Stay Tuned

Hey there. Just a quick post to let you know that we're in the middle of a 4 week creation process with the amazingly talented Susie Burpee (from Toronto). Check out our facebook for weekly updates on the creation and a new batch of photos from the studio. Our next show is April 17-20 at the Neptune Studio Theatre (Halifax). Kinetic Studio is presenting us and we'll be performing the brand new work by Susie!! Exciting! We plan to do a full week of blogging during the production week for this show, so check back then!

Oh....and mark May 22-24 in your calendar.....that's our Home Season Mainstage, "Given the Circumstances" at the Sir James Dunn Theatre!

Show Day!

Sorry for the slight delay in posting. We're actually home now....so I have to catch you up on the events of Friday and the return to Hali.

So Friday was show day! We got up at about 7:30am packed up and began our tech rehearsals at the theatre at 9am. The Sarg runs a tight ship and everything ran on schedule....we teched our two pieces from 9-12 then took a little break for lunch. The Kingswood girls came for their tech rehearsal at 1:30....their first time running the new piece with lights and wings! very exciting for them! We were absolutely amazed by their ability to immediately adapt to the lights. (Lights are not easy to deal with.....they are hard on the eyes and the balance.....it can take some getting used to). This was another example of how their gym training and their amazing ability to focus helped them....such a professional group! Yeah....we were holding back the tears watching them rehearse!

Our videographer, Chris Beckett arrived to film the dress rehearsal and show (Thanks Chris....that was a lot of driving and filming all in one day!! you rock). Warm-up #1 started at 2:30 (ahh "musical gems"....makes ballet barre so enjoyable). We had a dress rehearsal in full costume, make-up and all (for the video) from 3:00 to 4:30. Thanks to Lesandra (choreographer) and Anne (the Chair of our board) for watching the dress! Always nice to have a couple of peeps in the house.

Sarg was so on the ball that we actually had a nice long dinner break (4:30 - 6).....this doesn't always happen if things don't go as smoothly....but when it happens it is so wonderful. Really helps with the mental prep. We snuck into the Kingswood girls' dressing room to leave them each a rose and a card to thank them for such a wonderful week!

Then....warm-up #2. Always hard to convince the body to warm-up for the second time. But old faithful "musical gems" ballet barre did the trick and we were rearing to go once again.
8:00 show time! We're estimating between 275 - 350 in the house. Pretty good size. The Kingswood girls opened the show and made us so proud! Beautifully executed and the crowd was so impressed with their accomplishments for such a short time. Next: Mel, Saragan and I performed Lesandra's piece (You Tackle a Staircase Face On) - we were really happy to be performing it at the Playhouse because Lesandra lives in Fredericton now. After an intermission Mel, Saragan, Lishe and I performed "5 Breaths" by Roger Sinha....with our stylin new costumes from Rachael Grant (costume designer extraordinaire). Good Show! We were feelin the love in Fredericton. After the show Lesandra joined us for a "talk back". A good portion of the audience stayed to ask questions. My favorite comment came from a parent of one of the gymnasts....."I don't usually go to see modern dance.....but now I will....I want to see more". Yes!!!!

After the show we hit up the Snooty Fox with Lesandra, her friends, Tim Yerxa (Director of the Fredericton Playhouse) and the Sarg for.....................that's right.........what ever deep fried goodness you want and a bevy!! We never eat that much on the day of a show cause you don't want to feel overly full or weighted down. After doing the show twice....we're ready to EAT! This after show eat fest was a quick one though because we decided to hit the road to beat the ice and freezing rain storm forecast for NB. I know this sounds crazy (it was a little), but we decided it would be the best option. Lishe was missing her baby and we all had things scheduled for Saturday that we wanted to make it home for!

Soooo....Sarg made us leave Snooty at 11:30 (his watch alarm goes off every half hour I swear....and he also set his watch for when we had to leave to beat the storm). Lishe drove and Mel took shotgun/de-fogger/Co-pilot/"beast watch" duty. Beast watch was key for the jumping deer, Moose or any other beast with a death wish. Lishe and Mel did a stellar job. Mel was on constant look-out for beast eyes and would sound the alarm....."Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes"....when necessary. A quick stop in Truro was required to stretch the limbs.....you see, dancing the show twice and then hopping in an over-stuffed car is pretty hard on the bods. It's almost like rigor mortise sets in. We hobbled into Irving looking like we were 80 years old at 3:00am with remnants of our stage makeup. Not a pretty sight. Arrived home around 4:30am safe and sound! A very long and eventful day. Thanks Lishe and Mel for getting us home!

