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As kind of a sequel to the "Day in the Life" story, I am going to share with you another little known part of the dancer's life... Theater Life. You see, we spend 4-6 weeks in a studio rehearsing as described in the previous article, but at the end of this, we actually have to perform the things that we have been working on so tirelessly. This is the Theater life. It is the greatest and worst time for a dancer. Greatest because you get to perform, and let's face it, why do this profession at all if you don't get to perform it for others. For me, sharing the enjoyment I got from dancing with an audience was what it was all about. Sure, I would beat myself up over a bad show, but when I took it into perspective, it was just about giving something to the audience.

It is the worst time because it is perhaps the most exhausting time for the dancer. We don't just show up at the theater at night and perform. We are there bright and early in the morning starting our day with ballet class, then moving on to rehearsal for most of the day. While the ballets are already set, we have to stage them, meaning, adjust all we have done in the studio to work on the stage. This can mean doing parts of the ballet several times to get it right. Plus you have to alternate with other casts so that everyone can get a feel for the stage. Rehearsing with a mirror in the studio and dancing on an open stage are two completely different things. It throws off your balance, your depth perception, and can be down right scary! I remember the first time I walked on to the Metropolitan Opera House Stage. I just stood there for about 5 minutes. I was dumbstruck. The house was immense. The stage bigger than anything I had ever danced on. I have never been so scared and so exhilarated in all my life. That is forever burned into my memory. Many dancers feel like this every time they step on to a stage. For some people, the thought of standing up there for all the world to see is terrifying, but for a dancer, it is home. You finally break free. There is no one sitting up at the front of the room. No one to stop the music to make you do it again. Granted you will get pages and pages of notes after every show, but when the curtain goes up, it is just you.

Enough of the sentimental stuff though, let's get down to the real dirt. Truth is, dancers are an odd bunch. We like our pattern, routines and most especially our superstitions. I talked earlier about the whole pointe shoe thing the women have, but men have their share of quirky habits as well. There are all kinds of things that are taboo in the theater. I should mention that this is true not just with dancers, but actors, singers, musicians, and from what I have heard professional athletes as well. Some of the most common being, no whistling in the theater, no wearing purple, this is an Italian thing. Some opera guy died while wearing a purple cape on stage so the color is now jinxed. Performances on the 17th of the month are bad luck. This is another Italian thing, they are really particular about all of this stuff. A cross over from the acting circle is to never, ever under any circumstance say the name Macbeth in the theater. Rumor has it that the theater will burn down at the mere mention of the play. It is always referred to as "The Scottish Play". Other things are more personal. Some people have a routine they do from the moment the enter the stage door. Places at the barre for warm up, a set way of putting on make up and doing their hair are a few others. Before actually going on stage some people will knock the floor three times, some make the sign of the cross, while others spit on the floor and hope for the best. Whatever their thing is, everyone has something.

While we are talking about backstage, let's try and conjure up a mental picture for all of you who have not had the pleasure of venturing into the backstage realm. As you enter the theater's stage entrance door, you can almost hear the "Twilight Zone" music start to play. You enter a strange dimension where time seems to disappear. This is mostly due to the fact that there are no windows in the the place, the only clocks are backstage, most of them are counting down the show, and you spend the majority of your time in the dark. There are lots of lights, cables, wires and scenery which give the show that illusion of effortlessness. Like the colors changing and backdrops coming in and out happen due to magic. You should know, though, that they are not happening because of magic, they are changing because 10 stage hands wearing all black are clamoring around backstage pulling ropes and yelling at us to get out of the way. They can be somewhat scary at first, but give them a few beers after the show and they are as gentle as puppies.

Backstage during a show is a great place to see the performance through the dancers eyes. It is stressful, but at the same time quiet and meditative. Everyone is respectful of each others space needed to mentally prepare. We are all supportive, cheering and clapping and encouraging each other both on and off stage. It is also the best place to see what is really going on on stage. In any given show, there are a number of jokes, pranks, and games being played both on and off stage. Thanks to the orchestra pit between the stage and the audience you can't hear talking or laughing. Often times we are talking to our partners or talking each other through a particularly difficult section. Sometimes we are just bored and are talking about where to go after the show. "Nutcracker" is the worst. You perform 20-50 of the same show night after night, by the end your body could do it even if your head fell off. This is when things get very boisterous on stage. Pull out those binoculars next time your significant other drags you to the ballet. There is always a show within a show if you look closely.

I hope I didn't scare anyone off with this little exposé. I am just trying to share with you our lives, strange that they are. The theater, for me, will always feel like home. To walk off the street through a door that transports you to a wonderful world where time and space seemed to stop and you get to do what you love to do most of all, and then share this passion with a house full of willing recipients, how great is that for a job?







