Elaborate Excuses

Dear Friends,

I have not forgotten about my blog! In fact, I think about it all the time. And then I think about having to walk for 10 minutes, take a bus and then walk some more in order to get to the semi-gross internet cafe where I pay way too many Euro just to get online for exactly 5 minutes, not to mention the fact that everyone is allowed to smoke indoors and the place therefore smells more like an internet bar. (You see my dilemma?)

That was month one. But we've entered a bright new day here in Germany. A day wherein one can access the world wide web from the comfort of one's couch. A day where the Y and the Z are in the right place on the keyboard and no accidental umlauts arise. A day wherein I know that the people who use this blessed laptop actually wash their hands before returning to work. Oh happy day!

Soooo...I got a request today to write a post about the academy. How fun! I realize that most of my friends and family have no idea what exactly I do when I go off to school 6 days a week. So here goes!

I get up at about 6 and leave at about 7 with books, dance shoes and carrot juice in hand:). Most people don't drive in Hamburg, many, like us, don't even own a car. So I hop the #11 bus to Steinfurter Allee and then wait a bit for the U3 train which will take me all the way into town. The whole trip takes about an hour, so at about 8 I trek across the bridge to Joop Van Den Ende Academy.

My first class is at "halp neun" (8:30), so I ride up to the 5th floor, change into dancewear and stretch to try to prepare my sleepy body for all-school jazz warm up. This so-called "warmup" is the misnomer of ALL misnomers. It is more strenuous and concentrated than any full jazz class I've ever taken. My instructor let us know that her class will hurt. A lot. She plans to literally change the conformation of my body. For example in one of the stretches you sit on the floor with your legs to the side as far as you can (a straddle) and push your chest down toward the floor. The goal is to get your upper body flat against floor (not just your head--that's cheating:)) So, my teacher will regularly come behind me in this stretch and push me further and further down to the ground. It really, really hurts BUT it's pretty amazing how much more flexible I am after only one month.

But of course, that stretch is only 2 or 3 minutes of the 45 minute "warm up." The rest of it consists of complicated combinations, highly specific body positions, balance work and, of course, excruciating crunches and pushups. Often, I feel like I'm going to cry, but that's how I know I'm doing it right:).

All of this happens before 9:15.

Each day's schedule is different, but typically I have Ballet after this. Ballet is fun (I never, ever thought I'd say that). It's more intense, concentrated work but I'm learning a lot and can see myself becoming a better dancer. 

Tap presents a new challenge because although I am an experienced tapper I am now required to wear high heeled tap shoes (much like you see on Broadway). I've never tapped in heels before, and let me tell you, two inches and a skinny heel make a BIG difference. Sometimes it's frustrating because steps that I can do quickly and cleanly in flats sound like poo-poo in heels. But women rarely, if ever, tap in flats on the professional stage, so I'm glad I'm learning now! My tap teacher is really into funky rhythm tap rather than classic B'way. So fun. He tells me that jazz and R&B is music from my country so I should revel in it (all said in German, of course.)

Oh! Did I mention that school is in German. That's a really important detail. For example, my music theory class-- all German. Nothing makes me feel more like a genius that studying advanced theory in another language! It's exhilarating. Fun Fact: In Germany the pitch "B natural" is called "H" and the pitch we call "B flat", they call "B". Weird, huh? It gets more complicated than that, but I'll bore you with those details another day:).

Acting. This class is a doosey. It's four hours long and it's almost exclusively improvisation. Guided improvisation, but 4 hours of GERMAN improv nonetheless. Needless to say, my brain starts to hurt around hour two and a half. Pray for me folks.  Sometimes we use well known texts like Hamlet (in German) or Antigone (in German!)

My voice lessons are super. I have two 1-hour sessions per week. My teacher is American, so she has mercy on  me and teaches me in English. I'm working on a few German songs right now and have been getting wonderful feedback on my accent/pronunciation. That's encouraging to say the least.

Other than these classes, I have Theatre History, Gyrokinesis (German Yoga-ish stretching class), a Weekly Coaching Session with my accompanist, Speech, Voice for the Actor, Ensemble Singing, Sight Singing, Musical Theatre Dance, and a Private Phonetics Lesson for non-native German speakers (like me!)

I usually leave school around 20:00 (8PM) exhausted and ready to see Ryan. I take two trains and a bus home (travel takes a little longer in the evening because the busses/trains don't run as frequently after 8). I get home around 9:15, hug my favorite boy, sometimes call my Mommy, do my homework and then get ready to do it all over again.

It's exhausting. And sometimes it's really hard to get up for school ESPECIALLY on Saturdays, but I'm so blessed to be on this "abenteuer" (that's German for "adventure!!)

Stay tuned, more posts coming soon...ish;)

Ciao!

 s i d.