Dance to the Piper

Jan 31 2012

2012-01-31T14:45:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. Now, here is an interesting thing. When I watch the ballet, this moment never really sticks out and I remember when I set it that I always felt it was lacking something. But it ALWAYS looks good in photos.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. And then this is a moment soon after, that I always felt would be a "special" section of the ballet. And it is. But it doesn't photograph well. Oh well, that's why you need to see live performances.

Daily stuff - More rehearsal for R & J. Set a pas de deux to When A Man Loves a Woman. Off to teach at Florence. Nothing amazing today so far.

Jan 30 2012

2012-01-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. Juliet prepares to jump up on Romeo's shoulder.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. A second variation on the dip. This one comes out of a series of pirouettes and stops dead. It is then held for a few seconds, so that the audience (and dancers) have a moment of "What's next?"

Daily Stuff- Day off. good thing too, as I have a slight cold. :(

Jan 29 2012

2012-01-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. We were working on this step today with this year's Romeo and Juliet (Max and Stephanie Maiorano). It isn't difficult, but the intent is a bit hard for the Juliet's to wrap their minds around. it comes after a series of lifts and precedes a series of supported turns. Juliet dives quickly into the arabesque and then has to come out of it slowly as if the intensity of her own feelings has caught her by surprise. Not only does this give the dancer a chance to breathe but it allows the phrasing of the movements to have a bit of human color.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. Now this is a detail from a photo we would never use for publicity because it is partially blurry and catches the dancers at a moment in between the beautiful lines normally associated with ballet. However I chose to include it here because I love the sense of abandon on Abby's face.

Daily Stuff - Taught this morning. Set an old pas de deux to Patsy Cline. Its a piece I was always very happy with but that we haven't done in a long time. It requires a female dancer with clean lines and footwork, as well as an astringent, dramatic quality to her dancing. Then did Romeo rehearsal and finished by re-staging a group number set to the song L-O-V-E. The dance involves the dancers forming letters with their bodies. Since I had one Chinese and two Russian dancers as part of the corps, I wanted to make sure that the humor of the piece didn't escape them. So we had a little alphabet lesson as we went along.

Jan 28 2012

2012-01-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. Ah all the lines so stretched

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & MAx Tchernychev. Sometimes when you choreograph a piece there is a motif that keeps popping up. In my Romeo and Juliet, one of them is the "dip". Dips are romantic. Each of their 3 pas de deux has some form of this step in it.

Daily Stuff - Taught class today for Max, who was off with some of the students of the school at a competition. Personally, I dislike the idea of dance competitions. I know there are many who would disagree with me, and that is fine. But it just isn't my bag. (Yes, I also dislike So You Think You Can Dance.) But the I also dislike any kind of games where people "lose," like Monopoly, etc. Anyhow, after class, I went over the non Romeo pas de deux's that have already been taught and then set a sweet little pas de deux from A Midsummer Night's Dream for Bottom and Titania, as well as a solo from a piece from 1998, set to some Patsy Cline music.

Jan 27 2012

2012-01-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. The big moment where Juliet lets go.

Daily Stuff - Had the whole cast together today for Romeo et Juliet. It was nice seeing what the ballet will be looking like this year. Afterwards, ran the first act pas de deux that was staged yesterday (set to Little Darlin) and restaged the Besame Mucho pas de deux from last year's premiere "How High the Moon." Was supposed to teach company class this morning, Max asked me if I would switch with him, so I will teach tomorrow.

Jan 26 2012

2012-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. This little pose has been the cause of more consternation for dancers and choreographer. Juliet sort of swings around and backs into this position and then she swings back into the pose below. Originally, the back foot was supposed to be on point, but when she did that, it never had the right sense of rebound.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. In the end, I decided that I really didn't care that much about the athleticism of standing on point and what I really wanted was the juxtaposition of the arms and bodies. When I told the original Juliet to just go off pointe for the step, she seemed disappointed. But after a few run throughs, she saw the method of my madness.

Daily Stuff - Put Paris into R et J today. Also worked on Juliet's death scene. Afterwards, reset an old pas de deux for the first part of the Romance program. Its a sort of 50's thing with lots of jumps and turns for the couple. I was a bit surprised at just how fast the choreography was that I had set. But just as before, after a few run throughs, it all started to make sense.

Jan 25 2012

2012-01-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Abby Avery. Romeo has just entered and as Juliet runs past him he reaches out and grabs her at the last moment. Which gives us this odd little moment where she is spinning around reacting to him.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Max Tchernychev and Abby Avery. After a few awkward moments, the pas de deux starts in earnest, with Romeo advancing towards Juliet, as she bourees backwards away from him. Keep the eye contact.

Daily Stuff - Romeo rehearsal. Worked on the bedroom pas de deux today and plugged in the Nurse to her scenes. Today teaching the Level 5 class.

Jan 24 2012

2012-01-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. The solo finishes with a restatement of the first sequence of steps. That to me was always suggestive of replaying the first time you meet someone over and over in your mind. Its also a way for the dancer to relax and know that they get two cracks at the same movement pattern.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. At this point, Juliet has heard a suspicious sound and her reverie is broken. In a moment Romeo will appear.

Daily Stuff - Ran what we knew of Rome and Juliet. Added Lady Capulet's Mad Scene and the following scene in Juliet's bedroom. I rather like the bedroom section with the corp de ballet as it has a lot of fast flowing backup movement. Onward to teach at Florence Elementary.

Jan 23 2012

2012-01-23T23:36:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. The "balcony" pas de deux in my mind is actually danced in a garden. It starts with this little solo for Juliet. It was also the first part of the ballet choreographed.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. The solo is filled with a lot of gestures that are evocative of a young girl remembering her first dance at a ball. Or at least, what I think that would be like.

Daily Stuff - Rainy Day off.

Jan 22 2012

2012-01-22T18:21:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: San Diego Ballet corps

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. The pas de deux begins.

Daily Stuff - Today in rehearsal, we killed Tybalt and Mercutio. It's always one of the male dancers favorite parts. For some reason, the really seem to enjoy stabbing each other and dying. It's a bit like Cowboys and Indians.

Jan 21 2012

2012-01-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist. Looking very much like the subject of some painting by a Dutch master.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Max Tchernychev. Yearning for the big smoochy pas de deux that will take stage in a few seconds.

Daily Stuff - Rainy day in San Diego today. Romeo and Juliet rehearsal. We cleaned up the second street scene. The ballet is in pretty good shape. Yesterday had a meeting for a collaborative project between the San Diego Rep and the San Diego School for Creative and Performing Arts. for the past two years, the organizations have been working together to present a summer musical. The first year's collaboration was a production of Hairspray for which I won a San Diego Critic's Circle award. Last year's show was Tommy (for which I am nominated for a San Diego Critic's Circle Award.) As for this year's show, I am still a little up in the air as to whether I will commit to it. I have to speak to the director they have chosen first to see if we are on the same page about the show.

Jan 20 2012

2012-01-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist. A study of Lady Capulet.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist.

Daily Stuff - More Romeo rehearsal. I'll be about halfway through cleaning it up today. Should be done with it by the weekend.

Jan 19 2012

2012-01-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: All the usual suspects. The jig is up and Lady Capulet wants Romeo to leave the party.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist. I love the way Rachel looks like one of those Russian icons in this photo. Those scary, sinister Madonnas.

Daily Stuff - More cleaning up Romeo and Juliet today. Yesterday's educational outreach show went very well (apart from a cd player that didn't want to recognize a disc.) Usually we only take 2 guys and 3 girls to the Spring outreach shows. Because we had to learn it quickly, I ended up teaching it to everyone, so that each dancer would only have to learn less. So we all went to the school together and the school got the special treat of seeing the whole company perform. A win win situation.

