I’ve been writing so much about what I’ve been doing when I’m not dancing that I haven’t really updated you much on what I’m actually doing here, and that is dancing! As you know, I’m here for a month long dance intensive called Prodanza Italia. It’s not through Denison or any other university- it’s an independent program that brings in teachers of different styles from all over to teach two or four weeks (some teachers have split their time). Many people found it via teachers/professors who knew the program or had taught here previously. I might be the only one who found it independently—I saw a flyer at the dance building at Denison. Thank goodness for that flyer.
It’s been a very challenging few weeks, both physically and mentally. I’m learning a lot about myself as a dancer, exploring and making lots of discoveries, and starting to get a sort of sense of my strengths, weaknesses, preferences, etc. We are continuing to get all twisted up in Amy’s technique class, which is very different than what I’m used to, but I’m finally getting my head and body wrapped around it. The duets for her composition class are coming together really well, we’ve set them to a set of Dusty Springfield songs. African with Nicole and Papi the drummer is a blast! It’s exhausting, first of all, and it takes a lot of letting go of many ways in which my body has been trained (placing things, holding yourself a certain way), but I am having a ton of fun. However, the African style is very high-impact with fast and rhythmic stamping and jumping, so my ankle has unfortunately acted up again a bit. I try to have self-discipline to resist the urge to go full out and take it easy a bit. But the drum and movement really gets me going sometimes, so it’s been hard to have to remove myself from that. I’ve had to sit out a couple times so I don’t hurt myself =(. In Nicole’s composition class we’re continuing to experiment with dance-making tools and putting them to use. Since Bob has left us, we are now having many, many classes and rehearsals with Momo. Hip hop, and mostly popping and locking. It is soo difficult! I’m having fun learning the technique, but it’s frustrating because he’s trying to put together quite a long piece for our performance while we are still all beginners, so we’re trying to master the technique and learn the very fast and complicated (for us) choreography. I wish had more time to practice. We only have a week, so it’s overwhelming. We’ll see … it might be a bit embarrassing. That’s pretty much it for classes. There are also two pieces for the student choreography workshop. My roommate Chrissy’s piece is beautiful in it’s simplicity—it is very much based on gestures, and has a very light yet fascinating quality. I really enjoy it. The other piece (Rodney) Brown is choreographing, is like the complete opposite of Chrissy’s, and it’s just, ahhhhhhhh!!! Everything—the music, the concept, the choreography, the spacing, the dynamics, all SO interesting, very physically challenging, and engaging. It’s brilliant. I’m kiiiiind of obsessed with it (just for a preview, if you care, one of the songs he uses is “Bird Flu” by M.I.A. You’ll hear what I mean. Go look it up!). It def goes to or near the top of my list of favorite pieces I’ve danced in. And yes, I will do whatever I can to get a video of our performance!
In the meantime, my roommate Summer and fellow tapper I have been wanting to put together a tap piece for the performance (and Pola keeps bugging us about it), but we have been so busy that we haven’t found time, so I don’t know if that’s going to happen at all.
As I am reaching the end of my time here (eek!), I’m still not exactly sure what my feelings are about the program as a whole. So far, as a personal experience, it’s been great. I’ve made some milestone discoveries, gained self confidence, all while growing close with the fantastic people here. I’ve also very much enjoyed my free time. As an overall program, I do hope that some organizational changes are made for the future. I should write a handbook for future Prodanza-ers just warning them what to expect, because we had no sense of what was going to be going on before we came. Some logistics and things like that could use some tweaking, and even just that would make it 10 times better.
And, as far as how I’m feeling about coming home, I don’t really want to talk about it.
Friday, July 24, 2009
My epic return to Perugia
I am so lucky. I can’t believe I’ve found a place and people halfway across the world who, for now, make me feel at home. I can’t not (yup, that’s a double negative) be back there someday, for good. After being back in the states for 7 months (was it really that long? Or that short?) I was starting to have my doubts that I really couldn’t actually pick up and move to Italy, but being back in Perugia made it all come flooding back. No offense, U.S. of A., but this place has got you beat.
Well, in a nutshell, the title of this entry says it all. This past weekend in Perugia was epic. Incredible. Amazing. Unreal. As close as it could get to perfect, even. Etc., etc., etc. I don’t even know where to start! At the beginning, I guess. I skee-dattled out of class early on Friday, missing my second hip-hop/popping + class with the crazy, hilarious, Italian Moreno, we call him Momo. I decided I wanted more than 36 hours in Perugia, which is all that the trains would get me if I left any later on Friday or on Saturday, especially because the train strike last weekend ruined my plans of having two weekends there. So, I brought my packed backpack to class on Friday and literally ran out as soon as my rehearsal was over. No major problems getting there, only the one hour delay of my train out of Florence that wound up getting me to Perugia at 9:30 instead of 8:30, but it was okay because that’s still a decent hour (for a Friday night, at least). Stepping off the train to the (very crowded, because of Umbria Jazz going on) Perugia train station was SO surreal. I immediately tried to soak it in and let it hit me that I was really there. I took the mini metro up to the center and emerged onto the main road, Corso Vannucci, from a familiar side street right near my old apartment on Via Bonazzi. The center was jam-packed with people walking, dancing, and drinking accompanied by the concert going on the huge stage set up in the main plaza called Piazza IV Noviembre. It was unreal. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb, in my bright coral summer dress and giant backpack, and all the while I was smiling like a loon and taking huge breaths inhaling the smell and trying to take it all in, all among people dressed up in their best and partying on the streets. I was shaking a little I was so excited! I made my way through the crowds and called Mauro who directed me to his apartment right by the Universita per Stranieri. He gave me a giant hug when I made it up there, he feels like one of my best friends even though we only met a few months ago and haven’t even spoken much since I was last in Perugia. I then met a couch surfer who was also staying with Mauro, Alice from Australia. She was really sweet. Mauro went and got us some pizza while I showered the traveling and the day’s dance classes off (when I had left for the station earlier I was already dripping. Too much detail? Too bad.) At midnight, we went out to the center, to Dempsey’s obviously, and I saw EVERYONE! Seriously, I think every Perugian who I met when in the fall who still lives there I ran into in the center. It was so much fun—a lot of them didn’t know I was coming back, and most of them I hadn’t even spoken to since I was last in Perugia, so when I tapped them on the shoulder and they turned around, their reactions were insane! They flipped. For all they knew, I went back to America and that’s all she wrote, and there I was right in front of them. So, there were lots of wide eyes, squeals, and enormous hugs! I also met lots of new people—because of the jazz fest, there were like 10x as many people around. From New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the States, England. Coincidentally, there was an Australian guy who talked with Alice for a while, and it turns out that not only are they from the same city and area of the city (Melbourne), but this guy had taken Alice’s older sister to a prom some years ago. Crazy! We walked around the center and stopped at the two big outdoor stages, watching really fun blues bands. Alice and I got convinced to go to Domus with Sofia, Yannick, and others, and we danced there until 5am. I always tell myself that I’m not going to go there, and somehow I always wind up there … haha. Elisha, if you’re reading this, you know what I mean, right?! On the way back, it was surprisingly still hopping in the center—a bunch of guys had formed some sort of a ghetto drum circle (garbage bins, etc.) next to the stairs and there was quite an eclectic group of people dancing the night away.
