Around the studio and theater, we are rarely without our water bottles. Most everyone has their own, and since they are such an indispensible accesory (and now are available in so many unique shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns) we could probably identify everyone's bottle if a "match the canteen to the dancer" contest were held.

Lately, Kleen Kanteen has become the bottle of choice. I noticed that Adrian and I had matching green ones-- his in a large grandaddy size to my little kid size. We set up a family portrait with another related pair the other day (Grace's is the one with the nifty sport top):


Soon, other drinking vessels in the room got interested and wanted their picture taken, too:

And since we were on a five minute break during rehearsal, snacks were present and sauntered over to add texture to our still life:

Hey, hands off my sandwich!!

Rehearsal Wings

Hanging on a rack in the hall outside wardrobe:

It's not a kite with suspenders, they are the "rehearsal wings" for Oberon and Titania (quite different than training wheels). They wear their wings for a few sections of the ballet and therefore need to rehearse with them. They're quite large and unwieldy, so you can imagine what it would feel like to have something like that strapped to your back while trying to move.

YES!!!

This box is sitting on the reception desk, awaiting musicians to come pick up their music for Midsummer. Need I say more?

Ringing in the New Year

2009 was a remarkable year for Oregon Ballet Theatre. While we're happy to put it behind us, I think we can all agree that this past year also saw some of our most triumphant, exciting and hopeful moments.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in every way, small or large, from near or far away, and here's to a most brilliant, beautiful and artistically exciting year (and decade) ahead!

Overheard, Part 2

More memorable one-liners:

Adrian to Mia, after bowing as the lead Spanish couple: "I think that was my best bow ever!"

One little angel, after asking who the Sugarplum Fairy was and being told it was Alison Roper: "Who's that?" Another angel replied, "It's John Alan's mom..."
(Alison's son John Alan is a Level 1 student in the school).

And yet another personal favorite: Candace, dashing from the wings towards the direction of her dressing room, moments before the snow scene was to begin: "I forgot to put on my trunks!!!!!"

Overheard Backstage at the Keller

Some choice comments overheard these past weeks that I think represent Nutcracker 2009 very well:

Alison Roper, to Adrian Fry during barre one day during the middle of our five days-of-two-shows-each-day: "Maybe someone will deliver a four-pound box of chocolates to us today."

Ansa Deguchi, to Steven Houser, also during barre on one of those days: "I feel like old people".

And my favorite. Ashby Baldock, our stage manager, after her debut as Mother Ginger on Christmas Eve: "It was fun. And I even remembered when to lift up my skirt!"

The Year of the Headpiece

We're well past the tech rehearsal phase now, of course, and are in "the tunnel"-- 8 straight days of performances, including five days in a row with two shows each. The light at the end of the tunnel is Christmas Day, and then only two more days until a real rest.

2009 seems to be the Year of the Headpiece for Nutcracker. The costumes for our production were built in 1983 (with a few exceptions) and if you look closely, you can tell. Since there's certainly no money to rebuild them, this year our wardrobe department decided to at least make a few new things, including several heapieces. They're really beautiful, carefully made by Suzie Jenkins of our costume shop.

Here's Julia modelling one of the demisolo Flower headpieces. Up til now, the Flower demis have had no distinguishing marks, which seemed a shame because they do quite a bit of front-and-center dancing. Now they have these lovely tiara-flowers:

Also new this year is Dewdrop's headpiece. It's similar to the old one, just a little more streamlined and lighter-weight. Here it is, resting at Candace's makeup spot in the dressing room before she put it on for her performance tonight:

And last but not least, Sugarplum has new headgear as well. This is also similar to the old one, but more delicate and finely shaped. It has some little sparkly droplets, which are hard to see in this picture but are a beautiful touch. Here's Grace, modelling it for me before she did her hair for tonight's show:

So there you have it! Come see the Nutcracker for the high-wattage headpieces in addition to the high-octane dancing!