Sunday, September 30, 2007

NEW ENGLAND CHARM


New England Gay Pride or Elementary School Fall Equinox Festival? You decide.
The cute-quaint charm of this part of the country should be illegal. Or at least there should be warning signs- almost like traffic signs. "Dancing Children Ahead"
or "Danger: Extremely Picturesque View" or "Cavorting Woodland Creatures May Distract Drivers"


As you can imagine, basic decisions like which butternut squash to choose become very difficult under these extreme conditions.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 3

Theme of the Week: Run, Girl, Run!
Where the level of soreness in the past couple weeks was hovering around 9 or 10, this week never got above 8. I went running three times- at home and at the studio- always in cemeteries! Beautiful, quiet and serene but weirdly ironic somehow- when you feel your blood and breath so intensely- you're so acutely, physically alive yet surrounded by such formal reverence to the dead. It's nice and humbling.

Climbing is getting easier and important pain-preventing callouses are forming on my hands. On Thursday, Zina coached us in tumbling and partner acro- which we love and are proficient in, so we were able to help people too. I had never done a front limber before- from a handstand you lower both feet to the ground into a bridge and then stand up (different from walk-overs where one foot lands first). Our private lesson was with Serenity this week and we workshopped 3-person acro with chairs. It was hard to get good photos of it- video would have been better- but here are some of the positions above. Friday culminated in our second social gathering with our circus program peeps- we had awesome Thai food and plotted some smart-assery to inflict upon our acting teacher!

In Hula Hoop News: My transition to head stand foot hooping is getting smoother AND I finally figure out how to kick the hoop back up to hips from knees. My ankles are brusied pretty badly from starting to work on kicking up TO knees from the ground- when they heal, I'll be back to work on that one.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

APPLE PICKING & THE CHALET


This weekend was real New Englandy. Friday we got to go apple picking in New Hampshire with the girls who live in the house where we're living- they are brilliant and fun. One bushel and a bellyful of apples later, we were making apple crisp to take to a potluck dinner with peeps from the circus program. Saturday night we went to Bradford (aka Doctor Donut) and Chase's "CHALET" outside of Brattleboro. After many cocktails and embarassing (for me anyway) games of ping pong, foos ball and Clue by the crackling fire- we went to sleep only to wake up to more woodland creatures than Snow White could attract in heat. Literally, a wee little blue bird was staring at me through the window of one room, while a red squirrel chirpped and signaled with his tail out of another. I was waiting for them to make my breakfast, but Chase did that instead. The day culminated in a walk, some "chipmunk therapy" (staring in silence as the agonizingly cute chipmunk critters gobble up the scattered remains of the bird feeder) and one more rousing game- this time it was badmitton. Which we lost. Probably because of me. The Chalet was like a slice of Alpine wonderment- note the squirrel pattern railings on the deck that they designed themselves. So much cuteness IS PAINFUL!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 2


Tuesday was startling for me. I was so cold in the morning that I had to get dressed under the covers. This was alarming because it's only September. I know the cold weather is coming, but really...changing under the covers in September? Luckily the rest of the week has been GORGE. And the leaves are just starting to change. Muscles and joints were tighter and more resistant this week- after so much exertion it's kind of normal. We got to meet Zina this week- the former Russian gymnast and coach to all the contortionists. She lived up to her nice/tough reputation during our tumbling class today- especially busting our chops on handstand form. Our private this week with Bill was spent mainly on me basing Monkey- a crazy feat for someone 50 pounds smaller!

This two-high shoulder stand above was like insanely painful- it felt like my whole ribcage could collapse into a pile down from the top of my collarbones. But we kept at it and Bill made me walk forward, backward, side to side with him up there a few times. As for the hooping update- I am now able to go from shoulder stand into a shoulder roll into head stand- all while hooping on my right foot and Monkey hooped whilst on the tightwire- SERIOUS TRICKS!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

NYC Visit


After our week of training, we went up to NYC for some shows. Miss Coney Island Beauty Pageant, The Murray Hill Show and Indian Larry's Memorial Bike Rally which involved tons of bikers, macaroni & cheese, pickles, and a dunk tank- guess who was the first one in the tank...





Circus School Group Photo- Week 1


Foot Hooping














Foot hooping was something I was able to do already when I got here, but I've been working on more ankle rotation and less leg movement. The shoulder stand part was something I just got this week.

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 1

Monkey and I got settled in last week for our 4 month autumn adventure at the New England Center for Circus Arts. There are 16 people in our class- all amazing and talented ALREADY- I can't wait to see our progress! Our main teachers are Elsie and Serenity- the "Trapeze Twins"- pretty much the nicest, most graceful and pleasant people you could ever meet...until they make you do crazy things that are insanely painful! Our week consists of 3 group classes (3 hours long), a 1 hour private lesson (with Bill Forchion) and another 3 hour minimum of open studio time- we also have to start running on our own several times each week. The first few days were challenging, yet manageable- full of majorly intense partner stretching and conditioning exercises mostly with Elsie. But then on Friday, Serenity took it up several notches- probably waiting until the last day of the week so we would have the weekend to recover. By the end of the week, I was generally tender and tired everywhere- but we had to give 200%. Some of the more memorable difficult moments included 1.5 minute handstands, followed by 1.5 minute crow (an arm balance), followed by another minute handstand and ANOTHER minute long crow, 30 slow press up headstands- 10 tuck ups, 10 pike ups, 10 straddle ups. Then over an hour of tumbling drills, trapeze and fabric ab exercises culminating in even more abs! Needless to say, I have been walking like Frankenstein with actual tears welling up in my eyes when I encounter a set of stairs (up and down hurts equally) and even laughing kind of makes me want to curl up and die. Having been in the studio all week has been super productive for our partner balancing and my foot hooping has made massive improvements in just this one week- it's exciting!