Neo Indoor Picnic

Well, my goodness, it is just pouring BUCKETS in Boston! Pouring, pouring, pouring rain ever since yesterday. That did not keep me from having a full and busy day though!

This morning the Neo ladies and I visited the artistic directors of another local dance company to audition to be the opening act for their upcoming performance. This company is larger than ours, and their shows are well attended, since they have an established audience here in Boston. My dancers performed their piece well, and now we must wait! We will probably know by the middle of the week whether or not we will be in the performance. Keep your fingers crossed - it would be a great opportunity for my company!

Since we had to meet at a dance studio in the city at noon, this put a wrench in our normal rehearsal schedule. I offered the girls a stop-over lunch at my house on the way to rehearsal in the North Shore. It was such fun!



I absolutely love entertaining, and nothing makes me happier than seeing my dining room table filled with dancers! We had a tasty lunch of Carrot-Ginger Soup, recipe here. This is one of my new favorite go-to recipes. I recommend doubling the batch, otherwise it will be gone in an instant!

I hope that you are staying warm, toasty and DRY wherever you are!

CRDF Recap

Thank you for the well wishes for my dance company's performances. Everything went swimmingly!



If you want to read a detailed recap of my dancing weekend, you can do so over at the NEOBLOG.

Unfortunately, I think my busy weekend ran me down a bit, I've been suffering with a bit of a stomach bug since last night. I'm off to get some rest for the evening, hopefully I will be back to my good-lookin' cookin' crafty self soon!

xo!

Dancey-Dance-Dancey Time

Hello Everybody!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA in this space. My dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, is performing this weekend at the Charles River Dance Festival and preparations have been afoot...HAR, HAR! If you live within driving distance of Watertown, Massachusetts you should come check out the show! Two viewings at 3:00pm and 8:00pm.



In other exciting Neo news, after many, many, MANY years I have finally updated the website. There are still a few links to fill in, but my eyeballs feel like they are bleeding from staring at my computer screen for the past two days, so I'm calling it good for now! Please check it out, and let me know your thoughts.

Tomorrow is going to be a full-on dance day, because in addition to my company's two performances, I have a new session of my dance class for children with Down's syndrome tomorrow. WAHOOOOO! I'll meet you back here when I emerge from Saturday night's sleeping coma!

Phew!

Matt and Hobbes look how I feel! Tuckered out!

Today was a momentous day at work for me. Since the beginning of last summer I've been working on an entirely new curriculum for a program that I run for middle school girls. Today was their last day of class with me, and they gave an in-class performance based on what they had learned. Many of my co-workers, as well as the girls' families were in attendance. The whole thing went off without a hitch!

I was so nervous all week, because this was the culmination of not only my students' work, but A LOT of work on my part. I should've realized that I had nothing to worry about. The girls carried it all! I was a very proud teacher today.

Old Dogs Apparently Can Learn New Tricks aka Sarah finds her inner "B-Girl"

Break-dancing, breaking or hip-hop dancing is very new to me. Although it has been a street art-form for nearly forty years, hip-hop only entered the dance studio culture about ten years ago. By that time, I had already finished my formative dance training.

I took a two hour hip-hop intensive during last week's session of Taking Healthy Steps, one of the many programs I help out with at Boston Ballet. Boy was I SORE, but I discovered, that I really like it!

I'd like to share a bit of what I learned during the class.

"Top-rocking" is the most basic footwork that one can start out with. I found this YouTube video for an example:



There are all sorts of variations on this basic footwork that you can use to transition between "power-moves," such as flips and flares, floorwork, and "freezes."

I learned a few freezes, which I was pleasantly surprised that I was strong enough to do.

The simplest freeze is called the "Candlestick"



This is much like doing a shoulder stand in yoga, except you want to create angles with your legs, instead of straight lines. Pointing toes in hip-hop is a no-no!

Secondly, I learned to do the "Frog"



This is HARD!!!

