March 22 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev and company.  After the gypsies, Don Juan ends up meeting up with some sailors and goes on an ocean voyage. I enjoyed staging this little travelogue. At first, Stephanie was going to be one of the sea sprites who show up later. As I was figuring out the section, it started to make more sense for her to play the part of a cabin boy who gets swept away with the ship's sail.

Daily Stuff: Not much today. Am feeling a bit under the weather. i think it is the beginning of allergy season. So I will try to get ahead of it.

March 21 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield. The Gypsy send off.  Don Juan is sent way from the Gypsy camp for causing strife.

Daily Stuff: Yesterday was spent teaching the kids from Dewey Elementary. I got an email telling me that they have a half day next week and won't be coming in. So it was my final day. I had to squish in a lot. We also had a talk about posture. Good and bad.

Went to lunch with Joyce S. at Whole Foods. Very nice and they have renovated. Some good things and some bad about the renovation.

In the evening, I taught the adult ballet class. They were very diligent as usual. We are working on "lame duck" turns.

Today, I won't be doing much :)

March 19 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. The unfortunate aftermath of allow Nature to take its course. It is always a choice.

Daily Stuff: Yesterday was an extra day off So I didn't do a post. Just stayed home. When i get a chance, it is actually my favorite thing to do. Play hermit.

Today I went in to the office. Dealt with a little drama. Nothing huge, just a little drama. And then went to teach at Florence. Taught the kids their entire Polka dance. So that is a good start on their final performance. The also learned how to do a jazz square.

March 17 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. End of Act One. What will happen to Don Juan?

Daily Stuff: Day Off. Mom's B-day. So dinner tonight. Nothing today. I guess I'll clean out my pet rat's cage and play with the doggie. :)

March 16 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. After the pas, things look like everything is happy but actually Don Juan is being thrown around and beaten up.

Daily Stuff: Well we had our fundraiser today. By most accounts, it would be considered a success. Wonderful attendance.  The dancers and choreographers had a nice showing. The 24 Preludes went well. And we had an after reception at SCOUT, which is a design center across the drive with a lovely view. It is 11:24 and the dancers are currently dancing in the small studio to Thats The Way I Like It, which was my brother's favorite song in high school. Still doing some pick up of beer bottles and wine glasses. Will drive home in a bit.

Tomorrow will probably not leave the house. :)

March 15 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. The Moment where all the gypsy women dance with Don Juan.

Daily Stuff: Sorry to have forgotten to blog for two days, but got very busy. On Wednesday, I decided to film 24 Preludes today (Friday) rather than wait, so I went into show mode. Needless to say, I DID finish it. And pulled costumes for it. We DID film most of it today. Just left a ten minute section to be filmed tomorrow after the warm up class, because of dance availability.

On Wednesday I taught my second Dewey class It was little wild, but managed to come back under control. The kids learned a 3 step turn, which we added to our Jota. They also learned step hop.

Yesterday, I spoke to a group of Young Actors and had a delightful surprise. I had been asked by Courtney Corey to speak to some of her students. So I waited after my rehearsal until 4:30. When I got there I sat next to an older woman. Starting up conversation I asked her what she did.

"Oh I am a playwright."

"Oh, what do you write?"

"Plays for children"

"Plays that are performed for children or plays for children to perform?"

"Plays for children to perform. I write all sorts. Some are parodies of famous classics like Romeo and Juliet or my favorite was The Taming of The Shrew set in the Wild West. It was called Rowdy Kate."

"Rowdy Kate? I was in rowdy Kate in Junior High!"

I performed it with my brother and we san a song together. She seemed very happy :) I wrote my brother afterwards and he was also pleasantly surprised.

As for today... after filming,  I went to ensemble callbacks at the SCPA for In The Heights. We managed to get a nice hunk of our ensemble cast. So onwards!

March 12 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev.

Daily Stuff: Ran through 24 Preludes. Some pieces are looking very nice. Then I finished the 15th (Raindrop) Prelude with the girls. Now, I just need to do their entrance (the 14th Prelude) but that is going to be VERY simple. The piece only lasts 28 seconds.

Then set Max's 3 preludes. The first one is all turns and beats. Number two is a sort of take on a Russian folk dance, but with some classwork thrown in and the last is actually my favorite.

