So... Saturday afternoon until the present:

I found out, (ie. I actually looked at the schedule,) that we have Sunday And Monday free. So, I looked around for some theater I could go to and take training, and see a performance, (hopefully.) Well, Hildesheim had "A Masked Ball" on Sunday, and "Cabaret" on Monday, and The theater in Hagen had their second performance of Nutcracker on Sunday. That's the one I decided to go to, and after a short phone call to the director, it was all settled. So, the next morning...

No, Wait! There was something worth mentioning between that phone call and the next morning, even though it doesn't pertain to my relation, it's something I'll have to write about anyhow. So...

We had bus station that night. (A collection of various dance pieces, in a small performance space.) And, it was my first time doing 5 of the pieces, (although 2 of those 5 were very little to do, I still had to know how to play it, and the exact timing of when to ... stand where.) So... it was a little bit of stress before, which had been building up for a couple of weeks, but is all released now. And it went well too, at least from how it felt to me. It's a good thing too: because in theory, I will never have to fill in for any of those pieces again. (Who knows what the future holds of course, but that's what the THEORY is.)

There was still more interesting things about that evening though: For example, there was the warming up before the show. We were spacing the pieces there, (for me,) when we found out that the public had been misinformed. You see, it was one big group that bought all 60 available tickets, and were there celebrating the 75th anniversary of their store. And they thought that the performance started an hour earlier than, in fact, it was meant to. So, we were told to prepare as quickly as we could, so that the entire public would have to wait around for as little time as possible. In the end, we only started the show 15 or 20 minutes earlier than normal, because we all still had to do our make up, and get dressed.

Afterwards, this company was having it's party proper, in the café adjoining the stage. So, I half inserted/half was invited to join them. And there I sat, and talked with these people for a while, until two of the girls in the company came to join me and them. (Then... I went and talked with another group of them -a group that wasn't smoking so bloody much. -I Do hate tobacco.) All in all, we probably stayed there for 3 or 4 hours.

After THAT, I got up at 8 in the morning, and got on my train for two and a half hours to Hagen. And it was then, on the train, once it was to late to do anything about it, that I thought to myself, "Class there is at 2:00 and the performance is at 3:00. -That can't be right! But the performance was definitely 3:00... so... Oh Bugger. I'm probably going to miss the training. I must have misunderstood." And such gloomy reflections most of the way there. When I got to the theater though, I found out that I Hadn't been mistakened after all: because the company did a short 40 minute warm-up, with their make-up already on, and then just got dressed and went on stage. So, it was all right in the end.

I would like to talk now of the performance, but that should be done separately, in a review.

Anyhow, afterwards, I went to their premiere party, (which had been delayed until that afternoon, seeing as people would have been to tired if they went to the party the night before.) This was a very nice time to chat informally with people in the company, and a little with the director too. One thing that shocked me, (if I may be excused for going off on this little tangent,) was that this one dancer said that the experience they had in the Paluca school (in Dresden, Germany,) was not so great, and that the modern taught there was not of a high standard. Well, taking into account that most dancers are perfectionist, and have a refined ability to complain, I was still amazed, because if I had been asked where a good place is to study modern dance in Europe, Dresden would have been the first to come to mind. And besides that, my dear, good friend from Estonia studied two years in that school, and had a very good experience, and, (It sounded like,) she learned a lot, and that it really prepared her for a job with a more contemporary company. So... I don't know. perhaps it's just a matter of teachers, and the opportunities they have at the school. And just to make it clear, I'm not dumping on that school, because my old school sure as heck didn't prepare us for real modern dance. -That has changed though: it's now specifically a contemporary school.

Well... Generally, I had a good time there at the premiere party, and in Hagen, and I took the last train back to Detmold, depositing me at home a little after 11:00

I had decided not to go anywhere on Monday, and to just take it easy... which I have certainly done today. Now though, it's time to stop relaxing at my computer, and get the laundry started.

M.