Christmas? Where did it go?

This has not been a very good start to my winter break.  It started off with me desperately searching for music for my soloist and going to what felt like the ends of the internet to find a costume for Ophelia.  Think I found one.  Maybe.  

Then I got incredibly lazy and did pretty much nothing for about a week except watch season one of HBO's True Blood and choreograph.  If you like vampires, sex, and vampires having sex then you'd like True Blood.  If there isn't sex at least every ten minutes then HBO wasn't doing there job.  This show is ridiculous.  First, I watched it because I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever seen and then I actually got interested in the plot.  I love anything with vampires and I thought that since it was a Alan Ball creation that it would be amazing.  The writing is pretty darn bad but once I got into it I could easily look over the horrible dialogue.  Pretty sure I saw every woman's breasts except for Grandma and every guy's ass.  Which I didn't mind in the least.  Great  show.  Check it out.

I got a wonderful kidney infection due to my polycystic kidney disease right before all the Christmas festivities.  Lovely timing.  Lots of sleepless nights until I was able to get to the doctor and get antibiotics.  Other than that Christmas was pretty uneventful which was a good thing.  I had absolutely no energy and spent Christmas trying to catch up on two nights of missing sleep.  

I also just started watched Showtime's The Tudors.  It's not bad.  Another one of those show's all about sex.  I'm for some reason attracted to those haha.  I'll probably finish season one of that in the coming week.

Lots of relatives over this weekend.  I gotta get more motivated and do some serious choreographing, costume purchasing, and music shopping but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it.  I'm incredibly lazy when I'm on break.  I think it's because I bust my ass so much during the semester with school work, rehearsals, and concerts.  Oh, well.  I'll get to it....tomorrow.

Anything but Finals

I have a HUGE final Friday afternoon of which I should probably be studying for at his exact moment but I feel so drained and done with this semester that I can't even bring myself to open my notes.  

I have done everything this week but study.  I've been writing like crazy.  Choreographing.  Editing music.  Filling out submission forms for the Undergraduate Women's Conference and sleeping...LOTS of sleeping.  Maybe I have mono?  I have no energy at all.  Notice all the things I've done this week can be done within the confines of my bedroom.  But I guess you can't have mono twice, can you?  Oh, well I guess I can't make excuses for pure laziness.  I keep trying to justify it and say was a busy and stressful semester I've had but it wasn't any worse than any other semester.  Must by the senioritis.  There I go...making excuses again.  

We had our first cast meeting tonight for Leader of the Pack.  We did a read through which was kinda pointless for us mere dancers who have no lines or singing and therefore did not receive a script.  So we basically just sat and listened to everyone else.  Still no other men save the lead.  Clair keeps saying that he is assembling the other men.  As long as I don't have to dress up as a guy, I'm cool with it.  

I suppose I ought to begin to be productive and study.  

Oh, but before I go...I want to wish a very VERY happy birthday to my good friend, Superman 

A Part of the Pack

Oooooh what a weekend.

Friday we gave a sneak peak performance of our Christmas concert, "Here We Come a Caroling!" The music ensembles sang/played for forty minutes and our dance ensemble only got to dance for 10 minutes!!!  We had to get in full hair and makeup for that!  And that's not even the best part.  When this little performance was advertised to the school, they said to "bring your lunch!" since the show was from 12-1, our communal lunch time on campus.  So, as I'm onstage and I can hear bags rustling and the smell of pizza and all I could think was, "Gosh, I'm hungry."  I know it was an informal performance and that it was over  lunch hour and that I should be thankful to have an audience at all, but how rude is it to eat during a performance?!  Ugh.  Oh, well.  

Later Friday afternoon I finally received the email I had been waiting for since Tuesday night.  I was cast in Leader of the Pack!!!!  They selected 10 dancers, all girls.  Who or where the male dancers are coming from, I have no idea.  We have a cast meeting on Tuesday night.  I'm really excited to start but I know once we get rolling I'm going to grow rather tired of the 60s music.  Next semester will be particularly busy and I'm not so sure how I'm going to handle it all but I'm thankful for this month long break to rest and prepare myself.  

