Midweek Meditation.

At this point, we are midway through our run of Giselle. I find myself loving the ballet and ballet dancers more and more with every performance that passes. Our schedule is hard but we get through it together. 


The life of a ballet dancer has never seemed glamorous to me before. I have always been so wrapped up in the drama that I have never been able to just stand back and enjoy it. Well, being in this new environment has allowed me to just step back and watch this world I work in. 


Our days have become routine. We wake up at 8am and catch the 9:05 bus to take the 10am class. After class, we'll have a rehearsal for the show we are currently performing and then rehearsals for upcoming shows. One thing I have learned, is that Europeans LOVE their lunch break. We'll have a substantially long four hour lunch break so that the dancers can go home, cook a large meal, sit down and enjoy it and then rest before going back to work. In America, we call it dinner! After "lunch," we head to the theater for the evening performance. I have been pleasantly surprised by the audiences here. We have been performing to a sold out houses ever since opening. 


Im not in the second act of Giselle so I get to sneak into the theater and become an audience member. Every night, I am in awe of what I see onstage. Such beauty and art. It amazes me every time to think that I am apart of this extremely talented group of dancers. I not only get to enjoy the behind the scenes now, but also the final product of all our hard work. At the end of the performance, the audience gives an uproarious applause that sends chills up my spine. Their applause is their recognition for all the HARD work that we put into the production. Its their way of saying thank you for sharing your passion. 


One night, I sat next to a rowdy group of teenage girls. They were laughing and talking through the entire second act. The story of Giselle is nothing but beautiful and serious... not funny! After quieting them several times, they left mid performance. They are lucky they did because if they stayed till the end, I was going to tell them how terrible disrespectful it is for the paying audience members and the artists that are performing. I wanted to add that this theater has become our home and that they are welcomed guests in it. We are proud and happy to have anyone wanting to come but when that is taken advantage of, it disrespects the sweat that has been put into it. To us, its not just the month long rehearsal process. For us, its the training when we were young, the stresses of auditioning for jobs, the weight and body image issues, and the psychological toll this profession takes on us. We do it because we love it. We just hope that you enjoy it, too!

This photo was taken of me in the lobby of the theater during the opening night premiere.