Jan 18 2012

2012-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Abby Avery.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Abby Avery. Still in the ballroom scene, so we can't get too passionate.

Daily Stuff - Finished choreographing the Lecture Demonstration. Off to perform in 20 minutes and then back to teach at SDB this evening. the tomorrow we get back to rehearsing Romeo and Juliet.

Jan 17 2012

2012-01-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Abby Avery & Max Tchernychev. Romeo and Juliet finally get to meet each other at the ball. Time seems to slow down. This is always a problematic scene in the ballet. You want to show that they have this sort of instant attraction, but you can't really have them do much, because they are at a public ball after all, so...

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Reagan Nuchereno & Vinnie Prisbrey. The Greek Chorus/Renaissance Figures go wild around them, to portray what R & J are feeling inside.

Daily Stuff - Well, we managed to set all but 20 seconds of the educational outreach program we will be doing tomorrow. Thats fine though. We have 2 hours of rehearsal time in the morning before we jet off to the performance site. These little ballets are narrated, to add to the literacy component. I had forgotten how wordy that this particular one is. Luckily, I don't have to memorize it.

Jan 16 2012

2012-01-17T00:13:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano. Rosaline (one of Juliet's handmaidens) leads a very coquettish dance, where all of the girls wear masks to confuse the boys as to their real identities.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano. Somehow, I think the boys can still tell them apart. I was always very happy with the construction of this section of the piece.

Daily Stuff - Went in today to try to find a video to reconstruct a lecture demonstration that we are doing on Wednesday. Unfortunately, when I found the tape, it had been partially taped over. :( By me. The good thing is that there was a script and once I read it with the music, enough came back that I should be able to reconstruct it without to much difficulty.

Jan 15 2012

2012-01-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Leila Gardner. These are both reaction shots from the ball scene.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Noriko Zaragoza & Max Tchernychev. I love this shot because it literally captures what is just a millisecond of a moment in the ballet. Tybalt is about to get into a fight with Romeo, so Lady Capulet sends Juliet off and one of of Juliet's attendants rushes in to get Romeo out of harms way. Looking at the pic, you would think that Noriko was Juliet herself because she looks so concerned. But she is really just Handmaiden #2.

Daily Stuff - Came back to rehearsal for the first time today. The company has learned quite a bit, but still a lot of clean-up to do. Mainly lots of getting enough "weight" into the movement. Also worked with Stephanie and Max on the pas they performed yesterday. Fixed some lines and steps that were not quite clear on the video.

Jan 14 2012

2012-01-15T00:23:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Matt Carney, Abby Avery, Leila Gardner

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Matt Carney & Noriko Maruzoe

Daily Stuff - Whew! Today was the dedication of the aforementioned Performing Arts Center in the South Bay. I was asked if the San Diego Ballet would be willing to have guest performers at the dedication and I, of course, said yes. I thought it would be a good way for this year's Juliet, Stephanie Maiorano, to begin getting familiar with the part. I also thought it would be a nice way to see a newer dancer with the company partner her a bit. All was set yesterday afternoon, and costumes were allotted. Then late last night, I got a message that Stephanie's partner had become ill and would not be able to do the show. So a quick scramble and rearrangement this morning freed up Max from some teaching assignments, so he could go down and do the job. The thing is that Max and Steph had not rehearsed together. One quick run through onstage and the audience never knew that there had been any change in plans. they did a lovely job.
On a personal note, caught up with many old friends and students. Nice

Jan 13 2012

2012-01-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Meghan Lotz. We are now deep in the ballroom scene and the renaissance chorus has become a mixture of celibrant/gargoyle architecture.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Marshall Whiteley & Rachel Sebastian- Hagquist. And the principals get to schmact.

Daily Stuff - Went in today and managed to work for an hour before I had to turn around and come home. Nice to know that the world still goes on :)

Jan 12 2012

2012-01-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Marshall Whiteley $ Rachel Sebastian - Hagquist.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Meghan Lotz

Daily Stuff- I think if all goes well tonight, I may be able to return to work tomorrow afternoon.

Jan 11 2012

2012-01-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Marshall Whiteley & Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Marshall Whiteley & Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist

Daily Stuff- Still on my sick bed. Luckily, there are those at the ballet company who can reset my stuff for February.

Jan 10 2012

2011-12-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Marshall Whiteley. The entrance to the Capulet Ball. Tybalt dances CS in front of Lady Capulet.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist & Marshall Whiteley. The two principals are about to take hands as the big glorious DAnce of the Knights is about to start.

Daily Stuff - Well, they had to start without me today. Still dealing with Kidney Stones. I think the worst is over, but the medicine is still making me very woozy.

Jan 9 2012

2011-12-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano. Stephanie is performing a small solo that takes us from Juliet's bedchamber to the Capulet Ball.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano. In the middle of the solo, she joined by the two other handmaiden's, Romeo, and Mercutio. It's actually one of my favorite parts of the ballet, in choreographic terms.

Daily Stuff - Had to go to the emergency room last night. Kidney stones. Still a bit out of it. Hopefully. this will pass :( :)

Jan 8 2012

2011-12-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Matt Carney & Abby Avery.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist, Noriko Zaragoza, Abby Avery, Tiffany Koepke, Leila Gardner. Just your basic "Reminding the Young Girl that she is soon going to be married off to the rich young Duke" moment.

Back from Las Vegas. Company back on contract on Tuesday. Tomorrow will go into the office to put together the schedule for the upcoming weeks.

Jan 7 2012

2011-12-28T15:45:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Leila Gardner & Abby Avery. Still in her bedchamber, Juliet's Nurse keeps trying to get her to focus on her upcoming marriage. This pulling/reaching motif is a fairly important one in the ballet in general and in Juliet's bedchamber scenes specifically.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Matt Carney & Abby Avery in foreground. Juliet meets her arranged finance, Paris. I have always felt rather sorry for Paris. He does absolutely nothing wrong and gets killed for it anyway.

Daily Stuff - saw Ka last night. It was, of course technically amazing and beautiful. Driving back to San Diego today.

Jan 6 2012

2011-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Noriko Zaragoza, Tiffany Koepke, & Leila Gardner. Still in Juliet's bedchamber.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano, Noriko Zaragoza, & Tiffany Koepke. Here we have all three of Juliet's handmaidens in a shot together. Stephanie actually has a character name... Rosalind. In the Shakespeare play, the character is only referred to as the the reason that Romeo and co. sneak into the Capulet ball, but we never see her.

Daily Stuff - Had a very nice opening for The Toughest Girl Alive at Moxie last night. At the moment, I am sitting at San Diego Airport on my way to Las Vegas. I will only be there for one night, but will at least get to see Ka at the MGM Grand. Then drive back to San Diego tomorrow. And then two days to figure out scheduling for the next few weeks. We have a lot to do in a little time.

Jan 5 2012

2011-12-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Meghan Lotz & Regan Nuchereno. A couple of Greek chorus renaissance figures focusing the audiences attention on the principle action which is...

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist & Abby Avery. The entrance of Juliet into her bedchamber.

Daily Stuff - SDB admin and the Opening night of The Toughest Girl Alive at Moxie tonight!

Jan 4 2012

2011-12-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Leila Gardner. This is a shot of Juliet's Nurse taken during a interlude that links the street scene to Juliet's bedchamber.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Haguist & Leila Gardner. And here the Nurse and Lady Capulet are admiring a piece of material that will be used to create Juliet's wedding veil. That piece of material is always tricky to "cast." It takes a few trips to a fabric store to find something that has enough shimmer, and a slight bit of stiffness (so it will float), but that still looks delicate and soft.

