This morning I rehearsed with Dan at 8:30 after a muffin at Stardough's (the only restaurant in town. ONLY). Dan's boys, Linus (3)and Crosby (1) are here with his wife. Talk about support. They are adorable little red-headed goblins, smart as whips. Oh, we also passed clubs 3 ways with Cal, who is a yoga teacher and excellent juggler.
We started the official morning at 9:30 with Joe, who I'm pretty much in love with. He's the science guy. He brought in this skeleton and we did some body mapping. I was drop-jawed at some of the stuff we learned. Dudes, the 2 bones in your arm cross over when you open a doorknob. THEY MAKE A FREAKING X! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THEY a) could do that b) do it EVERY TIME YOU TURN YOUR HAND OVER! And your toe bones go all the way to the middle of your foot. And your hand is all just finger bones. And your shoulder blade is in the front. And your spine ends behind your nose. And there are ribs under your collar bones, and there are lungs all the way up there. Joe blinded me with science, then taught us how to fix our nearly inevitable ankle sprains. (pressure, THEN immersion in ice water, then wrap with foam for pressure on the soft tissue. Direct ice, elevation and ibuprofen. Continued pressure) OH then he used Alexander technique to help me with my sciatica. Joe is freaking rad.
Then at 11:30 we had voice with Joan, who I want to be when I grow up. I have BIG problems with speaking, but even more with creating what I see as arbitrary sound. You know the big sounds you have to make in acting classes. I hate them. They choke me and give me panic attacks. I did ok. I faked it really, which in this instance was close enough, because usually I can't stand to even allow my breath to make regular breathing sounds. Gah. I'm tensing up thinking about it. I'm tired.
LUNCH! I Carbo loaded for the first time today, and I STILL didn't make it to 5 without being hungry.
After lunch we had our first class with Donlin, the movement guy. Donlin is brilliant and beautiful to watch, which I was not expecting. He seems like such a DUDE. Turns out he danced every principle role with Martha Graham for 20 years, ran his own dance company for 15, taught at Barnard - I may have even seen him at STEPS. If only I'd known. He's brilliant. He knows how to make small things important in a very real way. It's hard to explain. His hand is never just moving. His hand is moving because his heart is breaking. I died. I wish we had more time with him, and wish I'd had the balls to keep my eyes open during my exercize. I did ok. More movement class, please.
At 4:30 we were back with Ronlin. I can't say much about him yet except that he's exactly who I'd want in charge of my ship. He knows Clown.
Donlin and Ronlin are identical twins, and both complete geniuses in completely different ways. Science/The Universe is weird.
Night Block tonight was final dress for the mainstage, Milo et Olivia, charming acro-clowns and amazing jugglers. I'm too tired to talk about what they did (I just had my second carbo load today) I am tired. I am sore. I am learning. I am happy.
OH! We also have 2 total creepers. One is just too young to know any better (he's all of 20 and acts all of 14) but he totem poled me and gave me the 'how YOU doin' eyebrow DURING AN EXERCISE. Go away, little creeper.
The other is a 65 year old man with no theatrical experience. Today when an instructor asked him what he noticed during a group exploration, he answered "all the pretty girls in this classroom". I would really prefer not to have to think about that. Gross. No creepers please.
