We're off on tour for a week from Monday so I'm going to get this out of the way early as I don't know when I will get an internet connection again.
As I predicted, this week has been as placid at work as the last couple of weeks have been. The Gala came and went without anything of major note. In the end, my only job on the night was to walk on with a large group in random costumes that represent the various ballets in the repertoire. A personal best, the shortest role in my career so far.
This week hasn't been with out it's notable events though. As I briefly mentioned in my last post I went to a club called Two Sides with a group from the company. It was a good night out socialising and dancing. The only really remarkable thing was the way the girls moved through the vodka like it was water. They've obviously had a lot of practice. Anyway, pictures tell a better story of these events so follow the link.
I thought that I would try and blog about some of the more unusual things of Georgia this week. I was inspired by NZ bro and fellow blogger, Malcolm, who is currently travelling though South America to highlight some of the unique aspects of Georgian culture.
These are some things that I've had to change my perspective on.
Road rules are generally respected and enforced.
Here they drive like kids in go-karts. Loud on the horn and fast on the peddle. Seat belts are not generally worn and if you wear one you can inadvertently insult the driver's skill. (And don't use the pedestrian crossing if you want to live!)
Cats and dogs are pets.
There are so many stray and feral animals in the city that it's incredible. Haven't seen any rats yet though.
City pavements are easy to walk on.
Here they seem to be maintained (if at all) by the people who own the property. You really have watch your step. A couple of times I've nearly ended doing a face plant due to the rubble like conditions in places.
Having one family to a building.
Presuming that you are not in one of the many large apartment blogs around the city, houses here are squashed together around a communal courtyard or narrow lane.
Construction sites cannot be walked through.
Here you just wander through gravel, around bulldozers, under improvised ladders, and in one case notable beside a home-made fully-exposed welding transformer. If you don't want to take on these obstacles the roads are always fun to play on.
Being stared at as if I have two heads when I wear my Australian beanie.
Not the most common site in Georgia.
Vodka is drunken every evening you have a reason and even if you don't have a reason.
When you have a special occasion, you get out the cha cha. This is home-made vodka that is stronger than Popeye after eating spinach.
Travel definitely broadens the mind! But I've saved the best for last. Georgian song and dance is incredible. We had a very large group of children ranging in age from pre-school to late-teens putting on a show in the theatre today. These kids performed with a unison and discipline that was incredible in its own right. (Probably due to corrections being screamed out by teachers and then being shoved into line.) I've put a sample on from youtube on the blog that is similar to what the kids were performing.
That raps it up for me this week. I don't know how punctual next weeks post will be, but I will update you as soon I can.
Till next time,
Rodney Cuthbertson
DreamChaser
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Still Waiting....
It’s been a bit of a dot week in Tbilisi. This Kylian season has left me at bit of a loose end. I was allocated the task of understudying William’s role, but there was never any real chance that I would be performing. Since the cast already knows the material, all I’ve really done is stand up the back of a short rehearsal, be ignored by everyone and try my best to look enthusiastic.
With rehearsals requiring minimal effort my only real challenge has been daily class. The classes are great, but inspiration, with such a chilled rehearsal schedule, is a bit hard to come by.
Fortunately the season finished today and next week we have a small Gala that celebrates the final performance in the theatre. The performance includes Don Quixote pas de deux Tarantella and Western Symphony. Once again I’m only slotted to understudy someone in Western Symphony. Hmmm, it appears that I will have another very quiet week coming up.
I’m going to have to find another outlet for my internal energiser bunny. These last couple of weeks have left me with way too much time on hands. Finding a way to spend it constructively is difficult in Tbilisi, so if you have any suggestions please let me know. At least the tour to the Black Sea is just around the corner. That will at least give us a change of scenery.
It hasn’t all been doom and boredom this week though. I was invited by Cola to watch a performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute performed by the local Conservatorium of Music. It was a very enjoyable performance. My first experience of true opera (I truly had no idea what was going on). There was some very good singing and I thoroughly enjoyed the new faces and new experience.
This week’s weird talking point comes from right in front of the theatre.
Hopefully, I'll have something of note to write about.
Rodney Cuthbertson
P.S. As of late last night I do have something to write about. I went to a club with the company last night/early this morning. It was a good night and I got some nice pictures, but I'll leave that story till next week.
With rehearsals requiring minimal effort my only real challenge has been daily class. The classes are great, but inspiration, with such a chilled rehearsal schedule, is a bit hard to come by.
Fortunately the season finished today and next week we have a small Gala that celebrates the final performance in the theatre. The performance includes Don Quixote pas de deux Tarantella and Western Symphony. Once again I’m only slotted to understudy someone in Western Symphony. Hmmm, it appears that I will have another very quiet week coming up.
I’m going to have to find another outlet for my internal energiser bunny. These last couple of weeks have left me with way too much time on hands. Finding a way to spend it constructively is difficult in Tbilisi, so if you have any suggestions please let me know. At least the tour to the Black Sea is just around the corner. That will at least give us a change of scenery.
