful way to re-motivate and reinspire. Exercises and rehab are boring and dry and it's easy to start to wonder if they are doing any good at all, so getting a reminder of what I'm doing them for is a really great morale boost. Got to get back in the race!

short video

For our German Program last October, I had a friend (Brian Simcoe) take some shots from the wings and he captured this video. I think it offers a glimpse into the camaraderie we feel for each other on a daily basis, but especially right before the curtain goes up. Circling up like this and "feeling each other's energy" was suggested to us by Noah Gelber specifically for this ballet, Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. He told us to really connect with each other before we went on stage and also while we were dancing because it was such a difficult ballet to dance. A little eye-contact and a smile can help you pull out all the stops when you've got nothing left to give towards the end of a performance.



In this video: Candace Bouchard, Mia Leimkuhler, Kathi Martuza, Adrian Fry, and Steven Houser

Wow!

What a couple of days it's been!

I apologize for how long it's taken me to write another blog, but when we start performing I sort of unintentionally go into hiding from anything but ballet and the people I dance with. I guess it just helps me stay focused. So, let me catch you all up to speed.

Last Thursday and Friday Portland hosted 4 major West Coast ballet companies, Oregon Ballet Theatre (go team!), Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Eugene Ballet, for it's "4x4: The Ballet Project" show. It was so much fun! It's always wonderful and exciting to meet new people from different companies, and see some familiar faces as well.

For those of you who don't know, the ballet world is infinitely small. It turns out someone who I went to a summer program with in 2002, now dances with Eugene Ballet. I'm pretty sure almost every person in every company attending has a similar story. Every time people from different companies get together, we discover that we're connected in more ways than we realized. It's really a lot of fun.

Anyway, back to the shows. Eugene Ballet presented a piece called "Still Falls the Rain" choreographed by their Artistic Director Toni Pimble. It was a piece I had seen a year before and every time I see it, I like it more. There's a lot going on and some subtle stuff that without repeat viewings is easy to miss. We, OBT, performed Christopher Wheeldon's "RUSH", the piece we'll be dancing at the Kennedy Center in June. I think we made a very strong showing, and I enjoyed performing the ballet more than I was expecting to, so that was a pleasant surprise. San Francisco Ballet brought "Concerto Grosso" by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson (we have performed his Twilight and Blue Rose here). I'm still trying to wrap my head around the amazing male dancing I saw in that ballet. I saw it a total of 3 times, and every time I had to grab the person next to me about every 10 seconds, because what I was so was incredible. To finish off the evening, Pacific Northwest Ballet performed "Shindig" by one of their Principal Dancers, Olivier Wevers. It was a cute little ballet with some pretty exciting dancing (especially in the final solo danced by Carrie Imler, one of my all time favorite dancers).

So, after 2 days off, Monday was back to work as usual. Yuri Possokhov is now in town to start Raymonda. We had a rehearsal for the dance for 4 men yesterday (which was the first variation I ever learned the first time I went away to a summer program... I still remembered it!). Following that was a short Rubies rehearsal for the men (a lot of the 3rd movement has to be taught to the men and women separately because we do such different choreography). Since I was done early, Adrian and I decided to watch a movie. He had "Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer" from netflix, so that we watched that, then I cleaned my apartment.

While cleaning I checked the rehearsal schedule online (it hadn't been up yet when I left after rehearsal) and I got a huge shock. I'm called to the rehearsal for the Rubies Principals! I'm not sure who I'll be partnering yet (either Yuka, Kathi, or Ansa), but as I've talked about before, this ballet is one of my favorites and just learning the corps has made me think a lot about how far I've come, how I've grown, and how much more growing there still is to do. So, learning Principal is kind of like, the cherry, on top of the icing, on top of the cake for me.

