Today was much better. I am still feeling badly behind the curve in some areas, but am finding ways to laugh at myself and not take it all too seriously. That "what in god's name have I got myself in for" feeling is being replaced by moments of getting in the flow, and even if I am not getting all the steps, at least I manage to be in the right place some of the time. Knee hurting a bit, which is worrisome. Time to stretch and rest. Man, the tap dance crowd is worse than Irish dancers in the warm up dept. No stretching, no yoga, no nothing. Maybe the expectation is that you warm up before class, but no one does. Craziness!
Paul Arslanian's music for dancers class is great. Learning some jazz songs, talking about different approaches to improvisation... getting some good teaching tools there, so bodhran class at Swannanoa here I come!
A few of us went to see Isabel Gotzkowsky and Friends perform on the Inside Outside stage. Great stuff. In particular, a very graceful and mildly comedic piece for two men. Lots of delicious inversion and some capoeira-inspired-looking mock battle movement mixed with lots of nice partnering work. Yum...
Tonight is my last night off this week. Tomorrow and the next night I have ushering duties, and then our first performance on Saturday. Yikes, trying not to think about that. There's an awful lot of this choreography that I just plain do not have. What will they do with me, I wonder? It's one thing to be going through the motions in the back of the class where no one gets hurt if I am royally screwing up...
It is night and the cool air is full of the sound of frogs. And I have to sleep. 'Night out there in interweb land...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Blowtorch the Ego
Helluva day. I am exhausted, so this will have to be short, not a full accounting at all.
I was trying to be prepared for pain and humiliation, but still it's all pretty overwhelming. Going this far out of my comfort zone is intense... Material comes at us fast and furious. Most of it is not broken down, and my fellow students seem far ahead of me in terms of ability to soak up steps at an amazing rate. It's hard not to be discouraged by this, but I just breath deep and trying to sponge up as much as I can and keep my bruised and bloodied ego from breathing down my neck while I am trying to learn.
Dianne's class was amazing. We started learning a piece of Leon Collins' choreography. I am dotty about this old school jazz tap. I feel like it's more accessible, not just to me as a dancer, but to the audience as well. (And I use the word accessible without any of the underlying sneer that so often seems to creep into that word when applied to dance. I mean you can access it.)
Ah well, time to hit the hay...
I was trying to be prepared for pain and humiliation, but still it's all pretty overwhelming. Going this far out of my comfort zone is intense... Material comes at us fast and furious. Most of it is not broken down, and my fellow students seem far ahead of me in terms of ability to soak up steps at an amazing rate. It's hard not to be discouraged by this, but I just breath deep and trying to sponge up as much as I can and keep my bruised and bloodied ego from breathing down my neck while I am trying to learn.
Dianne's class was amazing. We started learning a piece of Leon Collins' choreography. I am dotty about this old school jazz tap. I feel like it's more accessible, not just to me as a dancer, but to the audience as well. (And I use the word accessible without any of the underlying sneer that so often seems to creep into that word when applied to dance. I mean you can access it.)
Ah well, time to hit the hay...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Welcome to Jacob's Pillow
To whom it may confuse: I will be chronicling my stint in the Berkshires, writing a more or less stream of consciousness account of tap dance boot camp. I'll be honored if you'll join me on this grand adventure...
In overview, I am attending a two week long training intensive at one of the oldest and most historic dance sites in America. The faculty are amazing. Program director Dianne Walker is a truly inspiring teacher and dancer. After taking class with her at the DC Tap Festival in April, I jumped all over the chance to be here and study more intensively with her, and somewhat to my surprise, my application got accepted. Woo!
A hellish day of travel, starting, as so often seems to be the case, with far too little sleep. The drive in from Lee was startling and lovely. Woods and lakes in amazing shades of green. Something kind of primordial about the forests. Everything is experienced through a haze of fatigue. But through that haze, Jacob's Pillow is astoundingly beautiful. Old wooden buildings scattered in a patch of woods. Flowers and birds and oh my god, chipmunks everywhere.
So here I am. I don't think I have been this excited about anything since Lydia was born. There are 25 of us, ranging in age from 15 to 40. Supposedly. Although I have yet to spot anyone not on faculty who looks older than me. I feel a little bit like I am having a dream in which I am back in Highschool. "Oh my god, and you know what he said to me?" Yikes. Nothing quite like suddenly finding yourself surrounded by teenagers.
We eat dinner, attend roughly 5 years of orientations, renewing in me a deep dislike for the whole process, (you know the kind of thing, having a series of 3 or 4 people tell you in wondering and exhaustive detail a bunch of stuff you just read in your welcome packet half an hour ago) and meet the staff, teachers and other students. By the end of it all I am deliriously tired. And happy. And TOTALLY pissing myself. Some of these kids are GOOD. Some of these kids are very very good. Like, studied with the late great Jimmy Slyde good. Uhhhhhhhhhh. I am feeling more than a little nervous.
Can't wait to get my shoes on tomorrow. There are some amazingly good looking floors here.
GOTTA sleep,
Ciao
In overview, I am attending a two week long training intensive at one of the oldest and most historic dance sites in America. The faculty are amazing. Program director Dianne Walker is a truly inspiring teacher and dancer. After taking class with her at the DC Tap Festival in April, I jumped all over the chance to be here and study more intensively with her, and somewhat to my surprise, my application got accepted. Woo!
A hellish day of travel, starting, as so often seems to be the case, with far too little sleep. The drive in from Lee was startling and lovely. Woods and lakes in amazing shades of green. Something kind of primordial about the forests. Everything is experienced through a haze of fatigue. But through that haze, Jacob's Pillow is astoundingly beautiful. Old wooden buildings scattered in a patch of woods. Flowers and birds and oh my god, chipmunks everywhere.
So here I am. I don't think I have been this excited about anything since Lydia was born. There are 25 of us, ranging in age from 15 to 40. Supposedly. Although I have yet to spot anyone not on faculty who looks older than me. I feel a little bit like I am having a dream in which I am back in Highschool. "Oh my god, and you know what he said to me?" Yikes. Nothing quite like suddenly finding yourself surrounded by teenagers.
We eat dinner, attend roughly 5 years of orientations, renewing in me a deep dislike for the whole process, (you know the kind of thing, having a series of 3 or 4 people tell you in wondering and exhaustive detail a bunch of stuff you just read in your welcome packet half an hour ago) and meet the staff, teachers and other students. By the end of it all I am deliriously tired. And happy. And TOTALLY pissing myself. Some of these kids are GOOD. Some of these kids are very very good. Like, studied with the late great Jimmy Slyde good. Uhhhhhhhhhh. I am feeling more than a little nervous.
Can't wait to get my shoes on tomorrow. There are some amazingly good looking floors here.
GOTTA sleep,
Ciao
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