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A day in the life...

One of the most common questions I got asked as a dancer was "So what do you really do for a living?" No, this is not a joke. People couldn't fathom the idea that I was a ballet dancer. They thought for some reason I was like one of those super heroes, you know, corporate lawyer by day, ballerina by night. When I told them that this is all I do, they looked at me perplexed. I would in turn ask them how they thought we performed all those ballets. Did they think we just showed up, threw on our tutus and went out there hoping someone knew what they were doing? Understandably, this is a strange thought. Not very many audience goers consider the weeks of rehearsal and preparation going into the show they are about to see. They see the finished product. They miss the 6 weeks of mistakes and hard work that went into it. So, in an effort to help those audience members understand and also to let the students know what they are looking to get into, I am here to share with you a day in the life of a dancer. This is a typical day, however I should note that in a profession where sickness, injury, and a list of other things can change the day in about 2 minutes, typical is actually quite rare.

The day begins in most companies around 9:30am where we start off with a basic ballet class. This is the same class many people take even if you aren't professional. The purpose is to warm up for the day ahead as well as refresh your technique on a daily basis. Quite often, especially with more contemporary pieces, you do things differently than you would normally do them. Class in the morning brings you back to basics and helps center you for the day ahead. While this is not technically part of our work day under contract, you can't really rehearse without it. As a side note, not very many dancers are morning people. Good thing for us we perform at night. There are quite a few travel mugs of coffee around the room as well as moaning and groaning as we attempt to get our bodies to cooperate with us. I realize that 9:30am is late for most of the corporate world, but how many of you are attempting to kick your leg up to a 180 degree angle??

After a pretty standard 15 minute break, we start our real day. It is broken into morning and afternoon rehearsals. Each block being 3 hours long. Union companies work 55 minutes and allow a 5 minute break on the hour. Just enough time to change shoes, grab a snack, use the restroom, and if your fast enough, all of the above. Rehearsals are quite disciplined. You can't come and go as you please. It is not a democracy. You are there to work, and work you do. It is usually broken into hour long segments but there are days where you spend 15 minutes here, 30 minutes in another studio doing something else, then 1 hour doing the same piece but different part. You never have just one part in a ballet. You are sometimes learning up to 6 parts in one production. Juggling the day gets tricky the more parts you are involved in. Also, you are usually rehearsing more than just one ballet. Often times you will be working on say, "Swan Lake" in one studio, then a new creation in another and then "Nutcracker" in still another. Not sure why, but you always seem to be working on "Nutcracker" no matter what time of year it is. It is like the dancer version of the movie "Ground hog's Day". I have had days where I will be in pointe shoes and tutu for an hour, then into the other studio where I switched to bare feet and long skirt then another studio still where I would put the pointe shoes back on and do a new creation. It is not easy work, but that is why we chose this profession.

Between the morning and afternoon is an hour lunch break, and yes, we do actually eat! If you read the paragraph before this one, you will see we have been busy. We are usually starving by this point so food is much needed. Although, I will admit to occasionally choosing a shower and a nap to food, depending on the kind of day it is, but I usually try to eat on the five minute breaks to make up for it. Lunch is also a down period. You regroup, relax a little, then get ready to dive back into it again after lunch. It is also the place to see the "real" dancers. If you really want to know what we are like, venture into the lounge at lunch. I'm not completely sure, but I think a combination of fatigue, stress, and a break from discipline leads to a rather rowdy bunch.

The afternoon is much the same as the morning. On mornings where you have what is known as a "run through", in which you will go through an entire ballet, often times, with the conductor, stage manager, and lighting technician being there, making sure everyone is on the same page, the afternoon will just be notes from the morning. This usually only happens when a performance is close at hand. The rest of the time you repeat the morning schedule. For me, it was always the last hour, the 5:15-6:15 rehearsal that went the slowest especially when new choreography was being taught. Your mind tends to shut down at a certain point. Remember this is not just a physical profession, it involves a lot of mental and emotional input as well.

The job doesn't end at 6:15 either. After hobbling home and eating some food, our night will most often involve sewing pointe shoes, washing the countless sweaty leotards and tights from the day, and preparing for the next day. We cannot simply leave our profession "at the office". Every thing we do will affect our work. Staying up too late, eating poorly, drinking too much all will take its toll the next day. We live for our jobs and although there were lots of days I sat at the end of the day in the dressing room considering alternative professions, I still was back at it the next day. Some dancers consider themselves slightly crazy for subjecting themselves to such torture each day. When you think about it, would you want to stand in front a room full of full length mirrors day after day while working as hard as you could to perform a piece only to have someone stand there and tell you everything you just did was wrong and make you do it all again? Didn't think so. For me however, it sounds, well,just like any other day at work, and I loved every minute of it.



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