November 11 – Travel Day to Chisinau, Moldova
As we head to Europe once again, thoughts of home keep coming back to me. Though LINES fall home season and the election are now behind us, I can’t help but to think about how these two events transpired. After returning to the studio on the Wednesday after our run of Constellation, the magnitude of what we shared didn’t hit me until we sat as a company and talked briefly about the performances. As I listened to the discussion, I got emotional. I remembered friends and supporters approaching me after the shows. Some were in tears. Some were speechless. Some couldn’t stop talking about it. All were touched in some way by the company. The idea of service echoed in my mind as I listened to my peers… that I’m not the only one getting something out of the experience of the performance. I remembered that the gift of dance that has been given to me could be a bright light, even for a short period of time, in someone’s life.
November 13 – Day Off
Keelan slept.
November 14 – Tech/Performance Day
Moldova is very interesting. No one knew what to expect coming to this country, but we were all pretty much open to seeing what it’s like out here. As we rode in from the very quaint airport (the lost baggage ‘desk’ was a podium in a corner next to the stairs leading down to the bathrooms), we passed by several apartment complexes on the outskirts of the city that reminded me of Cabrini Green in Chicago. I’ll admit I was nervous thinking about where they were going to put us up, but when we arrived at our hotel all worry ceased. Though every inch of the hotel smelled like cigarette smoke, the hotel was nice. The breakfast buffet included veal toast (ok…), which was located next to the French toast (…well, of course!), and was accompanied by a harpist. ‘Twas nice! The farmers market was amazing to walk through.
The theater was, well… special. A rather old Soviet building with somewhat dusty technical theater instruments backstage that helped reinforce its historical past. Home of the National Opera and Ballet of Chisinau, you could tell this theater had been used. There was a huge house (1200 people attended the show) and a huge stage that presented a bit of a challenge to the dancers. There was a slight rake, the floor was uneven, there was no heat, but we got to do a show! And we did that show! Everyone just went for it.
Again, that feeling of service came to mind when a little girl, maybe 9 years old, came up on stage while we were bowing and presented flowers to the dancers. It was funny as she tried to hide her smile when Michael grabbed her little hand and had her bow with us. She fell right into place. We thought it was special… maybe she did too as she innocently skittered away.
Off to serve Bucharest!
LINESConnected 