What's next for me?

During The Maryland Nutcracker after-party, two of the pro dancers asked me whether I was going to audition for the company's next production. It's a locally-created ballet with an Edgar Allan Poe theme. Although I'm supporting cast, when I've been on stage I've frequently been positioned center stage. If I took a supporting cast role with a larger professional company I'd be lucky to have a prop in my hand while standing in the back row behind the professional corps de ballet. I got to do lifts in Midsummer and a brief waltz in Nutcracker.

Me as "Grandfather" in Nutcracker, center stage

 I have to say the adrenaline rush of being on stage in front of a live, paying audience is thrilling. Still, I find myself a bit frustrated. I'm performing with a professional ballet company, and the choreography obviously features the pros. I can't rationally argue with that. But I'm not a professional ballet dancer and never will be, which limits my involvement.

Catching up after Nutcracker

It's been a couple of weeks since my performances as the Grandfather in "The Maryland Nutcracker". Here I am with my "nurse" and "Grandmother".

 The "nurse" character is a hold-over from a bit of scripting that got dropped. I was originally supposed to hobble in like I was decrepit, then surprise everyone by "busting a move" in a duet with "grandmother". That was dropped in favor of me strutting in like the patriarch of the family, but the "nurse" character remained.

Personally, I'd rather they'd swapped the dancer who played the nurse into the role of the "single, independent woman" originally given to the supporting cast member who was injured in September. I thought it would have been more fitting, but that didn't happen.

My First Nutcracker

First a question for Nutcracker veterans: how long before the music stops playing in your head?

In addition to rehearsals, I watched rehearsal videos repeatedly to fix the timing of my (small) role in my head. In quiet moments I still hear it playing. A friend of mine who grew up dancing in The Nutcracker year after year told me she still hears it.

Nutcracker 2023 Tech Week

We've entered "tech week" for The Maryland Nutcracker. After having last weekend off for the US Thanksgiving holidays, we spent both days of this weekend in rehearsals. Saturday's rehearsal was noon to 4pm, starting with selected dances and ending with a full run-through. Today, Sunday, was 10am to 3:30pm, including two complete run-throughs followed by some clean-up of some problems.

Add on about 4.5 hours of driving back and forth, and I'm bushed.

Nutcracker's first casualty

Our little group of adult supporting cast has suffered its first casualty. One of our members has torn ligaments in her ankle, and will be off her foot for the next 6 weeks. Since our performances are in 7 weeks, she's out of the production.

We all wish her good healing and a speedy return to dance. I hope we see her in the audience in December, or the next audition this winter.

The Audition: Nutcracker Edition

Having not learned my lesson this spring, I decided to audition for the supporting cast of a local compay's production of The Maryland Nutcracker this afternoon.

Sticking needles into my feet

About six weeks ago I finally took action to address the pain I've been feeling in my left heel by visiting a physical therapist. Since then I've been able to resolve my initial complaint, which was pain on the lateral aspect of my left calcaneus. However, I've continued to experience stiffness in both lower legs, which results in a different pain in both heels.

During my last session, my PT commented that he thought I'd benefit from "dry needling". To quote the Cleveland Clinic website:

Dry needling is a technique that acupuncturists, physical therapists and other trained healthcare providers use to treat musculoskeletal pain and movement issues. It’s almost always used as part of a larger pain management plan that could include exercise, stretching, massage and other techniques. During this treatment, a provider inserts thin, sharp needles through your skin to treat underlying myofascial trigger points.

I've had this before to address pain in my shoulder, and said I'd consider it.

Post-Performance Depression

 I'm not prone to "the blues" or depression, but I wasn't expecting the massive crash I experienced after completing the performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, I performed in a locally-choreographed version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

This was the first time I'd been on stage since college, and the first time ever dancing in a ballet. Although I had but a supporting cast role, and was on stage for only about 5 minutes, I was understandably nervous.

The first act of Midsummer is all set-up for the second and third act. Although this is a comedy, the audience was rather subdued.

Act Two opens with the Actors Troupe "rehearsal" in the woods, which is choreographed to be nearly slapstick comedy. The character of Bottom is a know-it-all pain, tormenting the troupe director. Bottom was brilliantly danced by our choreographer/director. My role as troupe director is basically the straight man in this comedy duo. This started audible chuckling from audience. When Puck transforms Bottom into a donkey, the audience started laughing. When Queen Titania, under the spell of the magic flower, swoons over Bottom the donkey, the audience lost it

Act Three resolves the mess, with Oberon and a chastised Puck putting things to right. All ends happily, of course. 

