It doesn’t get much better than Romeo & Juliet, unless it’s as a Dance Education Training Program student getting to take part in the rehearsal process. Mr. Cunningham and Ms. Binda invited me to participate in the “Ball” scene and understudy several of the roles in this remarkable ballet; getting to work with the company and watch the artistic process has been an eye opening experience. It’s so different from my many years of participation in Nutcracker, this time the acting of the roles feels equally important as the technique. I think the extraordinary music by Prokofiev really helps everyone feel and become what they need to be to perfect the emotion of each role, of course Ms. Binda, Mr. Cunningham and Lynlee are there to tell us if somehow we get it wrong! From the full company ball scenes to the staged sword fights and of course watching the different emotional qualities of Amanda, Alex and Chloe who are dancing the role of Juliet, I can’t even begin to say what my favorite part is.
Last week I participated in some of the costume fittings and they are exquisite. The grandeur takes you right back to the renaissance period, I think my favorite part was some of the crazy headpieces. The company women don’t get to participate in the sword fight classes with the fight master, but we did get to learn the fine art of stage fighting. I was partnered with Ava Chatterson and we had a great time learning to pull hair and smack each other without inflicting any pain. With five brothers and sisters I thought I knew all there was about fighting but I was wrong, and have to say I never had so much fun in a “fight” as I did that day. The rehearsals have made for some pretty crazy long days as I continue to take my regular student classes too, but at the end of the day, I love it!
~ Mackenzie
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