My experience as an Italian grandma onstage in Act 1 and Act 3 with the Royal Danish Ballet began as a simple audition at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a 'large and tall' woman. I tried out a few years ago for the American Ballet Theatre as an extra yet there was a lot of competition. I am very supportive and involved with the arts in OC as I work at the Center as an usher captain as well as a volunteer tour docent plus show media distribution with the street team so I check out the Scfta.org site often for the latest news for upcoming events.
At the audition was young female ballerinas and a few boy dancers plus some college age male dancers. We all got to be in the show! Auditions were on Wednesday morning followed by a quick rehearsal overview. The Royal Danish Ballet's staff was so nice and personal. Very easy to work with. I was impressed by the parents/guardians with the young talent. The young dancers were so well behaved and professional, better than most adults I encounter!
On Friday we rehearsed from 1-4:30 as a full cast in costume which included a cast picture which included the local 'foreigners' as referred by one of the Danish Ballet staff, then we returned at 6:30pm for the 7:30pm opening night performance of Napoli - a comic fairy tale set on the Italian coast. Downstairs in the dressing rooms, I got my very own lighted counter space alongside the ballerinas. In the center of the room is the garment racks with all the costumes labeled for the performers. Most of the dancers are from Denmark, yet some were originally from the USA. The banter is usually in Danish. My costume is a simple oversize print dress which I throw over a tank top and black slip with the black tights and low heel shoes they provided plus the clip on big earrings and cocktail ring. The Danish lady at the audition loved my wild curly hair so I didn't have to wear their usual short grey wig plus my stage husband is a young male so the long hair as an Italian grandma worked out well.
My first appearance onstage is with my stage family as we sit at the outdoor cafe - US dancer Holly Jean Dorger from Michigan sits with Danish dancer Gabor Baunoch and the three young Danish dancers who portrayed their children. We sip on wine aka punch and pretend to eat eternal rubber pasta which never goes away! Our local dancer Noah plays a waiter who keeps the red liquid pouring and we actually get to munch on long thin breadsticks as the Danish dancers dance nearby our table in center stage. The dirty face young Danish dance students keep nicking the money and extra food from our table. Before the Act concludes, a thunderstorm interrupts our outing and my comic contribution is being dragged across the stage by my son-in-law as I hold onto my pasta plate attempting to get a few more bites in! This will be a great before picture for me as I look to lose my midlife weight as I am so inspired to return to dance to regain the size 9 fit model body I once had for many years.
The mix of dancers as village characters plus the main dancers is a contrast of fun and entertainment plus the live music of the symphony is like being in a movie. I want to pinch myself that this is real. The theatre is filled with patrons yet the professional theatre red interior absorbs the details of the audience so it just feels like we are really in Napoli yet without the seaside breeze and fish smells! One of the background actors is a dancer who has been with the company for 58 years! I understand this is his final year and his last production as retirement beckons. 'Who knows' kids dancer Gabor to him, maybe 'Florida'!
Act 2 must be great as the costumes of the underwater experience look beautiful yet I am in Act 3 so I hear the orchestra play in the dressing room room speaker as I wait in the dressing room chatting with the local union dressers and makeup staff while I teach myself to knit as I was inspired by the two dancers who knit onstage during Act 3. There is TV monitors on stage and with longtime sewing room staff Barbara Poppas but I am content to be in the dressing room for a break. There is a freight elevator to go the one floor up to the main level yet most of the orchestra, cast and crew quickly race up and down the flight of stairs. Quick a flurry of costumes and musicians in black and white plus the stage crew in black.
In the halls is the wheel bottom wood box base garment racks which were shipped in several containers with the sets for the shows. Big silver cases line one hall as they are the airline travel containers for the cast's makeup bags and other items. Lars from Denmark oversees this production and he has been with the company for 32 years.
In the green room is Jeanne, the required teacher for the school age extras from Southern California. She usually works as a teacher at film sites and she has been with the Center since it opened. Some of the young girls are making embroidery floss tri colour bracelets to pass the time. The teacher clears out the students during the show breaks when the musicians from the Pacific Symphony Orchestra pile in to relax and invade the vending machines.
As a familiar supporter at the Center, some of my co-workers and volunteers did a double take of me in costume. I went on Friday to the Calling Center trailer to visit my former co-workers who busily help keep the donations flowing into the non profit center. Before the audition, Theatre Operations manager, David Leavenworth, said he knew he recognized me yet he was wondering why I wasn't in the usher uniform.
During Act 3, my onstage Italian grandpa/husband is dancer Andrew from Anaheim Ballet who is from La Puente and he is a paralegal major at Mt. Sac College. We sit on a small bench on stage left as the festive dancers rejoice for the festive wedding of the reunited lovers. The Tarentella folk dance is timeless for this sparkling finale where we all clap and dance on the sidelines of the main dancers. Above the stage is the bridge with a mix of the Danish young student dancers and the local dancers from various dance schools.
I want to go visit the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen because of this experience with the world's oldest ballet company which was founded back in the 1770s. The handsome Artistic Director Nikolaj Hubbe is very captivating in his presence backstage with the dancers as well as in the dress room hallways . The dancers are his children and the theatre is his lifeblood pumping in his veins yet there is a collective calm one feels as he passes by. Tomorrow is Sunday and the final performance at the matinee. Where did the past few days go? It has been a wonderful bubble being with the Royal Danish Ballet and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. It has been 15 years since they have performed here and I hope it will be more often. They don't need to be strangers to our sunshine.
