Richmond - the end of theweek.

Friday was mostly spent concentrating on getting ready for the performance. The Variation from Giselle was going to be performed in groups of three, the Rep. piece from Bayadere was a corps piece.
I had intended to do the Giselle en pointe,and right up to Friday morning's rehearsal I still hadn't decided what I was going to do. I felt that I was totally capable of it, and having watched the video of ABT doing it (of course en pointe ) I really wanted to do it right, but my ankle was feeling a bit tweaked, and the cumulative tiredness of a week's dancing was making me wonder if it was the wisest choice. After doing a run through both on and off pointe I decided to ditch the pink satin shoes and take it easy.
The Bayadere I totally loved. As a corps piece there was not the same anxiety level as in being one of only 3 people on stage, and for me there is a real buzz I get from being in a group of people who are taking time and using all their concentration to be on the same count doing the same move at the same time in the same way. It is like creating a whole new energy. Our teacher for this piece, Kathy Sawyer, was a delight to work with; very calm and gentle and very precise about what she wanted. I felt as though we were totally prepared and ready to do it.
We left for the theatre at lunch time on Friday, after a gentle technique class and a studio run through of each of the pieces.
The plan was for something more like a recording or tv production than a theatre production. Each group blocked their moves on stage, did a run through or two and then did it once more 'for real' when it was filmed. It seemed strange at first because I had expected to run through the whole thing in order more like a show; but it made absolute sense as the end goal was to produce a dvd for us to take home.
Both of our pieces seemed to go pretty well, I think I messed up the turning emboites in the Giselle, and I definitely wobbled in a major way on the pique attitudes, even without the pointe shoes. Bayadere went smoothly.