When I was little, I took a few years of ballet lessons. Besides the particular odor of the dance studio, the color of its hardwood floors, and the feel of its metal bars, all I really remember from when I was really little is my teacher's voice enthusing, "RunRunRun GRAND jete!" (with little accents aigus over the "e"s in "jete") To me at the time, this sounded like "RunRunRun Grahnjehtay!" About 30 little girls and one little boy all clad in leotards would scamper around the room at top speed going "step step step LEAP! step step step LEAP!"
This memory is especially vivid right now since that's what my life feels like. It's a bit hectic with lots of LEAP!s to make, but it's also really fun. At the end of the day, the breathlessness that's there because I actually made all the leaps makes me really happy.
Today, I had a wonderful mix of various things. There was a bit of housework in the form of going to the grocery store. Accomplishing that always feels like a foray into the wilderness and a triumphant hunter-gatherer's return because I have no car, so a combination of bus-riding and snow-shoeing gets me to and fro. I also did a touch of vacuuming and dishes - good for little ole' not-so-domestic me!
There was also lots of singing, probably the primary reason why I'm glowing. I had plenty of personal practice, and I spent an hour in Ariadne rehearsal, where I discovered that I do remember all my blocking (choreographed stage movements).
My academic brain was sated with an hour and half of theory class, where I got to perform Brahms' "Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer" - in the low key, no less! And talking through the harmonic insights into Brahms' interpretation of the poem and storyline reminded me of why I love Lieder.
I met with some folks to talk through the conference topics and sessions and sent the requisite emails for that.
I had a great networking conversation with a really kind alum from my past company.
And I am about to dive into my outreach work in preparation for tomorrow's outreach performance.
Sleep will hopefully figure in here somehow....we'll see how that goes. But for now, I'm pretty thrilled that I actually made some progress on all of the big categories on my to-do list.
A very GRAND jete indeed!
~Hope
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2 comments:
Oh, Hope, I'm almost dizzy reading about your days. I'm glad you are enjoying every moment. Going to the store sounds like a bit of an adventure (I remember when I used to walk the mile in downtown Philly with my little cart - too funny). What is your outreach performance? It all sounds wonderful. Thanks for all the updates. Amanda :)
A mile with your cart? I can just see that! I take a backpack since the combination of snow and bus make a cart a little impractical.
I'll write about the outreach stuff soon. I have a performance this Thursday - some Shakespeare songs for some toddlers and then for a 5th grade class. Lots of fun!
:)
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