December break. Wow. Is it actually possible that 2009 has gone by this fast? I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week suffering from an allergic reaction to what I think was a wool hat (I haven't exactly gone to the allergist yet to get tested but so far that little demon is my only suspect) and sleeping. And I mean REALLY sleeping. Last week with Nutcracker and all consisted of everything but sleep and so I made up for it these past few days. Literally. Sleeping until 1 pm, waking up to eat, falling asleep again and sleeping until 6 pm waking up and falling asleep at 10 pm and then doing the whole thing the next day again. I wasn't sick, although many people probably would have thought I had the flu. I was just tired, and itchy, and didn't wanna deal with being cranky and allergic, so I took all the antihistimines the doctors told me to take and just slept. I wasn't even really awake enough to celebrate Christmas, which is my FAVORITE holiday.
But anyway, now it's Sunday. My allergic reaction has subsided and I've gotten so much sleep that it's 4:13 AM and I'm not even the least bit tired. (I need to get back on a normal sleep schedule.) A week ago I was still swept up in the magic of the Nutcracker and I remember through it all thinking to myself, I have to blog about this I have to blog about this I have to blog about this. Well of course, I didn't actually have any time to sit down and blog about it while it was happening and then the few days right after were spent sleeping so now it's been a week and I still haven't blogged about it. And honestly, I wouldn't even know where to begin. It was amazing. It was fun. It was emotional. It was inspiring. It was hard. And I mean, I'm onstage the entire second act. I sit there and watch the whole thing onstage, and I think that was harder than any of the dancing or pantomime peices I had to do. To be in a ballet, and to be watching the ballet (mind you I've seen these pieces done over and over again for six years and I know most of the choreography by heart just from watching it so many times) and it wasn't boring but it was hard. To sit with my back straight with a regalness and to watch my friends and fellow Nutcracker-ees perform was physically painful. Not to mention when they would start talking to us. Sometimes the dancers when they're facing upstage would say things to me and either my sister or Lexi, whoever was playing Clara at that performance, and it was just so hard to keep a straight face. They're fun. They're real people. Even the professionals like to play around. It keeps the energy alive and playful. And that's what this ballet is. It's playful.
I could go on and on and on about this and maybe one day I'll post another blog with more stories or details - like when our 72 year old artistic director got up on stage, crouched down on his hands and knees and acted like a mouse so one of the 8-year-old boys playing a mouse could understand what his correction was. But since this was my last year with the Nutcracker, I wrote a letter and gave it to all my close friends at the company and I thought I'd share it here:
The Eglevsky Ballet’s The Nutcracker 2009
As you all know, this is my sixth and last Nutcracker. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you and I have been honored to dance alongside all of you on the Tilles Center Stage time and time again.
The Nutcracker holds a very special place in my heart. I love the holiday season (CHRISTMAS!) and since I’m technically Jewish, Nutcracker is my way of celebrating Christmas with the people I love.
The memories that we have created together over the past six years are priceless. From stepping on the Mother Ginger skirt and almost ripping it in two, to watching the soldier doll fall out of his pants in party scene, to decorating the apprentice dressings rooms this year and last, it has been a blast! These memories, and many more must remain alive in our minds and in our hearts.
This summer when I did 42nd Street at Hofstra University with the Gray Wig, the director, Amy Dolan Fletcher, who danced in 42nd Street on Broadway gave an extremely important opening night speech. The show 42nd Street is to her what Nutcracker is to me. She told us not to take advantage of the memories we create and the opportunities we have when we get to perform in a show. At the end of closing night of any show, we always say “until next year”, or “there will always be another one.” But the thing is, that may not always be true. This is my last Nutcracker with you guys, so there won’t be another one for me. That is why I feel that it is so important for me to relay this message to you guys. I hope that you can try and understand the significance of what we have going for ourselves with this ballet company and the opportunities that we have been given. I hope you can see how special it truly is. I hope you can see how precious it is and I hope you can fully embody the magic of it all. It’s so special and unique an experience, that it’s almost impossible to express it in words and do it justice. It’s a feeling that you either have or you don’t, and all of us have it. It’s like we’re our own private little Nutcracker club, a Nutcracker family, and I have been so grateful to be apart of this club and family for the past six years. Even though I won’t be back to perform with you all next year, because of the way I feel in my heart, I will always be apart of the Nutcracker family.
I love you all endlessly,
Becky Kalman - Prince 2009
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