Chloe's thoughts on learning Juliet during the first Week of R&J

 1/3/11

 We learned the remainder of the 11 minute balcony pas today.  The music and the sweeping choreography invoke glorious feelings. I have been learning choreography with Oliver, one of the newest dancers in the company but it seems that I will be performing with Stefan.  Stefan and I have done classical and contemporary work with all sorts of emotional ranges.  I'm comfortable with Stefan.   Though Oliver is a wonderful dancer and person, I have felt a bit shy with him.  I know that will change as we continue to work together.  I felt that way with Stefan too in the beginning.   

Stefan is an actor. Every time I see him performing, even in very abstract pieces I see a story, or maybe feel a story. Today he helped me find much more clarity about who Juliet is.

It is hard for me to explain how grateful I am for this experience. The people, music and story surrounding me are all exquisite.

1/4/11

I was thinking that Juliet’s childish playfulness would be difficult for me to do. Thankfully the music in the scene where she is most young and girly is perfectly descriptive and helped me feel closer to how I need to.  We also learned the part where she is dancing at the ball for Paris, her betrothed.  The dynamic between her and Paris is super interesting. She is shy, and feels no romantic spark but has a duty to fulfill.  In the midst of that.... She sees ROMEO! When she looks at him she feels something powerful. She’s never felt this before. She definitely does not feel this with Paris.  There is a solo where she notices the extreme difference of the effect of these men on her.  Eventually her feelings for Romeo carry her away. This forces her to waltz and leap and twirl.  

 1/5/11

 I am exhausted.  From 9:30 to 6:00 I took two 15 min break and a ½ hour break. It feels good though.  There is so much to be done. Every moment of the performance should be vital to the role and express her story. Today it started hitting me just how much there is that I could fall short of accomplishing.  We have not even learned the poison or death scenes yet!  Oh my goodness.  Even with my sobering realization - today was another one of the most fun days of my dance life.  
I am feeling more and more comfortable with Oliver. We are making good progress and I am really enjoying getting to dance with him!  I had to take my pointe shoes off about 4 hours into rehearsal because I could not take the pain ANY MORE. I felt like a wimp. Hopefully my toes will get more used to it or something.

 1/7/11

We continue working on the long balcony pas and the bedroom pas.  The sequences of the two are still not in my head. I keep mixing them up. 

There is a good amount of running away and back to Romeo. I want all of that to be emotionally driven. It still feels pretty arbitrary sometimes. 

I can’t believe how strong these Romeos are.  They are literally lifting women over their heads the entire day.  They get kicked, scratched, torn and bruised by us (all accidental) with no complaints. Ladies hardly ever get hurt because the men are gentleman and experts at what they do.  

Amanda, Alex and I learned the dramatic part where Juliet takes the poison that will make everybody think she has died. It was fantastic being coached by Ron and Carinne!  Because it is Ron's choreography his understanding of the narrative is absolute. Trying to capture what both Ron and Carinne want is exciting.  I will need a big dose intention, physical inflection, imagination, timing subtlety and a horrible stomachache.  All of this week has been incredible!