By Charlene Cohen member of the corps de ballet of San Francisco Ballet September 22, 2009
Tonight is opening night for San Francisco Ballet’s performance in Shanghai. Though it has been rainy and gloomy here for the past two days, we’re anxious to get onstage and perform- it’s been far too long. We rehearsed last night, and we were still a bit off from jetlag and being away from home; wearing costumes felt foreign and being onstage with lights was dizzying. But we slowly acclimated and Helgi was understanding; he told us we were doing a good job and due to time and circumstance we needed to pull together as a company and work to make ourselves feel comfortable onstage. It was an inspiring speech!
Elana Altman, Mariellen Olson, Danielle Santos, and Erin McNulty... how many guidebooks does it take to get around Shanghai? Three, apparently!
As our workload was light for the first two days after our arrival, we’ve been off exploring the sights, shopping, and discovering new culinary delights. The dim sum has been my favorite thus far, though the breakfast spread our hotel provides is in close second. It’s become standard to exchange stories with one another about our finds for the day. Most of the Company, especially the men, have visited the tailor to have custom suits made. We’re all working on our bargaining skills and bragging to each other about who got the best deal and their method of choice. So, we’re all healthy, happy, and relishing the opportunity to experience Shanghai firsthand.
Danielle tries to pick out (and find) our next haggling destination.
Keep your fingers crossed and wish us “Merde” as we offer up our own cultural experience to Shanghai tonight!
Hope for the Lost in Shanghai
member of the corps de ballet of San Francisco Ballet
September 22, 2009
Tonight is opening night for San Francisco Ballet’s performance in Shanghai. Though it has been rainy and gloomy here for the past two days, we’re anxious to get onstage and perform- it’s been far too long. We rehearsed last night, and we were still a bit off from jetlag and being away from home; wearing costumes felt foreign and being onstage with lights was dizzying. But we slowly acclimated and Helgi was understanding; he told us we were doing a good job and due to time and circumstance we needed to pull together as a company and work to make ourselves feel comfortable onstage. It was an inspiring speech!
Elana Altman, Mariellen Olson, Danielle Santos, and Erin McNulty... how many guidebooks does it take to get around Shanghai? Three, apparently!
As our workload was light for the first two days after our arrival, we’ve been off exploring the sights, shopping, and discovering new culinary delights. The dim sum has been my favorite thus far, though the breakfast spread our hotel provides is in close second. It’s become standard to exchange stories with one another about our finds for the day. Most of the Company, especially the men, have visited the tailor to have custom suits made. We’re all working on our bargaining skills and bragging to each other about who got the best deal and their method of choice. So, we’re all healthy, happy, and relishing the opportunity to experience Shanghai firsthand.
Danielle tries to pick out (and find) our next haggling destination.
Keep your fingers crossed and wish us “Merde” as we offer up our own cultural experience to Shanghai tonight!