Daily Stuff - The Classes at SDB started again this week, so I'll be teaching a Level 5/6 class tonight before I head off to my Toughest Girl Alive final dress rehearsal.

Jan 3 2012

2011-12-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Noriko Zaragoza, Trystan Loucado, Max Tchernychev. After Romeo and Juliet's solos, we have a street scene where most of the players in the ballet are introduced. Among them are Juliet's handmaidens. She has three. Here are two of them, as they cavort with Romeo and Mercutio.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Tiffany Kopke

Started up teaching at Florence elementary again today. The kids were VERY enthusiastic and happy to be dancing again. Toughest Girl Alive has its 2nd tech/dress at Moxie tonight.

Jan 2 2012

2011-12-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancers: Meghan Lotz, Elana Lewis, Arielle Meads, Vinnie Prisbrey, Regan Nuchereno. The ballet was created as a very intimate chamber piece. As such, it utilizes a small corps of Renaissance figures to comment on the action and move us from scene to scene.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Trystan Loucado. because I wanted to focus on the Romeo and Juliet relationship, I intentionally did away with a lot of the testosterone laden sword play. To that end, the part of Benvolio (which is actually my favorite role in the play) was unnecessary. So now, Romeo is just accompanied by his BFF Mercutio.

If you visited early yesterday, I added some info to yesterdays pics in the evening, so double check to make sure you are on board.

The company is off this week, so I am pretty much just working on getting The Toughest Girl Alive up at Moxie Theater (www.moxietheater.com). We open on Thursday and it only runs for 2 weeks. So come down and see it!

Jan 1 2012

2011-12-27T14:56:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Max Tchernychev. As I am going to go through these pics in show order I might as well give a little illumination. My staging of the piece starts with two solos for the principals, which are performed in tandem. This is Romeo in his first pose. Slightly forward as if looking for something.

Rehearsal for SDB's Romeo et Juliet. Photographer: Gregory Olive. Dancer: Abby Avery. And here is Juliet as she turns to face towards the audience. Just as eager as Romeo, but a bit more hopeful and innocent.

Happy New Year! I hope to see you all at our February show.

Dec 31 2011

2011-12-06T18:16:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Tiffany Koepke. In our final image from this last fall's Mixed Rep program. Tomorrow, I'll start posting pics from this last year's production of Romeo et Juliet.

New Year's Eve! Have a safe and festive one!

Dec 30 2011

2011-12-06T18:15:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev

Still doin the San Diego sightseeing touristy thing. Today is Seaport Village. But tonight I still have rehearsal for the Toughest Girl Alive. We have been putting in a new cast member, so we have been working without our leading lady, Candye. We should have everyone tonight, which will give my voice a break, as I have been doing her part. Vocals and all :)

Dec 29 2011

2011-12-06T18:13:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev

Niece and nephew visiting from Austin, so today I am a tour guide. But I still have rehearsal for The Toughest Girl Alive tonight. That is all. Off to see the monkeys at the zoo.

Dec 28 2011

2011-12-06T18:12:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. Ah the ubiquitous leg warmer :)

Figuring out the casting for our Romance show in February. One of the ballets on the slate is A Midsummer Night's Dream. So I have to figure out who is a fairy and who is a human being. Winged creatures step to the front of the line!

Dec 27 2011

2011-12-06T18:10:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev. This ended up being a very nice little pas de deux. We have since used at at special request performances. Like a lot of these things, it was choreographed rather quickly and owed a lot to gifts of the individual dancers it was staged on.

Yesterday's Free Day of Dance was a huge success! My classes were overflowing with eager dancers. Young and old. Even the afternoon ballet class! And my body made it through it all.

Rehearsing for Toughest Girl Alive tonight at Moxie.

Dec 26 2011

2011-12-06T18:08:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Tiffany Koepke

FREE DAY OF DANCE!

Well, I taught stretch this morning. My back is still an issue but I just put on an extra pair of sweats (over my other sweats) to keep my muscles warm. It was actually pretty enjoyable. Nice music and an eager group of over 40.

Then I taught a beginning jazz class. That was also fun. Big class as well that ranged from age 12 to about 60.

In 5 minutes, I am off to teach a ballet class and then this evening I have rehearsal for The Toughest Girl Alive at Moxie.

Ah well, the students are calling me...

Dec 25 2011

2011-12-06T18:06:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Noriko Zaragoza

Merry X-mas! Took my parents to a nice meal at Island Prime and then saw Sherlock Holmes Two. My favorite part of the movie was when they used the main title of the movie Two Mules for Sister Sara as a joke.

If you are in San Diego come down and join us for our 4th annual Free Day of Dance at Dance Place San Diego. I'll be teaching a stretch class from 9 to 10, then a beginning jazz class from 10 to 11:30 and then an intermediate ballet class from 12 to 1:30.

Dec 24 2011

2011-12-06T18:05:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Lyndon Dou. Tiffany even looks a bit like the star at the top of a X-mas tree.

Happy X-mas Eve.

Strolled through the San Diego Zoo today. The animals were frisky. A perfect San Diego weather day.

Miracle on 34th Street tonight. Adorable Natalie Wood. Beautiful Maureen O'Hara. Hunky John Payne. Pitch Perfect Edmund Gwenn. And that little Dutch girl who sings the Santa Claus song.

Dec 23 2011

2011-12-06T18:03:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke. As I have in all the pics, I have cropped the original photo to my own sensibilities. That doesn't mean that the top of this image was unattractive. Just that what was "important" me wasn't highlighted. Even though ballet dancers are traditionally thought of as light and airy, sometimes it is the interplay between defying gravity (by pointe work and the effortless jumps) and the illumination of weight and mass that is arresting. In this case, Tiffany's slightly bent front leg and the weight and flow of the costume, gives the photo a sensuality that it would not have if it was just a pretty picture.

Ah well, working on the newsletter in the office. Its interesting to see how all the little things we do (personal appearances, educational outreach, etc) add up with the big things (Fall show, Tour, Nutcracker) to make for full and interesting year.

Its also nice to be in the office without the usual mayhem of the school going on. Apart from Max coaching some girls upstairs for a competition in January, the building is very quiet.

On the minus side, I am going to have to teach 3 classes at our annual Free Day of Dance the day after Christmas and my back still hasn't fully recovered from the injury during Nutcracker. Hopefully, it will be fine in 3 days.

Dec 22 2011

2011-12-06T18:02:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Lyndon Dou

Today, I went to Moxie Theatre and rehearsed for The Toughest Girl Alive. It was nice to see the set coming together.

Putting together an end of the year newsletter for SDB followers to be sent out... along with an end of the year appeal for contributions :)

Dec 21 2011

2011-12-06T17:59:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Lyndon Dou

Well, not much at SDB today. Have to finalize the press release for our February show and the postcards for it have come in.

This afternoon, I sat on a panel to make a recommendation on an artist for a public art piece for the San Diego Airport. It was nice to hear other artists talking about their work and process.

Dec 20 2011

2011-11-14T16:20:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Robert Callan & Lyndon Dou.

More work on The Toughest Girl Alive today. Yesterday, I blocked through the first act with our new supporting player. Today, I did the second. Tonight, I'll be meeting with Robin, and Karen (our general manager) over dinner to discuss upcoming strategies.

Last night's meeting was interesting. I had thought that the proposed one woman show project was going to be more of a theatrical undertaking. While it IS that, it also has more of a spiritual/self-realization component to it. It is currently in an outline form, so I encouraged the artist to write a bit more of the actual monologues she will present and to find the connections in the various areas of interest.

