Monday, August 7, 2017

Heard in the hallway

Summer maintenance classes are winding down and there is already talk of December's Nutcracker performances. Unfortunately I over heard the AD tell one of the instructors that I am too old for any role but party parent while I was warming up in an adjacent room. Ouch!

Monday, June 12, 2017

Summer classes

Summer is here and a group of very vocal adults have managed get all of our classes back for the summer, we have gone from one class on Saturday morning back to our regular three classes a week. Oddly enough a nearby studio that I used to attend who pretty much ignored adults considered us just recreational students there for a ballet style stretch class. NOT! Methinks there is a spy on our in out midst with ties to the competing studio, very strange.

On another note I have been getting some private lessons in Pas De Deux over the last few weeks and am blown away that several of the adult ladies I take class with are more than willing to be my victims so they can learn with me. Who knew?

Friday, June 2, 2017

Wow two years since I’ve been here.

Lets see….what’s happened in the last 24 months after Coppelia. Three of my classmates and I went to Richmond in August 2015 for the Sunking Summer Workshop and became the Denver Team as we four were the most students from any one city. We worked our tails off during the days and gossiped over dinner and drinks every night and meant fellow adult dancers from all over the world all of who are a little crazy, must be an adult thing. Only one of our group made it back for 2016 and none of us are going to be able to make it for 2017 but there are plans for a reunion in 2018! One of our group has been diagnosed with lung cancer, she’s one of the lucky ones that can use a blocker instead of chemo or radiation and has been showing up to classes with the goal of making it to Richmond in 2018 the rest of the group has told we were in for the workshop with her.

Got the opportunity to do Mouse King and Mother Ginger for our 2015 Nutcracker production, whole lot of fun but I don’t know if I’d ever do Mouse King again found I have a touch of claustrophobia when I wear the headpiece. Sad thing happened late spring when the owner of our studio announced that he was stepping down and away the dance world after five years of running one of the best studios in the Denver area.

Several of the instructors along with the board decided to find a new home for our studio we now share a space with another dance studio not as high tech as our old home and there are some minor conflicts but guess that should be expected when you mix bun heads with competitive dancers. We did lose a lot of students with the move, keeping my fingers crossed that the ranks build back up to keep the studio healthy.

The studio did a 2016 Nutcracker and I got Mother Ginger again along with the parent part dance but ended giving up the role as the was way too much sniping and bad mouthing from two of the males brought in to do other parts. I will never understand how someone my age can be seen as a threat to guys half as old as me. Guess it’s their problem and not mine. I got the role of Sancho Panza for the Don Q production and while not a dancing role I had a blast doing the character and got to learn how to do some acting.

It’s the beginning of summer for 2017 and adult classes are on maintenance and only running a couple of classes during the week so not a lot is happening. I did however start a weekly private Pas De Deux class with a couple of the ladies from the studio and a very unforgiving Russian teacher. Very basic work and I never knew my arms could get so tired! More on this as we progress over the summer.