I surprisingly only slept a few hours—I think just knowing that I was in Perugia and time was limited, my body didn’t let me sleep too far into the day. Mauro went off to get some errands done, and since he only had one extra set of keys, Alice and I stuck together. It was a nice, yet windy day (wearing a dress was unwise), and I had the intention to take the fullest advantage of being in Perugia. I took Alice to all my favorite places. But first, haha, we met this weird awkward Italian guy named Andrea at the fountain because the night before, at Domus, Alice met him and had drunkenly agreed to meet him in the afternoon. It was pretty awkward, haha—first, I was surprised he even remembered to come in the first place, but Alice soon realized that it was a really dumb idea. He seemed like a perfectly nice guy, but he spoke barely any English. So, he just kind of awkwardly came with us as I walked us around the center, I tried to help translate so the two of them could talk. So, I took Alice and Andrea past my old apartment and the next door gelato place (my favoriteeeee), and to Piazza Italia so they could see the incredible view from there. I also took them to Pierto’s pizza place, Pizzeria Etrusca, the first pizzeria my roomies and I went to on our first day in Perugia. Even the guy who works there recognized me! And I got the 4 cheese pizza that I still dream about, yessss. Andrea finally peaced out after the pizza, and Alice went back to Mauro’s for a nap, and I stopped at Fashion Bar and reunited with crazy, awesome Flavia. She was very happy to see me and it was just like old times! I stood at the bar as customers came and went, I just watched her work and she would sing along to the songs playing on the speakers, we talked like we used to (mostly in Italian, she still doesn’t know much English), and she even made me take drinks to some customers outside, hahaha she used to do that all the time too. Her customers outside kind of laughed at me because I was laughing, I told Flavia “non lavoro qui!” (I don’t work here!). Hahaha but it was so perfect. After hanging there for a while, I took more walks around the center, going back to all my favorite panoramas of the countryside and my other favorite spots, of course stopping for the biscottino gelato at the gelateria that I still dream about. I probably walked back and forth on Corso Vannucci 10 times, just back and forth, back and forth. I also finally got a hold of Antonio, and stopped by his apartment and got to hang out with him for a while, it was so great to see him. I found Alice in Piazza Italia and we headed back to Mauro’s for some pasta and then back out to the center to see a great band play whose set we had caught the end of the night before. The three of us had a great time jamming. In the evening, after a power nap and some dinner, we went back out to the center and I ran into even more people—even people who I had (don’t tell!) kind of forgotten about. In fact, crazy story. Alice was supposed to stay with another person when couch surfing, and for some reason they didn’t communicate in time and that’s how she wound up at Mauro’s. She didn’t know this guy, named Francesco, they had only met via the couch surfing website, but they thought it would be nice to just meet for a drink in the center. So, I went with her to meet them in front of Dempseys, and who is waiting there to meet us but Francesco #2 and Francesco #3 (as they were in my cell phone in the fall), the roommates who I had met in the fall and hung out with a bunch of times with the girls. It was, just, so wild. Of all the people, of all the Francescos (cuz, if you haven’t caught on, there are a lottt of them), what a coincidence. We watched the Soul Spinners, a great band from Memphis!, play in the center, and I ran into Antonio again—we were coincidentally standing right behind him in the crowd. For the rest of the evening, Mauro and I just continued to go to our usual places, including Merlin where I ran into MJ and also Tim, who has since moved back to the Netherlands but was just there for the week, so it was so nice that our time overlapped. At this point it was already 3am and I was exhausted, so I went back and went to bed while Mauro and Alice went to Domus. There was NO way I was even going to leave time to be convinced to go again, hahaha.
And no, sorry sisters + Kathleen, very unfortunately I did not make it to James Taylor—we stopped by the box office earlier in the day and it was already sold out =(.
On Sunday morning, Mauro and I both woke up earlier than we wanted to (the bells woke me up at 9). So, he and I got a cappuccino and cornetto at Bar Duomo and then took a really nice, really long walk. There is a church and park down kind of away from the center that I always wanted to go to in the fall but never made it there, so we walked there together. We went inside the beautiful cathedral and watched a little bit of the mass going on, and then explored around the park a bit more. And we took the really long way home, walking around the center along the road that had no shoulder, but the continuous breath-taking view of the Umbrian countryside was so worth it. We cut through the underground city, stopping at some exhibits down there of Jazz + American history (interestingly enough). We stopped at the festival for some lunch and more live jazz, and barely made it back to the apartment we were so exhausted because we had been out and about for over 2 hours! Hot and sore from our “adventure in flip flops”, we just relaxed in the apartment. But it was such a nice morning/afternoon. Mauro and I had a great chat, he shared some cool Perugian history with me, and it was a really fantastic way to just enjoy being there. On my way to the train station I stopped at the Piazza one more time to see the really awesome drumming on stage, and to say one more goodbye to some friends. Getting back to Perugia was a breeze, no problems with my two connections in Florence and Pisa. Getting off at Castiglioncello around 11pm, I was behind three funny, kind of discombobulated German backpackers, guys about my age, looking for the beach so they could camp on it. I lead them there and they asked me about the security and if it’s good to camp on. I wasn’t really sure what to tell them cuz I’ve never tried camping on the beach in Catiglioncello, so I just told them their best bet was to find a spot and stay until they get kicked out. It was funny. I got some gelato for dinner in the park, came home to find my roommates all chilling in the kitchen so we got to share our stories about our weekends (they went to Cinque Terre!!), and I was incredibly exhausted after barely any sleep and lots of traveling but still on a high from all the excitement, but finally I made it to bed and slept like a rock. Monday was rough, but worth it in every way.
Moral of the story: I. Love. Perugia. And I love you for reading my blabbering! Thank you!
