Director's Journal

Picture it:  1000 people, 3 sports, 1 event.  Thats right, I'm talking Triathlon.  Yesterday my sister and I participated in the Callaway Gardens 2008 Sprint Triathlon.  It's a 'beginner' triathlon, so it was quite a bit shorter than the Olympic or Ironman distances (those people have either the stamina of the Energizer Bunny or else a high tolerance for pain).  Ours was a 400-meter swim followed by a 10-mile bike ride followed by a 2-mile run, on a relatively flat course.   And yes, we did this of our own volition.  Actually, it was Leslie's idea.  I had toyed around with the thought of doing one in the past but never got up the guts to actually train for one.

This entry, while written for anyone attending our show TransforMotion this weekend, is actually written for the 127 dancers participating in this event.  Not to exclude the 17 choreographers, Bubba, Tim, Paulina, Michael, Marni, Rick nor the many volunteers involved, as I move through these days - performing my role in this production, my thoughts constantly gravitate to the dancers - especially those making their performance debut as well as those relatively new to this experience. 

Were you wondering what  happened to the door knob on the men's bathroom?  

If any of you have a suggestion on how to fix this, we'd appreciate your help.  Ofelia

Transformation is the most powerful word in our language. It describes change in a most favorable light, it sums up the experience of living, and it speaks, in a spiritual sense, to what makes life interesting.  

This is a note from Bubba:

So I've just returned back to my condo here in the quite hot and ever so sparkly Las Vegas. The audience tonight was amazing...quite a difference from the past few who obviously thought they were at a wake for a loved one. I have to tell you first hand that a lively and interactive audience certainly makes a difference when performing for a crowd of 4000. I'll catch you up a bit since I haven't taken the time to keep up.

With a month under our belt, our new website is beginning to feel comfortable.  We made the leap from horse and buggy to spacecraft and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to wishing we had the buggy back more than once (a day).  Until now.  Lately I find myself just staring at our homepage - watching the banners rotate while the video and soundtrack plays. That video is just over a minute, so that's how long it takes me to get to where I am going on the site... I am sure I've seen it a thousand times, but never do I tire from seeing it again. 

I am traveling this week and presently find myself in LA.  Yesterday morning I walked by the Fitness Center  of my hotel (on my way to breakfast) and stopped dead in my tracks... In the aerobics room were a mixed group of people in some kind of fitness class.  They were on yoga mats and organized into groups doing a variety of things from stretching to conditioning and it took all the self control I could muster not to run in there and yell: STOP!!!

Happy Anniversary Dance 101!  13 new classes on the schedule!  A week of Free Classes! New Website! Trunk shows! Rehearsals! Performance at the Alliance in June!  And that's just work.  Don't get me started on all that's going on in my personal life, too.  Between them both, I can't tell you how it feels when my head hits the pillow.  Anthony Robbins, in "Awaken the Giant Within", Chapter 9, "The Vocabulary of Ultimate Success" is redefining my speech lately.  This is survival terminology.  Some examples:

Instead of saying:              Say this:

overwhelmed.....                  in demand