Dec 19 2011

2011-11-14T16:19:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev

As we close up on Nutcracker, I want to thank the special groups that came to see our shows as our guests...

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of San Diego
The Wounded Warrior Project
San Diego Police and Fire personnel and their families
The Naval Special Warfare Community of San Diego

Today, I began work on a remount of The Toughest Girl Alive at Moxie Theatre. I also had to get some numbers in for a Creative Catalyst Fellowship that I will be getting in 2012. And in about 15 minutes, I have a meeting with an old colleague about a one person show.

Meanwhile I need to finalize the pas de deux that we will be doing in February.

Dec 18 2011

2011-11-14T16:16:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Echale Salsita. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Max Tchernychev

Last Nutcracker of the season today. Have to go in early to give a talk to a group from the Ivy League. Then a backstage tour to someone from Big Brothers and Sisters. Then the show. Then we pack it all up to be cleaned and put away until next year.

So far my back is feeling better today. 2 Advil and hot shower and I am on my way.

Dec 17 2011

2011-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal of SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer:Arielle Meads. And we will leave Alice gazing into the future. Tomorrow, we will begin with some rehearsal shots from Echale Salsita.

Well, yesterday we had a performance at the Naval Training Center (NTC) in the evening. For the most part it went well. It was walking distance from our studio, so we got ready and then walked over. A group is trying to start a Christmas weekend event in Point Loma (our neighborhood) and asked us to be involved.

The stage was plenty pig and the staff on hand was nice and helpful. It was also kind of fun walking in my Herr Drosselmeyer cape from the studio to the stage on a windy day. I felt like Bela Lugosi.

The one unfortunate thing is... somehow I messed up my back during the show. I didn't feel anything, but when I got back to the studio to change, I had a great deal of pain bending over and/or lifting anything that weighed more than 10 lbs. It feels a little better today, but I am probably going to have to adjust my show a bit to compensate.

Oh well, 2 shows today. Matinee and evening. :)

Dec 16 2011

2011-11-14T16:12:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist. The Queen of Hearts. Red on red on red.

Last night at the dress rehearsal, we had an injury. So we have had to do some more reshuffling. So after the class I taught this morning, we had a put in rehearsal for Waltz of the Flowers. Then a kid's matinee. Then a Snow put in rehearsal. Pack the costumes up for an outdoor show tonight at the Naval Training Center and then tomorrow back to la Jolla for a matinee and evening show.

It sounds bad, but I can't wait until Monday.. The big reason is that when we get into show mode, I tend to eat out more often than we are in rehearsal mode. Which means my wallet gets thinner and my waistline gets bigger :)

Dec 15 2011

2011-11-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads

Nutcracker school matinee went well today. Taught class at 8am.

Congrats to Stephanie Maiorano and Evgeney Korsakov on their first Sugarplum and Cavalier with the company. Everything went well, other than a technical snafu with the headsets that connect the back of the stage to the front of the house. Well, we ended up doing everything by visual cues. No blood was spilled and some younger dancers got the opportunity to be put into Waltz of the Flowers and variations.

Tonight, we start with the kids pictures before and after the show. So once again I get to act like an elf helper to churn them through. Then our dress rehearsal. Then home to snooze and do more of the same tomorrow.

Dec 14 20111

2011-11-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. This was the section of the ballet that showcase the battle between the Lion and the Unicorn. Above you see the Unicorn in his unfinished costume.

Things are getting a bit hectic. We needed to cover some missing spots in the children's matinee of Waltz of the Flowers tomorrow. We have a couple of options, so we are set. Then ran through the Snow Pas De Deux with some alternate casts.

Tonight we have our tech rehearsal, so I need to load up my car with the costumes we have been using at the lecture demonstrations and zip them over. Zoom!

Dec 13 2011

2011-11-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancing cards.

We had our last Nutcracker LDs today. In Alpine. For those of you who are not San Diegans, Alpine is a bit of a drive. But then most of our LDs have been. It was a rough start. Rain. And costumes and music that were left in someone's trunk. Luckily, we adapted. Boulder Oaks Elementary even had cookies for us. :)

Dec 12 2011

2011-11-14T16:06:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Scout Forsythe & Zoe Marinello-Cohn

Day off today. Just got the rehearsal and performance schedule for the week with a few surprises. In addition to our regular performances, we have two Nutcracker matinees this week. Normally they are narrated by a longtime SDB associate Gail Mackler. I just found out that she will be out of town, Luckily we only do the second act. Unluckily, I will have to cover for her. It is sort of an open secret that I hate public speaking. I do it all the time and have gotten used to it (and proficient at it), but I still dislike it nonetheless.

Additionally, I will have to teach the classes that precede the matinees (where in the past I have not). So instead of having a late day on both Thursday and Friday, I will now have a two VERY early days. And I am not a morning person.

Ah well, such is life.

Dec 11 2011

2011-11-14T16:04:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads & Nick Zavala

Back to the office. Upstairs, the kids are being rehearsed for this week's Nutcracker performances at Mandeville. Up until now, we have had to rehearse things twice as there have been two casts for two theaters. As we have completed our Birch performances, we now just have one cast rehearsing.

Afterwards, I am off to a champagne toast to commemorate the closing of The Great American Trailer Park Musical at the Rep. From all accounts, it was a big trashy success. Extended for a week even.

Onward! This week we have a few more in-school performances, our Mandeville shows, and then I gear up for a return run of The Toughest Girl Alive at Moxie Theatre.

Dec 10 2011

2011-11-14T16:02:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Eddie Styles. As I mentioned before many of the original hip hop cast of Alice came back for this production. Eddie came back to reprise his role as the Mad Hatter.

Today, the ballet company goes off to perform at the German Club in San Diego. They will be doing an abridged version of the Nutcracker. Robin will narrate. I have been narrating the educational outreach shows at schools for the past two days. Sometimes there is a microphone. Sometimes there isn't. A few of the shows didn't have a mike, so my voice is a little tired from having to project over the music. Poor me.

Dec 9 2011

2011-11-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Tiffany Koepke

A month of daily blogs!

Well today, we were off to Solana Vista Elementary School in the morning. We go there every year at Nutcracker time. A command performance. It doesn't have a regular stage. We perform in a kiva. Sort of a carpeted pit. The kids all sit around us.

And then we jetted over to Painted Rock Elementary School in Poway. A nice multi-purpose room with a real stage. With carpet. And a nice hole in the middle of the stage. Luckily, I had a roll of duct tape. Instant patch.

Onward to the weekend's rehearsals!

Dec 8 2011

2011-11-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Noriko Zaragoza & Arielle Meads

In between Lecture Demos. This morning, we got up bright and early and did two shows at Ocean Knoll Elementary School in Encinitas. Very nice. The school has a lovely view of the Pacific. Their mascot is the Dolphin. So I got to say "Good Morning Ocean Knoll Dolphins!" before I went into my spiel about proper assembly behavior. First group was great. K through 3. Very attentive and quiet. They clapped for everything. The second group was a bit tougher. 4th through 6th. They are always a bit more challenging. :)

Now, we are off to Adams Elementary in somewhere in between East Village and Kensington. Two more shows. Then more of the same tomorrow.

Dec 7 2011

2011-11-14T15:58:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Caitlin Sullivan. The Duchess' foot and a flamingo croquet mallet in detail. Dunno why I just like the interplay here. And a slight bit of San Diego Theatre trivia. If you go and see The Great American Trailer Park Musical at the San Diego Rep this week, you can see our croquet mallets "on loan" as lawn decoration. While I was choreographing the show, they mentioned they needed flamingos, so I volunteered ours.

