I went to the Rockette Open call this morning, alongside every other female over 5'6" in the Manhattan area. No joke, there were more people there than at the SYTYCD audition. After I got cut, I stopped to get a cookie before I got on the train home. This leads up to my finest moment of all time.
I found myself sitting alone on a bench on the F train. My red lipstick smeared while eating my incredibly large slice of cookie cake. Then I found myself awkwardly bouncing to Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" that had just came on my ipod. Finest moment of all time.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Choreographer's Worst Nightmare
I recently was invited to have my choreography performed at a benefit concert. I say this like its no big deal, but it is. I am by no means am I an established choreographer. My choreography rarely exceeds a competition dance stage and a two minute time limit, but I love to choreograph. I like to take every advantage I have to practice. I created a piece for a student choreography show at Joffrey. After the show was when I had the chance to show it again at this benefit concert.
The night of the concert we learned we were second in the program. The girls got dressed and we were ready to roll. I went back stage gave the girls kisses and wished them good luck. I went and sat in the audience.
When I am playing the role "choreographer" and not "dancer" I find that the sitting in the audience the hardest part. When I am on stage I have control of what is going on. When I am in the audience I have to just sit. I hate sitting. Now the dancers in my piece happen to be some of my best friends in the program so I wasn't too worried about them, but I was worried about the technical aspect. Even though I heard our music playing before the show, I ironically sat with my ipod in my hand the entire time, worried that the music wouldn't play... little did I know what was to come.
The show started and my girls came out. The music started and I started to relax. The first minute of the piece was beautiful. Then my worst nightmare came true. The music stops. The dancers kept on dancing beautifully, as if nothing happened. I started sweating immediately. I look in my hand. I have the music! I turn around to see that sound booth is on a completely different floor. I am helpless. Just when I accept the fact that we are going to watch the remainder of my dance in 5 minutes of awkward silence...
The music starts again! Oh wait, this is the completely wrong part! They started it at the wrong spot.
The girls kept on going easily adjusting to the tempo change, like nothing happened.
At this point I have sweat though my tank top. The music restarted so late in the music that it ends.. they are in silence AGAIN!
Awesome. Now everyone in the audience is confused. I felt completely defeated. The dance is almost over. Thank God.
Nope, not over yet! As the dancers finish the very last movement of the dance, the sound booth RESTARTS the music. I turn to my friends who came to support and signal for them to clap!
Goodness gracious, put them out of their misery. I am still in shock that they pulled of the dance so beautifully with the musical disaster.
The rest of the show was beautiful. The benefit concert was to raise money for Autism. It was so inspiring. It reminded us all how incredibly lucky we are to be able to do what we love. At the end of the night everyone had completely forgotten what had happened earlier because at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I was simply honored to be apart of such a wonderful cause.
On the train home I was standing with my costumes in hand. An incredibly attractive European man got up and offered me his seat. I was flattered and immediately took it as an ego boost. I mean I did put make up on today! Then I saw my reflection in the window. FAIL, Ashley. A 20 hour day and a musical fiasco later I came to the conclusion that I didn't receive the seat out for flattery... more like sympathy. Once again, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
The night of the concert we learned we were second in the program. The girls got dressed and we were ready to roll. I went back stage gave the girls kisses and wished them good luck. I went and sat in the audience.
When I am playing the role "choreographer" and not "dancer" I find that the sitting in the audience the hardest part. When I am on stage I have control of what is going on. When I am in the audience I have to just sit. I hate sitting. Now the dancers in my piece happen to be some of my best friends in the program so I wasn't too worried about them, but I was worried about the technical aspect. Even though I heard our music playing before the show, I ironically sat with my ipod in my hand the entire time, worried that the music wouldn't play... little did I know what was to come.
The show started and my girls came out. The music started and I started to relax. The first minute of the piece was beautiful. Then my worst nightmare came true. The music stops. The dancers kept on dancing beautifully, as if nothing happened. I started sweating immediately. I look in my hand. I have the music! I turn around to see that sound booth is on a completely different floor. I am helpless. Just when I accept the fact that we are going to watch the remainder of my dance in 5 minutes of awkward silence...
