People, Performances, and Piroshki

Friday, October 2nd, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | No Comments

Friday October 2nd, Beijing

5:48pm

I have been in Beijing for about five days now, and have been so busy adjusting, rehearsing, sightseeing and sleeping, I have had trouble finding time to blog. Sorry for the long absence, there is much to catch up on.

Today is the day after China’s National Day, and though the celebrating will continue for another three days, the biggest spectacle has already happened. Yesterday the city basically shut down everywhere but Tian’anmen Square. To ensure that the parade and the fireworks were absolutely perfect, many precautions were taken. Most roads were closed, shops and restaurants were closed, airplanes shot rain-seeding pellets into the clouds to make it rain the night before, consequently ensuring a bright sunny day for the 1st. The airport was closed for three hours and our stage managers weren’t allowed to use radio communication. Most people weren’t allowed to see the parade in person; it is mostly for government officials and diplomats. Though it would have been amazing to see in person, what I did see of it on CCTV9 (China’s National News and Entertaiment broadcasting agency) was unlike anything I have witnessed before. There were hundreds of tanks rolling right next to the Forbidden City, thousands of people in perfect formations smiling, marching, and dancing their way down Dong Chang’an Avenue. The streets were empty around the hotel and theater, and it must have been because people were either in the parade or watching it at home on their TV’s.

We found this bus for an acrobatic company participating in the National Day celebrations. I think Ludmila would fit right in, don't you?

Last night was big not just for China. SF Ballet opened its run in Beijing!!! We performed our mixed-rep program for the last time in China. It was a fun show to do and the audience, many of them UN and Embassy workers, was very enthusiastic. It was nice to hear screaming and clapping again! I thought everyone danced beautifully and the only shame was the fact that we had to use a recording for the show.

Tonight we open with the first of our final two shows of Swan Lake in China. Yuan Yuan will dance tonight and Maria Kochetkova will dance tomorrow. This tour has been about flexibility and compromise, but the shows do go on and it has really been an experience to remember. I’m trying to look at the bright side and remember what a great opportunity this is, and it certainly reminds me of how great we have things back in San Francisco.

This is from when we were leaving Shanghai and waiting for instructions.

I have also been doing a little sightseeing, but I’ll be able to do more on Sunday and Monday (our free days). So far I have been to the OX Street Mosque and a Buddhist college down near the Summer Palace. It was a wonderful experience and totally devoid of tourists. In our three hours of exploring, we only saw one other tourist group, which was very friendly! I also had some of the best food I’ve had in China here in Beijing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it was Russian food! I was at a really inexpensive Russian restaurant close to the hotel, and it was the most hearty and delicious food ever. A group of about 15 of us went, so I was able to try lots of different dishes. Who thought you’d have to go to China to get a perfect Piroshki?

We definitely make time for sightseeing. Ludmila and Kim look tiny next to this lion!

So far the coolest thing that has happened to me in China happened last Tuesday. There was a welcome reception thrown for the company at the St. Regis Hotel. It was just beautiful. The food was delicious; I finally got to try Peking Duck which was as mouthwatering as I hoped it would be. But even more exciting than the duck was getting to meet the newly appointed ambassador. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Jon Huntsman Jr., who was appointed to his new position by President Obama just a month ago. He and his wife couldn’t have been nicer, or more interested in ballet! The second youngest of their seven children was with them and she was the picture of perfect grace and poise. Did I mention she was seven? My parents would have been ecstatic if I had been even remotely that well-behaved at seven.

SFB dancers make friends everywhere they go!

Well, I have to head back to the theater for the show, but more later! We go to the Great Wall on Monday, so I will have much to report on.

Tags: China Tour, Ludmila Campos

Leaving Shanghai…

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | No Comments

Sunday, September 27th –Shanghai to Beijing

1:32pm

I’m currently mid-flight on my way to Beijing.  The Company checked out of the hotel early this morning, filed onto buses, and headed out to the airport. The flight is less than half-full (which I find a little surprising, considering the close proximity of National Day), and I think I might snag a seat in one of the empty rows behind me. The flight isn’t long and we shouldn’t be in the air more than two hours.

A final look at Shanghai (and the World Financial Center). I look forward to seeing more of "traditional" China in Beijing.

I am really excited to get to Beijing and see another side of China. I loved Shanghai, with its huge buildings, great food, fabulous shopping and uniquely international feel, but I’m ready for more. I am looking forward to getting lost in the hutongs, seeing Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City… the list goes on and on.

