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Published: September 30th 2008
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I am a bit nervous about this dance performance that will take place here in New York City in two weeks, but the fact that we have already performed it once in Poland takes the edge off a bit. And the fact that the experience and the final performance in Poland was so crazy and unpredictable makes me feel that if it worked out in Poland, then it will surely work out in New York. I got one comment from Carolina, my blogger friend, a while back saying: "so how'd the show in Poland go?" Here's a quick recap.
Sunday, July 7, 2008:
It was the Sunday before our big show. We have one day to get ourselves in order, and put a show together.
Crazy day, just some highlights:
Though we were told that we would have a full day to work in the theater, we could not begin rehearsal until 7 pm because there are huge windows in the theater (remember: it is a functioning power plant) which let lots of light in. Then we were told that we must leave the space by 10 pm because of labor laws, and we were planning on staying until 2
pm. Trajal argued with the festival, saying if we did not have the space until 2 am then we would not perform. We ended up getting the space.
Thomas and I spent the whole day working on the video for the performance. Everyone was pitching in helping to set up the stage, the scrims, hang lights, connect and tape down cords....it ended up being a very late night.
We returned home and decided to go out for a drink. Wandering around the city, there was nothing open except one small shop. The shopowner did not speak english, but somehow we communicated to him through hand signals what we wanted. While we were buying drinks a gentleman came up to us and began talking. It was clear that he was very inebriated. He was thrilled once he found out that we were Americans, though I never could figure out why. From here we went to Mr. Hamburger, the only food joint open, for a midnight snack. Then back to the hotel.
Finally, it was go time. The day of the show. Our show began at 9:30PM and was the third of three performances programmed for the same evening.
Mango Airlines
Our flight from Durban to Cape Town was with Mango Airlines. Isn't it a cool plane? This was poor planning, because our show is over two hours long, a difficult one to sit through after two other shows and so late in the evening. There were about 150 people in the audience, and by the end of the show about half of them had left. I don't believe the show was what they were expecting to see. This did not bother us, though. We had been prepped by our choreographer that the show might be 'too much to handle' for many folks.
Without giving too much away, I will say that the dancers do not enter the stage until well into the first part of the show. As we were leaving the dressing room and getting ready to go on stage, I heard a door slam and saw three women walking swiftly towards the exits. After slamming the first door, they looked in both directions to find the next door, and headed out the exit shaking their head. It was clear that they had not enjoyed the performance. When the lights dimmed for the final time and we went out for our bows, we were warmly applauded by those who had stayed to the end.
travelling up the coast
we took a train from Cape town up the coast to visit a small town where there is a natural habitat for penguins. This was Viktorija's main goal in coming to Cape Town--to see the penguins!!! It seemed that they enjoyed the show!
That evening after striking the set and cleaning out our things, we went to the Night Club (that is the name of the club), then to Mr. Burger, and then partied in our rooms until dawn. At 6 am we went downstairs to the breakfast buffet for coffee and breakfast. Then at 8 am we all parted ways, going to our rooms. It was time for everyone to pack their things and catch the shuttle to the airport. I slept for a few hours, then woke up and packed for my trip back to South Africa. I went for a quick run to Tesco shopping center to buy meat for Viktorija (a special request), and beer because we drank all of the beer I had bought for her that evening and morning.
A long flight back to Durban, South Africa........an 8-hour wait in the Durban Intl. Airport for Viktorija to arrive at the airport, and then a 2-hour flight to Cape Town, and then.....vacation!!!
Cape Town was really a beautiful and fun place. Here are some pictures. 😊
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