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.