Next semester I'll have 21 credits.  Cultural Dynamics of Movement, The Environment 101, Intermediate Modern, Senior Project Production Meetings, Student Dance Works Class, Directing for the Stage, Modern Company A, Kinesiology for Dancers, Fine Arts Seminar, Modern Company B, Rehearsals for my SDW piece, my senior project, Carrie's SDW piece, Cady's SDW piece, and Leader of the Pack rehearsals tucked in there somewhere.  I'm exhausted just listing it.  

I attempted to take things easy on Saturday.  I have a busy week of papers and studying ahead and I just wanted one day where I didn't have to do something school related.  Some of my former dance students from Encore who now perform for Allegro now that Encore closed, had a small performance Saturday afternoon and I decided to surprise them and come see it.  I was so happy to see everyone and it reminded me how much I missed teaching and not to brag, but how damn good I was at it too!  After the studio closed, I had parents calling me asking me where I was going to be teaching because they wanted their kids to go where I was going to go.  I got lots of hugs...some tears and a lot of smiles!  I miss my little girls so much!  They already look so much bigger!!!  I refuse to be one of those teachers who loses touch w/ people and who doesn't support their students.  I've sent all my former teachers the dates of my performances and they've never came and now I'm a senior.  

Today we had our full-length Christmas concert and boy did things start out badly.  We were told that the music ensemble would perform for 1 hour.  The program book listed three pages worth of music.  There was no way this was going to be done in one hour.  Of course as performers we were asked to arrive an hour before show time.  2 hours and 45 minutes later it was intermission.  That was the longest chorus concert of my life!  And then to go onstage and subject the audience to 40 minutes of Bach and modern dance!  UGH!  I love dancing to Bach, don't get me wrong but after rehearsing for three months and sitting through that, I was ready for a nap and mostly because I was bored not tired.  Afterwards we all went out to dinner which was nice because my best friend, Carrie is leaving campus tomorrow and I won't see her until January.  

Oh, well.  Not too much left this semester.  Papers due tomorrow.  Paper due Wednesday.  Final on Friday and sometime this week I have to videotape myself doing my Senior Project dance so I can put the videos on Facebook for my dancers.  Nothing will make me angrier than coming back in January and have to re-teach everything.  Well, and so I don't forget it too! :) 

Auditions & the End of the Semester

So much is going on these last couple of weeks.  My head is spinning just trying to keep all of it straight.

We had auditions this week for Leader of Pack.  I decided to audition as just a dancer, hoping (fingers crossed) that will require less rehearsals for my already extremely busy semester.  The audition was really easy, very generic 60s moves.  It seems like they are going for the more Mod look that was popular in the 60s which is great.  Only one guy showed up at the audition so I hope Clair (the man) has some men up his sleeve somewhere.  Callbacks are tonight but luckily none of the "just dancers" who auditioned are being called back.  That works really well for me because we have tech tonight for our dance concert on Sunday.  So, it would be really hard to be in two places at once.  Although I may prefer to be at callbacks.  It's a tough choice...60s rock-n-roll or Bach? Hmmm

I also had dance finals this week that were INCREDIBLY easy (thank God).  Our jazz final was a combination and anatomy questions.  My question:  "Where is your ulna?"  Pretty sure I got an A.  And my tap final was a combination called the Shim Sham.  Very easy.  I could have done that final the first month of school when we originally learned it.  Sometimes I wonder if I really am in college.

This morning was upsetting because it was my last English class.  I decided for some odd reason to take Contemporary British Literature (which I quite obviously don't need as a dance and theatre major).  I loved the class!  The books we read were amazing.  I could take that class all year if they offered it.  The last book we read that we finished for today was my favorite by far.  Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.  Amazing.  Anyone who likes detective novels (ahem Nick) should definitely read this book.  She has two other books that follow the detective from Case Histories so I will definitely be reading those over break.  The professor keeps trying to talk me into becoming an English Major (as if I need a third major my last year of college haha).  

Almost done.  I just keep telling myself that.  One more concert, one more paper and one more exam away from freedom.

Thanksgiving Blues

The week did not start off well (what a surprise) and it continued to be bad until today.

I got a most marvelous cold from my best friend, Carrie, although I was two days behind her so I had the good fortune of witnessing everyday what I would be like two days from then.  I had a tough time getting through dance classes in the beginning of the week.  Hard time breathing which is ya know an essential thing.  We had a master class Tuesday night that was mandatory and I pretty much coughed my way through.  I had to sit out the last 20 minutes because I couldn't catch my breath anymore.  Needless to say, I was not thrilled.  

