Opening Night

 Being in the theatre is the end result of all the hard work we put in day in and day out. It's what we strive for as a dancer. Being on stage is like nothing else. There are so many emotions rushing you at one time and sometimes you barely remember even being on stage! That being said, for most of us being in the theatre doesn't happen as often as we'd like. We spend the majority of our time in the studio rehearsing. Thats where we are most comfortable. Going to the theatre puts you out of that comfort zone. Especially when it's an unfamiliar theatre. In the past I've been accustomed to rehearsing in the theatre at most 4 days before opening night. Here in Split we've been in the theatre for almost 10 days, 5 of those being full on dress rehearsals with orchestra. It's quite a different experience. On one hand I am more comfortable, settled in.  On the other hand, I'm antsy. I want there to be an audience and have that rush of adrenaline!(Isn't that why we perform really?)

  In a lot of ways it's very much the same as I'm used to. But in other instances it's very different.

  One difference is that we have makeup artist!! This is something that is quite unusual in America, but very common in Europe. One less thing to worry about, one less time I have to redo my eyeliner because I smudged the left one(happens every time).

 Something similar is the orchestra being all over the place! One rehearses with either a pianist or to a CD, here we almost always have a pianist. She is amazing!Always keeps the same tempo, it's not something you go in worrying about. With a live orchestra you are dealing with so many musicians that tempos tend to be all over the place...... that makes our job harder. 

  I'm very excited for my first performance Europe. It's been enlightening, trying and overall a growing experience. One I am thankful for and look forward to sharing with the audience. 

  To everyone who has a performance coming up MERDE!