Hello Blog Lovers!!
As Gavin said in her latest blog we haven't fallen off the face of the Earth... But we have been pretty dead to the world by the end of the day... Whether we're rehearsing Christopher's Rite of Spring, Val's Lambarena or Peter Martin's Ash, our brains are toast by the time we all get home!! Not only are they all exceptionally difficult to dance, but they are three ballets that are VERY difficult to count!!
One thing this company is blessed with is a sense of unity and support... In Lambarena the music is intoxicating as it moves from African instrumentals into African song in which the beautiful African voices chant Mubasa (I'm sure I've butchered the spelling of the word)... Mubasa means "together" and that is exactly the feeling we all have while dancing this ballet... When it all comes together it is an amazing feeling of accomplishment and there's such a massive amount of love and support amongst the dancers... Mostly because we all have a common knowledge of how difficult it is...
I can't wait to perform this program and share these three amazing ballets with everyone in the audience... I am sure they will make everyone leap out of their seats and want to see more!!
I'll keep you posted :)
Raychel
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
We're Still Here!
You could all be forgiven, blog-readers, for thinking we'd dropped off the face of the earth or decided to scrap the blog--- but we haven't done either! We're just completely immersed in rehearsing for the Lambarena program and I think I speak for all my colleagues when I say our brains are as sore as our bodies at the end of each day.
The past three weeks have been primarily devoted to learning Lambarena. We're lucky enough to have coaching this week from the two African dance experts that Val Caniparoli, the choreographer of the ballet, collaborated with when he made the piece. They have not only been immensely helpful in teaching us how to move in the African style, but also greatly inspiring. Naomi taught us a bona fide African dance lesson on Tuesday afternoon which brought many intruiged spectators to peer at us through the window. It also made the wardrobe department wonder what the heck was going on upstairs (we did a lot of rhythmic jumping, and then pounded our hands on the ground at the end in a gesture of thanks to the drummer). None of us is trained in this form of dance, and I'm sure you can imagine how different it is from classical ballet. The movement of the ribcage, the hips, the shoulders, the back, are all polar opposite from what we are trained to do. The first week I was so sore I could hardly move, the second week I thought maybe I was getting the hang of it (sort of, a little tiny bit), and then this week I feel like I'm 100 years old, it hurts to move!
Even so, I think we're getting closer every day to approximating how it's supposed to look. And no matter what, this ballet is going to be glorious to dance-- the music is utterly amazing. It's soaring and earthbound, animalistic and heavenly. You will not, I promise you, be able to sit still when you watch it.
And that's not all that we've been doing! Christopher is working on creating the Rite of Spring, which is taking shape a little more each day. It's always fascinating to see how a world premiere evolves from day one of the process until the dress rehearsal (and beyond). I think the major challenge with Rite of Spring is the music. And even that may be quite an understatement. It's hard. And so far, so is the dancing! But I can already feel that it will be another momentous performance experience, masses of people and driving rhythms creating a tribal feeling amongst us on stage.
AND, the company is putting Peter Martins' Ash back together. Each of these three ballets is a killer both physically and mentally. Stamina and technical challenges combined with stylistic and musical elements to figure out are going to guarantee that OBT will be in the best shape of its life over the next few weeks! You won't want to miss THAT...
The past three weeks have been primarily devoted to learning Lambarena. We're lucky enough to have coaching this week from the two African dance experts that Val Caniparoli, the choreographer of the ballet, collaborated with when he made the piece. They have not only been immensely helpful in teaching us how to move in the African style, but also greatly inspiring. Naomi taught us a bona fide African dance lesson on Tuesday afternoon which brought many intruiged spectators to peer at us through the window. It also made the wardrobe department wonder what the heck was going on upstairs (we did a lot of rhythmic jumping, and then pounded our hands on the ground at the end in a gesture of thanks to the drummer). None of us is trained in this form of dance, and I'm sure you can imagine how different it is from classical ballet. The movement of the ribcage, the hips, the shoulders, the back, are all polar opposite from what we are trained to do. The first week I was so sore I could hardly move, the second week I thought maybe I was getting the hang of it (sort of, a little tiny bit), and then this week I feel like I'm 100 years old, it hurts to move!
Even so, I think we're getting closer every day to approximating how it's supposed to look. And no matter what, this ballet is going to be glorious to dance-- the music is utterly amazing. It's soaring and earthbound, animalistic and heavenly. You will not, I promise you, be able to sit still when you watch it.
