Week six

So, week six...I can't believe it, I've been here for six whole weeks, and I have six more to go. Here's the halfway mark. How do I feel??...like I'm on a rollercoaster ALL the time.

On monday and tuesday I got to work privately with Max. I had one private session with him last year, so we reviewed that material and following that we got into some heavy work. Well, for me, anyways! The more I work with Max the more of a musician I become and really feel. His work is incredibly articulate, his rhythms are complex, and the counter parting going on between your hands and feet is hard! Its so hard!! But so good. I love having a huge challenge that I can keep working on. The thing with Max's work is that I might not be able to do it right away, but I understand it, so the work that he is giving me doesn't seem like a daunting impossible feat. I know if I keep practicing, I'll get it. And that sense of accomplishment is pretty incredible. He's also such a wonderful, kind, genuine person who I really want to hang with. haa. He's just like no one else. He is such a nice guy who is so ridiculously talented and really wants to share his work. The cd that he just recorded with his company should be available in the fall. The world needs to hear what he is up to!!!! If you are not familiar with Max's work, look him up. Youtube him, check out his website, or myspace will have some clips of the company.
Rumba Tap Website
Rumba tap myspace

On thursday and friday I went up to Brenda Bufalino's house in New Paltz and had an intensive two day mentorship. That...was unbelievable. New Paltz is an hour and a half north of NYC in the mountains. Her family has a stretch of land up there where she raised her kids, and now they have gone on to build homes for themselves. Brenda's ex-husband lives on the land as well, and Brenda herself with the help of her son is builidng a new space in a Barn. There are two floors, she built her tap studio first, she will build in an apartment for herself, and there will be three other creative spaces for her son, her daughter-in law, and a pottery studio for all of them all to share. How cool. Its pretty nice so far! I'm so bummed I forgot to take pictures! Sorry guys!
So, the experience.... I got there, we had some bruschetta, drank tea and chatted for a little while, then we got right into it. We would work for about two hours, and then she would leave me to practice while she went downstairs to make a pot. Occasionally I got yelled at between floors, but I was pretty level headed when it came to my solitude whilst practicing. heh. When she decided I needed a break, she came up with two beers, looked at me and said..."you drink beer right?" I thought, you gotta be kidding...this is hilarious. Brenda Bufalino is telling me to stop, take a break, and have a beer, in the middle of the afternoon. My kind of teacher, I'd say! And so would all of you who know my appreciation for alcoholic beverages...hee. Anyways, that's how the day would go. Work together for a while, practice until my feet turned to jello, eat and/or drink, then go again. It was INTENSE! She broke me down, pulled me a part, disected all of my inconsistencies. It was simultaneously awesome and dreadful. It is really hard when you get to a certain point in your dancing when you expect to be able to rely on your technique and musicality, but when both of those things...that make you a tap dancer, that define your voice...are being torn up all over the place, you begin to feel really vulnerable, and need to take ten steps backwards in order to understand where you need to go to get to the next level. So, those two days with Brenda will have an enormus impact on the entire future of my dancing...on the rest of my life. I am so ready for it, and am so excited to practice all of the gold that she gave me, but I can't say that I'm going to enjoy every step of the way to get to where I intend to be... but in time, that is what will seperate my artistry from being okay to extrordinary.
In addition to the work, hanging out with this legendary personality for two days was another incredible experience on its own. Brenda invited her friend Jay Clayton and her student Alexis over for dinner on the second night. Jay is apparantly one of the two divas of avant garde jazz. The night before I listened to a recording of a trio with Jay singing, Brenda dancing, and someone on piano who's name I forget. (whoops!) It was super cool. It was great to hang with them, and gain even more perspective from another generation of female artists. Listening to everything Brenda had to say about everything, really...was crazy cool. I learned some of her thoughts/opinions about a lot of people, past and present, how she feels about tap today, her own trials and tribulations throughout the years, family stuff, everything!! She got to know me pretty well too. We totally bonded! hehe. When I left, she reminded me that I am her student now for the rest of my life, and she's gonna wanna know what's going on with me. Amazing.

It's weird, half way through I feel like I could go home now. I have a huge new repetoire to practice, pull from, be inspired by...everything. I mean, I would stay here forever if it was easy, but I feel kinda full right now, and really miss my FREE practice space...and my friends. This week, I have decided to cut down on classes a bit and get into the studio and practice as much as possible. My main focus is to work privately, so I really feel I need to build on everything daily so that when I gain more time one on one, I can reach more growth rather than scramble to remember or complie everything once I am gone. I will still go to the classes I love, but I won't be too hard on myself if I miss every now and then, due to lots of practice time.

Speaking of classes I love, Lisa LaTouche was teaching again last week. I really truly love her dancing, how she teaches a class, and her choreography. Tonight I got to finally take Michelle Dorrance's class, taught by her and not a sub! Its sooooo good. She's got such a fun, wack personality, and her class is always technically challenging. She is always musically interesting, but I am glad that I am always technically pushed in her class. She's playing bass in a band tomorrow night that I'm gonna check out. That should be fun. These two ladies are also such genuine, awesome human beings who I just want to be around, learn from, and wish them good vibes in the tap universe.

I went to another Mets game last week. This time Dave couldn't go, so he offered me tickets and I went with my roommate Jessica. We had a wicked time. I ate a lot of stadium food! Who can help it that every time we wanted anything, the pretzel guy, the cotton candy dude, the beer man would be right there? You can't fight fate. haa. We were planning on going for greek food after, because the Mets play in Queens, and Queens has the best food, but of course, we were way too full.

Next week is going to be a little bit different than my regular scheduled programing. I am going to Vancouver! I was invited to audition for the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies. There is also a tap conference followed by the Van tap festival. I also have some great friends to visit, so I thought it was entirely worth it to take the trip. I will visit with my excellent friend Anna for the first few days, then I will do my audition, and stay for the conference. I'm not staying for the festival, because I want to get back to New York! As soon as I booked my flight the other day, I got super excited! I'm really looking forward to hanging with all of the tap dancers in the Canadian scene. It should be a great time.
Also, upon my weekend phone calls to friends and my parents, I was talking to Rob about all of this, and due to this whole Vancouver thing, he needed to spill a surprise that he was planning for me. So.......on friday, Rob will be here for my birthday!!!!! He was planning on a phone call/surprise live appearnce, but he told me last night so that we could make some solid plans. How amazing is that???? Things just keep getting better! What an incredible birthday present! And really, its just what I need... a little piece of home. I am so excited to have him here, even though its only a day and a half. It kindof works out perfectly actually, he needs to catch the bus at 7pm which is when I will have to head out to the airport. yaaaay.

So that was my week. Until next week...shortly before or shortly after, depending on when I have time around Rob's visit and Vancouver...

=)

at xo