Finished the postcards for the February show and sent them off to the printshop. Should get them back in a few. Robin rehearsed the lecture demo today. Unfortunately we had an injury today. Tiffany's foot is hurt, so she will have to be replaced in the lecture demo this week.

I taught Level 5 today at the school. It is actually the only San Diego School of Ballet class I teach. The company classes I do in the morning aren't really considered school classes. Anyhow, the Level 5 girls are starting to look stronger. We have been working on their jumps and beats. Personally, I hated beats (batterie would be the correct term). I was much happier in adagio. But then I never had any illusions of becoming a ballet dancer. And some of these girls do. So they need to work on their entrechats, cabrioles, and brises. Everytime, I see them.

Dec 6 2011

2011-11-14T15:57:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Noriko Zaragoza. This is one of my favorite parts of the ballet. It deals with an episode of Alice in Wonderland that is usually glossed over in treatments. Probably because it is so weird. In it a rather ugly Duchess (who has a frog footman) is having an argument with a cook who is tossing pepper everywhere, while a crying baby turns into a pig, and the entire proceeding is being watched over by a grinning Cheshire Cat. Well I made the Duchess into a bit of a glamourous femme fatale (to suit a dancer in the company at the time, Heather Falten) and gave her two beefy cooks. They manipulate her into various odd positions. The pig and the cat remain. All set to a cool piece of music that is in a 7/4 time signature.

Came into work today to work a bit on the mailout for our Spring show. Longtime SDB dancer Noriko Zaragoza (the Cat in the above pic) ran rehearsals today for the lecture demonstration. Off to teach at Florence Elementary School in a bit.

Thank you everyone for following.

Dec 5 2011

2011-11-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Noriko Zaragoza. I love this stuffed pig. When the ballet isn't being done, he sits on my dresser at home.

Day off. Yay!!!

That just means I get to catch up on everything else that I need to do. Laundry. Cleaning out the pet cages. Taking items to good will. Dropped off flyers for our annual Free Day of Dance at schools in the South Bay. Every year, we (along with Malashock Dance and San Diego Dance Theatre) offer free dance classes on the day after Christmas. I always teach a morning stretch class from 9 to 10 for everyone who over indulged the day before.

Dec 4 2011

2011-11-14T15:53:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Scout Forsythe

Nutcracker matinee today at the Birch. Then we packed up for our shows at Mandeville. The matinee went well. Nice sized house and very appreciative.

I did a backstage tour for a friend's grandson before the show started. It can be fun with young children who have never been on stage before. Everything is interesting to them. From stage lights with colored gels to hoisting wooden swords to getting to strum a few notes on the strings of a bass. Much excitement.

Day off tomorrow!!

Dec 3 2011

2011-11-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads

I didn't mention that yesterday morning, as I was racing to the Nutcracker lecture demonstration, I took a little tumble as I tripped over a curb. "Luckily" the cd player I was carrying broke my fall a bit. The reason I am bringing up this fascinating tidbit is because it must have set up the karma for the rest of the day.

Once we began the second act run through of the Nutcracker dress rehearsal yesterday, it seemed that not 15 minutes would go by without some one slipping onstage or off. Thankfully there were no serious injuries. However, its a good thing that dancers wear tights, as there are going to be plenty of bruises on display today. :(

Oh well, opening in San Diego today at the Birch Theatre. Come on down and get into the holiday swing of things!

Dec 2 2011

2011-11-14T15:51:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: David "Darkie" Simmons. Tweedle Dee in all his glory.

Had our first Nutcracker LD today in Coronado. It went very well. The school had a tiny stage, so we danced on the floor of the auditorium instead. Tile over concrete. The kids were all around them in a U shape. Kindergarten kids only. Very well behaved and attentive.

Tonight, we have our dress rehearsal at the Birch. But also have to wrangle the kids photos before and after. If you have ever seen A Christmas Story, it's a little like the scene where Ralphie goes to sit on Santa's lap. If I only had a huge slide to send them all down on. :)

Dec 1 2011

2011-11-14T15:49:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: David "Darkie" Simmons and Samath Orm. Yesterday, we had the dainty ballerina feet and today we have the hip hoppers. By the way these legs belong to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

In Nutcrackerland, we rehearsed our lecture demonstration and cast the upcoming educational outreach shows for the Holiday season. Tonight, we have our tech at the Birch. But it should go smoothly, as we are now a well oiled machine after tour. :)

The Birch is a lovely theater, but it is a bit cramped backstage. I don't even have a laundry room to escape to.

Nov 30 2011

2011-11-14T15:48:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Tiffany Koepke & Stephanie Maiorano

Today, the dancers got their assignments for our lecture demonstration at Coronado on Friday. These are mini-shows that we take to public schools through all of San Diego county. We have ten school shows in these next two weeks, while we rehearse and perform at night in the theatres. We also did a short dancer rehearsal for local dancers who will be performing in Nutcracker this weekend. Casts change from show to show.

I also sat on a panel for a new public art piece at the San Diego Airport. Some very nice submissions. We narrowed it down and will be meeting with the finalists in December.

Then I had to rush back to SDB and teach a class. A full day!

Nov 29 2011

2011-11-14T15:47:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Bronwyn Stokes. A young dancer as a living flower. We have flowers in The Nutcracker too. I guess its an easy analogy. Dancers = Flowers.

Still getting over the head cold thing. Mainly a day of drainage. Ick.

But I did go to my old high school this evening. They were dedicating a building to my first dance teacher. It has a music room, choral room, orchestra room, dance room, and a performance hall. We will be having a celebration in January 14th for all of his old students.

Nov 28 2011

2011-11-14T15:45:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads and friends. This is the Caterpillar section of the ballet. FYI, Alice is a ballet that was created as part of a longstanding relationship with Culture Shock San Diego, a hip hop dance crew. When Alice premiered a few years back, this dance was performed by the Jabbawockies, who have gone on to create quite a name for themselves.

Be it ever so humble... so glad to be home. As I get older, I have found that I travel less well than I used to. This mainly pops up in sinus headaches. Aggravated by going up and down in airplanes. And today I got a doozy, thanks to the non direct flight back from Billings. But after my self imposed exile under the covers, most of it seems to have disappeared. Still I will be a little fragile for the rest of the evening.

Well the truck got all packed, we got a nice review in the Billings Gazette, no Baby Mice were harmed, and all of the dancers returned safely home. Now for our local shows. We have tomorrow off, but I have to go take care of a special engagement. More about that tomorrow. Right now, I am going to crawl back under my blankets.

Nov 27 2011

2011-11-14T15:44:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads

My last day in my laundry/dressing room among the super concentrated detergent and lemon polish. The Waltz of the Flowers is playing and I have about 12 minutes before I have to go onstage and finish the Nutcracker with a swirl of my cape.

Shows have gone well (knock electronic wood). Now we all need to pitch in to load up the truck, so it can be on the road bright and early tomorrow morning to get to San Diego by Tuesday night. Shows at North Park Theatre on the weekend. Along with our first school lecture demonstration of the season on Friday.

Ah well, I just heard the end of Flowers, now its the Pas de Deux. Gotta run upstairs as I have to cue the sheep and sugarbabes for their entrances.

If all goes well, I might just be able to see The Muppet movie tonight!