Well, in a nutshell, the title of this entry says it all. This past weekend in Perugia was epic. Incredible. Amazing. Unreal. As close as it could get to perfect, even. Etc., etc., etc. I don’t even know where to start! At the beginning, I guess. I skee-dattled out of class early on Friday, missing my second hip-hop/popping + class with the crazy, hilarious, Italian Moreno, we call him Momo. I decided I wanted more than 36 hours in Perugia, which is all that the trains would get me if I left any later on Friday or on Saturday, especially because the train strike last weekend ruined my plans of having two weekends there. So, I brought my packed backpack to class on Friday and literally ran out as soon as my rehearsal was over. No major problems getting there, only the one hour delay of my train out of Florence that wound up getting me to Perugia at 9:30 instead of 8:30, but it was okay because that’s still a decent hour (for a Friday night, at least). Stepping off the train to the (very crowded, because of Umbria Jazz going on) Perugia train station was SO surreal. I immediately tried to soak it in and let it hit me that I was really there. I took the mini metro up to the center and emerged onto the main road, Corso Vannucci, from a familiar side street right near my old apartment on Via Bonazzi. The center was jam-packed with people walking, dancing, and drinking accompanied by the concert going on the huge stage set up in the main plaza called Piazza IV Noviembre. It was unreal. I probably stuck out like a sore thumb, in my bright coral summer dress and giant backpack, and all the while I was smiling like a loon and taking huge breaths inhaling the smell and trying to take it all in, all among people dressed up in their best and partying on the streets. I was shaking a little I was so excited! I made my way through the crowds and called Mauro who directed me to his apartment right by the Universita per Stranieri. He gave me a giant hug when I made it up there, he feels like one of my best friends even though we only met a few months ago and haven’t even spoken much since I was last in Perugia. I then met a couch surfer who was also staying with Mauro, Alice from Australia. She was really sweet. Mauro went and got us some pizza while I showered the traveling and the day’s dance classes off (when I had left for the station earlier I was already dripping. Too much detail? Too bad.) At midnight, we went out to the center, to Dempsey’s obviously, and I saw EVERYONE! Seriously, I think every Perugian who I met when in the fall who still lives there I ran into in the center. It was so much fun—a lot of them didn’t know I was coming back, and most of them I hadn’t even spoken to since I was last in Perugia, so when I tapped them on the shoulder and they turned around, their reactions were insane! They flipped. For all they knew, I went back to America and that’s all she wrote, and there I was right in front of them. So, there were lots of wide eyes, squeals, and enormous hugs! I also met lots of new people—because of the jazz fest, there were like 10x as many people around. From New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the States, England. Coincidentally, there was an Australian guy who talked with Alice for a while, and it turns out that not only are they from the same city and area of the city (Melbourne), but this guy had taken Alice’s older sister to a prom some years ago. Crazy! We walked around the center and stopped at the two big outdoor stages, watching really fun blues bands. Alice and I got convinced to go to Domus with Sofia, Yannick, and others, and we danced there until 5am. I always tell myself that I’m not going to go there, and somehow I always wind up there … haha. Elisha, if you’re reading this, you know what I mean, right?! On the way back, it was surprisingly still hopping in the center—a bunch of guys had formed some sort of a ghetto drum circle (garbage bins, etc.) next to the stairs and there was quite an eclectic group of people dancing the night away.
I surprisingly only slept a few hours—I think just knowing that I was in Perugia and time was limited, my body didn’t let me sleep too far into the day. Mauro went off to get some errands done, and since he only had one extra set of keys, Alice and I stuck together. It was a nice, yet windy day (wearing a dress was unwise), and I had the intention to take the fullest advantage of being in Perugia. I took Alice to all my favorite places. But first, haha, we met this weird awkward Italian guy named Andrea at the fountain because the night before, at Domus, Alice met him and had drunkenly agreed to meet him in the afternoon. It was pretty awkward, haha—first, I was surprised he even remembered to come in the first place, but Alice soon realized that it was a really dumb idea. He seemed like a perfectly nice guy, but he spoke barely any English. So, he just kind of awkwardly came with us as I walked us around the center, I tried to help translate so the two of them could talk. So, I took Alice and Andrea past my old apartment and the next door gelato place (my favoriteeeee), and to Piazza Italia so they could see the incredible view from there. I also took them to Pierto’s pizza place, Pizzeria Etrusca, the first pizzeria my roomies and I went to on our first day in Perugia. Even the guy who works there recognized me! And I got the 4 cheese pizza that I still dream about, yessss. Andrea finally peaced out after the pizza, and Alice went back to Mauro’s for a nap, and I stopped at Fashion Bar and reunited with crazy, awesome Flavia. She was very happy to see me and it was just like old times! I stood at the bar as customers came and went, I just watched her work and she would sing along to the songs playing on the speakers, we talked like we used to (mostly in Italian, she still doesn’t know much English), and she even made me take drinks to some customers outside, hahaha she used to do that all the time too. Her customers outside kind of laughed at me because I was laughing, I told Flavia “non lavoro qui!” (I don’t work here!). Hahaha but it was so perfect. After hanging there for a while, I took more walks around the center, going back to all my favorite panoramas of the countryside and my other favorite spots, of course stopping for the biscottino gelato at the gelateria that I still dream about. I probably walked back and forth on Corso Vannucci 10 times, just back and forth, back and forth. I also finally got a hold of Antonio, and stopped by his apartment and got to hang out with him for a while, it was so great to see him. I found Alice in Piazza Italia and we headed back to Mauro’s for some pasta and then back out to the center to see a great band play whose set we had caught the end of the night before. The three of us had a great time jamming. In the evening, after a power nap and some dinner, we went back out to the center and I ran into even more people—even people who I had (don’t tell!) kind of forgotten about. In fact, crazy story. Alice was supposed to stay with another person when couch surfing, and for some reason they didn’t communicate in time and that’s how she wound up at Mauro’s. She didn’t know this guy, named Francesco, they had only met via the couch surfing website, but they thought it would be nice to just meet for a drink in the center. So, I went with her to meet them in front of Dempseys, and who is waiting there to meet us but Francesco #2 and Francesco #3 (as they were in my cell phone in the fall), the roommates who I had met in the fall and hung out with a bunch of times with the girls. It was, just, so wild. Of all the people, of all the Francescos (cuz, if you haven’t caught on, there are a lottt of them), what a coincidence. We watched the Soul Spinners, a great band from Memphis!, play in the center, and I ran into Antonio again—we were coincidentally standing right behind him in the crowd. For the rest of the evening, Mauro and I just continued to go to our usual places, including Merlin where I ran into MJ and also Tim, who has since moved back to the Netherlands but was just there for the week, so it was so nice that our time overlapped. At this point it was already 3am and I was exhausted, so I went back and went to bed while Mauro and Alice went to Domus. There was NO way I was even going to leave time to be convinced to go again, hahaha.
And no, sorry sisters + Kathleen, very unfortunately I did not make it to James Taylor—we stopped by the box office earlier in the day and it was already sold out =(.