Since the most famous Chopin ballet is probably Les Sylphides, I thought it would be nice to have some of Fokine's choreography in the piece. Prelude number 7 is actually the famous Prelude from that ballet, but it has totally different choreography. Max's last Prelude is number 20. Its all these sort of Funerary chords. So I overlayed the choreography of the male variation of Sylphides on top of it. I like it because it can't directly sit on top, so Max needs to wait after every couple of steps. That allows the audience to actually see him "choosing" to move when he wishes.

There is actually a lot of that in the whole piece, dancers stating after count one or moving past the last beat of the music.

Afterwards, I had a meeting with a company dancer about next season and ran off to teach at Florence Elementary. Today we learned kick-ball-change and went over our polka. They also got to do two grand jetes in a row, rather than just the one they usually do.

March 11 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. I rather like this image. it will probably be seen a lot next year in our marketing.

Daily Stuff: Monday is usually a "day off," but not today. Went in at 10:30 to set 2 Prelude solos on Camille. I was supposed to have done them last week, but I had double booked and had to cancel.

I knew the first solo would go fairly smoothly. Pretty music that has a recurring motif set on a pretty dancer. It has some nice tendril-ly things going on. The second solo was a bit more challenging, but I ran into luck. First, it is shorter than the first. Second, Camille told me her mother played it a lot. So it was good that she had a familiarity with it, since it is much harder to hear the structure. The dancing itself, however, is not so complex. Lots of echappes and releves.

Afterwards, I went to the Living Coast Discovery Center to see about partnering with them on our October show. Hadn't been in a while and it was both a nice meeting and a nice visit. I think good things will come of it.

March 10 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. Still in the Gypsy pas de deux.

Daily Stuff: Taught Company Class. Had an auditioner come in and take as well. Very nice clean technique. Then ran the Preludes that have been set and continued on.

First I set the last part of Prelude 13, where matt dances with the 3 girls. Nice and clean. Some weaving in and out while holding hands and a repetitive lift sections. That piece actually keeps going in the silence after the music has ended. I have always been fond of dances that do that. It forces the audience to remember that dancing to music is a choice, not a necessity.

Then staged Matt's second solo. I started with one idea in my mind as as I was choreographing it morphed. It was at first a rather courtly piece, but as I kept going it ended up becoming very sensual and earthy, but also very elevated. It kind of turned into and Adam discovery/birth/remembrance of birth thing. When I looked up the nickname of the piece (all the preludes have nicknames) I saw that it was known as the "Vision" prelude. Very apt.

March 9 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. Pretty sure that this kiss was added by the dancers :)

Daily Stuff: Fairly easy day today. Set two preludes on Sarah today. Chronologically, they are the last two. 23 & 24. Very happy with the results. Afterwards, Sarah had some concerns that she wasn't quite getting what I wanted for the first solo. I told her not to worry. The Preludes are presented simply as the dancer's reaction to the pieces. None of the Preludes is more "important" than the others, so she doesn't need to feel the need to finish 'the whole ballet". Just dance her pieces. Also, the 24 Preludes are simply small pieces in each of the 24 keys. There is no deep connecting theme behind them. So she doesn't need to justify the immediate change from one to the other. Just dance to the piano.

March 8 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. The beginning of the Gypsy pas de deux. This section is pretty much the apex of the first act. Kind of like laying on the sensuality with a rowel.

Daily Stuff: Good days work Reviewed everything in 24 Preludes. Added more to the group section and got myself to the reiteration of the theme. Slow but sure wins the race. 

Then worked on a pas de deux for Noriko and Chris. It actually came together very smoothly. It has some nice passages in it. A zooming, flowing waltz. Finger turns in attitude. A crib from the Nutcracker. There is a tricky partnered ronde de jambe into arabesque as well. There are supposed to be two of them, but right now they just do it once... halftime. Hopefully, they will get it up to speed and be able to squeeze the second one in. There is also a nice balanced lift at the end of the piece.

Since I was done early, I was able to set a solo for Noriko as well. The prelude (which precedes the pas) was a bit frenetic, but I ended up setting the solo to underlying &1 &2... rhythm that is sustained thru the piece. It was nice to have a dancer who is known for being so clean and precise dancing against such a "mushy" prelude.

Afterwards, I had my second day of preliminary In The Heights auditions at the SCPA. More salsa dancing.

March 7 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Zoe Marinello- Kohn. The third Gypsy solo.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Regan Nuchereno. After the solos, the girls come together and dance for a brief moment before Max takes the stage with his solo.

Daily Stuff: Reviewed what had been set in 24 Preludes and continued with the group piece. Almost finished it, but had to run to the SCPA to do preliminary auditions for In The Heights.