The finale begins with the dancers coming out in small groups. The "actors troupe" group started with me running out on stage and signalling for the others to follow. As each dancer reaches me she jumps, which I transform into a lift and carry to the side. All except Bottom, of course, who pulls up short as I signal "No!". We form a line for a brief dance together, during which we follow Bottom around in a circle before bowing individually. Bottom, ever the ham, continues bowing and dancing as the others leave, which I interrupt and force Bottom off the stage with a kick before leaving myself.

Then we come out in different small groups for a bow, slowly filling the stage as we accumulate. My group is second to come out, which gives us attention before we retreat to the rear of the stage. When everyone is present we do a final group dance and take a company bow before the curtain closes.

All in all, I found the experience both scary and rewarding. I'm finally able to do something with my ballet training, even though the only true ballet move I do is a soutenu turn as part of the opening to Act Two. The professional cast and the other supporting cast members were nothing less than supportive.

The other side of such an experience, of course, is introspection. It's impossible not to notice the apparent ease with which the professional dancers learn long sequences, and compare it to the difficulty I felt memorizing my own few minutes of stage time.

Dress Rehearsal

Last night was the dress rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

First we ran through the entire show, including the recorded introductory narratives. With that done and notes given, we ran through the 2nd and 3rd acts a second time. From my point of view things went pretty smoothly.

My role is that of the leader of the "acting troupe"; the other supporting cast members make up the rest of the troupe, with the exception of the role of "Bottom" which is danced by one of the professionals. We open Act 2, with me giving "stage direction" to the troupe, holding a book that is intended to represent a script. This is followed by my only solo balletic move: a soutenu turn. Woot! I'm ready for the big time!

I tried something new last night, holding the "script" book open to make it more obvious what it is. I close it before the turn. This didn't cause me any trouble, so I'm going to keep it tonight. 

Cast call time yesterday was 4pm (yes, on a Friday). I left home at 2:30, stopping for a quick lunch on the way. I expected to arrive 15 minutes early (it's an hour drive at a minimum), but fire trucks closed the road a couple of miles from the theatre so I ended up arriving a couple minutes late. The student company had a mandatory warm-up, which we (the supporting cast) joined, while the professionals were left to do their own thing individually. Since the theatre doesn't have any barres, we used a balcony railing overlooking the lobby.

After warm-up I changed into my performance costume. This is basically my renaissance faire costume -- a loose white shirt and a green leather suede tabard -- with grey tights and slippers. The tights are brand new Wear Moi brand, fit like Spanx, and the crotch is forever trying to work its way down to my knees. The shoes are new white Só Dança canvas that I was told would be dyed grey, but were painted instead. I've heard of fabric paint but this is my first experience with it. It's made the canvas very stiff and possibly shrunk them a bit, which is not terribly comfortable.

Since I have nothing to do during the two short contemporary pieces that precede Midsummer, nor Act 1, the supporting cast and I stood around backstage and socialized. We're an odd bunch: four young women (26, 26, 20, and 16) and me (62). I found the discussion fascinating, though for much of it I just listened.

After opening Act 2, I again had nothing to do until the finale. So I wandered around, watching from the wings and keeping out of the way. I wish I'd spent my free time sitting  watching the show from the audience seating, because it looks like it's going to be a great show. There is going to be a recording for cast members to watch later, but I can't imagine it would be as much fun as watching it live.

Our first performance is tonight.  I've got the makeup down to about 30 minutes (more on that in another post when I have time), but I'm allowing an hour in case something goes horribly wrong and I need to start over. I've basically been stalling until it's time to start getting ready, and it's about that time.

Three Weeks 'til Showtime!

I haven't been onstage in a production since my college days, some 40 years ago. But in three short weeks I'll be opening Act 2 in a locally-choreographed ballet of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the role of Peter Quince, the leader of the actors troupe.

The Audition

Today, I auditioned for a supporting role in a ballet production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

I haven't auditioned for any sort of theatrical production in over 40 years, and never one that involved dancing. It's an odd feeling. In class, the instructor is watching to provide corrections. In an audition, you're being evaluated for suitability for a performance; basically a job interview.