The professionalism of the entire company has been challenged this week.  We open our spring series of Up Close on Hope this Friday, just 8 rehearsal days after the closing of Boundless Plotnikov, and everyone has been working around the clock to get the program ready.  I am currently rehearsing four different pas de deuxs and one brand new ensemble piece…woof.  Let’s just say I’ve started to daydream of beachside vacations, springtime picnics in the park, or really any outdoor activity that would rescue me from the oppressively fluorescent lights constantly incubating the studio.

This weekend I will perform the minxy pas de deux from La Esmeralda with one of my favorite human beings, Monsieur Alex Lantz.

I remember learning the iconic variation in my high school days, watching from the wings nervously as tween after tween competed the daring baloné-ridden solo at YAGP, and noting how the sassy character didn’t seem quite “me”, though I hoped someday she would.  Here I am 7 years later, emulating the vixen gypsy girl and still feeling like that 15-year-old who was uncomfortable putting on her own false eyelashes.  I mean, I still don’t wear them unless I have to.  But Esmeralda feels like an occasion to bat some giant eyelashes, doesn’t it?  ;)

*ps, if you’re still looking for Nemo….I found him.