It hasn’t all been doom and boredom this week though. I was invited by Cola to watch a performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute performed by the local Conservatorium of Music. It was a very enjoyable performance. My first experience of true opera (I truly had no idea what was going on). There was some very good singing and I thoroughly enjoyed the new faces and new experience.
This week’s weird talking point comes from right in front of the theatre.
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| From Piano Problems |
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| From Piano Problems |
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| From Piano Problems |
Hopefully, I'll have something of note to write about.
Rodney Cuthbertson
P.S. As of late last night I do have something to write about. I went to a club with the company last night/early this morning. It was a good night and I got some nice pictures, but I'll leave that story till next week.
Sunday, 15 November 2009
In Between Whiles
It's another week and another lari earned. Not a lot of news to report from this week's activities. From Romeo and Juliet and Giselle, we have had a complete change of pace and are presenting a Jiri Kylian triple bill on the 20, 21 and 22nd. The casting only really requires six boys for the entire show which doesn't leave me much to do. I'm only understudying a piece called Sechs Tanses which is a humorous set of dances set to Mozart. It's quite an amusing piece that has been fun to learn, but I think it very unlikely at this stage that they will need me to perform it. I wasn't able to find a video of Sechs Tanses, but did find this amusing video that is choreographed by Kylian and has a very similar theme.
Though I haven't been doing much in the afternoons, with my leg performing almost back at full strength I've been putting a lot of energy into classes and been really enjoying them. The classes here have a lot more Grand Allegro in them than I'm used to. But I really enjoy all the extra jumping and am hoping that all the extra work will add a bit of height to my jump.
The biggest news of this week is that the company will be taking Giselle on tour in two weeks. It's only a short tour that will last about a week and visit the Black Sea city of Batumi. Apparently we are also going to be visiting another city on the way but I don't know what it is yet. That's the way with so many things in this company. Because of the language barrier the only way we have of finding out what is going on is by word of mouth and everyone knows the Chinese Whispers effect.
I've just been interrupted by our land lady who has just taken us to our new wash room. This is very exciting as the old one used to be at the end of a hundred meter corridor on the second floor and had one tiny front-loader. This was becoming a bit of problem with six dancers living in the building generating enough washing to keep the tiny machine running around the clock. The new wash room is in the basement bunker. And when I say bunker, I mean two solid steal doors with two walls each over a foot thick! Noise reduction features aside the jewels of the room are the two massive industrial washing machines. Yippee!
That's all the big news for this week. I'm sorry that I didn't get the photos up last week but there only a couple which wasn't enough to make an album of. We are all going for a walk soon and I'll take my camera so I hope to have some new stuff up soon.
Till next week,
DreamChaser
Rodney Cuthbertson
Though I haven't been doing much in the afternoons, with my leg performing almost back at full strength I've been putting a lot of energy into classes and been really enjoying them. The classes here have a lot more Grand Allegro in them than I'm used to. But I really enjoy all the extra jumping and am hoping that all the extra work will add a bit of height to my jump.
The biggest news of this week is that the company will be taking Giselle on tour in two weeks. It's only a short tour that will last about a week and visit the Black Sea city of Batumi. Apparently we are also going to be visiting another city on the way but I don't know what it is yet. That's the way with so many things in this company. Because of the language barrier the only way we have of finding out what is going on is by word of mouth and everyone knows the Chinese Whispers effect.
I've just been interrupted by our land lady who has just taken us to our new wash room. This is very exciting as the old one used to be at the end of a hundred meter corridor on the second floor and had one tiny front-loader. This was becoming a bit of problem with six dancers living in the building generating enough washing to keep the tiny machine running around the clock. The new wash room is in the basement bunker. And when I say bunker, I mean two solid steal doors with two walls each over a foot thick! Noise reduction features aside the jewels of the room are the two massive industrial washing machines. Yippee!
That's all the big news for this week. I'm sorry that I didn't get the photos up last week but there only a couple which wasn't enough to make an album of. We are all going for a walk soon and I'll take my camera so I hope to have some new stuff up soon.
Till next week,
DreamChaser
Rodney Cuthbertson
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Waiting....
I'm getting this done early this week, basically because we have a performance of Romeo and Juliet tonight and are not needed at the theatre until 5pm. The week has gone by in a bit of a blur as we have already done a performance of Giselle and Romeo and Juliet. It has actually been a rather unremarkable week. Once I got over the first performance of R&J it was all easy sailing, and because we don't start till late on show days, I've not had a lot to do this week.
I'm trying to be creative with the increasing amount of down time I have. Once I've done my stretching and Pilates, there isn't a great deal to do in this city for an English speaking lad once you've visited the major sites, tasted the local food and done some shopping. (I've bought a pot and a t-shirt so far this week) I can't even go to the movies as they are all in Russian and Georgian. I've been looking through my guide book which suggests visiting some places that are a little out of the city. I would like to see some greenery which is a bit lacking here (like most city centres) so I might consider mounting an expedition out there tomorrow.
On the other hand, this lack of activity has been good as I can report that my leg is very nearly completely better. I'm now back to jumping regularly and doing most of class full out. I'm still cautious when turning on the left leg, but it's definitely much better.
