CPYB: Arrival

I’m actually writing this on the second day of arrival but I’ll recap what happened yesterday!

I arrived in Harrisburg at 12:30, dropped off my boyfriend at the train station and continued on to Carlisle, PA. I arrived around 1:15 for registration that was ending at 1:30. Cutting it a little close, I know. I registered which involved picking up an envelope and meeting up with a new friend from a studio back home – we didn’t know we were going to the same intensive till last week. 🙂 She is absolutely awesome! 🙂

We drove back to Harrisburg for orientation and the June series show. Orientation was fine – nothing big to report. They made sure to stress that people shouldn’t be worried about placement or question placement. The teachers know what they’re doing because they’ve been doing it longer than any of us has been born… including me – the second oldest person and the oldest girl here.

June series: I was thinking about skipping because I was EXHAUSTED but figured I should check out what type of dancers CPYB is producing besides the amazing Jeffrey Cirio. 🙂 I was not very impressed with the first part of the show. The timing seemed off unless I just wasn’t recognizing canons. There was one guy who was quite good and had lovely foot work but at the end of the bows he stood right in front of one of the female dancers. Usually I find male dancers to be very accommodating -putting the woman first and all so I found it a bit strange but my good friend said he seemed nervous. So maybe I’m just being critical.

Things really started to look up when they performed Paul Taylor’s Company B. I LOVED this piece! It was a piece about the 40’s. The costumes were awesome – one reminded me of Rosie the Riveter. 🙂 CPYB has one really tall male dancer who owns his height very well. He played Johnnie in the first clip below as a cute geeky guy with taped up glasses. He was fantastic! The girls were great as well of course. Very hippy and vibe-y. This piece was so well done! I was enjoying the story and the music and not just looking to see how good they were. I do think I should see it again one day when I’m not exhausted because I feel like I missed some of the nuances. A lot of times men stayed sprawled about on the floor- WWII references?

Here’s the clip performed by Miami City Ballet (WOOO)

Two pieces in the June series were performed by itty bitty little kids. They were so adorable. 🙂 They take their dancing seriously. The last piece was a piece by Mr. B as he is affectionately called (George Balanchine) that I wasn’t as thrilled about. One of my housemates said the piece was Faust and I got excited and thought it would be something dark and intriguing. It was better danced, I thought, than the first half of the show but it didn’t seem Faustian to me. I will have to do some research. I did like when the dancers came out with their hair loose and danced. It was beautiful to see a part of a dancer that is usually restrained, free. One of the main girls had BEAUTIFUL feet that looked absolutely amazing in her pointe shoes.

I’m starting to think I may like modern more than ballet. Or rather contemporary ballet? Hmm.

Lodging: I am staying in a BEAUTIFUL house that is so charming. I would have loved to grow up in a house like this. I sneaked into the attic today and it was just perfect. Pretty round windows, TONS of open space. That would be my little (well, huge) secret place for sure. I’m living with a mom and her daughter who attends CPYB year round. She is tall and lovely. 🙂 I haven’t seen her dance but I know she must be fantastic. She’s 16. Her friend from Colorado who is 13 is staying here as well as is an 18-year-old who’s moving to Alaska, a 19-year-old who transferred to a college to major in dance (you go girl!), a 16-year-old from Philly who loves to cook, and another 16-year-old who is so sweet and has the sweetest Irish mom, oh and there’s me….the 25 year-old who is as lost as the day is long. 🙂 The mom is really nice and funny. I just found out that she flips houses but also does odd jobs here are there. She wants to move to Europe once her girls are out of the house. I’d really love to pick her brain about life since she doesn’t seem married to the whole steady 9-5 work till you die mentality.

It’s funny, my boyfriend had to defend my decision of going to this 5-week camp to both his mom and my mom. They both asked “What is she going to get out of this?.” He said self fulfillment and they said “what else?” Funny that that isn’t enough. Something dies in you when you age. Does everything have to have a distinct purpose or rather a purpose that is acceptable by society standards? Can I not learn to dance well even if I don’t want or can not be a professional dancer? Can I read a book for the sake of reading? Is doing something for fun or “just because” such a foreign concept? I remember a girl asked me the same question just a couple of weeks ago at Boston Ballet’s Boston studio. I told her I was too old to be a dancer and she said then why are you dancing now? What’s the use if you can’t be a dancer? What’s the use of living if you’re going to die anyways?

On that note, I’m off to start a post about today, Placement day.