And that's not all that we've been doing! Christopher is working on creating the Rite of Spring, which is taking shape a little more each day. It's always fascinating to see how a world premiere evolves from day one of the process until the dress rehearsal (and beyond). I think the major challenge with Rite of Spring is the music. And even that may be quite an understatement. It's hard. And so far, so is the dancing! But I can already feel that it will be another momentous performance experience, masses of people and driving rhythms creating a tribal feeling amongst us on stage.
AND, the company is putting Peter Martins' Ash back together. Each of these three ballets is a killer both physically and mentally. Stamina and technical challenges combined with stylistic and musical elements to figure out are going to guarantee that OBT will be in the best shape of its life over the next few weeks! You won't want to miss THAT...
Friday, January 9, 2009
New Year, New Show
Happy new year!
2009 finds the dancers of OBT thawed, rested, and chomping at the bit for some contemporary ballet. Rehearsals begin on Monday for our next program, Lambarena, and I'm pleased to report that the general atmosphere in the OBT studios is one of excitement and anticipation.
All three ballets on the bill promise to be interesting and rousing for both dancers and audience alike--
Val Caniparoli's Lambarena: I've never seen it in its entirety but its reputation precedes it; I have never heard anything but praise and enthusiasm for this ballet. I'm very excited to have the fantastic African-Bach fusion music emanating from our studios and to learn new movements and stylistic nuances through Mr. Caniparoli's choreography.
Peter Martins' Ash: This returns from our 2006-2007 season, and those of us who danced it before are excited to tackle it again. It's one of the most physically demanding ballets I have ever done, but its challenge adds to the fun and the sense of pride and accomplishment one feels when the curtain falls. Because of its pure athleticism and tricky musicality there's a real sense of camaraderie among the cast. We all push and carry each other through the piece with encouraging glances and palpable energy; I remember Brennan Boyer egging me on under his breath during the Sunday matinee performance. Since we are all clearly stronger and more experienced dancers than when the ballet premiered a few years ago, it will surely be thrilling and satisfying to revisit the piece with that much more knowledge and finesse.
Christopher Stowell's Rite of Spring: I am definitely looking forward to our artistic director's world premiere. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is such an incredible piece of music, and regardless of how one feels about the composer it cannot be denied that Rite of Spring is a paramount and extraordinary composition. (Silly side-note: The Rite of Spring was always my favorite part of Walt Disney's Fantasia, what with epic dinosaur battles and volcanic eruptions echoing the music's tremendous swells and crashes.) I'm excited to see what Christopher comes up with to accompany such powerful music and what the score will sound like executed by two pianos. While I will miss the haunting bassoon solo that opens Rite of Spring, I think the two pianos will add a new and unique twist to the piece. That, and I'm never one to turn down live music.
The next few weeks promise to be a stimulating and refreshing change from the classical story ballets that have led our season so far. It will surely be a lot of hard work, with both company and world-premieres on the bill, but everyone seems to be ready and anxious for the coming program. New year, new ballets, new shows. I can't wait.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to OBT Founding Artistic Director James Canfield on being named Artistic Director of Nevada Ballet Theatre! Read about it here.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Well, we're still here! Amazingly, we've been able to put together a full cast every day, for every show, since this unbelievable winter weather started. Here are some "highlights" of the past few days:
We're having contests before every show to guess how many people are in the audience. The winner gets their pick of OBT logo-gear. (sorry, the contest is limited to OBT dancers, staff, and crew!)
We've organized ride shares and group pickup-dropoffs to get stranded dancers and crew to the theater and home again.
The company had 30 pizzas delivered to the stage door on Sunday in between shows so no one would have to go out in the blowing snow to find sustenance.
Several dancers spent the night at the Marriott hotel down the street to avoid the stress of figuring out transportation, and a number of intrepid types have been walking in from various parts of the city.
The space heater in my dressing room has been really handy for thawing out my frozen toes.
Linda Besant, our "Dance Talks" presenter, historian, and on-stage Grandma, has been cross-country skiing her way from the SE to the theater.
We're thrilled and gratified by how appreciative the audiences who have been able to make it are. It's an immense help. I won't lie--- spirits around here are flagging a bit. This has been a hard run, and being this close to the end is no comfort because there are still performances to do. It's not over 'til it's over! If you're out there in the audience, thank you for coming, and if you can't make it, we'll see you in the new year.
We're having contests before every show to guess how many people are in the audience. The winner gets their pick of OBT logo-gear. (sorry, the contest is limited to OBT dancers, staff, and crew!)
We've organized ride shares and group pickup-dropoffs to get stranded dancers and crew to the theater and home again.
The company had 30 pizzas delivered to the stage door on Sunday in between shows so no one would have to go out in the blowing snow to find sustenance.
