Dance, dance dance!

Last night, PushPULL finished it's 2-week run of Soul Lifter. I have to say that it was seriously the most fun show I've done to date. I think it was a combination of the super fun choreography, combined with the awesome people I got to hang out with night after night. When we initially announced that we'd be doing a 2-week run, I was really worried; mostly about how my body would handle the extra demands put on it. Admittedly, it was tough - especially the days where we had two shows in one day. We did that twice. 24-hours after closing night, I have to say that my feet ache, my knees hurt, and my calves are like jelly. I think my body is trying to tell me "Just how old do you think you are?! You aren't 20 anymore!!" I should probably listen.

And yet, it was seriously so much fun. I can't believe how much more relaxed I was about the dancing when we hit the second week. I was comfortable with our places on stage, where all the lights were, and all the costume changes. Each night, it was easier to get into whatever character I needed for each piece, and I felt that I got better at transmitting it to the audience too. Now that the season is over, we're probably going to have to take some time to think about what we'd like for next year, but for now, I'm content to bask in the feeling of finishing a great show.

Thanks to all the great dancers and volunteers that made the 2009 season for PushPULL Dance so magical. Every minute of rehearsal and planning was totally worth it!

Dancing the nights away

So, I thought I'd write a little bit about some dance happenings going on for me right now. I suppose this is mainly for Carolyn so I can keep her up to date on what's going on with CDW. As some of you might already know, CDW (Chinese Dance Workshop) is planning to put on a show in the fall of 2009. Because our teacher is heading back to Hong Kong at the end of October, we have a lot of things we need to do before she leaves, most of which being LEARNING NEW DANCES!!

Last Friday, we already started a new dance, and I'm super excited about it. It's a Dai peacock dance done to music from the movie Kong Que Gong Zhou (The Peacock Princess). It turns out that Mme Fong choreographed the dances in that movie! She was even telling us a story of how she was the dance double for the lead actress during all the spinning required. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, we've only just started this dance, but I'm already loving it.

Mme Fong has also asked that we add a rehearsal on Saturday in order to pack a few more things in. Do you remember the Xing Jiang teens dance that opened the 2002 show? It was called Dance of the Flowers. Well, we're going to be re-vamping that one for the senior girls (though they're now called the youth class) and young adults. The other old dance that she's thinking of having the young adults do again is the cape one. Either that, or some Mongolian one - she hasn't decided yet. Anyway, after we're done practicing that Flowers dance, the other adults are going to come, and we're going to learn yet another new dance. I don't know what it is just yet, but I guess I'll find out!

Stressed

Work is stressful right now. In fact, this is possibly the first time I've felt that I may not actually finish what I need to in time. Actually, I take that back. When I was in school, I felt that way all the time, but it was okay because the only thing riding on it were my own marks. The fact that my work affects other people is what adds the stress factor. Oh well. I'm sure that with sufficient overtime, things'll pull through

In other news, another season of PushPULL is underway! Tonight was the first night of auditions, and it was lots of fun. I can't wait to go on Sunday. This weekend is really, really busy. I'm teaching a kids dance class, performing, then going to a bachelorette party on Saturday. On Sunday, I'm helping to clean out some CDW props at Cecil, going to Lorraine's baby shower, and then heading to auditions part II. Somewhere in there, I need to find time to do laundry and figure out what we're going to eat next week. Time to put on the productive hat!!

There goes another season!

And yesterday, PushPULL's fourth season came to a close as we played to a packed matinee audience. Doing 5 shows in 4 days is pretty demanding, and I have a whole new respect for those who perform night after night, and have to give the best performance ever each and every night.

Our show this year was more technically demanding than our previous shows, and everyone seriously brought their level up. On Saturday night, after doing a matinee show earlier that day, I thought I was out of gas and wasn't going to make it, but with everyone around me all excited, and then hearing the buzz of the audience; we were all somehow able to dance our hearts out.

My body is seriously tired now though. The theatre isn't designed for dance shows, so the changerooms are about 3 flights of stairs up from the stage. I've probably run up and down more stairs this past week than I usually do in a month. My legs hurt. A lot. But it was all totally worth it! Thanks to all the dancers - I had an amazing time and I can't wait until next season!

Showtime!

It's show week! 'After Hours' is now supposed to be ready to go. Or rather, we have two more tries before it has to be truly ready to go. Tomorrow is going to be dress/tech, and then Wednesday will be our full dress rehearsal, and Thursday is opening night! Exciting times, huh? This year, I have to admit to feeling a little un-ready. The degree of difficulty of the pieces has gone up from last year, but the amount of time for us to get things right hasn't, so I feel like I'm missing a lot of nuances to certain pieces. I'm not forgetting any steps anymore, but there are little tiny details that I wish I could get just right every time.

And after the show is over, I'll have about a week and a half before Jamie and I are off to Japan! I'm going to try and blog here while I'm traveling and show you all the places that we visit. Yes, I know this is going to be my third trip to Japan, but I just really like going there. Besides, there were still places that Jamie and I wanted to go to, or other foods that we wanted to try. Plus I get to practice my Japanese, which is something that I hardly ever get to do.

Tick, tick, tick....Can anyone else hear the countdown to showtime?!

Volcano!

Well, CDW is now done our gig at the Lantern Festival for another year. Hooray! It's been a sorta tough set of performances - for one of the dances, we had a different configuration of it for each night, and that really messed with our heads a little. But like the consummate professionals that we are, we pulled it all off in the end.

However, dancing a performance night after night kinda makes my muscles a little sore. Enter a wonderful recommendation from Gabrielle, a post-doc who sits near me. Lush makes this product called Volcano, which is like a mud mask for your feet. You're supposed to slather it all over your feet, and then put them in plastic bags to get the nice heating effect. I tried it on my feet, and they really felt amazing afterwards - seriously refreshed. Since my calves felt similarly tired, I decided to apply it to my legs, and then wrapped them up in saran wrap. And I really have to say that it felt SO NICE! I highly recommend it to all you dancers out there who want a treat for their tired legs. A little funny looking, but REALLY nice!

Yay! Show's over! Boo! Show's over :(

Wow. Before I knew it, our season at PushPull was finished! Our show, 'In Our Element' played to 5 spectacular audiences, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was definitely feeling tired after about the first 2 shows, but every time I heard the music playing, and the audience cheering, I got an instant energy jolt. Thanks to everyone involved!! I loved working with all of you, and I'm already excited about the video party!!

Dance-a-ful weekend

Wow. This weekend was really busy! I had a hip-hop workshop, had my first ever belly dance lesson, and survived the run-through of PushPull's show as it stands so far. The belly dance lesson came via a bridal "showette" (i.e. racier than a shower, tamer than a bachelorette), and it was a lot of fun! The amount of isolations you have to master for that is NUTS! It was tons of fun though.

In addition to that, I went for karaoke with some Skule Nite cast members after running into Mason and Dan at random on Yonge street. It was lots of fun, and it really made me miss seeing the cast on a regular basis.

Okay...need to go...cat on my lap is whining and wanting attention....

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Every year, the Yee Hong Foundation has a massive fundraiser called the Dragon Ball, and it's held right around Chinese New Year. My Chinese dance group often gets invited to perform at it, which is a pretty cool honour. We started rehearsing for it at class tonight, and I have to laugh. I have been cast as a wolf. Yes, a wolf. I apparently get to chase the little kid's class, who are dressed up as piglets.
...
......
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Okay...that's all.

(oh my god...still laughing)