Well, I must be off to work, but I thought I'd leave you with a bit about an interesting ballet tradition. Some of you may know that before a show, for good luck, actors will tell each other to "break a leg", but for ballet dancers, we say "merde". That's right, our good luck saying is a French swear word. If you don't know which one it is, I'm not telling you... I'll just say it's not the worst word, but not the best word either. Along with the tradition of "merde" comes the giving of a "merde gift" to whoever you're dancing with (or as I like to call it, "Steven's opening-night, last-minute-shopping gift"). How nice the gift is usually depends on how frequently you dance with the person, and how big the role you're dancing is. I've gotten things like cards, chocolate, alcohol (champaign or vodka usually), a make-up case, sweat bands, a little ceramic bowl, and most recently, little wooden animal puzzles. Anne Mueller, or ballet mistress for RUSH corps, gave all the corps little wooden animal puzzles. I sat next to Adrian, and Lucas hung out in our area a lot, so I ended up taking home all 3, and they now reside on my dining room table (until the cat decides they are enemies and attacks them). Here is my rooster, Adrian's elephant, and Lucas's shark:

Anyway, off to work! Have a great Tuesday!

~Steven

"The Craziest 15 Minutes of My Life"

Two weeks ago, on opening night of the American Program, an announcement was made to the audience before Slaughter on Tenth Avenue that Javier Ubell would be one of the cops in that evening's performance, in place of Ronnie Underwood. Few people, if any, knew why the change had been made, and maybe thought (if they cared to think about it at all) that the program had been misprinted or the change had been made too late to get printed at all. I was out front that night and wondered why Javier was going in for Ronnie (I'd just seen Ronnie dance in Eden's Gates so knew he wasn't out), but knew that something was up-- stuff like that doesn't just happen to give Thyra the thrill of making a live PA announcement.

So I sat there, along with the rest of the packed house, and watched Javier come out and do a bunch of springy double tours with his trademark spunk and pizzazz, playing off the other two cops and fitting right in with the sequential timing the three of them are supposed to have. Only later, when I asked Javier about it, did I find out that he had not learned that part until the intermission preceding Slaughter! Turns out Ronnie had slightly injured his ankle during Eden and was unsure whether he could or should do Slaughter that night, in the interest of not hurting it more seriously and preventing him from dancing the rest of the run. Here's how it unfolded from Javier's point of view:

"I wasn't watching (the show), I was in the back in the dressing room when somebody told me that Ronnie had fallen running off stage in the wings and had twisted his ankle. So I went to him and asked if he was ok and he said he wasn't sure. Then Lisa came to me and told me I was on stand by for his part since he didn't have anyone to cover him. I was supposed to do Thug that night for Slaughter so I wasn't sure til the last minute what was going to happen. I had been learning cops, but not Ronnie's part, and all three cops have different counts. It was Jon Drake who had taught me the part during intermission because he was Ronnie's understudy, but since Jon was dancing Hoofer that night he couldn't go in. All three cops are basically the same but there are those different counts so I was nervous getting ready for the show. I wasn't really warm for the part because I thought I was doing Thug, but since all the Cops do are double tours I didn't worry that much. It's a very short part. After opening night Ronnie was still unable to do his part in Cops so I did both his part and my part for the rest of the run. But on the last show I got to do Thug, which I was really looking foward to!"

Talk about adrenaline! Nothing like learning a part at the (very) last minute to give you a rush. This kind of thing happens from time to time--- it's not an everyday occurence, but it's not all that rare, either. What differs is the extremity of the situation, how close to the wire it can get. There are legions of war stories like Javier's, with all sorts of hilarious and terrifying twists and turns, that dancers love to recount to each other and reminisce about. Costume mishaps, blanking out on choreography-- and then ad-libbing, missed entrances, entrances (or exits) at the wrong time, and of course all sorts of "learn the role five minutes before curtain" type scenarios. The best is when the funny ones are caught on tape and we can relive the laughter over and over again!

Adrenaline Rush

Susan wrote in with a comment and question about pre-performance nerves and how the physical signs of such anxiety could affect a dancer's performance:

"I have often wondered if the adrenaline rush that comes with pre-performance anxiety is in some way helpful to dancers. For other types of performers it really gets in the way: public speakers or singers find their voices are shaky, musicians find their hands are shaky. These can be devastating problems. They have to try to override the adrenaline (talk about using rituals and superstitions!). But if you are about to go out on stage and move, can you make use of that extra jolt of energy?"

