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Choreographer's Diary

by Leigh Witchel

Day 33 - September 11, 1999.
5 days until the performance.

We work in the early evening on Saturday to give Horizon a final cleaning rehearsal - beginning Monday, we will be using rehearsal time to run all the ballets.

My friend Amy comes to rehearsal as an extra eye to help out with the ballet. I'm glad she's here, the central part that Frances is doing was originally choreographed on her, but she was unable to perform it because of a ripped ligament in her foot. I begin by cleaning the last three minutes of the ballet (where we left off the last rehearsal) and then we run/mark the piece movement by movement, giving notes, and then do a run full out. Amy asks me why they're marking the movement by movement section, and I explain that the studio floor is so hard they really can't do the ballet twice full out. I'm not making excuses for them, unfortunately. One day, I jumped a little to demonstrate something and my ankles and back started to hurt. Alas, finding 110 consistent hours of rehearsal time for an affordable price in New York City is no easy task.

The rehearsal progresses in an orderly enough fashion, although with the same edginess that's been present. I have to really insist on the dancers paying attention to me, they're wrapped up in their own anxieties and concerns. Once all the notes are given and the rehearsal ends, all hell breaks loose. I spend a good deal of time listening to some upset dancers who can't communicate their concerns to their partners. It's upsetting to them, and justifiably so, but I've done six concerts now, and something similar to this tends to happen right about now. I need to mediate where necessary, but most of this is nerves. At this point in the process, I've gone from being a choreographer to being a manager, because the steps are done and that's what's needed.


Day 34