On Sunday morning, Mauro and I both woke up earlier than we wanted to (the bells woke me up at 9). So, he and I got a cappuccino and cornetto at Bar Duomo and then took a really nice, really long walk. There is a church and park down kind of away from the center that I always wanted to go to in the fall but never made it there, so we walked there together. We went inside the beautiful cathedral and watched a little bit of the mass going on, and then explored around the park a bit more. And we took the really long way home, walking around the center along the road that had no shoulder, but the continuous breath-taking view of the Umbrian countryside was so worth it. We cut through the underground city, stopping at some exhibits down there of Jazz + American history (interestingly enough). We stopped at the festival for some lunch and more live jazz, and barely made it back to the apartment we were so exhausted because we had been out and about for over 2 hours! Hot and sore from our “adventure in flip flops”, we just relaxed in the apartment. But it was such a nice morning/afternoon. Mauro and I had a great chat, he shared some cool Perugian history with me, and it was a really fantastic way to just enjoy being there. On my way to the train station I stopped at the Piazza one more time to see the really awesome drumming on stage, and to say one more goodbye to some friends. Getting back to Perugia was a breeze, no problems with my two connections in Florence and Pisa. Getting off at Castiglioncello around 11pm, I was behind three funny, kind of discombobulated German backpackers, guys about my age, looking for the beach so they could camp on it. I lead them there and they asked me about the security and if it’s good to camp on. I wasn’t really sure what to tell them cuz I’ve never tried camping on the beach in Catiglioncello, so I just told them their best bet was to find a spot and stay until they get kicked out. It was funny. I got some gelato for dinner in the park, came home to find my roommates all chilling in the kitchen so we got to share our stories about our weekends (they went to Cinque Terre!!), and I was incredibly exhausted after barely any sleep and lots of traveling but still on a high from all the excitement, but finally I made it to bed and slept like a rock. Monday was rough, but worth it in every way.
Moral of the story: I. Love. Perugia. And I love you for reading my blabbering! Thank you!
Friday, July 17, 2009
A Perugia!!!!!
ciao all!! this is just a very quick hi from my second home, the beautiful city of Perugia. I arrived an hour late because my train was delayed, arghh, but I finally made it and I am here with Maurooooo!!! I am so so so happy to be here and Umbria Jazz is going on so its crazy in the center and there are people everywhere!! I just had pizza and wine with Mauro and Alice, a couch surfer from Australia who is staying with Mauro- she is really cool! I cannot find the apostrophe on Mauros computer so sorry for sounding kind of weird without contractions in my sentances ... haha. We are about to go out and about and I am so excitedddd. Gotta go now, but just to report that I am so giddy and cannot stop smiling just to be back here. More later, including pictures and videos. Tomorrow is juicy tomato JAMES TAYLORRRRRR!!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Lunedi (Monday)
Eccomi, hello! After a long, difficult, exhausting, and fun week, I’m back to the blog! I’ll get right to it—since I last wrote, here’s what’s happened:
On average it’s been 8 hours each day of dancing:
9-12:30 two technique classes in the morning (one of two contemporary classes with Amy or Nicole and then jazz with Bob)
an hourish lunch break
1:30ish-3:00 rehearsal for the student choreographers’ pieces
3:00-4:30 a contemporary composition class. With Nicole, we’re learning and practicing ways to create a piece—how to inspire ourselves, elements to consider, etc. In the end we’re going to be creating solos. In Amy’s composition class, the material we’ve been working with (it began with improving around the building outside, that was pretty entertaining consider the gym is in the middle of a residential area so the Italians were giving us looks/laughing at us as we were wrapping ourselves around trees and crazy modern dancer stuff like that), we’re doing a bunch of contact-ish duets. I think it’s going to be beautiful.
Then at 4:30 we have repertory class with Bob in which he teaches us routines in a variety of styles of jazz.
Around 6:30, we walk back to the apartment and make dinner, while hanging out with/borrowing dishes and ingredients and utensils and stoves (when our gas wasn’t working) and showers (some of us don’t get hot water) with the 8 other people in my program who live right next to us. Then it’s usually out for a gelato--there’s a couple great gelaterias near our place, one’s called Peter Panna which I think is pretty clever (panna means cream, it’s a common flavor of gelato), and then I’m in bed by 10:30.
I’ve been able to practice my Italian a little bit more because a really sweet Italian girl named Laura joined us for the week. She’s from Florence and got some sort of scholarship to take classes with us for a week. She spoke barely any English and she and Sophia, a girl from Greece who lives in the Netherlands but is here for the summer to dance/vacation wound up joining us for lunch almost every day this week. Laura and I talked a lot, mostly in Italian, and I’ve been serving as her translator so the other girls can talk with her too. It’s good practice. She unfortunately is already back in Florence, I hope we can meet up again before I leave.
On Thursday night, Pola (program director) organized a group dinner for all of us including faculty at a chic new bar and restaurant. This place was straight up GORGEOUS. The place itself was brand new and stylish inside, and it is right on the water. We had the whole balcony to ourselves that overlooks the sea, and for 5 euro a person we got three courses of delicious homemade pasta, seafood rice (yuck…), and a salad, and lots of wine. After mingling with full stomachs and a little buzzed from the wine, we—faculty and all—went up to the roof where there was a DJ and danced the night away to our favorite tunes. It was a late night but soo much fun—tons of food and wine for a fantastic price, and dancing on the roof next to the Mediterranean with 20 other people who love to dance!
I had the whole weekend planned to visit Perugia, but to my disappointment (but honestly, I was not surprised), a train strike ruined my plans. We weren’t exactly sure how the trains were going to run, and even though it was a regional train strike that only took effect in Tuscany (which is where Castiglioncello and Florence are, and I had to switch trains in Florence), I wasn’t sure if I could get back here for classes in time on Monday from Perugia, so I decided not to risk it. I was really disappointed but no matter what happens this coming weekend with strikes and all that, I WILL get to Perugia, even if it means missing a class. There are people I really want to see and some business to take care of. Everyone in my program except me and three other girls went away this weekend, working around the train strike. Most of them, including my roomies, got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Rome for the day. I woke up at 7:45, which is when my alarm goes off during the week for class, and could not go back to sleep, so I got up, went grocery shopping, cleaned the apartment, and made a little video for you all that tours my apartment (see Facebook!). Then Ariel from across the hall and I went to the beach! A friend of Pola’s named Simona owns one of the private beaches that is really close to our apartment- in fact, we can see her green and yellow umbrellas from my window. She helped move us in when we first got here, and she told us and Pola continues to remind us that we were welcome down there anytime and we could lie on the sand (I took a walk along the beach on the way to class on Friday and found that I was mistaken—the public beaches are sand, not rock) we didn’t have to pay. So, we found Simona, and she led us to two lounge chairs and an umbrella! We found out later that it’s normally 50euro for two chairs and an umbrella, and she let us lie there all day and told her staff not to charge us for anything, and kept coming back to check on us to make sure we were doing okay. It was SO sweet! Ariel and I spent the whole day there, taking a break from the sun to go into the PERFECT water. They even had warm showers right next to the water where we could wash the salt off before we went to lie back down. On the way back to our apartment around 5:30, we went to Bar Porticiollo, a seaview bar/restaurant that is right across from our apartment, and got a mimosa. It was the definition of “the life.” After we showered we were too tired to make dinner so we treated ourselves to a nice meal out. We ordered some bruschetta, which turned out being more than just fresh tomato. Two did have tomato, two had prosciutto, and two had a grey-ish topping with the consistency of pesto that we both thought was some sort of fish. We tasted it together, it was nasty. We asked the waitress what it was. It was chicken liver. I guess I can check that off my list. Yay? When we were waiting for our check a nasty guy wearing a black muscle shirt with a Playboy bunny on it sat down at our table and tried to offer us 50 euro and our check to come sit at his table for two minutes. I didn’t understand the rest of his Italian, but he was gross and his friend was laughing and I think they just wanted to see us squirm so I just crossed my arms and looked at him angrily and said no, sorry, we’re leaving. He begged and persisted and he was annoying and I just kept telling him no. It was weird and I didn’t get it cuz we were in a fairly nice restaurant and a part of me suspected that he was some sort of prostitute. Maybe it was the playboy shirt that threw me off. Ew. Anyways, we got out of there pronto and walked off our food around town for a bit. When we came back from dinner the rest of the crew arrived from Rome and we all went to bed.