Wednesday was even worse as I attempted to prepare the house for Thanksgiving while my mother started preparing the food.  That night I made three batches of cookies and a cake and then passed out on the couch for the evening.

By the time Thursday rolled around I couldn't taste or smell anything.  I've been told Thanksgiving dinner was delicious.  I'll take their word for it.  That night we ventured over to Kristofer's mother's house when all I wanted to do at that point is sleep.  Finally, we got home and I slept and slept and slept...and still woke up feeling like crap.

Yesterday Kris and I bought each other new cell phone for xmas and that was the extent of my black friday shopping experience.  And of course (yet again) when all I want is to sleep we have to hang up xmas lights outside at night...who in the world hangs up lights at night!!! What a stupid thing to do!  I was not in the xmas mood.  

So finally today, I get my one day of rest and relaxation that I have longed for since about Monday.  To hell w/ finals and papers.  Rest comes first.  Papers tomorrow.

TWILIGHT!!!

Okay...yes, I will admit it.  I am an avid Twilighter!  I loved the series by Stephenie Meyer and when I heard about the Twilight movie I couldn't help but be excited by it.  I was, however, slightly worried about the choice for Bella's love, Edward Cullen who has grabbed the hearts of all young women out there.  He is the reason this series became so popular.  Talk about a lot of pressure for the actor chosen, Rob Pattinson.  

I haven't been this psyched about a guy in a film since Johnny Depp played Captain Jack.  So, I donned my "Team Edward" shirt and marched forth to the movie.  I was very happy with how much of the dialogue Summit kept from Stephenie Meyer's novel....not that I had the novel memorized or anything haha.

Ya see, Rob Pattinson is one of those unfortunate men who does not photograph all that well.  He's a hit and miss...and with many of the Twilight promotional shots...I personally thought they were misses.  But as soon as the film started I was captivated.  He was exactly the way I pictured Edward in my head!!!!  If my boyfriend wouldn't have been seated next to me, I may have jumped out of my seat and attacked the screen.  

The only problem I had with the film is the lack of development between Bella and Edward's relationship.  It was just like....Oh here's this boy.  Oh he's a vampire.  Oh I can't live without him.  But the little details within all of those things seemed to be lost.  I think they were trying to jam pack as much of Meyer's novel in as possible but I would have preferred more development with the characters.  Not only that but Summit just announced yesterday that since Twilight did so well this weekend that they would definitely be making New Moon, the second novel in the series. Only problem?  Edward barely even appears in the second novel!!!  That won't make many new or old fans too happy now that we are oh so in love with him haha.  The second book focuses on the friendship between Bella and her Native American/werewolf best friend, Jacob (of which was only in about two scenes in this film).  I'm not so sure how well received New Moon will be because out of all four books it is definitely the weakest.  

I NEED to go see Twilight again!  Anybody wanna escort a lady? ; )

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb"

"What a stupid lamb"

"What a sick masochistic lion."

Weekend Whereabouts

So Friday night I went to see the Muhlenberg student dance concert w/ two of my friends.  It was a great concert, as they usually are, and I left a little upset about my own school but really I'm happy where I am and who I'm with and I'm not sure I would change even for a "better" education.  That might seem like a waste of money to go someplace where you feel you aren't getting educated enough but its just a different kind of education.  I love the professors and I've learned about about myself as a student, dancer, and choreographer.  I like the small school setting and the small dance department.  It has its advantages and disadvantages but so does every school.  No college is perfect.  

Saturday, Kris (my boyfriend) and I were at a wedding and had a great night, besides a slight headache from a few glasses of wine.  I love weddings.  I'm excited and anxious to plan my own one day.  My wedding day will be a day for some sadness though because my father is no longer alive to walk me down the aisle and to dance with but I still dream of that day.  There is a great scene is a show I just got finished working on called Eurydice where the father is in the underworld writing letters to his daughter about her wedding day and what he would say if he were asked to give a speech on that day.  The scene ended with him pretending to walk his daughter down the aisle.  It was a sad moment but I hoped that my father was in heaven doing the same, knowing that someday we will meet again.