The music starts again! Oh wait, this is the completely wrong part! They started it at the wrong spot.
The girls kept on going easily adjusting to the tempo change, like nothing happened.
At this point I have sweat though my tank top. The music restarted so late in the music that it ends.. they are in silence AGAIN!
Awesome. Now everyone in the audience is confused. I felt completely defeated. The dance is almost over. Thank God.
Nope, not over yet! As the dancers finish the very last movement of the dance, the sound booth RESTARTS the music. I turn to my friends who came to support and signal for them to clap!
Goodness gracious, put them out of their misery. I am still in shock that they pulled of the dance so beautifully with the musical disaster.
The rest of the show was beautiful. The benefit concert was to raise money for Autism. It was so inspiring. It reminded us all how incredibly lucky we are to be able to do what we love. At the end of the night everyone had completely forgotten what had happened earlier because at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I was simply honored to be apart of such a wonderful cause.
On the train home I was standing with my costumes in hand. An incredibly attractive European man got up and offered me his seat. I was flattered and immediately took it as an ego boost. I mean I did put make up on today! Then I saw my reflection in the window. FAIL, Ashley. A 20 hour day and a musical fiasco later I came to the conclusion that I didn't receive the seat out for flattery... more like sympathy. Once again, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Talk about Random
Last weekend my girlfriend Tova visited the City. I met up with her on Friday night, only to embark on one of the most random nights I have ever spent in NYC.
We started dinner off with cupcakes at Crumbs. Yes, I understand that this is backwards, but sometimes you have to prioritize. Then we headed off to Stand Burger for "real" food. I don't think that toasted marshmallow milkshakes with Absolut and an order of sweet potato fries count as a meal. Cupcakes, milkshake, and fries for dinner... who let me be a dancer?
The last time Tova was in the city was for the epic Today Show wedding so we decided to meet up with an old friend. Ok, he's not really and old friend, but he owns a handful of bars in the City and never fails to offer an amazing night on the town.
We met up at one of his bars and soon relocated to a bar that "a friend of his owns". We turned the corner to Southern Hospitality. Yes, Justin Timberlake's bar. We got giddy for a half of a second thinking that he could be friends with JT, but no, just the actual owner... the man who does all the work. Its an awesome place, but I am pretty sure they are pumping man cologne through the air vents. Abercrombie and Fitch style.
After a few drinks I headed back to Brooklyn. The train came and little did I know that I was about to get a dose of New York crazy.
I walked onto the train and a homeless man had tied his jackets along the bars of the train to divide HIS part of the train from the rest. It reminded me of the forts I used to make as a kid with blankets and such. Well, whatever you need to do to get some privacy, go for it.
I keep walking to find a seat since I don't think I was invited to sit in the homeless man's exclusive section. I head for an empty seat, only to find 2 to very large bones. I immediately was alarmed but then realized it smelled of turkey. They were two large turkey leg bones sitting in the seat. They were the huge turkey legs you buy at Six Flags or Disney World. How did... ? Umm needless to say I just kept walking.
At this point I went to the far end of the car and sat down, put on my headphones. I look up and there are four grown men in Star Trek costumes sitting across from me.
All you can do is embrace the insanity .
RECAP:
Cupcakes
Toast marshmallow milkshakes
Justin Timberlake
Man Cologne
Homeless man fort
Turkey Legs
Star Trek
Overall an ace of an evening. I love you New York.
We started dinner off with cupcakes at Crumbs. Yes, I understand that this is backwards, but sometimes you have to prioritize. Then we headed off to Stand Burger for "real" food. I don't think that toasted marshmallow milkshakes with Absolut and an order of sweet potato fries count as a meal. Cupcakes, milkshake, and fries for dinner... who let me be a dancer?
The last time Tova was in the city was for the epic Today Show wedding so we decided to meet up with an old friend. Ok, he's not really and old friend, but he owns a handful of bars in the City and never fails to offer an amazing night on the town.