I had stopped yesterday at a certain point on the group piece because it had started to sound like mush. But when I worked with it today, a sequence made it self clear that repeated itself midway through. It made the structure much more cohesive and suddenly made sense to me.

March 6 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano. The second of the Gypsy solos.

Daily Stuff: Reviewed the three solos from yesterday. The girls were pretty good about understanding the overlapping of the pieces. At the same time, Stephanie and Joe began to relearn their first section in the small studio.

Afterwards, I started working on the longest of the Preludes, number 15. It's 5 minutes plus, compared to the others which are generally 1 to 2. So I am choosing to set it as a group piece. It is very romantic, so it's filled with lots of bourees and port de bras. Did a nice chunk today, so should be able to finish it tomorrow.

First day with the kids from Dewey Elementary. So I had to stop working on the Preludes and work on Folk dances and Simon Says for 90 minutes. Chasse. Chasse. Chasse.

Then went back and set a solo on Matt. He will be doing two in a row, but I just wanted to work on one today. It comes right after Stephanie and Joe's very classical section. It has a very "modern" feel to it, but it is still romantic and lush. I want to make sure that the audience sees him as starting a different sensibility. Lots of over curves and under curves. And BIG movement. Had a nice talk about choices and phrasing. But the solo IS about ecstasy.

Taught an adult class tonight as well. One of the younger student from SDSB took it and afterwards we had a discussion about correct placement and thinking about keeping your supporting leg working, while your other leg is doing crazy things.

March 5 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Regan Nuchereno. The first Gypsy solo. Around this time, the lights started to join us in the rehearsal process.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Regan Nuchereno.

Daily Stuff: Back to work!
Set 3 solos today for the 24 Preludes. I ended up changing the music I was using. They pick up where the 7 Preludes that were performed by Stephanie and Joe in the fall. Matt will dance in Preludes 8 & 9. I was originally going to set numbers 10, 11 & 12 for Zoe, Regan, and Elana today. But as I listened to them I decided that I wanted to use number 12 for Zoe, so I switched her with Elana. After setting Zoe's piece, I was listening to Preludes 10 & 11 and figured out that 10 really was so short that it worked best as a "prelude" to 11. So I decided to give both to Elana and move Regan into Prelude 13, after Zoe. Prelude 13 was always going to be a piece for the 3 girls and Matt. It is at least twice as long, so it was very simple to give Regan the first part of it as a solo.

Have to deal a bit with the port de bras I want for all of them, but it's a good start.

March 4 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Still in the Gypsy camp.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg.

Daily Stuff: Last day "off" before I go back to SDB rehearsals. Chopin at the bit. :)

March 3 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. The second section of the Gypsy Camp, where the girls are displayed by their guys.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg.For some reason, this section took awhile to come together. It was taught fairly quickly and when we did it last year, it had a punch right away. But in the restaging, it just lacked "punch" for awhile. It did find its groove after awhile.

Daily Stuff: Meet with an old high school friend in Phoenix and then drove home. I slept on the floor last night. I actually find it more comfortable to sleep on strange floors than strange beds :)

March 2 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Maxim Tchernychev & Company. The beginning of the Gypsy section.

Daily Stuff: Had to do be at a callback for principle parts in In The Heights. Since it was an audition for  character's, the movement audition was a bit easier.

Then got in the car and zoomed to Phoenix to visit cousins. That's about it. Long drive.

March 1 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Maxim Tchernychev & Megan Nicotera. Fresh off his success with the Orange Vendor, he applies his charms to an apple vendor...

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Maxim Tchernychev, Tessia  Lane, & Camille McPherson. And then two young ladies.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Maxim Tchernychev & Elana Lewis. Finally resting for a moment with the fruits of his spoils. In these images, the baskets are empty. However, thanks to the magic of a hot glue gun and plastic fruit, they were bountiful by opening night. I was particularly proud  of my baskets of bananas and apples. not to mention the crafty no-sew bag I made for Don Juan himself.

Daily Stuff: Had an event at the Timken Museum today. We remounted the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker for a Russian Evening Gala. So had to go to storage to pull costumes. Then get batteries for a portable sound system (they didn't have one at the museum). And then we ran through the dance on site in the afternoon.

Treated the dancers to dinner in Hillcrest and then returned in the evening to dance on the travertine floor. Seemed to go well. At least it did from my vantage point behind the dancers, as I pressed the start and stop button on the cd player.