Here I am at another end of a full week. As seems to be the usual, I am pretty content. This week I participated in an audition, took a dance workshop and some normal classes, put together a solid chunk of choreography, made some decisions about how I am going to spend my time in Israel and partied in a bomb shelter. Not. Too. Bad.
Let’s start with the audition. The audition, as I mentioned in a previous blog posting, was for my favorite company ever, Inbal Pinto. If you ask me, Inbal Pinto’s works are the pinnacle of artistic excellence. Every element of her pieces contributes beautifully to her concepts, which are ultimately strange and otherworldly. In each of the shows I’ve seen, I have been transported into an absolute dream-land. If you get the chance, you should either check her company out on youtube or if you are lucky enough to catch them while they are on tour, you should see their performances live. They are a real treat.
The audition itself was a very efficiently run event. I got cut from the audition rather early in the game, but there are no hard feelings here. I understood before I went into the audition that they were not only looking for something specific, but they had to choose from so many people. I also had no connections to the company and am not Israeli etc, etc. I was, however, quite thankful to have had the opportunity to have learned a bit of Inbal’s repertoire and have danced in their studio. Post audition, I emailed them to thank them for the opportunity and asked if I could take classes with them in the future. The answer was affirmative, so I hope to make it to Tel Aviv for a chunk of time before I leave to take them up on their offer!
Also, while I was in Tel Aviv last weekend for the audition, I managed to take my first swim and get my first Israeli sunburn! The water was so beautiful and so warm! I can’t wait to go back with a boat-load of sunscreen and a picnic!
Other than that, I’ve been taking class as usual this week. We had a workshop from a former Batsheva dancer. The teacher, Eldad, was an extremely lovely man who is was very down to earth, kind and pretty hilarious. His warm-up class was based on the Gaga technique – a technique used by the Batsheva Company. It was full of fabulous imagery and humor. The material he presented to us was also quite interesting. The simple goal of attempting to complete small ‘tasks’ generated Eldad’s movement. For example, one movement was an attempt to describe the inner and outer edges of a circle using the blade of your hand, or another was to create a hole for your arm and then to subsequently snake your arm out of the hole and replace it with another part of your body. Following? For a very visual learner, like myself, his method worked quite well. It also had a very non-performative aspect to it. You were supposed to simply fulfill the task and move on to the next. It was very bare-bones, but for those who are used to presenting themselves, it was very difficult.
Last night I made my first two loaves of Challah since landing in Israel. I brought them to our weekly Shabbat pot-luck dinner and they were a hit, though I must say I’ve made better. Because it was cold and rainy yesterday, the bread didn’t exactly rise to its full potential. I also cooked to loaves in ovens the size of a shoebox so they were an unfortunate shade of brown/black on the top, but the inside still tasted delicious. I think next week I’ll make hamentashen for Purim! Aha! Last night, I also went to a party in a bomb-shelter. That, in my opinion, is something to write home about. It was pretty exciting and actually a perfect place to have a party. We could play the music as loud as we wanted and you couldn’t hear anything from above ground. It was a good time…
That is all for now. As usual, I hope you all are well! Please send me little updates on your lives as I am sure (and for some of you, I know!) much has happened since I took off from the States. I am sending all my love! Xx, Marissa
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