This cast of A Chorus Line is so open and friendly. I’m getting to know each of them better. I live in a house on campus with eight other people, and I’m learning so much about respecting other people’s lifestyle choices. I’m getting many questions about my own lifestyle choices as a vegan, which I enjoy answering. Being vegan for a year and a half, I have come to discover that a lifestyle is an extremely personal choice. Many people are in tune with their own body and know what works for them, and I have no right to judge them for the choices they make. I’ve found that my newfound friends are very curious about my lifestyle, and I’ve discovered that when I treat that curiosity with a gentle, educational touch, the response is much better than that of someone who I might be trying to push to be vegan.
Anyway, back to rehearsal. Today we learned the combo to the opening number “I Hope I Get It”. I got hiccups as soon as we started, which made it challenging to focus and perform the movements full out; when we would run the full combo, hiccups would make me lose my place while counting eight in my head. I became very distracted. Luckily, the hiccups eventually went away, and I was able to reinvest myself in performing the combo full out. I took note of the things I really needed to practice, and patted myself on the back for the things I continually got right. After we finished learning and running the combo, people with solos met with the music director, Chris, to learn/review their solos. Because I looked over and practiced my solo the night before, I had a better understanding of my song, but still needed help with a couple of tricky rhythms and accidentals.
Moreover, we all have been meeting with the director individually discussing our character backgrounds and motivations. The director, Emily, and I met today and discussed Don. I discussed how I think Don puts on this veneer of being a ladies man because that’s what he has always done in auditions and he’s gotten plenty of jobs with that persona. However, I see Don as a true family man. He has a wife and kids and his focus in life now is making enough money to make sure his kids can go to school. In this sense, Don and I share determination and commitment to a goal. However, Don loves performing. This ‘audition’ could be his last ever show, and he is fighting to continue performing. He knows he could find a job with better pay in another field, but dancing is something he’s been doing since he’s been young, and if he can pay the bills while dancing, he’ll take that over any other job.
I think the ensemble achieved a sense of improvement today, which we all recognized. Yesterday was a challenging rehearsal, and so was today’s, but we came back and really rocked it. I learned how to reinvest in my movement even when my body was not following my directions (hiccups). The first half hour of rehearsal was very challenging for me, but I discovered how to keep going no matter what. I think I could really start applying my character’s objectives, obstacles, and tactics to the music tomorrow. I have to take it upon myself to push myself and my character to new limits. Tomorrow, I’ll further practice my parts, and come to rehearsal with my solo memorized!
This cast of A Chorus Line is so open and friendly. I’m getting to know each of them better. I live in a house on campus with eight other people, and I’m learning so much about respecting other people’s lifestyle choices. I’m getting many questions about my own lifestyle choices as a vegan, which I enjoy answering. Being vegan for a year and a half, I have come to discover that a lifestyle is an extremely personal choice. Many people are in tune with their own body and know what works for them, and I have no right to judge them for the choices they make. I’ve found that my newfound friends are very curious about my lifestyle, and I’ve discovered that when I treat that curiosity with a gentle, educational touch, the response is much better than that of someone who I might be trying to push to be vegan.
Anyway, back to rehearsal. Today we learned the combo to the opening number “I Hope I Get It”. I got hiccups as soon as we started, which made it challenging to focus and perform the movements full out; when we would run the full combo, hiccups would make me lose my place while counting eight in my head. I became very distracted. Luckily, the hiccups eventually went away, and I was able to reinvest myself in performing the combo full out. I took note of the things I really needed to practice, and patted myself on the back for the things I continually got right. After we finished learning and running the combo, people with solos met with the music director, Chris, to learn/review their solos. Because I looked over and practiced my solo the night before, I had a better understanding of my song, but still needed help with a couple of tricky rhythms and accidentals.
Moreover, we all have been meeting with the director individually discussing our character backgrounds and motivations. The director, Emily, and I met today and discussed Don. I discussed how I think Don puts on this veneer of being a ladies man because that’s what he has always done in auditions and he’s gotten plenty of jobs with that persona. However, I see Don as a true family man. He has a wife and kids and his focus in life now is making enough money to make sure his kids can go to school. In this sense, Don and I share determination and commitment to a goal. However, Don loves performing. This ‘audition’ could be his last ever show, and he is fighting to continue performing. He knows he could find a job with better pay in another field, but dancing is something he’s been doing since he’s been young, and if he can pay the bills while dancing, he’ll take that over any other job.
I think the ensemble achieved a sense of improvement today, which we all recognized. Yesterday was a challenging rehearsal, and so was today’s, but we came back and really rocked it. I learned how to reinvest in my movement even when my body was not following my directions (hiccups). The first half hour of rehearsal was very challenging for me, but I discovered how to keep going no matter what. I think I could really start applying my character’s objectives, obstacles, and tactics to the music tomorrow. I have to take it upon myself to push myself and my character to new limits. Tomorrow, I’ll further practice my parts, and come to rehearsal with my solo memorized!