We met up at one of his bars and soon relocated to a bar that "a friend of his owns". We turned the corner to Southern Hospitality. Yes, Justin Timberlake's bar. We got giddy for a half of a second thinking that he could be friends with JT, but no, just the actual owner... the man who does all the work. Its an awesome place, but I am pretty sure they are pumping man cologne through the air vents. Abercrombie and Fitch style.
After a few drinks I headed back to Brooklyn. The train came and little did I know that I was about to get a dose of New York crazy.
I walked onto the train and a homeless man had tied his jackets along the bars of the train to divide HIS part of the train from the rest. It reminded me of the forts I used to make as a kid with blankets and such. Well, whatever you need to do to get some privacy, go for it.
I keep walking to find a seat since I don't think I was invited to sit in the homeless man's exclusive section. I head for an empty seat, only to find 2 to very large bones. I immediately was alarmed but then realized it smelled of turkey. They were two large turkey leg bones sitting in the seat. They were the huge turkey legs you buy at Six Flags or Disney World. How did... ? Umm needless to say I just kept walking.
At this point I went to the far end of the car and sat down, put on my headphones. I look up and there are four grown men in Star Trek costumes sitting across from me.
All you can do is embrace the insanity .
RECAP:
Cupcakes
Toast marshmallow milkshakes
Justin Timberlake
Man Cologne
Homeless man fort
Turkey Legs
Star Trek
Overall an ace of an evening. I love you New York.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Humility Check
Dear friends,
Once again, I am sorry for the negligence of my blog lately, but I've been DANCING. I mean... no dance, no blog right?
To update you from the last post, I recently made my official New York debut at the Cool NY Dance Festival, and this weekend is our first big show for Jazz/Contemporaries at Joffrey. The illnesses have subsided (thank goodness) but other than that, life is just about as hectic as it was a few weeks ago. My favorite question I have been asked lately was "How is the wedding planning going?" Pardon? What wedding? Unfortunately, wedding planning will have to wait a little longer. My mind has strictly been: dance, dance, and dance.
With upcoming shows, it is so easy to get caught up in the work right in front of you. You forget you are in New York City doing what you love. It is a silly thing to forget, but with 12 hour dance days, you can't help but to only focus on how you are going to get through the next rehearsal, or you can get more coffee. This week, however, I have had two incredible moments that have put everything back into perspective.
My first reality check was Monday morning (I think it was Monday, all of my days run together lately). Dorrell, our director, stormed into rehearsal with a huge smile on his face and a handful of papers. The papers in his hand were printouts of a review from the Cool New York Dance Festival. They critiqued our performance, and loved it! At first glance the thing I noticed was the names of our quartet listed. I immediately freaked out. That is MY name printed in a New York dance review. I eventually calmed down enough to read the review. It really was wonderful. I then sent a text to everyone I knew, because clearly... everyone needed to know. Just in case you wanted to read the review here it is: http://www.offoffoff.com/dance/2011/coolny2011.php
My second reality check was this afternoon. It was a normal rehearsal for a piece we are working on for our show this weekend. The choreographer has an incredible resume that includes being a principle of the Paris Opera. (Yes, he is French, scary and French.) Today was one of our last rehearsals before the show so tensions were high, and after you add his intense French-ness... tensions were very high. He then announced that his friend was coming to watch rehearsal. His friend who happened to also be a world renowned ballerina, and now works with dozens of American dance companies. No pressure, she is just coming to watch. After the rehearsal they both sat down with us and just talked. They gave us corrections. They gave us advice. They complimented us. It maybe lasted five minutes, but then it hit me. I am sitting in the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City dancing for and talking with two world renowned dancers.
When I was growing up and told people that I wanted to be a dancer, I never imagined that I could have made it this far. It sounds cheesy, but its true. I was so humbled that I got teary eyed. May I remind you, that this was not intended to be a heart to heart moment. I quickly pulled it together, because you can't cry in front of people that important. As much as I would like to call it a reality check, I am not really sure if I can, because it doesn't seem like reality. Maybe a humility check?
