dancer on deck!

so as i mentioned yesterday, the amazing blake dalton is injured. word on the street says he is recovering nicely. keep him in your thoughts and keep sending good healing energy his way! as a result of his injury, many folks are stepping up their game and we are all pulling together as an ensemble to prepare for our upcoming Miller show (that blake was going to be in).

so...we had to call in the emergency dancers on deck (at term that i learned after i injured myself in college). dancers "on deck" are the understudies, or affiliates, who are then asked to step into the role of a dancer that is unable to perform, and it is usually done with short notice. for Cumulus, i (alex) am stepping into blake's role, and for The Point, sharon is assuming blake's role.

this is not an uncommon occurrence, dancers getting injured. it is a reality (as scary/harsh reality) that affects (i hope that is the correct use of that word) the entire company. so we are charged to learn the choreography, but in a very short & intense period of time before we have to perform. the task of learning another role is tricky, because the dynamics inherently shift. all the nuances and details that allowed the original member to execute their part with ease & simplicity gets lost. also, the challenge in Cumulus is that Joanna is also in the process of taking on an old role (of Kim Kleiber's)...so it is almost like starting back (almost) at square one. we are not the originators of the roles; so, we don't have the depth of knowledge to keep the choreography true to Beppie Blankert's vision.

i cannot speak for sharon, but i have to state the obvious difference in her learning blake's role. she is a she, blake is a he (DUH!). so there are some partnering issues that have to be worked out. blake is a buff dude, and although sharon is a very strong woman; she is a good 5 inches shorter than mr. dalton. in conversation with sharon, she says "the lifts aren't so much a challenge strength wise, but more so in leverage and momentum."

however, despite the minor setbacks and all the extra effort/work we have to do...we are pulling together as a company to honor the hard work of our missing company member and the integrity of the work we will present. again, this is just another horrible reality of the lives as a dance artist. our bodies have limits, and sometimes our bodies want (or don't want) to do things as they see fit. so if they decide to break down on us, we just have to roll with the punches....such is the life of a professional dancer.