Nov 26 2011

2011-11-14T15:42:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal SDB Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Stephanie Maiorano

Sitting in my laundry/dressing room in between our Final Dress and our first Nutcracker show in Billings. The dress went fine. A few minor mishaps, but nothing really reportable. A little backstage drama as well, but thats all straightened out. Had a lovely dinner with Abby and Rachel (our Snow Queen and Sugarplum Fairy). Complete with a Huckleberry Ice Cream Sandwich for dessert.

It should be a good show tonight. The orchestra plays a section of the party scene a bit faster than usual, but thats fine by me. It means I am onstage less. :)

Hope we will see a little snow by Monday, but I don't think its in the cards. Ah, well.

Yesterday, I was awoken by the howling winds. Today, it was the screaming baby in the hotel room next to mine at 4am. According to the hotel service, they checked out today. Lets hope so .

Nov 25 2011

2011-11-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal of Alice:Wonderland. Photographer: Manny Rotenberg. Dancer: Arielle Meads

Woke up today to blasts of Montana winds at the Dude Rancher. Strolled around downtown Billings before I went in to teach company class onstage, then a kids spacing rehearsal and then a run though The Nutcracker with the orchestra.

Actually, I am blogging from my private dressing room (its the laundry room) at the Alberta Bair Theatre. Many of these theatres are not built with the idea that they may need to accommodate large casts. When that happens I often find myself tucked in some nook or cubbyhole to give the rest of the cast room.

Everything went pretty well. The local kids who play the Baby Mice in the production needed some extra coaching. So I spent some time with them. It may not sound like it, but Baby Mice are actually difficult parts that we encourage touring cities NOT to cast. You don't miss them if you don't know they are supposed to be there. They run around the Big Rats and Soldiers in the fight scene. The audience loves them because they are wearing diapers and so tiny, and the little kids all want to play them. But their faces are covered and it can be scary for a 6 or 7 year old (yes, they are LITTLE kids) to be surrounded by smoke. They need to be very smart and extremely well rehearsed or its a safety issue with all the prop swords being swung around the stage. When ever we go to a touring town, my heart always sinks a bit when I hear, "Oh, we cast the Baby Mice." The only thing that can make me more despondent is hearing that they double cast the mice.

Once, we even pre-cast the show in a small town (without Baby Mice) in September and when we showed up in November, the person in charge of the kids told us "Oh by the way, we looked at the video and noticed that there were some Baby Mice, and they were so cute we went ahead and cast them. But they are really nervous." Aaargh!!!

Nov 24 2011

2011-11-12T15:56:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Scout Forsythe. Normally I don't like blurry photos, but there was something about this that struck me.

We are in Montana! Staying at our home away from home, the Dude Rancher Lodge. The ballet company (and a few hangers on) got on the plane in San Diego this morning bright and early, connected in Denver, and arrived in Billings. I love airports, but I hate flying.

Tonight, we have a company Thanksgiving dinner and hope that everyone gets to bed nice and early for a big rehearsal day tomorrow.

Nov 23 2011

2011-11-12T15:55:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Tiffany Koepke. First arabesque. Clarity of movement and line is important in dance. The audience must be able to understand what you are trying to communicate. You can put all of your passion and soul into a dance, but if it is illegible, then it is pointless to put it on a stage.

Tomorrow, we head off for Montana. This morning, I had to cover for one of the instructors at the ballet school who teaches adult classes in the morning. Adult classes are great because they are made up of two different kinds of students. Adults who have been dancing for most of their lives (and want to stay involved) and adults who have always wanted to dance (and just got the nerve to do it). They aren't under the illusion that they are going to be professional dancers. Their motives are more about self-improvement. So they work differently. And their goals seem to be more "in the moment."

After that I had a rehearsal with the Snow King and Queen. They weren't on Robin's rehearsal schedule today, so they requested I come in and work with them. Usually, rehearsals are set by Robin or myself. However, if a particular dancer (or group of dancers) feels that they would like more rehearsal on a particular piece for a clear reason, I try to work with them. Personally, I could be in a rehearsal room all day long, so for me its just more of a chance to have fun. There are a few exceptions to that rule however :)

Nov 22 2011

2011-11-12T15:54:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Tiffany Koepke. In a lovely 4th position.

Cleaned up more of Waltz of the Flowers in anticipation of the show this weekend. Have to do some interviews for the show in San Diego. The questions always sort of hit the same note. "How do you keep The Nutcracker "fresh" year after year?" I wonder if they ask the people in Lion King the same thing? After all, in one year of a Broadway run they probably do the show more than we do in 12 years.

Nov 21 2011

2011-11-12T15:52:00.002-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Arielle Meads

At yesterday's Nutcracker rehearsal I had some time to clean up rat and soldier choreography. Rehearsal is mainly made up of three different things. Discovery, which is the fun part. That includes the teaching of the existing choreography to the dancers or the creation of new choreography. Fixing problems. Which is either working with the dancers to execute the steps correctly or re-adjusting the movement for the dancers or re-choreographing it. And Repetition. Drilling the thing over and over again until it is in the dancer's muscle memory. The LAST thing you want is a group of people onstage who are trying to remember what comes next.

I also readjusted the end of the Snow pas de deux. The pas ends with a sequence of tricky lifts. Depending on the Snow King and Queen sometimes it takes a few tries at it to see which sequence works best for this particular couple. I think we found our answer. Of course, it took the Snow King tossing the Snow Queen into the air about 50 times to figure it out, but thats life in the rehearsal hall, :)

Nov 20 2011

2011-11-12T15:52:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Lyndon Dou. I love the energy of this shot. Lyndon is actually a very restrained guy, so its nice to see him having fun.

But we are deep in Nutcracker-land right now. Sunday is the big kid rehearsal day. We have about 100 of them running through the studio today. Running through Act Two upstairs right now. Act One later. Ending with the fight scene. Today we also need to finalize casting on some of the kid's parts.

Some of the dancers have been allowed to understudy and learn parts that may be a bit of a challenge to them. Today we find out whether they have risen to the challenge and be allowed to perform or whether they need to wait another year. While it is tempting to make someone's holiday wish come true, we also have a responsibility to our audiences to put the best show possible forward. And that comes first.

Nov 19 2011

2011-11-12T15:50:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Lyndon Dou. Bunnies!

Had to get my suitcase ready and packed to go on the truck ahead of us for tour. It leaves tomorrow morning. We leave on Thursday. Right now its snowing in Billings.

More Nutcracker rehearsals today. Variations. Flowers. Snowflakes. etc.

Nov 18 2011

2011-11-12T15:43:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Arielle Meads. I like this image because it very much reminds me of the Classic Alice drawings by John Tenniel. There is something a bit rough around the edges and slightly decadent about this Alice.

Got the big grant off today. Huzzah! Included images form the America's Finest City... Dances! campaign to give it a bit more "pop." Then went off to Grossmont College to teach a couple of ballet master classes. It was nice. The students were all very focused and willing to stretch themselves. Thats always nice. This time next week, we will be doing our first Nutcracker of the season in Montana!

I also got news today that the Trailer Park Musical is being extended. Congrats to the denizens of Armadillo Acres!

Nov 17 2011

2011-11-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist.

Off to put the finishing touches on the OSP Grant for the Commission for Arts and Culture today. Its due tomorrow, so I am actually ahead of schedule. The company dancers are off to do a "freebee" this morning. Sometimes we do free shows for charitable groups. Today, they are performing for the Thursday Club.

Thats about it. Tonight will be attending a 50th birthday party for my pal, Candye Kane. The show I wrote about her life will be back at Moxie Theater in January!

Nov 16 2011

2011-11-12T15:40:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist & Matt Carney. So here is Rachel dancing as Dinah the cat surrounded by her "butterfly" guys. Ever since I was a teenager, I have loved the whole Japanese conceit of stage crew that the audience just "accepts" isn't there. They pop into my ballets and shows whenever I need them.

