Nov 13 2011

Rehearsal for SDB's Suite Italienne. Photographer: Manny Rotenburg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Zoe Marinello - Cohn. This particular movement (the minuet) was the last that was conceptually figured out. It almost didn't get used. Its a lovely piece of music, but it just didn't seem to fit within the structure of the ballet. I ended up using it the same way that you might use a palate cleanser in a meal. A little bit of sorbet before the big dessert (finale).

Another light day at SDB for me. I had to go in and remember my staging for playing Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker and then crank out 2 1/2 casts of fight scene rehearsal.

The fight scene is probably the most complicated section of the ballet in that it utilizes very small children... mixed in with older kids... and professional dancers. One Rat King. A Rat Queen. 2 Rats with guns. 6 rats with Sabers. 3 Junior Rats. 3 Baby Rats. 6 Junior Soldiers. 10 Senior Soldiers. 2 mounted Cavalry buglers. Clara. The Prince. Herr Drosselmeyer... and a ton of smoke. All of the groups have their own track. All are running around furiously. Half of them have masks. And the other half have toy guns. And its all over in less than 3 minutes.

A recipe for disaster, if not taken slowly and carefully.

It helps if you have a loud voice :)