Category Archives: flashback

Throwback Thursday: Cindy edition #tbt

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RB as Winter Fairy in "Cinderella".

This #tbt is inspired by Breaking Pointe*, the CW docu-drama series following Ballet West**. This season on the show the company is performing Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella. (The filming took place during their 2012-2013 season.) This past Monday the cast list went up and had me meandering down memory lane.

Cinderella is one of my favorite ballets. Prokofiev’s sparkling music, the magical transformation with the carriage, the hilarious ugly step sisters (Yes, I was one. Too fun.), the whimsical choreography (I’m fairly certain all versions take liberally from Ashton) and the story. Even though I take issue with the lesson that everything is “happily ever after” once you meet your prince…I’m still a sucker for this romantic tale.

I really, really wanted to be Cinderella. It was my dream part. Alas, my best friend and roommate got the coveted role. As awkward as that sounds, we immediately discussed any hurt feeling and I ended up sitting in on her rehearsals for moral support. (She was fabulous, by the way, and admittedly a better dancer than me.) I was cast as the Winter Fairy, which has a beautiful, but slightly boring variation. I also had to wear a powder blue tutu. Yuck! I coped by wearing copious amounts of blue eye shadow. Blue rogueness.

While the solo variation wasn’t particularly challenging , the group fairy variations with the Fairy Godmother were fast and fun. The tick-tock clock countdown in Act II was hard and a blast, but the Act III interlude before the wedding pas, where we bourree in place forEVER killed my poor hips.

* I live-tweet the episodes on Monday evenings. Follow along @rogueballerina

**Ballet West will be performing in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre this October. Get tickets here!

Throwback Thursday

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Backyard Betty posing for the camera.

Last month I was at the Chicago Repertory Ballet performance (great show, Wade Schaaf’s The Rite of Spring was awesome!) and a pre-show song jogged my memory.

Peaches & Herb’s Shake Your Groove Thing was my first solo. An acro-jazz combo with some hips, a few turns and lots of flips and sass, the piece was right up my alley. While excited, the news that I was to perform it not only at my studio’s recital but at the local mall, threw me into a state.

My hopes that no one would be at the mall on a Saturday were dashed as the crowd gathered before the show. Gulp! My nerves (which became infamous in later years) were getting the best of me. First rule when you’re nervous before a performance? Go over your steps. I knew the steps. I just didn’t necessarily want to do them in front of all these people…in the day light…on stage at the center the mall!

Ok, I thought, I can do this. I can do this in my sleep. What do I need to do? 1. Point your feet. 2. Don’t flip into the brick wall. 3. Don’t fall into the water moat at the front of the stage. 4. Smile. Crap, don’t forget to smile. Obviously I made it through, since I wasn’t shamed into hiding. But it was close.