Our show "Winter White" premieres this Saturday and has another run on Sunday. My mother and grandmother are flying in for the weekend to see it, and my fiance flies in Thursday to spend the week with me. I am beyond excited, thus am going to shamelessly post the link for tickets. :)
http://www.joffreyballetschool.com/performances-winter-white.html
Once again, I am sorry for the negligence of my blog lately, but I've been DANCING. I mean... no dance, no blog right?
To update you from the last post, I recently made my official New York debut at the Cool NY Dance Festival, and this weekend is our first big show for Jazz/Contemporaries at Joffrey. The illnesses have subsided (thank goodness) but other than that, life is just about as hectic as it was a few weeks ago. My favorite question I have been asked lately was "How is the wedding planning going?" Pardon? What wedding? Unfortunately, wedding planning will have to wait a little longer. My mind has strictly been: dance, dance, and dance.
With upcoming shows, it is so easy to get caught up in the work right in front of you. You forget you are in New York City doing what you love. It is a silly thing to forget, but with 12 hour dance days, you can't help but to only focus on how you are going to get through the next rehearsal, or you can get more coffee. This week, however, I have had two incredible moments that have put everything back into perspective.
My first reality check was Monday morning (I think it was Monday, all of my days run together lately). Dorrell, our director, stormed into rehearsal with a huge smile on his face and a handful of papers. The papers in his hand were printouts of a review from the Cool New York Dance Festival. They critiqued our performance, and loved it! At first glance the thing I noticed was the names of our quartet listed. I immediately freaked out. That is MY name printed in a New York dance review. I eventually calmed down enough to read the review. It really was wonderful. I then sent a text to everyone I knew, because clearly... everyone needed to know. Just in case you wanted to read the review here it is: http://www.offoffoff.com/dance/2011/coolny2011.php
My second reality check was this afternoon. It was a normal rehearsal for a piece we are working on for our show this weekend. The choreographer has an incredible resume that includes being a principle of the Paris Opera. (Yes, he is French, scary and French.) Today was one of our last rehearsals before the show so tensions were high, and after you add his intense French-ness... tensions were very high. He then announced that his friend was coming to watch rehearsal. His friend who happened to also be a world renowned ballerina, and now works with dozens of American dance companies. No pressure, she is just coming to watch. After the rehearsal they both sat down with us and just talked. They gave us corrections. They gave us advice. They complimented us. It maybe lasted five minutes, but then it hit me. I am sitting in the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City dancing for and talking with two world renowned dancers.
When I was growing up and told people that I wanted to be a dancer, I never imagined that I could have made it this far. It sounds cheesy, but its true. I was so humbled that I got teary eyed. May I remind you, that this was not intended to be a heart to heart moment. I quickly pulled it together, because you can't cry in front of people that important. As much as I would like to call it a reality check, I am not really sure if I can, because it doesn't seem like reality. Maybe a humility check?
Our show "Winter White" premieres this Saturday and has another run on Sunday. My mother and grandmother are flying in for the weekend to see it, and my fiance flies in Thursday to spend the week with me. I am beyond excited, thus am going to shamelessly post the link for tickets. :)
http://www.joffreyballetschool.com/performances-winter-white.html
Saturday, January 22, 2011
My Hardcore Life?
The weeks preceding a show (or multiple shows) are very special to a dancer. It is typically when we start questioning our mental sanity. Life simply gets a little out of hand. We begin to loose touch with reality, or go crazy, however you want to look at it. Well I am currently in this season but, instead of acknowledging this as a season of insanity, I like to pretend it is simply my life...hardcore.
Rehearsal schedules doubled in size. Last night, after having spent the entire day in the city for classes, I was on my way back into Manhattan for another rehearsal around 6ish. I couldn't help but notice how nicely dressed everyone heading into the city was. Oh, I guess I forgot it was a Friday night. I left Joffrey, after a 6 or 7 hour day, at 9:30 pm only to return today for another 6 hours, and will be back Sunday for another 2 hours. Hardcore Weekend Schedule?