Today we had yet another rehearsal for my student dance pieces.  I took some video clips that I can't wait to start editing for the dvd.  Just a  few more weeks and the semester will end...I feel done already.

Opheliac: Senior Dance Concert 09

I suppose my first blog should first explain my Senior Project since that will more than liking come up again and again in future posts.  As a Dance and Theatre Major at Cedar Crest College, I am required to do a Senior Project in order to graduate.  Since I plan on being a choreographer and owning my own dance and performing arts center one day, I decided that my project would be to plan, choreograph, and design my own dance concert.  To help tie in my Theatre background, I decided that my piece would be about Ophelia's character from Shakespeare's Hamlet.  

The piece is titled "Opheliac" and is a re-telling and personal interpretation of Ophelia's story line from the play.  My cast includes 5 ensemble dancers and one soloist.  All the dancers will be portraying Ophelia in some way.  The ensemble represent Ophelia's thoughts and the soloist represents Ophelia as a whole.

The production opens with Movement One: "Something to do, something to love, something to hope for."  The song playing is "All I Want" by Ahn Trio.  This first movement shows Ophelia as happy and in love.  The dancers each have a bouquet of flowers that they dance with.  If you remember from the play, Ophelia often has and talks about flowers, especially in her madness.  So I have used flowers as a source of symbolism in the production.  The next song is "Camera Obscura" from the A Girl with a Pearl Earring soundtrack.  This is done by the soloist and shows her concern for her future w/ Hamlet and how even though she loves him, she doubts that they will be able to be together.  

Movement Two: "Rosemary for remembrance, pansies for thoughts." is the next segment of the dance.  The instrumental piece of music playing here is "Bess and Raeleigh Dance" by Craig Armstrong.  Over the instrumental I have recorded text from Hamlet.  The text is the scene where Ophelia attempts to give back Hamlet's letters and he says he never loved her, leaving her alone and confused.  I am using this conversation as the seed for Ophelia's madness.  The next section to this movement is Ophelia's monologue which happens right after this scene.  At the end of this section, the dancers drop their bouquets, signifying that all is lost.  

Movement Three: "Love that is not madness is not love." is about Ophelia's madness.  This is where the ensemble really comes into play.  They run around her, pulling at her, lifting her and driving her insane.  The music playing in this section is "Future Markets" from the There Will Be Blood soundtrack and "Southern Hospitality" by Clint Mansell.  The ensemble enters in this section w/ black roses to signify death.  The soloist is the only one w/o one until the very end when one of the ensemble members offers her the rose kind of saying, "Go kill yourself."

In Movement Four: "Her Fair Judgement." there is another instrumental piece called "Anne's Secret Marriage" from The Other Boelyn Girl soundtrack.  There is more recorded text that are supposed to represent the thoughts in her head.  Many of the pieces of text repeat such as "I was the more deceived"  "I loved you not" "Be wary then, best safety loves you not."  etc.  This section is entirely in black, the dancers enter w/ candles and walking about the stage.  A light comes up center stage and the soloist is there.  The next song in this movement is "Lacrymosa" by The Vitamin String Quartet.  This I am using as the suicide song.  

In Movement Five: "Ophelia's Afterlife" I take on my view on what I think Ophelia's afterlife would be like.  She knows the only way to be happy is to kill herself.  The opening of this section is the dancers, dead, laying on the floor.  Rain is heard and flower petals fall from the ceiling.  It wakes them up and they have a very upbeat, happy dance to "Every Time it Rains" by Charlotte Martin.  At the end, the dancers return to their positions laying on the floor all except the soloist, who looks out to the audience w/ a smile on her face as the lights fade to black.

"Opheliac" is a very detailed production of which I have already ran into a few problems with this semester.  My soloist is in FL this semester so I will not be able to work w/ her until January and our show opens April 4th.  So this semester I have focused only on the ensemble and their choreography so that next semester I can focus on just the soloist.  

This year's Senior Dance Concert includes three senior dance majors and will only be about a hour long.  I urge anyone who is in the Allentown area to come check it out at Cedar Crest College on April 4th.  I'm sure I will have many most posts about the process and until my next entry and leave you with this quote...

"And the poet says that by the starlight you come seeking, in the night, the flowers that you picked.  And that he has seen on the water, lying in her long veils, white Ophelia floating, like a great lily." -Arthur Rimbaud.