A great tour! Some good dancing, some inspiring work with the Kingswood gymnasts, a chance to work with our choreographer Lesandra again and a great show at the beautiful Playhouse. I feel so lucky to work every day with my wonderful friends doing something I love.....we work hard, and have so many good laughs along the way. I love you guys!
xo CC

Tech Day

Awww tech day - nothing like a little bit of chaos before a show - I am pretty sure the faces explain it all (actually she might have been looking at me like that because I was taking a picture so early - but the tech day excuse sounds way better! so I am leaving it)

Yes aww tech day... 

Sara is just getting back to the room and its 11 pm... oh and did I mention we have a show tomorrow... yeah

Tech day also means that our stage manager aka The Sarg arrives.. which makes us all happy... plus he likes to go to the pub with us after the show and that is lots of fun. Just for your information we also call that night "Deep Fried Night" or "Deep Fried Pep Night" but I don't want to explain that because it makes me look kinda bad. 

It was a very productive day though. The Youth Group dance is finished! And it is great! Those young ladies are so wonderful and absolutely amazing - I can't believe how much they have absorbed in this small small amount of time. Congrats ladies! You made us so proud. 

Their dedication and commitment to getting the movement style is refreshing... I am not going to lie we have been like drill sargents with them and they haven't complained once - not even once... 

Today we had twenty minutes left in the day and they ran the piece three times. Its a five minute dance and they were glad to keep trying... I can't wait until they see the lights and stage tomorrow, it will be so exciting. 

Now this is SWEET!!! woop woop - Our name in LIGHTS. I know you can't see it well but squint and get really close to your computer and maybe it will be visible. 

OH OH I can see it there... so awesome

During a tech evening we all split up and do many different things.  Sara was in charge of making sure the lights were correct with our wicked Sarg and Alicia wrote all the little ladies from the Kingswood Gymnastics Club thank you cards. Carolle of course unfortunately had to work on the grant, or I should say grantsssssss, But hey she's good at that stuff so we gotta put her to work...

and well for me... I most definitely had the hardest job, writing on the blog... hahah ok thats not so funny I guess, and on that note I am out..

Goodnight and wish us luck. 

Update from The Crown Cut and Colour

Mel's hair - What a sweet red rat tail !!!!

I do believe Alicia's sweater is a little red too now!

I must admit I love my new hair, or hair refresher I should say.... I am sure I will like it even more when it stops dying all the towels red.

Also for those of you who know me well I would just like you to note that the colour was on sale... thats right on sale... Hey I figure if I am not paying 200 dollars at Life Spa it better be the cheapest dye job I can get... or wait maybe I am just cheap 

So the colour went wickedly good and as for the cut .... well considering the scissors could barely cut paper we had to leave my split ends alone and wait until we get back to Hali.!

Wednesday... or Should I Say Hump Day

Today's weather forcast...shocking....freezing rain and snow...whoa (whoa to be said extremely sharp and fast).
Another great day in old Feddie, NB. We survived the mid week wednesday, or hump day as we like to call it, where time and bodies seem to be moving more slowly than the rest. We are almost finished our creation with the wonderful gymnastics group. They are outfitted in costumes and almost ready to go!

We ran the show today in the theatre and it certainly felt good to dance on the big Playhouse stage. No major things to report there, lots of dancing.........oh and Carolle almost broke both of her feet coming out of a lift but the ever so hulky Mel saved her life, career, and a potential broken nose to boot.


As hump day usually goes, there is a lot of silliness to be had by mocean dance. Lots of laughing, making fun of one another and today...was photo day. Mel's photography was the best at trying to capture all of us as a group but somehow my head just kept on getting cut off!!!!




So I thought that my photography skills would be far superior than Mel's and was sure I would get us all in. The result... a stunning photo of.... yah...

Our afternoon ended with a soak in the hot tub. Yes!! We are so spoiled here at the Crowne Plaza since we are usually at very special motels running past the creepy man at the front office to get to our motel room.

We are now back from a yummy thai dinner and SH and CC are hard at work keeping the mocean beast alive, Mel is battling yet another cold, and I am dreaming of my little baby boy at home asleep. Soon we'll be off to sleep ourselves getting ready for a big day tomorrow.

