Sunday, October 5, 2008

Follow your dreams...

I'm a lucky girl. I have been able to follow my dreams and peruse a performance career. People actually pay me to do what I love... and it's awesome. Through out my life people have told me that this dream is unattainable. They have said that this career path is pointless, there are no financial rewards, and that I should choose a more sensible option. Well I never wanted to. I always knew this is what I would do, and that there is nothing else I would be happy doing. 
    For the second year, I will be doing my dream job. A Check off on my "To Do" list of life goals....and I never want to stop.. i absolutely love my job.. BUT MY GOD IS IT HARD!!!!!

Not only do we need to learn choreography, but we need to learn lines and depths. In the front of the stage there are numbers from 
0-26. In the center there is #0...and then on either side of 0 are numbers 1-26 (aka there are two 2's, two 4's etc). So not only do I have to know what number I am suposed to be dancing on at any given moment, but as rockettes we must be EXACTLY THE SAME.. therefore we have to be on the same "depths". So along with the numbers, there are different lines on the stage as well. There are lines of pluses, dashes, circles and solids. But of course we are not only just on the lines.. we could be toeing the line (toes on line) Heeling (heels on lines) Balling (balls of our feet on the lines) even arching (arches on the line) we also could be half way between two different lines (ex: 1/2 btwn circle solid). AKA That leaves lots of options for the places we can be on stage. 
   Not only do we just have a stage, but on this arena tour we also have a runway that juts out into the audience. On the runway there are a number of lines and also colored circles on the side of it to determine where we can be. AHH SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!! (and people think dancers arent intelligent... i dare anyone to memorize all of this information!)
    So... all at once, we are singing, dancing, making sure our lines are PERFECTLY strait (and i mean PERFECT) making sure we are spaced correctly on our proper numbers...all the while trying to get through any sort of high intensity dance! (one of our numbers is about 12 minutes long) 
   The fun parts are the beautiful costumes, the little girls who are dying to give you a hug because when they grow up they want to be just like you... and when you look out into the audience you see all of the smiling faces and you know that you are bringing these people such pure joy... so although it's hard...and although rehearsals are 6 hours a day 6 days a week... 
(This is our rehearsal space) The circular space is where the ice skating rink is going to be.. leading onto the stage is the runway and then that long space in the back is the main stage :) )



although we have to be PERFECT and constantly alert and on our game... it's all worth it.. because in the end... its what I love... and whats better than that?

4 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

You KNOW that I 100% agree with you that it's all worth it, girl - keep following your dreams!! :0)

Ruby Red said...

Whoa, I had no idea about the depths and precision and stuff! I realized you guys had to be together in your dancing, but that is intense! I definitely have to give you credit, since learning even basic choreography is hard for most people. You are awesome!!! Yay for dreams coming true!

Kati said...

Man, that does sound HARD. You are awesome!

Vegan_Noodle said...

I think it's awesome that you're following your dreams and doing what you love. So many people wish they were in the same position (including me!)
And wow, all that talk about lines and depths has me confused! Sounds like hard work!

A Vegan on STAGE

Navigating my way through a Vegan lifestyle