Lastly, I was surprised to discover that I could pull off the "Spider"



I couldn't resist half-pointing my toes, (old habits die hard), but I'll work on flexing them, HAR HAR! One thing at a time right?

If you've made it this far, and enjoyed the post, leave a "B-Girl" name suggestion in the comments! Maybe if they amuse me enough there will be a prize for my favorite... :)

This is my time

"For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance."
Ecclesiastes 3

For as long as I can remember dance has always been a part of my life.

Last Waltz on Bastille Day, Robert Doisneau



At three years old I took my first dance lessons in a studio above the gym where my sister Ren practiced gymnastics. I have vague memories of being taught by a fellow named Mark, who in my mind will always be wearing blue tights and hair all askew like Jean Simmons.

One day Mark showed us a video clip of British ballerina Margot Fonteyn dancing a solo called the "Black Dahlia".

Margot Fonteyn



At the beginning of her solo, her long, black tutu was pulled upwards around her face, and slowly she would let the layers of tulle drop around her as she started to dance, just like a flower opening. The effect was beautiful, and it has stuck in my mind to this day.

I tried to copy the dance at home by tying my dress-up Dracula cape around my waist and pulling it up over my head. Needless to say the effect was more comic than beautiful! My mom and my sister used to hide in the kitchen rolling on the floor in laughter as I subjected all of the neighborhood boys (I was the lone girl in the neighborhood) to my "performances".

And that was that. I was hooked.

Raymonda, circa 1997, I'm fourth from the left, 13 years old.



My love of dance escalated to training seven days a week in high school. I dreamed of dancing for companies like American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet. When I was seventeen I faced the hard realization that that destiny is for a chosen few, and my curvaceous genes were standing firmly in between me and a career in classical ballet.

So I began to teach and choreograph, and I hung up the pointe shoes and focused on more forgiving dance forms; modern, jazz and contemporary.

Then my life went crazy for a couple of years, which I won't go into right now, (if you know me personally or have been reading for a long time, you'll know what I'm referring to). However, throughout everything, when the figurative shit was hitting the fan over and over again, the constants have been my family, my friends and dance.

Professionally, these past few years have been extraordinarily difficult ones. I have gone through one workplace heartbreak after another and have come close to financial destitution. Sticking by dance has come at the expense of so much sacrifice.

At 17 years old, I realized that I would never dance for Boston Ballet.

Two days ago I accepted a full-time staff position with Boston Ballet. Yesterday, I started moving into my office.

Salary, benefits, paid vacation, the works.

Words cannot even begin to express how I feel right now. My entire life from my first dance lesson above Kelly's Gymnastics to pressing "SEND" e-mailing my resume to Boston, absolutely sure that they would never call me back has been leading up to this moment. I cannot believe it. My luck has come around.

This may be corny and philosophical but I just want to say, if there is something that you want to do in life, you should go and do it. I have been told that I needed to get a "real" job, I have looked at my bank account and wondered how I was going to eat, I have cried and cried and cried because I thought maybe it was time to not just hang up the pointe shoes, but chuck dance all together.

I only have one life, and at the end of the day this is what I want to do with it. And here I am. What are YOU doing? Is it what you dreamed of when you were 3 years old? 10 years old? 16 years old? Do you go to work every morning thinking "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life!" I hope that you do! But if not, why not go after your dreams? It's never too late. That's so cheese ball and cliche, but I believe it.

Wow this has turned into one of those epic posts...

I want to close with this quote from Merce Cunningham, a famous choreographer who just recently passed away. He lived until ninety and blazed a trail through the dance world until the very end. His words are wise and closely sum up how I feel at this moment...

"You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive."
Merce Cunningham

Maine State Ballet Choreographer's Concert

Whew - felt weird to go quiet after being so posty-posty the last few days!