Yesterday, we all slept in and then went back to Simona’s beach, where she once again let us soak up the sun, swim, and shade. I went back in the water twice, and once swam all the way out the end of the rock bed (I’d say about 100 feet from the shore), and sunned on some big flat rocks with Aili and Noelle, two of my neighbors. I was lazy bum around the apartment for the rest of the day. I finished my book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was a really, really, really amazing read. Light and heavy at the same time. I’ve never smiled so much and had such a knot in my stomach while reading. I wound up taking a nap because I was worn out from the sun and the book made me sad. Then Amber and I made green beens and rosemary mashed potatoes. Go us!
This morning Nicole taught a Western African class!! We even had a live African drummer! It was siick. Bob is leaving on Thursday (booo, I’m sad, I love his class) and since the Indian dance teacher’s aren’t coming anymore, I’m glad there will be some variety. The hip hop teacher comes this week, I’m scared, rumor has it that he’s mostly popping and locking which we all know I cannot do. It’ll be an adventure, ha. But it will be a fun week and I’ll most definitely be in Perugia this weekend so I’m excited!
I’ve been trying to take pictures but I don’t really have time to upload them yet, unfortunately. Maybe this week, though!
As always, thanks for reading, sorry if it bored you, and I hope everyone is having a splendid time with whatever life has brought to you right now. Ciao!
P.S. not sure why I feel the need to include this, but whatever, I will anyway. I had the freakiest dream that included Michael Jackson last night. It was one of those really long, really realistic dreams that was really wacked out. It involved me and Melissa and someone else who were somehow Michael Jackson’s prisoners and we were jumping trains and hiding under seats of boats and buses and buying plane tickets to countries that I don’t even know if they exist to escape him, but no matter when we did we thought we were safe and then he would come out of nowhere right up to us along the streets/in train stations/airports and just casually grab our arms and say in his creepy voice something like “you thought you can get away, you never can” and lead us back to wherever he was keeping us. He was wearing a bright red suit and a black fedora hat and I remember everyone being like OMG IT’S MICHAEL JACKSON and they would crowd around him and be like I LOVE YOU MICHAEL but I was mad because he kept finding us. I woke up kind of confused cuz I was like whereee did that come from, and was even more confused when I remembered that he’s dead now. What the hey?
On average it’s been 8 hours each day of dancing:
9-12:30 two technique classes in the morning (one of two contemporary classes with Amy or Nicole and then jazz with Bob)
an hourish lunch break
1:30ish-3:00 rehearsal for the student choreographers’ pieces
3:00-4:30 a contemporary composition class. With Nicole, we’re learning and practicing ways to create a piece—how to inspire ourselves, elements to consider, etc. In the end we’re going to be creating solos. In Amy’s composition class, the material we’ve been working with (it began with improving around the building outside, that was pretty entertaining consider the gym is in the middle of a residential area so the Italians were giving us looks/laughing at us as we were wrapping ourselves around trees and crazy modern dancer stuff like that), we’re doing a bunch of contact-ish duets. I think it’s going to be beautiful.
Then at 4:30 we have repertory class with Bob in which he teaches us routines in a variety of styles of jazz.
Around 6:30, we walk back to the apartment and make dinner, while hanging out with/borrowing dishes and ingredients and utensils and stoves (when our gas wasn’t working) and showers (some of us don’t get hot water) with the 8 other people in my program who live right next to us. Then it’s usually out for a gelato--there’s a couple great gelaterias near our place, one’s called Peter Panna which I think is pretty clever (panna means cream, it’s a common flavor of gelato), and then I’m in bed by 10:30.
I’ve been able to practice my Italian a little bit more because a really sweet Italian girl named Laura joined us for the week. She’s from Florence and got some sort of scholarship to take classes with us for a week. She spoke barely any English and she and Sophia, a girl from Greece who lives in the Netherlands but is here for the summer to dance/vacation wound up joining us for lunch almost every day this week. Laura and I talked a lot, mostly in Italian, and I’ve been serving as her translator so the other girls can talk with her too. It’s good practice. She unfortunately is already back in Florence, I hope we can meet up again before I leave.
On Thursday night, Pola (program director) organized a group dinner for all of us including faculty at a chic new bar and restaurant. This place was straight up GORGEOUS. The place itself was brand new and stylish inside, and it is right on the water. We had the whole balcony to ourselves that overlooks the sea, and for 5 euro a person we got three courses of delicious homemade pasta, seafood rice (yuck…), and a salad, and lots of wine. After mingling with full stomachs and a little buzzed from the wine, we—faculty and all—went up to the roof where there was a DJ and danced the night away to our favorite tunes. It was a late night but soo much fun—tons of food and wine for a fantastic price, and dancing on the roof next to the Mediterranean with 20 other people who love to dance!
I had the whole weekend planned to visit Perugia, but to my disappointment (but honestly, I was not surprised), a train strike ruined my plans. We weren’t exactly sure how the trains were going to run, and even though it was a regional train strike that only took effect in Tuscany (which is where Castiglioncello and Florence are, and I had to switch trains in Florence), I wasn’t sure if I could get back here for classes in time on Monday from Perugia, so I decided not to risk it. I was really disappointed but no matter what happens this coming weekend with strikes and all that, I WILL get to Perugia, even if it means missing a class. There are people I really want to see and some business to take care of. Everyone in my program except me and three other girls went away this weekend, working around the train strike. Most of them, including my roomies, got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Rome for the day. I woke up at 7:45, which is when my alarm goes off during the week for class, and could not go back to sleep, so I got up, went grocery shopping, cleaned the apartment, and made a little video for you all that tours my apartment (see Facebook!). Then Ariel from across the hall and I went to the beach! A friend of Pola’s named Simona owns one of the private beaches that is really close to our apartment- in fact, we can see her green and yellow umbrellas from my window. She helped move us in when we first got here, and she told us and Pola continues to remind us that we were welcome down there anytime and we could lie on the sand (I took a walk along the beach on the way to class on Friday and found that I was mistaken—the public beaches are sand, not rock) we didn’t have to pay. So, we found Simona, and she led us to two lounge chairs and an umbrella! We found out later that it’s normally 50euro for two chairs and an umbrella, and she let us lie there all day and told her staff not to charge us for anything, and kept coming back to check on us to make sure we were doing okay. It was SO sweet! Ariel and I spent the whole day there, taking a break from the sun to go into the PERFECT water. They even had warm showers right next to the water where we could wash the salt off before we went to lie back down. On the way back to our apartment around 5:30, we went to Bar Porticiollo, a seaview bar/restaurant that is right across from our apartment, and got a mimosa. It was the definition of “the life.” After we showered we were too tired to make dinner so we treated ourselves to a nice meal out. We ordered some bruschetta, which turned out being more than just fresh tomato. Two did have tomato, two had prosciutto, and two had a grey-ish topping with the consistency of pesto that we both thought was some sort of fish. We tasted it together, it was nasty. We asked the waitress what it was. It was chicken liver. I guess I can check that off my list. Yay? When we were waiting for our check a nasty guy wearing a black muscle shirt with a Playboy bunny on it sat down at our table and tried to offer us 50 euro and our check to come sit at his table for two minutes. I didn’t understand the rest of his Italian, but he was gross and his friend was laughing and I think they just wanted to see us squirm so I just crossed my arms and looked at him angrily and said no, sorry, we’re leaving. He begged and persisted and he was annoying and I just kept telling him no. It was weird and I didn’t get it cuz we were in a fairly nice restaurant and a part of me suspected that he was some sort of prostitute. Maybe it was the playboy shirt that threw me off. Ew. Anyways, we got out of there pronto and walked off our food around town for a bit. When we came back from dinner the rest of the crew arrived from Rome and we all went to bed.