We have a lot to do when we get there though, so hopefully I will once again be able to find the time to see everything. We have class and rehearsal tomorrow, (in a studio 40 minutes away from the hotel, no less) for four and a half hours. We cannot use the stage until the day before we open.  There are three shows left, two more Swan Lake’s and another mixed-rep. I feel confident that the rehearsals will be pretty seamless, just the usual getting-used-to-a-new-environment weirdness, but (fingers crossed) that’s it. Not only do I have a new theater to look forward to, but there are a lot of receptions coming up also, including one at the St. Regis, and two extra days at the end of the tour that will include guided tours around the city.

I can’t wait to get there and will probably have more to report once we check into the hotel.

Tags: China Tour

A New Audience

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | 3 Comments

4:11pm

I’m sitting in my hotel room looking out at the spectacular view from my room on the 53rd floor. I am really in awe of this city. I love how alive and bustling it is. There is an incredible amount of construction going on for the 2010 World Expo, due to begin May 1st. Not only are they preparing the site itself, but the city is creating new metro lines, building a new high-speed train between Beijing and Shanghai, and has placed many Haibao’s all over the city. Haibao is the mascot for the Expo, it means “treasure of the sea” and is meant to be lucky.

Haibao, the 2010 World Expo mascot, can be found all over Shanghai!

The Expo sounds like it will be incredible, and seeing all of the preparation going on around me makes me wish I was coming back next year, too. Though it isn’t as though there is nothing going on right now. The government is planning and putting final touches on the celebrations for National Day in Beijing. The festivities not only sound unlike anything I have ever seen, but will be extremely chaotic as well.  The city will be jam packed, there will be parades and marches all over the city, namely Tia’namen Square, fireworks and much more.

Fireworks explode over Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Sep. 12 during rehearsals for massive National Day celebrations to be held Oct. 1.

I have heard it will basically be impossible to get around, and there are so many people in the city that catching a cab will be hopeless. We’ll have to see. For now, the Company has two more performances of Swan Lake then off to Beijing.

We opened on Tuesday with the Mixed-Rep program and Wednesday with Swan Lake. Yuan Yuan Tan danced the lead Odette/Odile role in a sort of homecoming performance for her. She was stunning and seemed to be even more in her element than usual. Just beautiful.

Yuan Yuan Tan in Swan Lake, 2006 (photo © Erik Tomasson)

The audiences here are a little different than we are used to back in the United States. The applause is more reserved. Audiences at our home theater (the War Memorial Opera House) are loud and enthusiastic, but here the clapping is more polite, and I know it’s not because they didn’t like it.  Though I wonder if the clapping was so soft because so many audience members were busy taking pictures during bows? That’s something else we don’t see too much of at home.

The stage at the Shanghai Grand Theatre is great, it’s expansive and feels a lot like home actually. Things were a bit chaotic at the beginning of the tour, which is to be expected, but now the shows and rehearsals are running more smoothly.

I have to head back to the theatre now for the second performance of Swan Lake, Vanessa Zahorian is dancing tonight. I will have more to report on later.

Bye.

Tags: China Tour, Swan Lake, Yuan Yuan Tan

Getting Stage Ready

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers, Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | No Comments

Monday, September 19th – Shanghai

6:45 am

I woke up early again today. I wonder how long I can keep this up? I’m heading down to the fitness center again and then hopefully back to the room for a short catnap before the massage I scheduled for myself today!!! I can’t wait!

The view from my room in the mornings.

10:14 pm

Long and rainy day today. This morning I woke to a a city covered with a huge layer of fog. The clouds above my head looked ominous and I couldn’t even see the park below. The rain soon followed; the day was a wet one. I was extremely glad that I had a day of indoor activity planned. The massage was amazing, and I followed it with a long soak in the jacuzzi. It was a good prep for class and rehearsal. I felt so spoiled today! We had our first stage rehearsal of Swan Lake tonight; it was pretty stop-and-go, but that is usually commonplace for any first rehearsal on stage, especially for a large-scale ballet like Swan Lake.

I usually feel a little weird in the first stage rehearsal. It may sound strange, but it’s almost like I can’t feel my body. Though I try, I can’t seem to feel my muscles, or the floor, the way I feel it in the studio or after a couple stage runs. I realize a dancer doesn’t always have the luxury of getting more than one stage run (in the case of an emergency, you may get none at all), so I’m probably being a little ridiculous, but I’m still learning. Well, I got this frustration out tonight, and hopefully the dress rehearsal and performance on Wednesday will go better.

We officially open our China Tour tomorrow night with the mixed-rep program and I’m looking forward to performing again! I will be dancing in On a Theme of Paganini and Within the Golden Hour, both in roles I have performed before, but a new theatre and a new audience is always exciting.

Feeling the residual effects of jetlag, I have to get some shut eye. Bye for now!

Tags: China Tour, Swan Lake