Truth be told, I've been quite busy working on a new dance work for this:



My dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, has a show this evening and tomorrow in Falmouth, Maine. If you are local, you should check it out. Only $12 a ticket to see live dance. That's probably less than a night at the movies when you factor in a $10 popcorn!

I wish I could report that this new piece has gone swimmingly and that the rehearsal process has been daffodils and roses. That is sadly not the case. What started out as a piece for six girls and two boys is now a dance for seven girls. I lost both of my guy dancers, getting every one in the same room at the same time for rehearsal has been next to impossible, and I only had three and a half solid rehearsals to pull out four minutes of all new choreography. I am more than a little scared as to how this is going to go tonight.

The other day I was complaining to one of my friends in my Stitch n' Bitch group, (the emphasis was heavy on the bitchin' that night), about how I wish I were a painter. If one of my tubes of paint went missing, it would be so easy to just go down to the store and buy another. When one of my dancer's doesn't show up to rehearsal...well, that's not so easy. It's a little hard to create something lovely, when you're missing your art supplies.

Anyways...just a bit of frustration on my end this week. The main reason I signed up for this showcase was to force myself to produce some new choreography, and I have. I intend for this four minute block to be the opening to a much longer work, and if I truly hate bits of it, I can always change it later. Thank goodness it's labeled a work in progress!

Wish me luck tonight!

Neo in New York

Just four days after the Boston debut, ten of the Neo girls, plus myself departed New England and headed towards New York City!

We were there just two and a half days. Here are some of the sights that we saw...









On day one we pretty much checked into our hotel and headed straight to City Center a few hours later. We arrived for our technical rehearsal and discovered quickly that like most of New York, the building was old, not air-conditioned and HOT! Warming up was not an issue for my dancers at all.

Our "dressing room" was nothing more than a stair landing with these neat-o old wooden lockers. Hey, you've got to start somewhere right?!

You can see the lockers on the left...



The company teched...





Then we found out that my piece was the show closer for both evenings. Primo spot!

So they performed...beautifully...





On night two - the of age ladies in the bunch went out for a night on the town to celebrate! We went to this great bar called Faces and Names right off of Times Square. We might have celebrated a little too much, since we returned to the hotel room at 3:45am and did not go to bed until 5:00! There is a reason that they call it "The city that never sleeps!"

After a good long rest, and some greasy spoon breakfast, it was homeward bound for the New England girls.

For me, this is where the fun stops.

About 10 minutes outside of the city, I was following an 18 wheeler going about 50 MPH, when I saw a HUGE bump in the road, like a frost heave, the size of a milk crate. Since I was behind a truck, I saw it at the last moment and had no choice but to go over it. And over it I did go, and flew through the air Dukes of Hazard style in my little Jetta and came down with a crack. Immediately we knew that we had done some damage to the car, but we didn't know what. I had to pull over three lanes of traffic and check it out (PERILOUS!!!)

When I got out of my car I discovered that the bottom half of my bumper was 3/4 of the way ripped off and dragging underneath. Lovely. With nothing to secure it, I had to get back on the highway and drag it some more, to the next exit. The we got duct tape (classy) and taped it up and hit the road again. I haven't even gotten it looked at yet...because I don't even want to know how expensive it's going to be!

Then, when we got back on the road in Connecticut, it took us 3 1/2 hours to go 75 miles. Aaaaaand, my car is a standard. Clutch, brake, clutch, brake. So irritating. We left NYC at 1:30 and we arrived in New Hampshire at 9:15. It took us almost eight hours to make a 4.5 hour trip!!! Not fun!

However, that aside, having my work performed in NYC was thrilling. Lifelong dream - checked off and done! Now I'm dreaming of going back, again and again and again.

I've already started working on my next piece, which is to a live version of Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye. I'm pretty psyched about it - maybe I'll try to get some rehearsal video up to give all of you a sneak preview.

More soon - maybe some craftiness :)

Dance for World Community

I literally started this post over a week ago. When I finally catch you up on all of my adventures, you will understand why I haven't posted until now!