More grantwriting today! Then teaching a class at SDB.

Nov 15 2011

2011-11-12T15:37:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Alice:Wonderland. Photographer:Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Rachel Sebastian-Hagquist. So much story in just a leg, a foot, and a boa :)

More grant writing today. Also, off to Florence Elementary School to teach an after school program. Its a good group this year. Very focused and a good energy. But most importantly, have to go pick up the payroll. Sometimes its all about the bottom line.

Nov 14 2011

2011-11-12T15:34:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Suite Italienne. Photographer: Manny Rotenburg. Dancers: Tiffany Koepke & Noriko Zarogoza. You can clearly see that this is a rehearsal shot as the backdrop for Alice:Wonderland is hanging in the back. The backdrops were created by students from the Creative and Performing Arts in Chula Vista and are filled with cartoony/anime versions of Wonderland characters. Believe it or not, I am pretty sure that the menacing pink monster is supposed to be the Doormouse at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

The dancers are off today. We have a big grant due on Friday. Later in the day, I'll go in to start working on it. That will be pretty much my life for the week. Grantwriting :(

Nov 13 2011

2011-11-12T15:32:00.001-08:00

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 :)

Nov 12 2011

2011-11-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Suite Italienne. Photographer Manny Rotenburg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano and Max Tchernychev.

Ah well, today was a short day. Just a couple of hours of rehearsal on the Spanish, Arabian, and Chinese variations. Robin (my co-director) will be rehearsing the end of the first Act.

The Trailer park musical opened last night at the Rep to enthusiastic audience response. One more checked off the list.

I mentioned a grant yesterday. I was awarded $20,000 by the San Diego Foundation's Creative Catalyst Fund. It is a new initiative that funds individual artists to move to the next stage of their development. My proposal was to take a dance piece that had been performed by SDB and to turn it into a musical by commissioning a new score. I'll be giving my ongoing reports via this blog from now until next September. So stay tuned !

Nov 11 2011

2011-11-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for SDB's Suite Italienne. Photographer: Manny Rotenburg. Dancer: Arielle Meads. Looking just like a mechanical doll. :)

Ah, so happy for this day to be here. The Great American Trailer Park Musical opens tonight at the Rep, so that means I just have to worry about The Nutcracker for the next month. Well, that and the miscellaneous after school dance programs and master classes I also have on the plate.

We had a very nice forum last night before the preview. A discussion between myself and 4 other local directors (Sam Woodhouse, Sean Murray, James Vasquez, and Todd Salovey). All about directing musicals. It was also good because lately a few people have been confusing me with James, I guess because we share the same initials and are latin. So people got to see that we actually ARE two separate people.

I also got some exciting news about a grant I wrote, but I'll talk more about that tomorrow. right now I need to wash some clothes for tonight's opening and hope that something will actually fit me. :) Ah well, starting tomorrow its time for the yogurt diet. Thank God for Lemon Chobani.

Nov 10 2011

2011-11-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for San Diego Ballet's Suite Italienne. Photo: Manny Rotenburg. Dancers: Scout Forsythe, Leah Nepomunceno, Mariko Domyo, Arielle Meads.

Ballet dancers always have a look of indeterminate age about them. The dancers in the photo range from 15 to 21, but you would be hard pressed to pick out who is who.

So yesterday we had a lovely event at Wine Steals, a sort of "Meet and Greet" or "Friendraiser", that's all development department lingo. Afterwards, I zipped off to see the end of a preview for the Trailer Park musical I choreographed at the Rep. Its in pretty good shape, if I say so myself, but will be happy when it has opened tomorrow.

Today was a fun day. Just rehearsals with the dancers for The Nutcracker, so we got to talk about how the Spanish dancers are really Chocolate Gypsies and the Reed Flutes have big smiles because they know that the stage is going to be covered with a bunch of 6 year old sheep and that there is a difference in the port de bras between the sugar coated flowers in Act Two and the light, airy snowflakes of Act One.

Onward in to the Holiday Season!

Nov 9 2011

2011-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

If you are here you came for ballet (or musical theatre) insight. SO I will make sure to post a nice pic everyday. Technical rehearsal for San Diego Ballet's Suite Italienne. Photographer: Manny Rotenburg. Dancers: Caitlyn Sullivan, Stephanie Maiorano, Max Tchernychev

On with my life. Well started the morning with a meeting on Social Media with SDB's Social Media Director. I got to learn all about the difference between a Facebook Friend page and a Facebook Fan page, all of which I quickly forgot. Well, thats why we hired a social media specialist.

Now have a Nutcracker rehearsal to run, followed by a quick jaunt over to the San Diego Rep to re-stage a number in The Great American Trailer Park musical, which opens on Friday, then back to SDSB to teach a class and then off to a wine tasting fundraiser (I don't drink) for the ballet and then back to the Rep to catch the tail end of the GATP preview and notes.

Busy, busy. Tomorrow, I will perhaps comment on what happened today :)

I'm back

2011-11-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

Hello Neglected Blog.

I have returned and will be posting daily from this day forth.

Pics from The Toughest Girl Alive!

2011-07-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

Photos by Darren Scott.

A Visit to Mission Trails Park

2009-12-03T10:14:00.001-08:00

I have to admit, I chose this next location out of guilt.

I knew that Mission Trails Park existed and was just a few minutes from downtown, but I had never made the effort to visit it. It was just one of those things that you keep putting off until later. I had always wanted this photo campaign to show the many facets of San Diego, both for visitors AND residents.

So I figured that I should include a place that I personally needed to strike off my own "To Do List."

Well, it was a lovely morning. Dappled sunlight. Autumn leaves. Nice park ranger. Here are a couple of nice pics that were not chosen for Kristy's web page.

The first wasn't chosen because it was just too vertical. It didn't fit into the space needed without cutting off either Kristy's feet or the puma's head.

The second, although a nice pic of Kristy, could have just been taken anywhere. This faux rock could have been Big Thunder Railroad at Disneyland, or Tiger River at the Zoo or Knott's Berry Farm. Although it might make a nice advertisement for a fake rock company, it isn't really a "San Diego" pic.

Modern Art Angel

2009-12-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the season, we were short one dancer. But somehow, on the first day of the dancer's contracts, I had a feeling that something would just happen. When I walked in to class, I saw a dancer who had danced with us a few season back. She had decided that she needed to take time off to go to school and such, but now wanted to come back to us.

Now, dancers can't always just pop back into the swing of things, but Brianna had never really stopped dancing totally. It was also great to see that she had matured as a performer.

This photoshoot was quite a surprise, as Brianna was showing a different aspect of herself throughout. While I love the dramatic effect of the elongation of Brianna's legs in this photo, in the end we chose not to use it in favor of a pic that didn't distort her body.

Another Headless Dancer!

2009-11-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

When we got to Matt's photo shoot at Baja Betty's (where i love the cheese dip by the way), I was crossing University Ave and thought we could get a nice pic on the median. Which we did.

The problem was that in the first photos. Matt kept getting a little to "into it," so we kept getting shots that looked like this.

Interesting, but not quite what we needed. This was another instance of having to wait until lights were changing. Half of the time, there were cars lined up next to us asking us questions about what we were doing. Since Hillcrest is the LGBT neighborhood in San Diego, and we had a barechested male dancer in tights flinging himself down the middle of the street, some of those conversations were quite entertaining.

Costume Issues

2009-10-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Old Town photo shoot was interesting in that we found a lot of locations that didn't look like "typical" Old Town. Here is a set of pics in a "western" setting of Danika that show some of the unexpected "perils" of costuming.