At the audition was young female ballerinas and a few boy dancers plus some college age male dancers. We all got to be in the show! Auditions were on Wednesday morning followed by a quick rehearsal overview. The Royal Danish Ballet's staff was so nice and personal. Very easy to work with. I was impressed by the parents/guardians with the young talent. The young dancers were so well behaved and professional, better than most adults I encounter!
On Friday we rehearsed from 1-4:30 as a full cast in costume which included a cast picture which included the local 'foreigners' as referred by one of the Danish Ballet staff, then we returned at 6:30pm for the 7:30pm opening night performance of Napoli - a comic fairy tale set on the Italian coast. Downstairs in the dressing rooms, I got my very own lighted counter space alongside the ballerinas. In the center of the room is the garment racks with all the costumes labeled for the performers. Most of the dancers are from Denmark, yet some were originally from the USA. The banter is usually in Danish. My costume is a simple oversize print dress which I throw over a tank top and black slip with the black tights and low heel shoes they provided plus the clip on big earrings and cocktail ring. The Danish lady at the audition loved my wild curly hair so I didn't have to wear their usual short grey wig plus my stage husband is a young male so the long hair as an Italian grandma worked out well.
My first appearance onstage is with my stage family as we sit at the outdoor cafe - US dancer Holly Jean Dorger from Michigan sits with Danish dancer Gabor Baunoch and the three young Danish dancers who portrayed their children. We sip on wine aka punch and pretend to eat eternal rubber pasta which never goes away! Our local dancer Noah plays a waiter who keeps the red liquid pouring and we actually get to munch on long thin breadsticks as the Danish dancers dance nearby our table in center stage. The dirty face young Danish dance students keep nicking the money and extra food from our table. Before the Act concludes, a thunderstorm interrupts our outing and my comic contribution is being dragged across the stage by my son-in-law as I hold onto my pasta plate attempting to get a few more bites in! This will be a great before picture for me as I look to lose my midlife weight as I am so inspired to return to dance to regain the size 9 fit model body I once had for many years.
The mix of dancers as village characters plus the main dancers is a contrast of fun and entertainment plus the live music of the symphony is like being in a movie. I want to pinch myself that this is real. The theatre is filled with patrons yet the professional theatre red interior absorbs the details of the audience so it just feels like we are really in Napoli yet without the seaside breeze and fish smells! One of the background actors is a dancer who has been with the company for 58 years! I understand this is his final year and his last production as retirement beckons. 'Who knows' kids dancer Gabor to him, maybe 'Florida'!
Act 2 must be great as the costumes of the underwater experience look beautiful yet I am in Act 3 so I hear the orchestra play in the dressing room room speaker as I wait in the dressing room chatting with the local union dressers and makeup staff while I teach myself to knit as I was inspired by the two dancers who knit onstage during Act 3. There is TV monitors on stage and with longtime sewing room staff Barbara Poppas but I am content to be in the dressing room for a break. There is a freight elevator to go the one floor up to the main level yet most of the orchestra, cast and crew quickly race up and down the flight of stairs. Quick a flurry of costumes and musicians in black and white plus the stage crew in black.
In the halls is the wheel bottom wood box base garment racks which were shipped in several containers with the sets for the shows. Big silver cases line one hall as they are the airline travel containers for the cast's makeup bags and other items. Lars from Denmark oversees this production and he has been with the company for 32 years.
In the green room is Jeanne, the required teacher for the school age extras from Southern California. She usually works as a teacher at film sites and she has been with the Center since it opened. Some of the young girls are making embroidery floss tri colour bracelets to pass the time. The teacher clears out the students during the show breaks when the musicians from the Pacific Symphony Orchestra pile in to relax and invade the vending machines.
As a familiar supporter at the Center, some of my co-workers and volunteers did a double take of me in costume. I went on Friday to the Calling Center trailer to visit my former co-workers who busily help keep the donations flowing into the non profit center. Before the audition, Theatre Operations manager, David Leavenworth, said he knew he recognized me yet he was wondering why I wasn't in the usher uniform.
During Act 3, my onstage Italian grandpa/husband is dancer Andrew from Anaheim Ballet who is from La Puente and he is a paralegal major at Mt. Sac College. We sit on a small bench on stage left as the festive dancers rejoice for the festive wedding of the reunited lovers. The Tarentella folk dance is timeless for this sparkling finale where we all clap and dance on the sidelines of the main dancers. Above the stage is the bridge with a mix of the Danish young student dancers and the local dancers from various dance schools.
I want to go visit the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen because of this experience with the world's oldest ballet company which was founded back in the 1770s. The handsome Artistic Director Nikolaj Hubbe is very captivating in his presence backstage with the dancers as well as in the dress room hallways . The dancers are his children and the theatre is his lifeblood pumping in his veins yet there is a collective calm one feels as he passes by. Tomorrow is Sunday and the final performance at the matinee. Where did the past few days go? It has been a wonderful bubble being with the Royal Danish Ballet and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. It has been 15 years since they have performed here and I hope it will be more often. They don't need to be strangers to our sunshine.