On June 6th, my recently resurrected dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, had the pleasure of participating in the first annual Dance for World Community Festival, hosted by Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre. We arrived at 11:30 and did not leave until 10:30 at night!!!

The festival featured free performances by local youth troupes and dance companies, near forty total! There were four different performance venues within the block, so there were always four stages presenting something simultaneously. There were also free dance classes, in all genres and levels of dance. There was an entire street dedicated to informational booths devoted to dance and other social causes, environment, gay and lesbian task force, shelters, etc.

Here are some shots of our booth:





DWC was also Neo's Boston debut, which was quite exciting for us all! Here are some of my favorite performance shots:

















After the performances were done for the day, the event culminated with a "Dancing in the Street" party, featuring a variety of local musicians.



It was then that we met some b-boys from Losst Unnown, and we had a little dance off. (They win, HA! Although, they were impressed when I pulled my leg over my head and did a split. HAHAHA - no big deal - I wish I could spin on my hands on pavement, much more impressive!) They were friendly and awesome guys, and whooo boy could they dance!



We busted it as well...



As I looked around me at the end of the evening, I was amazed to see, little tween ballerinas, still in their pink tights, bouncing around to an African band, my own company of contemporary jazz dancers breaking it down with the b-boys, it was like something out of a cheesy dance movie...but it was really happening. I was just awestruck at that very moment soaking in the incredible diversity of people there dancing in the street. All so different, but with one thing in common, the desire to move, the need to speak with our bodies, and bring some beauty and joy to the world.

It was a very good day.

Next up, we traveled to NYC for the big City Center debut! I will try to post soon.

Mother's Day Sunday

Today started off with a lovely family breakfast. This year, we revisited a familiar Mother's day haunt, the Wentworth by the Sea. If you have a minute, visit their website, just to see a few pictures of the place. It's a gorgeous resort!

Mom's pick for her special day was eggs benedict served over lobster hash. I snuck a bite and it was incredibly tasty!



I opted for a more traditional favorite. Pancakes and bacon, NOM-NOM!



My nephew Aaron was there, entertaining all, as babies do!

my mum and dad with aaron



Mom has a magic way with the baby-folk. I guess that's what happens when you have four children!

mum loving on her grandbaby



After leaving mum with an appropriately sappy card and half a pound of penuche, (one of her favorites), I headed off to rehearse for the day in Marblehead. Rehearsals for our upcoming shows are going very well! BB is kindly lending me gorgeous studio space for rehearsal, and the crop of dancers that I'm working with are incredibly talented. I feel so lucky!

Matt and I both found ourselves free tonight, which is SO rare, therefore we headed out for a movie. We saw The Soloist which was a little slow going at times, but it is a wonderful story, and I enjoyed the movie immensely overall. I would be interested to read the book upon which the film is based.

Tomorrow...I will share with you more Pyrex lurve. And no, I did not thrift it. (FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL MY ONE MONTH THRIFTING DIET IS OVER, WAHOO!)

NDC's Choreography Reel is Now Online

Hi friends,

I have been a bit stressed and busy with arranging dancers, rehearsing and preparing for our big shows in Boston and New York! So to make up for lost posts, I would like to share with you our 09/10' choreography reel which is now online. You can watch it via YouTube or Vimeo.

When we perform in Boston we will be presenting "Burst" which is the last piece in the video (rose petaled leotards and red pants), choreography by me, and "Don't I Look Good Doin' This?" (first piece with the bench) and "Spy Underground" (blue and yellow leotards) choreographed by my assistant director Jess Soucy. We'll be presenting "Burst" again in NYC.

Check out our 2009-2010 Choreography Reel on YouTube or Vimeo:

Neoteric Dance Collaborative Choreography Reel 2009-2010 from Neoteric Dance Collaborative on Vimeo.

All choreography is by Artistic Director Sarah Cost and Assistant Director/Resident Choreographer Jess Soucy.

