Day #8, Day #9

Friday, April 6, 2012

• The Bridge Rehearsal
  
• Filled out unemployment forms
  
• Gathered tax items
  
• Caught up on bad tv
• PIZZA!

Instead of spending my whole day in jammies, I changed into sweats. So much more comfortable than trying to "look nice". No one has to look nice at rehearsal. Or while filling out unemployment forms. Or catching up on bad tv. Also, Ian came over for a bit in the evening and we went to Veraci for pizza. If you have never gone there, you should. Best pizza in Seattle, in my opinion - maybe in the entire USA. Nothing, of course, touches Uruguayan pizza, but that's just a cross I have to bear until I get back there. We got the "Luna Rossa" and a small caesar salad, also good. They know just how to make it, with the light green, crunchy parts of the romaine and plenty of shaved parmesan. The small size is pretty big - plenty to share between two people if you're also getting a pizza. And the pizza itself, of course, is always perfection. I reheated it for breakfast the next morning: about 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven did the trick.  I added more cheese as well as mushrooms. It held up well.

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Saturday, April 7, 2012

• Uploaded recent graphic design onto Facebook & Website
  
• Went to Diablos rehearsal
  
• Cooked a fancy dinner
  

With graphic design work, it's so easy to get sucked in and work for hours. It's interesting and creative and I just get absorbed. Started working around 9am and when I finally came up for air, it was 2 and ready to get dressed (sweats! again!) for Diablos rehearsal. 
          I've been rehearsing, with eSe Teatro, to be a diablo at the Seattle Center on May 5. This means learning an Afro-Perfuvian devil dance, which I've been learning for the last 3 weekends now.We will be wearing devil masks (see image). There are parts of it that are really similar to tap and jazz, other forms I've studied before. But mind you, I am NOT a dancer. I've always kinda sucked at dance. I'm not graceful, for one thing. For another, I've always had a problem picking up steps. They have to be broken down to the most rudimentary of levels for me, and I have to do them a lot verrrrry slowwwwly before I can get anything close to the actual time they're supposed to be in. 
          I took Jazz dance at Westlake Dance Center  (WDC) for about 3 years back in the 90's. I was never really any good at it, but with perseverance, I *did* get better. Plus, one of the teachers I learned from, Sheri Lewis, was a really patient instructor with me, and I learned a LOT from her. Also, I felt like she actually LIKED me. I usually think all teachers dislike me, so I thrived as much as I was able in this environment. Towards the end of my time there, I finally started to get to the point where I didn't have to THINK about the steps as much but was just able to trust my body to a degree. Still not a pretty or graceful dancer, but at least I could get the combinations much faster.
          So, fast forward 15 years to 2012, and eSe Teatro. Haven't really done any dancing since the three years of Jazz. I've done lots of theatrical movement, even choreography, but none of it was very complicated, nor did I have to be graceful. However, it is a similarly welcoming environment...and considering the abuse I've dealt with at my day job for the past 2.5 years, it has been nice to have this place where people welcome me in at least in some corner of my life! But back to the dancing, I've picked it up at a surprisingly quick rate. For ME, anyway. I thought I'd be struggling with everything and far, far behind, but I'm not only keeping up, I'm actually towards the top of the pack of devils, in terms of picking it up, which NEVER happens. I've noticed that that thing I had started to acquire at the end of my time at WDC has actually persisted, despite years away from dancing. I don't have to THINK about the steps so much, I just listen to the rhythm and my body kinda GETS it. Mostly. The switch got flipped back then, and I guess it's like riding a bicycle: you don't forget. 

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