Yesterday, we all slept in and then went back to Simona’s beach, where she once again let us soak up the sun, swim, and shade. I went back in the water twice, and once swam all the way out the end of the rock bed (I’d say about 100 feet from the shore), and sunned on some big flat rocks with Aili and Noelle, two of my neighbors. I was lazy bum around the apartment for the rest of the day. I finished my book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was a really, really, really amazing read. Light and heavy at the same time. I’ve never smiled so much and had such a knot in my stomach while reading. I wound up taking a nap because I was worn out from the sun and the book made me sad. Then Amber and I made green beens and rosemary mashed potatoes. Go us!
This morning Nicole taught a Western African class!! We even had a live African drummer! It was siick. Bob is leaving on Thursday (booo, I’m sad, I love his class) and since the Indian dance teacher’s aren’t coming anymore, I’m glad there will be some variety. The hip hop teacher comes this week, I’m scared, rumor has it that he’s mostly popping and locking which we all know I cannot do. It’ll be an adventure, ha. But it will be a fun week and I’ll most definitely be in Perugia this weekend so I’m excited!
I’ve been trying to take pictures but I don’t really have time to upload them yet, unfortunately. Maybe this week, though!
As always, thanks for reading, sorry if it bored you, and I hope everyone is having a splendid time with whatever life has brought to you right now. Ciao!
P.S. not sure why I feel the need to include this, but whatever, I will anyway. I had the freakiest dream that included Michael Jackson last night. It was one of those really long, really realistic dreams that was really wacked out. It involved me and Melissa and someone else who were somehow Michael Jackson’s prisoners and we were jumping trains and hiding under seats of boats and buses and buying plane tickets to countries that I don’t even know if they exist to escape him, but no matter when we did we thought we were safe and then he would come out of nowhere right up to us along the streets/in train stations/airports and just casually grab our arms and say in his creepy voice something like “you thought you can get away, you never can” and lead us back to wherever he was keeping us. He was wearing a bright red suit and a black fedora hat and I remember everyone being like OMG IT’S MICHAEL JACKSON and they would crowd around him and be like I LOVE YOU MICHAEL but I was mad because he kept finding us. I woke up kind of confused cuz I was like whereee did that come from, and was even more confused when I remembered that he’s dead now. What the hey?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Il Mare
There were white tops on the sea today. I could hear the breeze blowing and waves crashing from my kitchen window. Bellissimo.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Castiglioncello! My next Italian Adventure
Ciao ciao ciao a tutti da Castiglioncello (that’s “cast-ing-yon-CHELL-o”), Italia! Yes, I’m here, and yes, I owe y’all a whole bunch of blogging. This one’s gonna be random paragraph-filled and long as per usual, and in the random order in which I think of things. Obviously, I’m not getting easy internet access over here. I need to pay for WiFi and there are only a few places I can do that, and because of my schedule I don’t have the energy or desire to run around looking for where I can find the cheapest signal. So, this is the official apology for being m.i.a. for this month. I’m trying my best to keep track of events, though, so when I do get online I can post these. Although you know I care for you all dearly (and thanks again for checking in with my blog), it is fantastic and liberating to not have the internet. And so far, I don’t even feel a need to have it. I have a phone which keeps me in contact with my Perugian friends and the fam (and any of you others who want to call me!), and other than that, I spend my days dancing and my evenings eating gelato/resting my very sore body/learning my way around the town. I’m glad I don’t have it here to distract me, and it’s nice to kind of go back in time and live like them old folks did without internet. A part of me wishes it was still like that.
First, answers the two questions that all three of my family members with whom I have spoken with so far have asked me, so you all must be dying to know (sarcasm)—
UNO: ankle’s doing great so far! In general it’s a bit more sore than my left but my entire body is aching. But I am still being careful, taping it, I told my teachers that it happened, but so far it has not been a problem and has not gotten my way. WOOO!!
DUE: yes, my Italian is coming back little by little. I am one out of three of us who have any knowledge of Italian so many people are relying on me to help them, so it has kind of forced me to get back into that mindset. But I’m getting there and I remember how much I love that mindset.
And now, the adventure begins.
Getting here was fine. I still can’t believe I did it all on my own. I spent a night in a hotel on JFK property during which I just flipped through channel after channel of Michael Jackson news/stories on the tv, ate an entire small pizza, and attempted to get a good night’s sleep but was so nervous I was not at all successful. In general, the trip was a tad lonely and the few hours during my 12 hour layover in London when it was very very early morning body time and the hoppin’ time at the airport was quite rough. I was so tired and out of it that I tried to order scrambled eggs on toast from a restaurant in the terminal but only managed to articulate “scrambled toast on bread, no, ah, sorry, I mean, the bread on eggs, no, uhh …” until the guy behind the bar just figured it out and gave me a look that I think was a combination of confusion/amusement/sympathy. Ehhhmmmarassing. Once I got to the Pisa airport, I met up with a few other kids from the program and got a van ride (about an hour) to our apartments in Catiglioncello.
My apartment is quaint and cute. Best part by far is our outstanding view from the kitchen of the seaaaaa. We can see motor boats docked, waterside restaurants, and people on the rock beaches and a big span of clear, sparkling blue water. We are still learning the works of the apartment. We have to choose between hot water and power because when the water is on, we lose power. Our land lady speaks no English, so we are just going to leave it be. I share a double room with Summer from San Diego, and Amber from Michigan and Chrissy from Boston share the other room. Our beds are hard as rock, unfortunately. I might start sleeping on the couch that’s in our kitchen because it’s loads more comfortable, especially for our very, very, very sore bodies that are dancing about 7 hours a day and walking 20 minutes to and from the studio to the apartments. But, I swear, I’m not complaining! It’s humbling and necessary to live somewhat uncomfortably at times. It helps you realize what we take for granted and how others survive just fine with things being a little less accessible. Less than perfect is ideal and, to me, kind of lovable. Today I didn’t even turn on the hot water before my shower. I just … didn’t need it. This experience is about challenging myself, anyway, so this is a good way to apply that.
