Preparations

This week has been all preparations, logistics and getting organized for the audition of a life time. So there isn't much actual news to tell. I've been in steady communication with the State Ballet of Georgia and I will be flying out there on Friday the 4^th of September. Till then, there isn't a lot I can do except concentrate on getting myself as fit as possible for the big event.

Getting information about Tbilisi has been a bit tricky. I can't buy any of their currency here and Tbilisi doesn't even have its streets listed in Google Maps. I can get a good guide book for them here though, and I hope that it will cover all my basic needs.

Seeing that I'm going to be jumping the country a bit sooner than I expected, I've been taking in some of the sights that I hadn't seen. I've visited St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London and Buckingham Palace just to name a few. There is still so much more to see do and experience in London. I'm barely touching the surface by just stopping by and taking a couple of photos.

St. Paul's Cathedral was really something else. An ornate cavern the length and size of a football field, whose main dome still dominates the London skyline. They didn't allow photography inside the building so you will have to content yourself with the wikipedia photos. It is the sort of building that leaves you feeling very small as you take in its sheer size and intricate beauty. I walked in during their Evening Songs service and hearing the organ backed choir is an experience that I will never forget. The building's acoustics take the ethereal music and magnify it, till the stones themselves seem to be singing.

My photos of London's sights will tell a better story than my writing so follow this link to view the latest and greatest. I also took a short video of a busking violin duo who I thought were very good. Just to give you an idea of London's atmosphere. All this media is also available on the left hand side of my blog if that is how you are reading this post.

Next week, I will be writing from Tbilisi and reporting on my biggest opportunity yet. I would really love to have this job. It is all that I have ever wanted and so much more.

To infinity and beyond!

 

DreamChaser

Rodney Cuthbertson

Action Stations!

All hands on deck! Secure the hatches! Man the helm! I'm heading into my biggest adventure yet and it is going to take everything that I've got left. Suffice to say that this week has seen some major developments calling for drastic action.

The week started quietly enough. I did my trial shift at Ripley's museum and I felt that it went well. They wouldn't tell me if I got the job until Thursday which left me with a bit of a gap to fill. I spent most of it at the hostel to conserve ££'s, but towards the end of the week I was starting to have my doubts about the Ripley job. So to alleviate boredom and calm my mind a bit, I did some more job hunting in the local area and got a trial shift at a local restaurant. They fed me for the night's work which was pretty cool as it's a gourmet Italian restaurant. Definitely some of the best pizza I've ever had. The management seemed to like my work and they offered me a shift for the next evening.

I went home that night satisfied that I had at last found a form of employment in London. "Stage one complete," I was thinking, "Now I could start putting some more effort into looking for dancing work." Little did I know, that all my plans were about to get a nuclear bomb put under them. I checked my email when I got home to see if Ripley's had replied. They hadn't, but the State Ballet of Georgia (whom I had sent a video two weeks ago) had! The email offered me an expenses paid trip to Tbilisi to audition for the company!!!! All thought of Ripley's and restaurants was banished from my mind as I tried to take in the implications!

This really is my dream job. It's a big company (90 dancers) that has an incredible repertoire and tours internationally to Japan and the United States. The pay isn't that great if viewed in the major currencies, but the company pays your tax and accommodation. And it gets better, I am good friends with William Pratt who already works there and has offered to let me stay at his pad. So while Georgia may be at the other end of the earth, not the most stable nation and where everyone speaks a completely unique language, there is so much going for this job that I can't let it pass me by.

So the next few days were spent frantically trying to get some information on this Caucasus nation, and figuring out just if and how it was going to work. I replied to the email saying that I was interested and also gave them a phone call to discuss a couple of details. Because they have been in rehearsal for a week now they want me there as soon as possible. I shouldn't need a visa to do the audition but will obviously need one to get employment. As it stands at the moment I'm just waiting for them to get back to me with dates, which will probably happen tomorrow.

I told the restaurant that I had an offer from another source which fixed that problem. I did get the job at Ripley's, but haven't told them yet, just in case this falls through. (My first shift is tomorrow.) I've done a couple of classes so I'm fit and in shape. At this stage, I'm still planning to do the European Ballet audition on Wednesday, but expect that will change.

The only potential fly in the ointment here is that if don't get the job, I won't have enough resources to rebuild the foundation that I've made here. I always knew that coming to London was going to be a very high risk situation, and have been trying to keep the odds as short as possible. Now I'm going all in. The die is cast and red pennant raised. A case of kill or be killed. These sorts of opportunities don't come every day, and I would be a fool not to give it a try. I can sense the hand of God at work here. There is so much about this situation that is too convenient to be explained away by mere coincidence.

So onward we fly my friends, to whatever fair or foul destiny that awaits us in this grand adventure.

Till next time, wherever and whenever that may be,

DreamChaser

Rodney Cuthbertson

Busy London

It has been another busy week here in London town. Not a great deal to write about though, it has all been a lots of boring housework stuff.

I spent a couple of days this week spreading handing in my CV to various restaurants and cafes. I have seen results though, lining up a couple of trial shifts and interviews. A couple that I have followed through to dead ends, but I have high hopes for a paid trial shift that I have tomorrow. It's for "Ripley's Believe It or Not" London museum. It's basically a freak show that displays a selection of the world's curiosities. A five legged lamb, shrunken heads, a portrait made of stamps, a meteorite, a Mini covered in sequins and Marilyn Monroe's bikini are just some of the items on display. It is an American franchise business (I seem to be cursed with working for these people!) and so is a bit of a money grubbing scheme. However, they are offering to pay me £7.50 an hour which is very good money for London.