I'd have to say that for dancers it's much the same as for musicians or public speakers. I've definitely felt that nervous, trembly feeling before going onstage, and have worried that I would have trouble executing my choreography because of it. However, the difference is that as dancers, because our means of expression and performing involves moving the entire body, we are trained to "take charge" of our physicality and move with assertion. Therefore, that nervousness or shakiness will usually disappear instantly once a dancer steps onstage-- or at least as soon as they have to start moving and dancing. Breathing deeply (which you have to do in order to move with amplitude) and moving your body so fully automatically erases the tremors of an over-adrenaline rush. Very convenient! It is true, though, that the adrenaline gives you extra energy, or at least keeps you from thinking about being tired. That is one down side to performing a role or a ballet a million times over-- you can get so comfortable with it that the adrenaline rush is gone, and then you really feel how tiring it is!

Put Yourself Here

Here's what it looks like from our point of view. (Imagine yourself right in the middle of that spotlight!)

Talking about pre-performance rituals reminded me of one important element that sometimes gets missed: having a moment or two to just be on stage with the curtain out, before the house is open. It's good for the psychological state of a person before they will be out there in front of an audience. It all seems so conquerable, so friendly and fun, when the house lights are up, the work lights are on (that's the less-bright light we work under for non-tech rehearsals or class and warmup), and you can feel yourself centered in the real dimensions of the theater. You can also feel the sanctity and dormant (for the moment) magic of it. It's always so remarkable to me how very, very quiet the theater is in moments like these. It's just silent, and any little noise is muffled by the sheer space of the hall. You feel very tiny and insignificant in relation to the majesty and history of the theater, and all the performers that have come before you and will go on after you. And yet, you feel also your importance, in whatever small way, by adding to the ever-going-on lineage of all the performances that have happened within those walls.

It's pretty heady stuff to think about, but also comforting and inspiring. And as always, it is a marvel that it goes on at all, that all these people are taking part in this spectacle, as performers, producers, directors, crew, musicians, designers, coat checkers, ushers, or of course, as audience members.

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!

"One More Time!"

Why'd it have to end? I know, I know, but Slaughter was so fun to watch! Plus, there are so many details going on in that ballet that you'd have to see it several times over in order to appreciate them all. Each one of the couples in the bar has their own thing going on while the Striptease Girl and the Hoofer are tearing it up in the middle of it all. And then there are the bartenders... I think a piece like Slaughter on 10th Avenue is so much fun for the dancers that they go that much further make their characters larger than life, so they really do read to us. I was enjoying watching Jon Drake do his mad tap number so much that I really didn't want him to have to end! (And it drove me nuts to have to sit still.... )

But Slaughter is hardly the only ballet worth watching over and over again on this program. All three pieces are so full of detail and almost-hidden choreographic and stylistic elements. Through Eden's Gates is very familiar to me, of course, since Kent created it on us only a little over a year ago, but when I was dancing in it I was always so preoccupied with my own role in the ballet that I regretted missing out on a lot of the other segments in it. That's the downside of being IN the piece-- you never get to see it as a whole, as the audience does and as it was designed to be seen. This is the first time I've seen the ballet from the front, so I'd never realized how crafty the opening and finale group sections are. You can literally see the layers of movement phrases folding in and out of each other, accentuated by the starkly different costumes everyone has.

The last time OBT did Just, back in 2006, I remember gawking in awe at my friends turning themselves into human dynamos doing this incredibly strenuous, and stretchy, movement right in front of us. It is so clear that they are figuratively putting themselves on the very edge of what they previously thought possible. But I never did see that ballet from the front, either, and so never fully got the beauty of the women's duet. I thought it was really touching last night, so sensitive and seeming to illustrate the wonderful friendship that I know Alison and Anne have.

The whole evening was inspiring to see. I hope the audience's enthusiasm was felt by my pals up there on stage. It was a sold out house, which is always fun to witness from either side of the footlights. I was struck by this weird thought right before the curtain went up, as Jon and Christopher were making their little pre-curtain thanks-and-come-again speech: the "theatricality of the theater" is something that, when you really think about it, must be another of the defining traits of us humans. How did this all start? Re-enacting the glories of the buffalo hunt? And now I'm making a living as a ballet dancer? This is so bizarre. But who cares? Lucky me! Lucky us!