Never been so close part 1

Living. It has been a crazy venture actually living here in this Metropolis. This city is absolutley the place that makes or breaks you.

Since I have gotten back from Florida, I have really started understanding what it means to live here, and truly be pursuing this whole lifestyle, and dream experience. It hits me every now and then, either when I leave a really great dance class, or am standing in a high rise that looks out over timesquare, how amazing it is that I'm here. That I'm actually living and walking around new york city, pursuiing something that I have been dreaming about since Highschool. I just think Gees, I'm really here!

But Also what comes with really living here, and being in this environment, is the anxiousness, the discouragement, the reality, disconcernment, fear, and even the feeling of no hope. Thats why New Yorkers are strong and hard, cause this place will eat you up and spit you out. So it's a matter of finding out how to be strong and hard, and when you need to apply that.

This spring audition season was absolutely brutal. It was absolutely packed, I think there was only 4 week days in march that I didn't have an audition on, and some days I literally had up to 4 auditions. And everybody has been there, it has been nothing but survival for dancers, no less. We need jobs. That has been the main reason why I haven't kept up with all the auditions, there has just been way too many of them, and most with not much to talk about. From Broadway shows, National tours, regional theatres, to cruise ships, dance agencies, and circus entertainment companies.

However, some of these auditions have made me absolutely alive! and feel Like I was really living for the first time. I auditioned for the newly returning broadway show MEMPHIS, and the combination was so hard, and demanding, and awesome, that it created this atmosphere of fun, and true commorodery. After we had broken up in smaller groups so we could actually use the whole space, and my group went, I realized how good of job I did by the hand fives I was recieving. I as sat down to watch the next group go, And just was over whelmed by the live music and great dancing, and encouragement we were all giving I almost broke down and cried. There was another moment like this when I was auditioning for the Nat'l tour of A CHORUS LINE. In this audition they have you line up by 2s and come down the room doing the combination while everyone else claps in time for you and screams out the starting counts. I literally felt like I was dancing for my life! You wanna talk about dancing fiercely.

The most awesome experience of this season has just happened this past week, and so worth remembering forever. I have never been as close to Broadway as I have been this past week.
On friday of the week before I got a call from a big Brroadway casting agency, asking make an appt for an immediate replacement audition for the show, THE LITTLE MERMAID. I don't even know how this agency got my information cause I haven't auditioned for anything they were doing in a while. I ended up finding out thru friends in the show, and around that they were looking to fill the black track, so all the 5'9" guys were getting called. I got another call from them asking me shoe size, and making sure I was available immediately, So I was like man they are really looking to fill this role now. They were going to have us do a jazz number, and tap number, and there was going to be no way I didn't get this from not being able to tap so I decided to take as many tap classes as I could. The appt was for wednesday at noon, so I had at least 3 days to take class. I also found out that my friend Tyrone was going. He is like my direct competition. He's my height, a dancer, and alwasy placed next to me in a group it seems, he's just not as dark as me. So I knew I had to be prepared. Well Sunday night came and I decided to look at the audition sites again to make sure I had everything down for the week, and then I saw a random audition for SPIDERMAN, that was happening the next morning,Monday. Oh crap, I was so thankful that I had looked. Anyway, So I decided to make sure I hit this one as well, and planned accordingly for the rest of the week.

to be continued.....

Well here we are.

Back home and back to the life I lead here in the city. You know I had lived longer in florida than I did in my NYC apt! So I have been trying to get acclimated back to the city, and find my way around, and find my life here again. It was actually pretty great that when I came back I was already doing work with Pilobolus again. They needed me to come in and do some alphabeting for them, pretty soon you'll be able to use Plo's body font to send messages to people, and you be using my body, oh yeah! I've found some new dance studios to take class at, and I have already been keeping up with my aerial skills by taking some Silks classes so that I can become awesome. Although I have gotten a little bursitis on my left knee right below my knee cap, so I have this swelled bump now, please pray that it heals, and doesn't flare up anymore.

So as you know back to the life in the city means, back to auditioning, and what a season it is turning out to be. I've already had 2 auditions. Because of the economy and everyone freakin out about money, everyone everywhere is doing lots of big dance chorus musicals, which is pretty good for all us dancers, but because so many shows have closed everyone is coming out of the woodworks to audition. I really want to work at this theatre in Sacremento, and there season is known for being called the music circus, cause you are constantly working, rehearsing in the day and performing at night. But they have an awesome season of dancing that I would love to be apart of. I also auditioned for this other theatre, that had its audition on sunday, which we were all not to pleased about. It's hard to tell you specifics about shows these days, cause this is the time where you are auditioning for a theatres whole summer season, but here are some pictures for some of the shows involved, the ones that I haven't been in.

