"Bad dress, great show"

We did it! Our performance of Panorama at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the Martha Graham Dance Company was an absolute success. The saying “bad dress, great show” was absolutely true for me. During the final rehearsal, three other dancers and I were supposed to exit through the first wing for a certain part…but the other three went out the second while I went out the first. Not only did we look messy, but they tripped me and I practically wiped out. Thankfully, we all went out the first wing during the show. The piece relies on formations and unity and we nailed it. It was so gratifying to know that our performance was the best we had ever done the piece. When I saw our instructors after, they could not stop smiling and raving about the performance. My favorite part was that the company gathered in the wings to cheer us on. We could see them smiling and hear them screaming during the bows. This is one of the few intensives I’ve done where I felt like the company members genuinely cared about the students.

Since SPAC is an amphitheater, the stage was covered in pollen—I’m still sneezing and coughing. During Maple Leaf Rag, I noticed that a million bugs were flocking to the stage lights. You could barely tell that the dancers were being surrounded by insects, but apparently a bug flew into soloist Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch’s eye while she was dancing. Talk about an awful performance mishap! Besides the bugs, the pollen, and the dress rehearsal, our performance was definitely a success.

We’re preparing for our showing of student work, which will be this Thursday and Friday. We’re making videos, taking pictures, choreographing, and rehearsing Panorama. Today, we learned a part of Maple Leaf Rag, which we might do as well. Tonight, principal dancer Elizabeth Auclair will give an informal lecture on nutrition for dancers. She gave one a week ago and we liked it so much we asked her to do another. As someone who is very interested in such topics, I’m looking forward to that tonight. Although I’m a little tired, I will be really sad when this week comes to a close and we all go home. Between all the new people I’ve met and the progress I’ve made, this has been an awesome experience.