I have also signed up with an agency called Admiral Group that send people out to various locations on a temporary basis. I've heard that they are pretty easy to sign up to and while the pay isn't very good you can pick and choose your jobs and hours to a certain extent. A good ace to have up my sleeve.

In other news, I was looking at moving to a different hostel. It is closer to the city, has its own kitchen and is also cheaper. I went and had a look at it yesterday though and discovered, that is was rather rough, dirty and well used. The roughness I could live with, but the condition of the bathrooms was a bit more questionable. I did the maths on it and found that while it would save me about £10-£20 a week, my gut just really didn't like the idea of living there. I like the hostel I'm at the moment. It is very clean, tidily run, well maintained, in a nice area, and I now have a few friends here who are also long-terming here. Taking all things into account I would much rather just stay here.

I've had to drop back on classes this week because the ££'s have become a bit thin, but with work just around I'm sure that I'll be back in business very soon. My first audition is also just around the corner. A company called European Ballet have an audition on Wednesday week and reading between the lines a bit, I think they are needing boys. Anyway, it is something to look forward to.

That's all the main news for this week. I'm off to do some washing now :-) Like I said, a week of housework.

Talk to you next week,

Rodney Cuthbertson

http://rodneygeorgez.blogspot.com

The Real World

So I've survived my first week in big London town. Though the original surreal feeling has subsided, I still get a real buzz out of walking down the historically drenched streets of London.

Still, this week has been a bit more down to earth. The interview I had lined up went well, but unfortunately I didn't get the job so I'm back to square one; carpet bombing the internet with my resume. I've applied for so many jobs in the last couple of days that I probably wouldn't recognize the job description if I got a call back for one. One thing I'm slowly finding out is that electronic resumes are rather ineffective. I have a much better reaction if I can ring the place up and talk to a real person. I'm considering hitting the streets of London next week and just handing over my resume to anyone who will even look at it.

This week hasn't been all resumes and answering machines however. The classes I've done at Dance Works and Pineapple are stimulating, challenging and keep me in shape. I still think that avenue will have to be pursued for a lot longer before any sort of break through happens. There isn't a lot going around at the moment with everyone just starting to come off their summer holidays.

The one touristy thing I did this week was to join the packed National Gallery. True to the continuing London theme, it is packed full of astonishing pieces of art, by artists including Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Van Gogh and Rembrandt that take the mind to a whole new world. The building is almost as amazing as the creations on display. Huge halls supported by arches covered with delicately coloured details. Pillars of coloured marble stand strong and unmoveable at the doorways, as if on guard. As for the paintings, they range from intricate miniatures to massive canvases that stand over 15 meters tall. Unfortunately they don't allow photography so to get an idea of the items on display, follow this link to view the Wikipedia site.

So that's it for this week, I've added a couple of new photos to the Picasa site for your viewing pleasure. I've also added a map to the blog to give you an idea of where my photos have been taken. Just move it around and click on the pointers to see the photos.

Till next week,

Rodney Cuthbertson

www.rodneygeorgez.blogspot.com

London!

Travelling to a new city is always stimulating and exciting. But, I didn't know that the city of London would totally blow my mind!! This city is so off the wall awesome!!!!

Where do I begin to describe this modernly ancient city? How do you describe the experience of walking down the century old cobble stone streets of Covent Garden market. Or standing at the bottom of Big Ben and listening to the 150 year old bell ring out over the city. Or seeing the artefacts in the British Museum and realizing that our current understanding of the roots of human civilisation is all based on what I see here. Or walking through West End and not being able to remember the number of theatres that I have walked past. How about walking past the church where Samuel Johnson worked on the first popular English Dictionary and seeing the shrapnel damage in the building's side from the Second World War. Any one of these experiences alone would be mind blowing, but put them all together and mix in things like Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, West End Theatre and National Portrait Gallery to name a few of the sights that I've only glanced at, and you have an idea of just how mind-blowingly-insane and jaw-droppingly-incredible this city is!!!!!

Suffice to say that my first couple of days in London have been spent walking the streets to get a handle on the geography and figure out where everything is. This has also involved a lot of getting lost, making wrong turns and retracing my steps. It is rather easy to get lost in this dense city with an unending labyrinth of narrow streets, small lanes and tight places. And with the buildings forming a wall either side at least five levels high, it is easy to lose your sense of direction.

I've found Pineapple Studios and I did a class there the other day with a Roland Price. It was a good class with a VERY interesting group of dancers. Everyone from seasoned professionals and dedicated older folk to aspiring younger folk were there. On Saturday, I did a class at Danceworks with Paul Lewis. His class was more challenging than Roland's and seemed to have a larger group of professional classical dancers. At this stage I think that I will try to split my classes between the two.

Another of my accomplishments this week has been to get a book listing all the dance agents in London. It took me half a day of asking in book stores, but I finally got it and I'll be putting it to good use tomorrow.

On the job front, I have an interview with a company called NL Recruitment tomorrow. I called up about a job for an outward bound call centre that works for the larger charities. What makes this job attractive is the fact that the hours are evenings and weekends, which would leave my daytime open for doing classes.

I could write for hours but I'm sure that you're sick of reading now and I have to do some more job hunting. So I'll just rap up by saying that the hostel is great and the weather has been good.

I've also placed a heap of photos online at Picasa Web Albums since I seem to be having a bit of a technical problem with putting them in the blog. Check it out to see my first impressions of London.

If you have any questions or want send me a message feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email.

This is DreamChaser signing out.

Rodney Cuthbertson