crunch time

Tuesday night came back to tech rehearsals. We were all feeling the burn, like walking zombies. Called it quits early since everyone wasn't there anyway. Sleep is better than practice. There is a thing called overpractice. I'm finding this job as director is not just about timing on stage but timing over all. To pace the group, so that we peak at the right moment.

Tonight was the final dress rehearsal. Lights knocked out of place, bulbs spontaneously going out, fast talking actors, misbehaving props, cursing on stage for forgotten lines, glow taping props. It was a good rehearsal. Better to flub it up tonight than tomorrow. Running time, 2 hours with intermission. not bad. It's a well paced show that keeps moving and grooving. First run done at 10:30. Called the SO about taking photos. Then a cue to cue to work out the technical kinks and make sure there was enough light for photos. (Having gone to so many performances we've seen how good and bad lighting make or break a show.) Managed to get out 12:30am. Not bad.

Thursday is light. Friday night is double packed. Saturday is still light but will most likely be packed. The show is in the "8 Days a week" of the Bay Guardian as a "Hot Spot" for the week.

In the mean time, I cancelled kali class this week. So my students are trying to figure out how to get their "kali" fix. When you're in, you're an addict. Some are going to my teacher's classes, a few others are trying out the free dance lessons for National Dance week. I know I have to be in class, cuz well, I teach it. But even I will choose to do something else besides kali if the something else is something good. And I tell my students that: go take that class, go travel, go do.

My students ask me how to get better at kali, what should they practice at home. I tell them, go do something, learn something new, travel. It all comes back. In the same way that the world is poetry, and poetry is the world, kali like most practiced arts, is really about living life. It's not a distraction from it, it IS it. And it doesn't have to be spectacular or dramatic either, it could just be mundane, like paying your bills, doing the dishes, fixing your bed, or listing what you bought, because this too is part of living.

And the better you get at living, the better everything else becomes.