Several dancers spent the night at the Marriott hotel down the street to avoid the stress of figuring out transportation, and a number of intrepid types have been walking in from various parts of the city.
The space heater in my dressing room has been really handy for thawing out my frozen toes.
Linda Besant, our "Dance Talks" presenter, historian, and on-stage Grandma, has been cross-country skiing her way from the SE to the theater.
We're thrilled and gratified by how appreciative the audiences who have been able to make it are. It's an immense help. I won't lie--- spirits around here are flagging a bit. This has been a hard run, and being this close to the end is no comfort because there are still performances to do. It's not over 'til it's over! If you're out there in the audience, thank you for coming, and if you can't make it, we'll see you in the new year.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Fallen Snow Flake
'Tis the season for injuries...
The cold weather, the long rehearsals, being on stage, and many other factors come into play during Nutcracker season... And it always seems that someone goes down and is injured for the Nut run...
Luckily grace's injury is healing very well and she's dancing strong and looking beautiful as usual...
I wish I could say the same for myself... :(
In Alaska I strained my calf pretty badly and though it's not debilitating it's REALLY uncomfortable and extremely frustrating...Christopher and Lisa have been really great about making sure I'm ok and I'm not hurting myself any worse than I already have...
This means I'm not dancing as much as I would like to be... Granted I'm still in every show, but only dancing a third of the roles I've been rehearsing... Ansa has been a great sport and has stepped into my spot for snow scene for half of the performances... And apprentice Ashley Smith has taken over my Waltz of the Flowers spot... So I'll be doing Marzipan in every show, snow in half and no more doll :(
Enough of my whining!! Other than my mini soap opera Nutcracker is running smoothly and the audiences have been responding very well!! All of our reviews have been a little ruff on our costumes and sets, but they have said great things about the dancing... And in reality that's all that matters :)
Hope everyone has a happy holiday :)
Raychel
The cold weather, the long rehearsals, being on stage, and many other factors come into play during Nutcracker season... And it always seems that someone goes down and is injured for the Nut run...
Luckily grace's injury is healing very well and she's dancing strong and looking beautiful as usual...
I wish I could say the same for myself... :(
In Alaska I strained my calf pretty badly and though it's not debilitating it's REALLY uncomfortable and extremely frustrating...Christopher and Lisa have been really great about making sure I'm ok and I'm not hurting myself any worse than I already have...
This means I'm not dancing as much as I would like to be... Granted I'm still in every show, but only dancing a third of the roles I've been rehearsing... Ansa has been a great sport and has stepped into my spot for snow scene for half of the performances... And apprentice Ashley Smith has taken over my Waltz of the Flowers spot... So I'll be doing Marzipan in every show, snow in half and no more doll :(
Enough of my whining!! Other than my mini soap opera Nutcracker is running smoothly and the audiences have been responding very well!! All of our reviews have been a little ruff on our costumes and sets, but they have said great things about the dancing... And in reality that's all that matters :)
Hope everyone has a happy holiday :)
Raychel
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Fun With Mice
Opening night: Neurotic mice. Matthew Pippin, after fielding a warning shot from a toy soldier, exited with some very vertiginous spins while Javier Ubell manically sniffed everyone's feet. Other mice grabbed at invisible butterflies or twitched nervously.
Today's matinee: Body-building mice. Lots of posing, kissing of mouse biceps, boxing, and I think I even saw some deep mouse lunges. Javier did some pushups before hauling a little soldier offstage.
Today's evening show: Robot mice. My favorite so far. Adrian Fry as the Mouse King took the cake on this one, entering with a wicked robot gait and, upon his death, shutting down his system in true robot fashion. Christian Squires moonwalked with robot mouse hands before administering CPR to Adrian's fallen form. I'm surprised the audience couldn't hear the snowflakes shrieking with delight in the wings.
I can't divulge what themes are to follow in coming shows. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. That, and I don't know what they are--the company submitted possible themes to Christopher and before every show he announces what the chosen theme is for that performance. I must say that the new mice themes have added a good amount of fun and excitement to the show. As a snowflake warming up in the wings it gives me a good laugh and lifts my spirits. The boys have really embraced it and seem to enjoy acting out the theme almost as much as the rest of us enjoy watching it. It's a great way to entertain both ourselves and the audience for the next thirteen shows.
So now, gentle reader, you are in the know about my new favorite part of each Nutcracker show. Keep your eye on the mice and see if you can guess what each night's theme is. For while they might run around as fluffy rodents, diligently jumping and turning on their given counts and cues, they will do so this year as different characters every night. Personally, I'm looking forward to Ninja mice.
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