Complexions Choreographs on SYTYCD Dancers

Okay, okay, I know I'm a few weeks behind the rest of world. Give me a break, I don't have cable.

I wanted to post this up here because I believe that this is a prime example of the ways in which reality TV dance shows are actually good for our pop culture. While the name Complexions may not be familiar to everyone, a huge amount of people who would probably never see that type of dancing just got introduced to concert dance on the professional, international level. And yes, Complexions is a very commercially accessible company, but what's wrong with that? Art needs all kinds of audiences to be rich and vibrant. There is nothing wrong with dancing that appeals to the masses, especially when it has the potential to inspire audiences to delve deeper into the art form and maybe explore some of the not-so-accessible work. I think it is amazing that there is a show that is so commercially successful that showcases work of this caliber.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Of all the things I never thought I'd end up doing, rehearsing in the middle of a Starbucks was definitely one of them. Frankly, I didn't think anyone would ever end up doing that.

We all gathered around a table in the tiniest cafe in the South Loop and strained our ears to hear our new music so we could set different counts. Unfortunately, the smooth jazz playing over the PA drowned out the sound from the laptop speakers we had huddled up against. Barely breathing, we all clapped out separate rhythms, trying to visualize the movement we would eventually be doing at this new tempo. The 45 minute rehearsal ended with everyone marking the movement sitting in stools, everyone off beat with the music we couldn't hear. That was the last rehearsal we had before the company went on break for Christmas.

Now we're getting ready to go back, but there are some minor snags. We no longer have two rehearsal locations, we only have one. Will we have to change rehearsal times? Will we have to find a new second studio? Will it be possible to have longer rehearsals as our February show draws nearer? These are questions only the dance gods can answer.

There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

One of the struggles of being a young artist is finding the funds to finance your projects. This is why I work well over 40 hours a week between all my different projects, as do most of my fellow company members. But no matter how much we work, there's never enough to cover all of our expense, so we are constantly looking for breaks in rehearsal space.

A little while ago, we thought we had finally had some good luck. A local theatre company with plenty of rehearsal space said that we could have the space one night a week for free! We only had three hours to squeeze in two rehearsals, but the space was bigger than any we'd had before. And it was free, so we didn't have to dig ourselves deeper into debt with every rehearsal.

When I arrived for our first rehearsal in the space, I was cold and tired and hungry and totally unprepared for what awaited me. One of the artistic directors of our company met me at the door practically pulling her hair out. "There's staples in the floor!" she cried. Not understanding what she was talking about, I quickly went upstairs to find half of the company on their hands and knees pulling industrial size staples out of the wooden floor with pliers. Tape marked any staples that had been found that were still awaiting removal and the pounding of hammers echoed off the walls as staples too mangled to be removed were beaten into harmlessness. The first twenty minutes of that rehearsal were spent concentrating on making sure that at least half of the floor was staple-free. The rest of the rehearsal was interrupted with banging hammers as dancers who weren't being used worked on the rest of the floor.

While it was certainly a less than ideal situation, I couldn't help smiling to myself throughout the entire night. It reminded me of my best friend's favorite saying: there's no such thing as a free lunch. We didn't spend any money on the space, but at what cost? To this day, we still find staples in the floor and every time we do, I smile.

On Caffeine

One of the things that I used to ponder in college was how so many of my peers could come to class or rehearsal with giant cups of coffee. They would take swigs all the way through, rather than drinking water and it baffled me beyond words. This is not to say that I was unfamiliar with the fatigue of a serious dance student's life. But I always thought that drinking coffee or soda while dancing would be counter-productive.

I'm not one of those my-body-is-a-temple people (although my body sometimes wishes I was), but soda and coffee are one of those things I've always tried to stay away from. My older sister was a coffee house manager and seeing her seven-shot lattes made me steer clear of an over-indulgence in that particular poison, and soda has never appealed to me. This is probably due to my hippy mother and her insistence that appropriate beverages are pretty much limited to water, tea, and milk. Sometimes juice. Because of this, soda is a rare treat and coffee is a last resort to be turned to in times of dire need, such as a 12 hour day on 3 hours of sleep.

And then I graduate from college (is that my new tag line?). I am now obsessed with caffeine, mostly in soda form, because it is more refreshing and can be obtained from the vending machine in the break room at work. I am convinced that it's effects on me are largely mental. I believe that it is perking me up, and therefore it does. That doesn't change the fact that I have a soda every day at work and a coffee before every rehearsal. This is particularly upsetting on days when I have both work and rehearsal.

I have gone from someone obsessed with drinking at least two litres of water a day, to someone who balks at the thought of working eight hours without a cola. I don't have the option to keep water with me at work, and therefore I only drink a couple of glasses a day. The result is exactly what you would expect: frequent caffeine crashes, nausea from dancing immediately after chugging a venti-whatever-nonfat-something, bad skin, and headaches. And yet I remain convinced that the caffeine will make me feel better.

Since I dance so much less than I did while I was in school, it's important to me that I be at peak condition when I'm in class or rehearsal. So what am I to do? The short term effects of all those yummy beverages are great, but I think they're wearing on me long term. The best way to dance well, I'm sure, is to drink more water and get more sleep. Sleep is out.

One out of two isn't bad...