There is also a stomach thing, and a cold thing floating around the program. Yet, no one stays home to prevent the spread of illness thus, Joffrey has become a human Petri dish. No one can really blame them, missing rehearsal could be even worse than your fever. Nothing beats sitting next to your friend in rehearsal when she quietly excuses herself to go vomit as you try to remember choreography with a fever and pounding headache. Hardcore? or just stupid? ehh most likely stupid but let's say hardcore for the sake of my blog.
Thursday in class, a friend of mine stepped on my left hand while we were dancing. The left hand with my engagement ring that is. We soon discovered that my ring had slit his toe and my finger. Sure, this story has nothing to do with being stressed for the upcoming shows, but I felt pretty hardcore cleaning the human flesh off of my engagement ring.
Our favorite eating establishment Bagel Buffet was recently shut down. It was the only place near the studio that we could afford to eat at during our breaks. I am wondering how long I can survive on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and $1 pizza. Hardcore diet?
I have been having a hard time falling asleep at night because I am trying to remember all the choreography in my head. I close my eyes and try to make the dancers disappear, then have to reposition myself so I can breathe out of my nose. Nyquil has become my new best friend. Hardcore sleeping habits? Hey... at least it requires me to sleep the full 8 hours.
At the end of our very long days, I can't even really complain. This is what we live for. Performances. We put ourselves through all of this just for a chance to be on stage, and it is completely worth it. Weeks of intense rehearsals and training for a few short minutes on a stage. It still sounds a little crazy, but it is not something that I can explain. Who knows, maybe we are crazy?
Rehearsal schedules doubled in size. Last night, after having spent the entire day in the city for classes, I was on my way back into Manhattan for another rehearsal around 6ish. I couldn't help but notice how nicely dressed everyone heading into the city was. Oh, I guess I forgot it was a Friday night. I left Joffrey, after a 6 or 7 hour day, at 9:30 pm only to return today for another 6 hours, and will be back Sunday for another 2 hours. Hardcore Weekend Schedule?
There is also a stomach thing, and a cold thing floating around the program. Yet, no one stays home to prevent the spread of illness thus, Joffrey has become a human Petri dish. No one can really blame them, missing rehearsal could be even worse than your fever. Nothing beats sitting next to your friend in rehearsal when she quietly excuses herself to go vomit as you try to remember choreography with a fever and pounding headache. Hardcore? or just stupid? ehh most likely stupid but let's say hardcore for the sake of my blog.
Thursday in class, a friend of mine stepped on my left hand while we were dancing. The left hand with my engagement ring that is. We soon discovered that my ring had slit his toe and my finger. Sure, this story has nothing to do with being stressed for the upcoming shows, but I felt pretty hardcore cleaning the human flesh off of my engagement ring.
Our favorite eating establishment Bagel Buffet was recently shut down. It was the only place near the studio that we could afford to eat at during our breaks. I am wondering how long I can survive on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and $1 pizza. Hardcore diet?
I have been having a hard time falling asleep at night because I am trying to remember all the choreography in my head. I close my eyes and try to make the dancers disappear, then have to reposition myself so I can breathe out of my nose. Nyquil has become my new best friend. Hardcore sleeping habits? Hey... at least it requires me to sleep the full 8 hours.
At the end of our very long days, I can't even really complain. This is what we live for. Performances. We put ourselves through all of this just for a chance to be on stage, and it is completely worth it. Weeks of intense rehearsals and training for a few short minutes on a stage. It still sounds a little crazy, but it is not something that I can explain. Who knows, maybe we are crazy?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Adventures in Holiday Travels
Happy New Year! I took a break from the Big Apple to relax and celebrate the holidays at home. It was absolutely wonderful and a needed vacation. I am now back in NYC for the second half of my program, but I wanted to share a bit of my experience traveling over break.