That's all I really have to share this week. I'll take some photos of R&J tonight and post them on the blog and Picasa.
Till next week,
DreamChaser
Rodney Cuthbertson
I'm trying to be creative with the increasing amount of down time I have. Once I've done my stretching and Pilates, there isn't a great deal to do in this city for an English speaking lad once you've visited the major sites, tasted the local food and done some shopping. (I've bought a pot and a t-shirt so far this week) I can't even go to the movies as they are all in Russian and Georgian. I've been looking through my guide book which suggests visiting some places that are a little out of the city. I would like to see some greenery which is a bit lacking here (like most city centres) so I might consider mounting an expedition out there tomorrow.
On the other hand, this lack of activity has been good as I can report that my leg is very nearly completely better. I'm now back to jumping regularly and doing most of class full out. I'm still cautious when turning on the left leg, but it's definitely much better.
That's all I really have to share this week. I'll take some photos of R&J tonight and post them on the blog and Picasa.
Till next week,
DreamChaser
Rodney Cuthbertson
Monday, 2 November 2009
Romeo and Juliet, Again
Another week, another post and another ballet. That's the speed of things here at the moment. With Siberia to Moscow finished we are now preparing Romeo and Juliet for performances on the 4th and 8th and Giselle for the 6th.
The week started relatively slowly with only class and one short rehearsal for material that I already knew. On Thursday that was all changed when we had to learn the sword fights for the first act and practically the entire second act. When I last did this ballet with RNZB it took us two weeks to set and learn the choreography. I've had to learn virtually the same amount in about 4 hours of rehearsals. Brain squeeze! It's not as bad as it sounds. The stage blocking and mime stuff is just common sense and following the herd. I've got most of the stuff under control, with the exception of one silly fast ballone step. I know the step is, it's just so fast that I end up looking like I'm trying to do a Scottish jig backwards. I'll pull one of the guys aside to ensure that I've got it all sorted.
The sword fights were a heap fun to learn. They must be awesome to watch because we are armed with rapier swords made of steel that if sharp would be basically genuine weapons. I actually got taken out of it (I volunteered to be removed) because they didn't have enough costumes. I'm relieved because it's actually quite dangerous. There must be about 20 swords meter long swords on stage in a semi ordered chaos. And of course boys being boys with the toys they of course smack the life out of the swords. This week we have had two break on us. Nothing major, but it can result in a 6 inch piece of steal flying through the air in any given direction. Like a lot of things in Georgia, looks absolutely awesome, but sometimes the reality is a bit too strong.
I can now officially call myself a full member of the State Ballet of Georgia. Yes, I have my contract, have done several performances, know most of the dancers’ names and can speak more than ten words of Georgian (I can even count to ten in Georgian!), but you never feel like you’re really part of the group till you get the gear. So when I got the ‘official SBG track suit’ yesterday I had crossed the final hurdle. I’m now a representative of SBG.
In other news, I've just heard that tomorrow we have people coming from Japan (!!) to get some more information on the company. Best I get out the good dance gear for tomorrow.
I’m just rambling now so I’ll sign off and get ready for tomorrow.
See you next week,
Rodney Cuthbertson
DreamChaser
The week started relatively slowly with only class and one short rehearsal for material that I already knew. On Thursday that was all changed when we had to learn the sword fights for the first act and practically the entire second act. When I last did this ballet with RNZB it took us two weeks to set and learn the choreography. I've had to learn virtually the same amount in about 4 hours of rehearsals. Brain squeeze! It's not as bad as it sounds. The stage blocking and mime stuff is just common sense and following the herd. I've got most of the stuff under control, with the exception of one silly fast ballone step. I know the step is, it's just so fast that I end up looking like I'm trying to do a Scottish jig backwards. I'll pull one of the guys aside to ensure that I've got it all sorted.
The sword fights were a heap fun to learn. They must be awesome to watch because we are armed with rapier swords made of steel that if sharp would be basically genuine weapons. I actually got taken out of it (I volunteered to be removed) because they didn't have enough costumes. I'm relieved because it's actually quite dangerous. There must be about 20 swords meter long swords on stage in a semi ordered chaos. And of course boys being boys with the toys they of course smack the life out of the swords. This week we have had two break on us. Nothing major, but it can result in a 6 inch piece of steal flying through the air in any given direction. Like a lot of things in Georgia, looks absolutely awesome, but sometimes the reality is a bit too strong.
I can now officially call myself a full member of the State Ballet of Georgia. Yes, I have my contract, have done several performances, know most of the dancers’ names and can speak more than ten words of Georgian (I can even count to ten in Georgian!), but you never feel like you’re really part of the group till you get the gear. So when I got the ‘official SBG track suit’ yesterday I had crossed the final hurdle. I’m now a representative of SBG.
In other news, I've just heard that tomorrow we have people coming from Japan (!!) to get some more information on the company. Best I get out the good dance gear for tomorrow.
I’m just rambling now so I’ll sign off and get ready for tomorrow.
See you next week,
Rodney Cuthbertson
DreamChaser
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