photos

Well, the show is finally over. Thanks so much to everyone who came. It really means a lot to have people come out and support us. Kyle came to the dress rehearsal to take pictures. Here are some of them:


This one isn't of me or of a piece I was in but I think it's a pretty great picture of Arlo



These ones are of ashes, I included the last one to see if you can spot evidence of me running into christie's face with my shoulder... (you might have to enlarge it)







These ones are from fruit studies;





And these two aren't Kyle's (you can see a couple more of Kyle's pictures on his flickr account for which there is a link on the side of this page). I stole these ones from the lighting designer's website without permission (don't tell) but at least I'm letting everyone know that these are Hugh Conacher's photos of my solo and of Passionsong

show time

Well. Today is opening night of our show, and usually I send out an email before hand telling everyone what pieces I'm in and what they're about and things like that but I didn't this year. So, as my sister suggested, perhaps I'll do that here. And if any of you are interested in coming, you can let me know (tonight through sunday at the gas station theatre, 8:00)

I'm in four pieces this year
The first one of the night is my solo (which is only on Thursday and Saturday, my lovely friend Hilary does it the other nights). It's a fun little piece called Caught by the Tango and it involves a little shoe, a black dress with a red crinoline and white gloves. I think this piece is pretty self explanatory...

Next in the evening is Passion Song which we worked on last May with Bill Evans from New Mexico. I think this might be the hardest piece I have ever done in many ways. But it's beautiful and now that all the cleaning is done, it's fun to perform. It fairly classical modern and we have long ankle length full skirts (which are not always cooperative and seem to get longer and longer as the piece goes on...) and we have to do long balances at times which exposes my weaknesses as a dancer... But it's a beautiful piece with great dramatic music and some weird quirky moves that contrast with the classicalness of it as a whole.

After the intermission is Ashes which I have actually done before so some of you may remember it. The piece was inspired by the choreographer's visit to Pompei. It's a piece about survival, dignity, acceptance, human life cycles... I think it also explores strength in numbers and the power of stillness. The piece includes both sculpture and emotion, the choreographer wanted to portray images of the architecture and art she experienced in Pompei, the columns and statues and paintings, but it's also about the lives and the community that took place there before and I guess during the disaster.

Right after Ashes is KJ4 which you will not see me in but I spent many, many hours working on that piece as an understudy so if you like you can pick any one of the 4 of them and imagine it being me. This piece was choreographed by Rachel Browne (the founder of the school, the company and basically modern dance in manitoba). It was inspired by a piece of improvisational piano music and I think it's a great piece, the girls look really strong. I would have loved to perform it.

And last but not least we have Fruit Studies which was choreographed by a very interesting and lovely man named Tedd Robinson. He travelled across Canada this year choreographing pieces for professional training schools who were going to be at the Canada Dance Festival in Ottawa next month. So when the 5 schools get together in Ottawa we're going to put them all together to make a big long piece, which will be hectic but really fun. Part of this work was inspired by a little cult called the Shakers who (in my limited understanding) didn't believe in reproducing, they thought the world should end with them. So men and women were separated within their little community and every once in a while they would get together and basically have crazy dance parties to release their sexual energy... The first piece of music in this dance is Shaker music. It's a pretty unique piece and I'm really excited to perform it.

So that's that. My last show with the school and i think it's a good one. I'm feeling pretty excited about performing tonight, especially after getting out some emotions earlier in the week... Hooray for show time! Hope to see some of you there!

reflections of a non-graduate

apparently my sister is no longer interested in my cupcakes.

i don't really have any fun pictures or stories or anything to post today but here's a more current look at my life.

It's show week. The couple of days before a show where it's close enough to feel the tension rising but not close enough to be excited. I was thinking as I was walking home from the theatre today that it's a bit of a funny time for me. This is my last show with the school. My last scheduled show in Winnipeg for that matter (we're performing in Ottawa in June). For all I know it could be my last show for a very long time. I have nothing concrete planned for next year and to be honest I find that really exciting. I'm looking forward to a new routine, starting things fresh and new. I feel antsy for change. I've been focusing on this desire to move on for a long time and it occurred to me today that I also need to make the most of this week and enjoy it. I don't want to push through and just have it over... even though that is kind of what I want to do. But I hope that this show will be memorable for me and remembered as a special one in my life.

I think it feels a little sad to me right now because last year was my graduating year but i didn't move on to anything new so it didn't feel very special. I went to the grad dinner and the grad tea party and I got to bow with the graduates and receive my certificate and my flowers but I knew all along that I'd be right there again next year. It was exciting to see my fellow graduates move on to new things but I felt like I wasn't a part of the excitement or the emotions. I felt like I was a fake grad or like they were just including me to make me feel better.

And now this show is my last show and feels like the end for real this time but I don't get to be a part of any of the graduation festivities because I'm already a graduate.

So all in all it just feels a little anticlimactic. And like I've never really belonged in either of my graduating classes and never had a graduation that felt like my own. I don't mean to complain that I've been left out of things or anything like that. Its more just in my own processing. I guess I just want to make sure that I give this time in my life the significance it deserves. I've put a lot of myself into this program and I want to approach this show like it's a big one in my life. And remember that it is really important to me even though it's not the one with the flowers and certificates. It is the closing of a chapter in my life and I don't want to forget to acknowledge that.

I feel sad right now and I can't quite figure out what I'm sad about. I guess this whole year with dance has been a bit of a struggle for me. This whole year of 'post-graduate studies' has been emotionally challenging in a lot of ways and I kind of just want it to be over. But I think I owe it to myself to celebrate this and to acknowledge this as an accomplishment and to be proud of myself.