Now, I consider myself quite the pro at flying, so I didn't think much about flying home for the holidays. I mean, I have been in a long distance relationship for 2 years and counting, that is a lot of airports. As I packed to leave my roommate asked if I had traveled this close to the holidays. I haven't, but it can't be that different could it? I was mistaken.
My flight home was scheduled for 6 am. I clearly wasn't thinking when this flight was booked, because I needed to be at the airport at 4:30 am. I proudly arrived at LaGuardia Airport at 4:15 am, only to find a line 30 people long at the Southwest check-in counter. Why isn't everyone asleep?? I soon discovered that they were not going to open the check-in counter til 5. I quickly befriended the people in line around me, it was going to ne a long morning. Finally at about 5:15 I got checked in. At this point the line of 30 had grown to about 80. Good Morning Everyone! My new airport family and I were calm, seeing we have 45 minutes to get through security that is, until we saw the line for security. We were in a line, around the corner, and down the hall from the actually security line. I felt as if I were at Disney World, at 5:30 in the morning.
5:50 We are finally in security. The rush is on. We throw off our shoes, and take out our laptops and wait for a bin. Then a girl five people ahead of us in line stops and turns to security, "Ummm, Hi. What should I do with my cat?" We immediately started laughing. Our flight leaves in 10 minutes and we picked the line with the cat lady. Just our luck! Thankfully the cat didn't slow us down and we boarded our flight at 5:57. Amen and Amen,
In all the of the mayhem, I didn't even notice the new fancy scan machines. I completely avoided them on the flight home, so I was fully prepared to have to deal with the new controversy on the flight back to the city.
I kissed Miguel goodbye and walked into the security on my flight back to NYC. I was crying like a fool, of course. I am no stranger to crying in airports either. I took off my shoes and got in line, and there was the scary body scanner. Great. Nothing like crying while strange people take scans of your naked body. I can't wait. But then, like a beacon of hope, this older sweet man called me over to go through the good old fashioned metal detector. I wanted to hug him, but I figured that would be inappropriate.
Now, I consider myself quite the pro at flying, so I didn't think much about flying home for the holidays. I mean, I have been in a long distance relationship for 2 years and counting, that is a lot of airports. As I packed to leave my roommate asked if I had traveled this close to the holidays. I haven't, but it can't be that different could it? I was mistaken.
My flight home was scheduled for 6 am. I clearly wasn't thinking when this flight was booked, because I needed to be at the airport at 4:30 am. I proudly arrived at LaGuardia Airport at 4:15 am, only to find a line 30 people long at the Southwest check-in counter. Why isn't everyone asleep?? I soon discovered that they were not going to open the check-in counter til 5. I quickly befriended the people in line around me, it was going to ne a long morning. Finally at about 5:15 I got checked in. At this point the line of 30 had grown to about 80. Good Morning Everyone! My new airport family and I were calm, seeing we have 45 minutes to get through security that is, until we saw the line for security. We were in a line, around the corner, and down the hall from the actually security line. I felt as if I were at Disney World, at 5:30 in the morning.
5:50 We are finally in security. The rush is on. We throw off our shoes, and take out our laptops and wait for a bin. Then a girl five people ahead of us in line stops and turns to security, "Ummm, Hi. What should I do with my cat?" We immediately started laughing. Our flight leaves in 10 minutes and we picked the line with the cat lady. Just our luck! Thankfully the cat didn't slow us down and we boarded our flight at 5:57. Amen and Amen,
In all the of the mayhem, I didn't even notice the new fancy scan machines. I completely avoided them on the flight home, so I was fully prepared to have to deal with the new controversy on the flight back to the city.
I kissed Miguel goodbye and walked into the security on my flight back to NYC. I was crying like a fool, of course. I am no stranger to crying in airports either. I took off my shoes and got in line, and there was the scary body scanner. Great. Nothing like crying while strange people take scans of your naked body. I can't wait. But then, like a beacon of hope, this older sweet man called me over to go through the good old fashioned metal detector. I wanted to hug him, but I figured that would be inappropriate.
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