Speaking of sore bodies! The reason I’m here is, obviously, dance dance dance! It’s only been two days of dance, and boy am I feeling it! Thursday and Friday we had two classes in the morning- one contemporary class and one jazz class (the jazz class is taught by a Denison alum!), and in the afternoons we had a 3 hour master class with David Dorfman, well recognized name in the contemporary dance world. All three classes= awesomeeeee. The environment here is a really safe one to learn. Since it’s a small program—there are only 20 of us—they have already learned all of our names (and we know each other’s) and have gotten a sense of our own styles, strengths and weaknesses, personalities, etc. and can cater to those to give constructive criticism. I am SO glad that the teachers have an interest in what we want to get out of our time here and help facilitate an environment in which they can challenge and inspire us while having fun. I love being here with people of all different ages – from 18 to 50ish—who come from different backgrounds but are all here for the same reason, and that is that we love to dance. It’s also nice to be around passionate dancers because already I’ve been able to have some intelligent and interesting conversations about dance in general as an art, choreographing, being in class, teaching, our different experiences, etc. There are also student choreography pieces—I’ve been casted in both of them!—that we auditioned for and will perform at the end, along with pieces that the faculty are going to audition next week and set. Those rehearsals will be in the afternoons/evenings after technique classes. So tonssss of dancing. Getting out of bed/up from a sitting position is painful and we sound like a bunch of old people with our moaning and groaning. Muscles I didn’t even know existed have even joined in on the fun.
One thing I’m really bummed about, though, is that we are no longer learning Indian dance. I guess the teachers, who were coming from India and who have been coming to this for many summers now, were for no reason denied their visas. Booo, I was really looking forward to that. But the hip hop teacher is still coming, in two weeks. Not really sure what to expect from that, but it will be a challenge for sure. But that’s good, because that’s why I’m here
This weekend, we went to Florence to see some of the people in my program perform. We all had the opportunity to put something together, anything we wanted. I really wanted to, but because of my ankle I couldn’t get it together in time. It was technically a competition- it was dancers from my program ProDanza Italia/USA, another international dance program, and two Italian dance programs out of Florence (one was from the University of Florence), and it took place on a Roman ampitheater on the hills of Florence overlooking the city in an area called Fiesole. It was gorgeoussss. We watched a bit of the tech rehearsal, and then me and 6 other girls found a nice pizzeria and had a great dinner and then walked around the market across the street. The evening performance was great, it was interesting to see similarities and differences between Italian and American’s approach to dance. I really wish I could have perfomed, just for the thrill of it. The second half of the show got rained out, though (rain in Florence—what a surprise, right? This marks my fourth time in Florence and the fourth time it rained), although it had already been 2 hours! We took a bus to our hostel, a pretty creepy/crappy one, and then our tour guide Dario, a really funny guy in his 30’s (he is a friend of the program director’s) took us to find food because we were realllly hungry. The problem was it was already 1:00am. Dario found a pizzeria and these poor old Italian women were closing up shop but we were 20 very hungry Americans and a translator who was determined to make sure we got fed and a chance to celebrate the 4th of July so they basically reopened for us. If I were them, I would have told us obnoxious Americans to go away, haha, but it was so very kind of them to reopen, they served us lots and lots of pizza and Dario was like “wine for everyone? Si?”. Those poor restaurant owners. They probably hated us because we were loud and many but we left them a good tip even though it’s not standard to leave one. On Sunday, most of the other dancers stayed to tour Florence, but I was exhausted (and had already done Florence three times) so I took the train back to Castiglioncello (it’s about 2 hours) with two girls who live in the apartment across from me, Mallory from Virginia and Arielle from California. Then another girl, Sarah from San Diego, and I went for a walk in the tent market in what we call the pine park- a man-made park with nice walkways and lots of trees and places to buy cute things and fresh food, and then to la spiagga (the beach)! Most of the beach areas here are private, and the whole span is solid rock. There is no sand. The public beaches are mostly set on concrete platforms with umbrellas and nice chairs. So, getting comfortable in the public spans (especially without a beach towel, which I didn’t pack, go me) was a bit difficult but the sun and water were perfect. So perfect. So I didn’t mind the rocks. All the Italians were laying on them, so if they can be comfortable on them, why can’t I?
I have already spoken on the phone with two of my very good friends in Perugia—Mauro and Antonio—and I will see both of them when I go to Perugia. Mauro is even letting me stay with him, yay. I am planning on going for at least one weekend, but as the days have gone on here I realize that I would love to be in Perugia for more than 36 hours (because of the 5 hours to travel there from Castiglioncello) because I’m here and so close, and most people here will be travelling to places I have been before on the weekends, so why not be in Perugia for two weekends? So, I might actually go this coming weekend, the 11th-12th, as long as the following weekend (during which I MIGHTT see James Taylor perform at Umbria Jazz, the huge famous international jazz festival happening there right now!) so I can spend a decent, relaxed time in my favorite city. Castiglioncello is so different from Perugia—it’s a beach town so it’s much more casual, and it’s beautiful, and it’s new, but I have to admit that it is no Perugia. I think about Perugia all the time.
Sheesh, I am hungry. Haven’t eaten much today. Breakfast at the hostel this morning was pretty fantastic—stale, unsalted bread, chunky coffee, warm water, warm whole milk, and cereal I like to call “hostel flakes” because they have had them in every hostel I’ve been, they’re basically like corn flakes, but gross. Time for some substance--I am going to make myself some gnocchi with pesto, my fave! Go give your eyes a rest, sorry for wearing them out. Piu dopo (more later) and, always, thanks for reading. A presto!
First, answers the two questions that all three of my family members with whom I have spoken with so far have asked me, so you all must be dying to know (sarcasm)—
UNO: ankle’s doing great so far! In general it’s a bit more sore than my left but my entire body is aching. But I am still being careful, taping it, I told my teachers that it happened, but so far it has not been a problem and has not gotten my way. WOOO!!
DUE: yes, my Italian is coming back little by little. I am one out of three of us who have any knowledge of Italian so many people are relying on me to help them, so it has kind of forced me to get back into that mindset. But I’m getting there and I remember how much I love that mindset.
And now, the adventure begins.
Getting here was fine. I still can’t believe I did it all on my own. I spent a night in a hotel on JFK property during which I just flipped through channel after channel of Michael Jackson news/stories on the tv, ate an entire small pizza, and attempted to get a good night’s sleep but was so nervous I was not at all successful. In general, the trip was a tad lonely and the few hours during my 12 hour layover in London when it was very very early morning body time and the hoppin’ time at the airport was quite rough. I was so tired and out of it that I tried to order scrambled eggs on toast from a restaurant in the terminal but only managed to articulate “scrambled toast on bread, no, ah, sorry, I mean, the bread on eggs, no, uhh …” until the guy behind the bar just figured it out and gave me a look that I think was a combination of confusion/amusement/sympathy. Ehhhmmmarassing. Once I got to the Pisa airport, I met up with a few other kids from the program and got a van ride (about an hour) to our apartments in Catiglioncello.