Sweet Dreams,
Alicia

Tuesday Tales

I'm writing this update from "Crowne Cut and Color".
Client: Mel Ferro
Stylist: Alicia MacDonald
Result of consultation: small trim and dying of a small strand underneath (red)
Seems a bit safe to me Mel...watch out, we might get creative with the scissors while you sleep!

Today was another successful day in Freddy. The girls arrived with a few aches and pains from yesterday, but still full of enthusiasm and we forged ahead with the piece. They have absorbed an incredible amount of material in the last two days and are still smiling, so that's a good sign! We're about halfway through the piece and should be able to finish it tomorrow. Express dance at it's finest!

We had another great rehearsal with Lesandra and have made some small changes that continue to make the piece even better. It's so great that we're able to have this time with her before the show on Friday. It keeps us (and the piece) fresh!!

Oh, just saw Mel's hair and it's way more red than I thought. Way to go Mel!!!

Back to the day. Tonight we were supposed to film a local television show for Rogers Cable with two of the gymnasts and we were going to be the only guests for an hour!!!! We couldn't imagine how we were going to fill that much time, but to our relief, we arrived and found out that the host, Trevor Doyle was sick! They are still going to come to the theatre tomorrow and film rehearsal and get some interviews, so we'll still get some publicity for the show which is good.

So, guess that's it for today. We're gearing up for an ice storm tomorrow and are really hoping that the girls will make it to rehearsal, as we have no days to spare. You can bet one thing though, the car is staying put tomorrow. No pushing for these dancers!

The last update is that the hot tub is fixed and Mel is a happy camper.

Good night,
Saragan

The latest Photos

First day in Fredericton

Our first day in Fredericton was more than enjoyable. We started the day with the creation on the Kingswood Gymnast girls and they were amazing.  These young ladies were enthusiastic, hardworking and funny; which made our job a whole lot easier. They will be opening our show with a 5 minute piece to Bach. As a group we accomplished a large amount and the company is very excited to continue tomorrow; hopefully they won't be too sore. 

Then we continued with a little run to the local grocery store - oh how happy was I to buy some Multi-Grain Cheerios and Alicia even bought my favorite chips, Ms Vickies Roasted Red Pepper!!! So happy.

Next on the plans was rehearsal with Lesandra Dodson, the choreographer of "You Tackle a Stair Case Face on". As always it was a great rehearsal - I love working with her.

Tonight's dinner entailed a walk to the local bar, The Snooty Fox. It has been our home away from home and sadly we have almost tried everything on the menu... oh The Snooty Fox. 

Alas we are in our rooms and relaxing for the evening - which is very enjoyable. 

PS - I pretty much thought I would be living like royalty this week because the Hotel we are staying in has a hot tub and pool; however to an overwhelming large degree of sadness the hot tub is broke - yes broke I say.... I really hope it gets fixed before the end of the week so my bathing suit doesn't go to waste. I will keep you posted. 

Mel 

Arrival in NB

Well it was an eventful arrival yesterday in Saint John, NB! We left Halifax early to try and beat the storm. It was smooth sailing up until Sussex.....we hit a wall of snow and drove for 2 1/2 hours in a whiteout. Saragan (Sara) handled that rental like a pro though. We couldn't get into the driveway of our original hotel, even with three dancers pushing the car.....nor could we get into the Delta because it was uphill, even with three dancers and two strangers pushing!) Luckily, the Hilton was at the bottom of Saint John, so we stayed there for the night! We all needed an adult beverage after that drive....maybe two.

We taught three workshops at the Imperial Theatre today: InterAct Children's Theatre, the Hampton Highschool musical group and some local dance students. It really was a pleasure - these students were sooo enthusiastic, talented and just full of positive energy! Also, we LOVE the Imperial space (we performed there last year for CAPACOA and this is our 2nd time to do a full day of workshops there). It's a beautiful theatre with a HUGE stage, well maintained, with a stellar crew.

So now we're at the lovely Crowne Plaza in Fredericton (courtesy of the Fredericton Playhouse). We love this place and it is totally unlike any touring experience to date! Adjoining rooms; we each have our own queen sized bed (much better than my fouton matress at home let me tell you, or the usual sharing of beds that we often do on tour....I love you guys and all, but you know); cable (beats my two fuzzy channels); internet; gym; pool.....it's all good here at CP!!

Tomorrow will be day one of our week long creation intensive with the Kingswood Gymnasts. We also have a rehearsal scheduled with choreographer Lesandra Dodson .....we'll be refreshing and spicing up a few things with her piece for the show on Friday!

Best line of the day:
(grade 10 boy)..."My hips don't lie"

CC