After a long week of tech rehearsals, the concert opens tonight! There's been a lot I've wanted to reflect on this week, but simply have not had time...and won't until after this weekend, I'm afraid. I've learned a lot about my dances this week, and about my choreography in general. A few months ago, I wrote about magic and choreography. I certainly think that tech week is one of the most magical times of the process. I don't mean just because there are costumes and lights, although that does sometimes transform the dance and the dancers. I think it's the rehearsals themselves; the boring lighting rehearsals that prompt the craziest conversations onstage (as choreographer, I wasn't part of them this time, but I could tell they were going on!), the extra measure of adrenaline and energy that somehow make the dance gel, the backstage time, the time spent waiting in the wings. Often, rough edges in the choreography--those counts that were always tricky, the spacing that was often just a little off, the connection between the dancers--get smoothed out during tech week, and I certainly found that to be true this week.
At the same time, it's an exhausting time, and I am happy to be past it and on to the performance itself.
During dress rehearsal last night, I watched the concert from the wings, since I'm performing. Suddenly, the dances sprang to life in a new way for me. Seeing from a different angle (since the dances became "dances", I've mostly been watching them from the front), being close to the dancers, and watching the ways the dancers communicate both onstage and off allowed me to really feel the dances and to experience them anew. It was an exciting and emotional experience. Magic, even.
Come see the show, if you're in the area.
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