My apartment is quaint and cute. Best part by far is our outstanding view from the kitchen of the seaaaaa. We can see motor boats docked, waterside restaurants, and people on the rock beaches and a big span of clear, sparkling blue water. We are still learning the works of the apartment. We have to choose between hot water and power because when the water is on, we lose power. Our land lady speaks no English, so we are just going to leave it be. I share a double room with Summer from San Diego, and Amber from Michigan and Chrissy from Boston share the other room. Our beds are hard as rock, unfortunately. I might start sleeping on the couch that’s in our kitchen because it’s loads more comfortable, especially for our very, very, very sore bodies that are dancing about 7 hours a day and walking 20 minutes to and from the studio to the apartments. But, I swear, I’m not complaining! It’s humbling and necessary to live somewhat uncomfortably at times. It helps you realize what we take for granted and how others survive just fine with things being a little less accessible. Less than perfect is ideal and, to me, kind of lovable. Today I didn’t even turn on the hot water before my shower. I just … didn’t need it. This experience is about challenging myself, anyway, so this is a good way to apply that.
Speaking of sore bodies! The reason I’m here is, obviously, dance dance dance! It’s only been two days of dance, and boy am I feeling it! Thursday and Friday we had two classes in the morning- one contemporary class and one jazz class (the jazz class is taught by a Denison alum!), and in the afternoons we had a 3 hour master class with David Dorfman, well recognized name in the contemporary dance world. All three classes= awesomeeeee. The environment here is a really safe one to learn. Since it’s a small program—there are only 20 of us—they have already learned all of our names (and we know each other’s) and have gotten a sense of our own styles, strengths and weaknesses, personalities, etc. and can cater to those to give constructive criticism. I am SO glad that the teachers have an interest in what we want to get out of our time here and help facilitate an environment in which they can challenge and inspire us while having fun. I love being here with people of all different ages – from 18 to 50ish—who come from different backgrounds but are all here for the same reason, and that is that we love to dance. It’s also nice to be around passionate dancers because already I’ve been able to have some intelligent and interesting conversations about dance in general as an art, choreographing, being in class, teaching, our different experiences, etc. There are also student choreography pieces—I’ve been casted in both of them!—that we auditioned for and will perform at the end, along with pieces that the faculty are going to audition next week and set. Those rehearsals will be in the afternoons/evenings after technique classes. So tonssss of dancing. Getting out of bed/up from a sitting position is painful and we sound like a bunch of old people with our moaning and groaning. Muscles I didn’t even know existed have even joined in on the fun.
One thing I’m really bummed about, though, is that we are no longer learning Indian dance. I guess the teachers, who were coming from India and who have been coming to this for many summers now, were for no reason denied their visas. Booo, I was really looking forward to that. But the hip hop teacher is still coming, in two weeks. Not really sure what to expect from that, but it will be a challenge for sure. But that’s good, because that’s why I’m here
This weekend, we went to Florence to see some of the people in my program perform. We all had the opportunity to put something together, anything we wanted. I really wanted to, but because of my ankle I couldn’t get it together in time. It was technically a competition- it was dancers from my program ProDanza Italia/USA, another international dance program, and two Italian dance programs out of Florence (one was from the University of Florence), and it took place on a Roman ampitheater on the hills of Florence overlooking the city in an area called Fiesole. It was gorgeoussss. We watched a bit of the tech rehearsal, and then me and 6 other girls found a nice pizzeria and had a great dinner and then walked around the market across the street. The evening performance was great, it was interesting to see similarities and differences between Italian and American’s approach to dance. I really wish I could have perfomed, just for the thrill of it. The second half of the show got rained out, though (rain in Florence—what a surprise, right? This marks my fourth time in Florence and the fourth time it rained), although it had already been 2 hours! We took a bus to our hostel, a pretty creepy/crappy one, and then our tour guide Dario, a really funny guy in his 30’s (he is a friend of the program director’s) took us to find food because we were realllly hungry. The problem was it was already 1:00am. Dario found a pizzeria and these poor old Italian women were closing up shop but we were 20 very hungry Americans and a translator who was determined to make sure we got fed and a chance to celebrate the 4th of July so they basically reopened for us. If I were them, I would have told us obnoxious Americans to go away, haha, but it was so very kind of them to reopen, they served us lots and lots of pizza and Dario was like “wine for everyone? Si?”. Those poor restaurant owners. They probably hated us because we were loud and many but we left them a good tip even though it’s not standard to leave one. On Sunday, most of the other dancers stayed to tour Florence, but I was exhausted (and had already done Florence three times) so I took the train back to Castiglioncello (it’s about 2 hours) with two girls who live in the apartment across from me, Mallory from Virginia and Arielle from California. Then another girl, Sarah from San Diego, and I went for a walk in the tent market in what we call the pine park- a man-made park with nice walkways and lots of trees and places to buy cute things and fresh food, and then to la spiagga (the beach)! Most of the beach areas here are private, and the whole span is solid rock. There is no sand. The public beaches are mostly set on concrete platforms with umbrellas and nice chairs. So, getting comfortable in the public spans (especially without a beach towel, which I didn’t pack, go me) was a bit difficult but the sun and water were perfect. So perfect. So I didn’t mind the rocks. All the Italians were laying on them, so if they can be comfortable on them, why can’t I?
I have already spoken on the phone with two of my very good friends in Perugia—Mauro and Antonio—and I will see both of them when I go to Perugia. Mauro is even letting me stay with him, yay. I am planning on going for at least one weekend, but as the days have gone on here I realize that I would love to be in Perugia for more than 36 hours (because of the 5 hours to travel there from Castiglioncello) because I’m here and so close, and most people here will be travelling to places I have been before on the weekends, so why not be in Perugia for two weekends? So, I might actually go this coming weekend, the 11th-12th, as long as the following weekend (during which I MIGHTT see James Taylor perform at Umbria Jazz, the huge famous international jazz festival happening there right now!) so I can spend a decent, relaxed time in my favorite city. Castiglioncello is so different from Perugia—it’s a beach town so it’s much more casual, and it’s beautiful, and it’s new, but I have to admit that it is no Perugia. I think about Perugia all the time.
Sheesh, I am hungry. Haven’t eaten much today. Breakfast at the hostel this morning was pretty fantastic—stale, unsalted bread, chunky coffee, warm water, warm whole milk, and cereal I like to call “hostel flakes” because they have had them in every hostel I’ve been, they’re basically like corn flakes, but gross. Time for some substance--I am going to make myself some gnocchi with pesto, my fave! Go give your eyes a rest, sorry for wearing them out. Piu dopo (more later) and, always, thanks for reading. A presto!
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