Happy New Year

Well, it is a new year, Woo HOoo!

and you guessed it, I am still in Florida doing Barnum. It has been a long time, but I thank God and am grateful that I got to finish the year and start the new year, working and with a job, Amen. We're actually coming up on our last week, we have tomorrow off to prepare and then straight into a full 8 show week bangout!

So it's a new year and a new me! Actually it really is, because Jan. 1 is my birthday! So while you were all out getting trashed, smashed, and waisted( and for those who were in church), You were ultimately celebrating the coming of my birth as well. (My best friend, JC and I have that in common, with our bdays a week apart) hahahaha. Anyway, no disrespect Lord, but I thought new headshots would be nice, and since one of the guys in the cast is trying to build his portfolio, he was giving out free sessions, so here are some, You like? Are they great, He has a great eye.

We our now in a new theatre, the Maltz Jupiter theatre, over in Jupiter Florida which is on the east coast, the oppisite to where we were in Sarasota. we were all very worried about doing the show over at this theatre cause we knew we weren't going to have our wonderfully experienced circus crew, and the other scary fact that the stage was even smaller than at the Asolo. But we came in with open minds knowing that it was going to be a different show. The stage was so much smaller that we had to remove the swinging Trapeze, and place the spanish webs in a different location,( you should have seen the first time I tried spinning, as my legs kept hitting the pole, yeah I wasn't happy.) But they ended up moving them to an cooler place, in the audience right in the aisle!! And Matt is feeling a whole lot better, and doing the straps, but again since there was no space on stage, he flys out around Barnum and over the audience. Yeah they go wild!

The other really awesome thing that was able to happen was, I found out that Pilobolus Dance Company was going to be performing an hr away so I was able to hook up with them for there day off, and they were able to see my show!!!!!!!! Yeah for family!!! It was soo great to see them, and have them see me dance , and do the other thing that I do. And theye were able to give me great feedback, and more over great validation that I was doing well. Man I love those Guys!!

This has been quite an amazing experience, I have made some great new friends, and have done some fun stuff. Being down in florida for the winter has been absolutely wonderful. I Love the beach and have seen some amazing sunsets over the ocean. And besides all that I am the one who has gotten the most out of it all. I had to learn the most circus tricks, and learn how to be dance captain, and have the most fun with the locals! I am excited to go home though, I miss my friends, and young people!!! and things to do, and places to go all the time. I love New York!! though I'll be missing the sun ever so ferociously! I have done so much great stuff, over the next couple of days I will just post some pics of the adventures!!!!

Watching something scary!

Well here we are, we have one week left of our shows here in Sarasota, Fl.
It has been a pretty incredible journey here, from our crazy rehearsals, and circus lessons, to our sold out performances. It has been an even more challenging experience for me taking the role of dance captain. And I wish I can say everything has gone ok, but actually I was the first one to get hurt and therefore have to be cut from my circus tricks. Yup, for a week I couldn't juggle, or do my spanish web in the finale cause I had hyper extended my thumb playing catch with a football. It still hurts but I just where an ace bandage during act 1 now, and just pray for it every day( also 4 200 ml of Ibupropin). But the absolute scariest thing happened yesterday afternoon during our matinee.
While Matt was flipping down the straps he dislocated his shoulder. Talk about one of the most scariest things to be watching on stage. Usually it is a very disctinct 3 slow flips down that goes with the music. There was only one flip and then pretty much him just twirling,spinning, or more like unravelling down to the ground. Everyone on stage knew something was wrong. I was backstage getting into my stilts, and could only see the straps, and from the specific change of movement I saw in them, I knew something had happened. Everyone was running around back stage trying to help and figure out what was going on, and everyone on stage wast trying to perform there best improving off the top of there heads, and fill in His scenes. It was pretty scary. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital, and we had a cast meeting during intermission to figure out how to do the second act. This was the other challenge for me, now I had to step up and figure out who would do what in his stead. And all on the spur of the moment. Well it all worked out fine, but we had to have a meeting after the show with the musical director, stage manager, st mgn ass, Crew chief, circus captain, and me to figure out how we would work the show out, it ended up being alot smoother then we thought. But while they were all done and resting I had to specifically go over dance numbers, so I was on the stage going thru choreography, and trying to make the show look good again. We had to call everyone in a half hr earlier to go over all the changes and to make sure things worked out. To my surprise I ended up having to run everything, and Praise God it all worked out, and everyone was attentive. Matt came back to the theatre and hes doing just fine, he'll be back in th show next week, though his circus tricks are cut. We almost made it thru. Just one week left, darn it!!!!