This is my non-crafty life - although I find it to be very crafty indeed. Crafty with bodies instead of fabric and yarn! Please view and rate and comment! I would so appreciate it!

xo - Sarah

I've been so busy - and this is why...

Last Friday night I witnessed an exceptional theater/dance performance by a group of twenty girls from the Dover area, in 7th grade through high school. Entitled "PROUD," this theatrical experience gave me chills. It was strong, uplifting, and fun!...

Read the full article at Fosters.com

And there is big news beyond the next link:

Dancing Through Life Newsletter - April 2009

NDC's Performance : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Two of my dancers, Allison and Angie


This past weekend, my dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, performed two pieces at a local dance showcase for the first time in four years. It was the first time that I performed a "real" work, i.e. not walking around and gesturing in The Nutcracker, in four years as well. It was mildly terrifying.

Hanging out in the dressing room


I experienced stage fright like I had never experienced before while waiting to walk out on stage. My heart was slamming in my chest, my parents were in the audience, one of my friends from college who was in the international tours of CATS and 42nd Street randomly showed up. Combined it was so incredibly overwhelming and intimidating.

Then came the technical difficulties to make matters worse.

Twisted Obsession, my piece




My piece started out in a tableau far downstage - some of the dancers holding their poses on one leg, (thankfully, not me). The lighting/sound guy did not bring up the lights or music for, oh, two and half minutes. Sadly, we were not the only dance group that experienced technical difficulties that night.

The dancing portion went well for both of our pieces. We received many compliments and it was nice.

Then I saw the video.

Monkey-ing around


I knew that seeing a video of myself dancing after all of these years was going to be difficult, but it was much worse for me than I imagined. I knew I was not going to enjoy seeing how large I am in comparison to every one else or that certain elements of my technique had gone by the wayside. What I didn't expect was the feeling that I'm not capable to use my body to express my ideas. That was the most frustrating. I looked at my choreography on my other dancers, and it looked right. I looked at it on myself, and it looked wrong. I feel like a painter that has to tell other people to pick up my paintbrush for me in order to get my idea across, and that hurts.

Duality, Jess' piece


Beautiful Allison


It's taken me four years to step back onto that stage and I'm certainly not going to turn back now. My self-confidence is just feeling pretty bruised. I'm trying hard to celebrate this as a small victory, but the mental roadblocks popping up all around me are making that difficult to do.

Stretchy Arabesque


This is the life that I want back, that I've been crawling back to. I know that everything important in your life is worth fighting for, I'm just feeling a little deflated that it always seems to be such an epic battle.

Blah, cheese, whine, and I'm done.

Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Drive, Dance, Drive, Physical Therapy, Repeat.

Well hello, remember me? My name is Sarah, and once upon a time I used to be a blogger!

I've been CRAZY-tastic busy. The title of this post says it all. Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Drive, Dance, Drive, Physical Therapy, Repeat. That has been my whole life lately. Which is okay, minus the zero crafty bloggy time.

Alas, I have nothing crafty to share today, but I have physical therapy photos...

Ladies and gents, I present, the ROBO-BAND-AID!



This thing is the craziest thing that I've ever seen. My shoulder was really bothering me the other day in therapy. Before my physical therapist sent me off for the day she slapped this band-aid on. She applied a pain relieving drug to the bandage, which then had to be charged up. Yup, that's a battery that you see in the picture. As soon as the band-aid was charged opposing magnets within the bandage pulled the medicine down into my skin where it provided relief for about four hours.

Where can I get a stack of these to put all over my body when I perform?!?! Technological awesomeness I tell you!

In dancing news, I've put together an e-newsletter to keep people posted of my dancing adventures. If you'd like to subscribe to future issues of this newsletter, send me an e-mail.

Cheers for now - tomorrow I'm training at BB for CityDance and interviewing for a part-time admin position. Keep your fingers crossed for me!