Danika is wearing Titania's costume from our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I thought the vibrant color would make a nice contrast to the whites and browns of Old Town. I also thought that the costume matched Danika's temperament as a dancer. But as you can see in the next photo...

The empire line and open construction of the bodice made any kind of arching in the upper body a bit of a problem. The dancers body gets lost in a mass of fabric and she looks as if she is a bit wider than she actually is. In motion this is not a problem, as the costume just flattens back out, but in a picture I want to SEE the dancers body.

7th Inning Stretch

2009-10-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

A few unused pics from the Petco shoot with Bernadette.

The first was unusable because we can't see the tips of Bernadette's pointe shoes.

The second is nice enough but a little soft. It is a little reminiscent of the image that we did use of Bernadette in the split.

There were also a series of shots that were taken with baseball props, but they were never meant to be used in the campaign as they are too specific.

And They Are Off...

2009-10-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Now here is an example of a pic being a bit too specific.

The idea for the campaign was always that we put ballet dancers in iconic San Diego locations, not that we costume them as characters from those locations. So in this image, Arielle is just a bit too much of a jockey for our purposes. Thats why we went with something more like this.

Not that the Del Mar Racetrack couldn't use the previous picture (which is quite nice) for their own publicity, should they choose to.

A Boy and his... Whale.

2009-10-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Some shoots are just fun... period. And some shoots are beyond awesome. We always knew that we needed a Sea World shot. When we got in contact with them, they graciously allowed us to shoot our dancer with Shamu. Since we were going to be near the water (and the nefarious Splash Zone), I decided that it would be best to take a male dancer, rather than a ballerina in a tutu.

The images that you see are all pics that will not appear on Trystan's webpage. I like the first two because of the choreographed architecture between Trystan and the whales. But just like we needed to have Trystan's face in the pics, we also needed his dance partner's.

I particularly like this twisty one. We took these after the Labor Day weekend and the whales had just started a lighter "show" schedule. Because of this I think they were especially playful, because they were "on vacation" after their 4 show days in the summer.

As their wonderful trainers told us, you pretty much "suggest" to a killer whale what you want it to do. Lucky for us, 3 of them wanted to play, including Baby Shamu. Its too bad that this isn't a video, because he was pretty adorable for being a fearsome marine predator. He kept smiling, sticking his tongue out, blowing bubbles, and even spinning around doing underwater pirouettes.

Finally, when we were done and ready to jet off to the Shark Encounter, one of the trainers asked us if we wanted to hug Shamu. Well, how could we refuse?

The Faceless Dancer

2009-10-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

Now personally, from an artistic standpoint, I really like this picture of Julio.

But when each dancer only gets 5 pictures on their website, they really need to have their face in the shot. Still I love the whole open back, head thrown back thing thats going on in the photo.

On the Rocks

2009-10-11T13:02:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of great evocative photos from Noriko's shoot at La Jolla Cove. In the end, I decided to go with the happier ones for her webpage. But here are a couple of the "moodier" ones.

These were shot at the sea wall that encloses the "Children's Pool", which we in San Diego have come to know as the Seal Pool, because of the seals and sealions which have taken it over (to the delight of many and the ire of a few). As a dancer, Noriko always brings a sense of drama to everything she does. So the whole windswept romantic tutu thing was something she could have fun with. It was also nice for her because she tends to be cast in powerful jumping roles. So it was a change of pace.

This photo has a lovely soft quality to it, thats the problem. It just wasn't specific enough to stand on its own in a group. By itself, it is nice. But in a group it just faded into the background. One note about the costume. This is a case of something that "photographs well," but maybe closeup doesn't look like much. It weighs next to nothing.

A Beautiful Mistake.

2009-10-10T13:49:00.001-07:00

This photo of Rachel was completely unplanned.

We were shooting her at the USS Midway Museum and decided to take a stroll down to Seaport Village to see what we could find down there. As we were walking along the bay, I saw this wall and I thought it would make an interesting shot. I was particularly taken by the greyish-blue hue of the bay against the tuna boats. I thought it would make a nice contrast to Rachel's dress as well. We had other pictures of dancers on walls, but Rachel is such a long elegant dancer that rather than sitting, I asked her to "drape" herself across it.

On the Edge of the World

2009-10-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

I chose this pic of Meghan for her webpage, because it isn't quite so posed.

She appears to be just caught in the moment in the middle of the street. Like those old verite' photos of American girls in Italy in the 50's. Also the skirt has a nice amount of life to it, without being to distracting. For anyone visiting San Diego (or many of the locals), you can't really understand the lay of the town, if you don't get up to the Cabrillo Monument. I had never been until I had turned 40. It really does put the city, Coronado, Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean into perspective.

Hanging at the Hotel

2009-10-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

This is such a great picture of SDB dancer Leila Gardner.

It highlights some of the qualities that make her such an interesting dancer. She is lean and direct, but still has a great deal of mystery to her dancing. Somehow, even though she is draped along the balustrade of the Hotel Del Coronado pool, to me she looks like some exotic hot house flower in a greenhouse in the deep South.

You Belong In The Zoo!

2009-10-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places in San Diego is the San Diego Zoo. I have so many fond memories going back to a zoology class I took in 4th grade summer school, where we were basically taken there everyday and allowed to run rampant from 8 to 12. So of course, I was looking forward to this shoot (even though I am a zoo member and can go in an unlimited number of times. What a deal!

We knew we wanted to shoot at the flamingo lagoon, but the zoo also suggested that we take a look at their new Elephant Odyssey exhibit. When we got there the handler was just bringing the elephants out, so we decided to play around on the great statues of the ancient mammoths at the beginning of the exhibit. Although this shot wasn't used, I love it because Stephanie looks like a little girl who wanted a pony for her birthday... and got an elephant instead! Once we did start the shoot with the real elephants, the zoo staff couldn't have been nicer. As far as Stephanie's costume, I knew that I wanted a white tutu with the elephants. It was sort of an homage to the Stravinsky/Balanchine elephant ballet that was famously created for Vera Zorina and Modoc, the elephant. As the story goes, Ringling Bros, & Barnum and Bailey Circus asked George Balanchine to choreograph a ballet on their elephants for a special performance. Balanchine called Igor Stravinsky and asked: "Would you like to do a little ballet with me?" "For whom?" asked Stravinsky. "For some elephants." answered Balanchine without hesitation. "How old?" asked Stravinsky, without missing a beat. "Very young." replied Balanchine. "All right," said the great Russian composer, "If they are very young elephants, I will do it." Such a nice story, because it reminds us that humor and a willingness to do new things are wonderful qualities for artists to have.

When we got to the Flamingo Lagoon, we started taking lots of great photos. But the new Flamingo Lagoon (as great as it is) doesn't have the same kind of "backdrop" quality that the zoo's original Flamingo Lagoon did. So I started squatting down to see if we couldn't get the angle we needed. And we kept asking Stephanie to get lower.. and lower. Finally we were all at ground level, but we did manage to get what we needed. Of course, it was great that we were there before the public came in, otherwise they would have seen a very strange photo shoot.

Curves, Lines, Rays...

2009-10-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

For the dancers webpages, I generally like to see their faces. But I did include this image of Christine Owens on her page, because I like all of the angles. The rigging, the lines in the sail, the right angle made by her legs. It reminds me of one of those things that you make in math/art class with the string and the nails, where you make spirals and curves out of straight lines. That... or the Spirograph gadget I had as a kid.

Just as an aside, this was not a shoot I went on. I can't even go on a docked boat like the Star of India without getting seasick.