Like most of my pursuits, I stepped into choreographing with my eyes pretty much closed. I didn’t bother to ask anyone about the time commitment, didn’t bother to ask about how to run rehearsals, and didn’t bother to ask about all the challenges and obstacles to my sanity I was going to face. Frankly, all I knew was that choreographing was something that I had wanted to do for a while, and I finally had the chance to do it.
Now, just a mere two days before the RBIM show, I’m at a place where once in a while I sit down and think about all that’s gone down in the past four months. For the past four months, I’ve run anywhere from one to four hours of rehearsal a week, fought to determine how to account for my dancers’ wants and needs while being completely aware that I couldn’t give in to everything, and held the fort when my co-choreographer had to go back to Dallas for medical reasons.
Needless to say, it’s been a tough four months, one that my friends are so familiar with as I returned from rehearsals either elated or thoroughly frustrated. Once in a while, it got to the point where people would ask me why I do it.
But now with the show on the horizon, it’s gradually become apparent why I stuck with it. It’s not the satisfaction I’ll get from seeing my own art and creation on stage, it’s not the fact that I will be performing.
For me, it’s all about the amazing people I’ve worked with these last few months.
It’s weird because for the last few months, I’ve developed a connection, a sort of intimate, emotional link with a group of people, half of whom I didn’t know before January came about. All of the sudden, my relationship with that same group of people has grown into a sort of friendship that’s different from a normal friendship, but still very much close in its own way.
I know I’m being so vague, but it’s something that’s very hard to explain and put into words.
I also have to admit that I didn’t expect this. For almost the entire time I just assumed that the only people I would have any sort of connection with would be the dancers who were my friends before the rehearsals at Ida Noyes started. But gradually, when you’re in this position you gradually start to learn bits and pieces about everyone, and it’s these little bits and pieces that let you all evolve. You pretty much never get the chance to have a heart-to-heart with most of these people, but somehow you still feel like you’ve known them for a while.
And it’s this bond that’s going to stay once the show’s over, once the curtain’s closed. But in the meantime, break a leg everyone, and let’s just dance.