CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 19

Weird Bruise #67
This one came from working on Risley (aka Icharian Games/ Foot Juggling). I started sitting on Monkey's feet and did a back flip off backwards. His toes pushing me up gave me a major pain in the ass. It didn't subside for 3 days either.

Some of us who need remedial tumbling lessons are now taking an additional class at a local gymnastics facility. This was week 2 and our first time getting on a serious regulation trampoline made with stretchy criss-crossed strings- it was kind of like being sling-shot! Here's me during and after a scary jump into the foam pit- kind of like an energy sucking vortex- it's so hard to climb out!












We learned a bunch of cool chair balances this week. They are fun and really helpful for stretching your back and shoulders!


This week was memorable for me also because I had an amazing private lesson with Mark- he stretched me waaaaaayyyy out and helped me pin point a possible reason for why my splits have constricted and left me. Since so much of what Monkey and I have been doing the past few weeks has been Risley, acro or really intense core stuff where I'm in hollow body position most of the time- he wondered if my lower back was staying tight and not really releasing ever....which can yank your hamstrings up as tight as guitar strings. This makes a lot of sense with how my body has been feeling. It's such a sensitive balance with this stage of my training- I'm realizing that I have to match my efforts in strengthening with double the amount of flexibility work. Even though I still get steam rolled every day in class- I am FINALLY feeling a hair more strong than I am weak....literally just this week that has happened. This is clearly a race the tortoises will win!

STRETCHY TIME WITH CHRIS

I spent a WILD Saturday night stretching with Chris, my contortionist roommate. We stretched our legs and backs with the warm up routine from "The Contortionists' Handbook"- which takes over an hour. It was a totally different way of stretching than what I'm used to- you only hold things for 5 seconds, then rest for 5 and repeat 10 times- but it's all pretty intense. The good news is that keeping tracks of all the counting makes the time go by really fast!

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 18

An amazing Australian acrobatic-stilt-theater teacher/performer named David Clarkson* came up from NY to teach us for 2 days. The first day he taught us some acro moves you can do on stilts- one move in particular was really fun to try to perfect- it's the first part of a Fish Flop (pictured left w/o the stilts). We gave our bodies a break on Friday, but worked our physical theater skills instead. With new variations on spatial awareness games and a REALLY emotionally intense 25 minute staring exercise- I was totally impressed. David was a great facilitator- supportive, challenging with lots of new insights.

*See some of David's unbelievable stilt/catapult/break dance/weird apparatus work here: http://www.stalker.com.au/

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEK 17

We're back to hard-core training again! We split our time between duo trapeze and partner acrobatics. Here is a one-knee hang on Monkey's foot. My body feels like I've been beaten with a bag or oranges from just this type of activity this week- hanging all your weight on various limbs requires a surprising amount of callouses and toughening...let alone the strength and coordination!

This is a Spanish Web- a totally dizzy-good time. You just strap your hand in and someone on the bottom whips your around super fast! Dizziest I've been since I first drank champagne and sangria together in high school.

NEW YEARS + LOAD OF FUN

BEST NEW YEARS EVER! It was a show, a dance party, an hour long Polaroid session and crazy-good times at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn on New Years with Dr. Lukki, Darlinda Just Darlinda, Little Brooklyn, Baby New Year, Nasty Canasta, Johnny Porkpie, Gal Friday and Albert Cadabra.


The party was definitely over January 2nd-6th.
We had to move out of our amazing rehearsal studio at Load Of Fun....many tears were shed in the process. Since we have decided to stay in Vermont longer and the rent on the space increased, it just didn't make sense to hold onto it. We had been at Load Of Fun for 2 years, were the second tenants to move in (even with rats, no heat and broken windows!) and were proud to be part of what has grown into an inspiring artistic community.

We packed up 2,000 sq feet of stuff and moved it into an 80 sq foot storage unit (and gave/sold uncountable things too). Here is my giant closet that Monkey made for us to store all of our costumes- it wouldn't fit out of the door. It had to be cut in half horizontally and I could only fit the bottom half into the storage space, but some closet is better than none!

Good bye Closet.

Good bye Rainbow.

Good bye Load Of Fun.

CHRISTMAS, HON!

We left right from the recital to rush home to Baltimore for our 3rd annual HOLIDAY SPECTAC-U-THON at The Patterson with Miss Astrid, Lukki, Paco, Bayo, Justin, Shortstaxx and the Stage Kittens.

Here's Monkey on 34th Street in Hampden...

Two days after Christmas, we opened up for The Dresden Dolls! Judging by the look on my face, it was practically an orgasmic experience!

The glamorous Meow Meow was charming as well...even on on all fours trying to pack her suitcase.

CIRCUS SCHOOL WEEKS 14 + 15

After 4 weeks of work, the NECCA Pro-Track's "Team Acro" unveiled our bad ass recital number- Kung Fu Fighting!
We really worked hard- learning tough, brand new skills and lots of choreography with 7 people in only 4 weeks. The night of the show, everything was going fantastic- we had tons of adrenaline and excitement. When it got to my first big move, I was pitched from Henry and Colleen into a "Oiseau" above Monkey's head...we were so pumped up I literally flew OVER his head! He caught me low on the legs instead of the hips, but Monkey broke my fall entirely! We went down like a ton of bricks! We both jumped up and goofed our way into place, immediately picking up with the rest of the sequence! The irony is that that trick wasn't the one that terrified me the most- the one below was! Luckily we have had enough clown training to cover even this major fuck up! It was still fun and funny for many days afterwards...only Monkey is still nursing a sore shoulder- poor Monkey!

This is a back flip of Monkey's shoulders. (The photo is from rehearsal, I didn't have a spotter at the show...just so you know!)