Quatro Marketable

Wow! what an incredible journey this has been so far!

Man it has been quite an exhausting feet but it has all come together and we are finally having a good time running the show.

Now this has been one of the most frustrating and tiring shows I have ever been involved in, but it has also been one of the most beneficial. I have to admit when we first started rehearsals, I was startled by some of the other actors, for I thought as professional and big this production was going to be, that people should've been at a higher level of professional maturity, but I was reminded that people work at different paces, and learn and take things in very uniquely, so I had a little life lesson in character, and dealing with differences, (it was good for me).

The amazing thing about our cast is how amazing the cast really is!!! All our leads accept 1 has been on Broadway, and fairly recently as well. THE PRODUCERS, MISS SAIGON, THE PAJAMA GAME, CHORUM BOY, FUNNY THING...FORUM, just to name a few. We have a National baton twirler, and a National gymnast, 2 people who were dancers and clowns for Cirque de Soleil, A guy who was a clown for Ringling Brothers, an Opera singer from China, and a girl who does character voices for Disney! Yeah, pretty tight right. And on top of that, we were directed by an up and coming sought after Director who just directed the tour of HAPPY DAYS, and The Broadway dancer Josh Rhodes, to choreograph it, and a fabulous costume designer.

Now the rehearsal process was gruelling. There was a new concept they had for the show where they wanted to add more of the ensemble into the show. There's alot of solo numbers for the main characters, but not many big production numbers. So they changed the format of the show as if we were all telling the story of Barnum's life, helping unfold the stories. So there was alot of music rehearsals, cause we would try something, change it, learning something new, and change it, and so on. So it got kind of hard memorizing parts and then doing totally different parts. Also on top of that, our director had to keep leaving to go direct another show, so it got very wonky cause Our Choreographer would stage numbers and do blocking, and then the director would come back and change everything, so it got very very, did I say very yet, frustrating, and it kind of set us back a little. We ended up having the longest week in theater possible. 3 ten hr days, and then 3 12hr tech days, which is unheard of, and nothing I have ever done before.

Not only did we have our regular rehearsal for the show, but we had our Circus lessons before. So we would have to go to the Circus tent downtown Sarasota, and meet with our Coach and trainers, Pedro, who is a world class circus performer and sought after trainer and consultant, Susan, and Anna. Dudes let me just tell you the first day we were in there, as I was stretching and looking up at the circus tent, I just thought" Oh my gosh, look at where I am!" Who ever knew I would be learning to do amazing things under a real circus! It was definetly a moment that most of us had. Now the guy who plays our Ring Master is the one who was in RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS, so he was also our circus trick coach, and taught us all how to do our little tricks and gags in the show. Juggling, plate spinning, unicylcling, flame tricks, magic scarves, all those fun things clowns do. We had even different times set up for those lessons, at an even different place from the other 2. SO it was pretty extensive.
But It all worked out. I actually ended up being one of the most used actors for the press. They came to the Tent with the cameras, and took footage of us there, and interviewed 2 of us, which they played on their local news station a couple of times. Here's the link to it, http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081110/VIDEO01/811100380&template=video . Now I hate the way I sound on it, my little lisp comes out, and I was caught off guard, so don't hate me. Anyway, I was also in the sunday Paper, and I was on this local community show that this old lady with Hats has, that was cool to be inteviewed on a show, it's just getting me ready for the big time, Good Morning America here I come!! And then I again was on A live segment of news FOX 13 down here, which was also pretty cool, got a little more exposure for some other cities in the area.

I was also after some debate, and some relinquishing, and some declines, asked to be the Dance Captain. So I now have another credit to add to my resume! Man this show has just been the most amazing gift from God for me, 4 wonderful things to make me more marketable, and more wanted. AND THEY WILL WANT ME, MARK MY WORD!!!!!! AHAHAHAH

HEY LOOK OVER TO THE LEFT!!!! THERE'S A NEWS REEL FOR YA!!!!!!!!