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
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