SHOW TIME for the Little Mermaid-
The dancers spent the morning with their host families. From what I heard, most of them slept in this morning, waking up at noon. Some had stayed up late the night before, visiting with their host families while others chose to hit the sack early. Tommy reported that he had 14 hours of sleep and felt great. An unidentified dancer reported that she went to bed at 5am but slept until 1 am. They looked rested and ready to perform. Sharon McCarthy arrived at the show in her new French haircut looking lovely! Just wait until Jim and the girls see her!
Heinrick warmed up the French and American dancers on the stage. They all gathered into a circle at the end and held hands. Together they walked to the middle of the circle and wished for a great show. It was wonderful to see them all together, preparing for the ballet. It was exciting to know, our kids were about ready to dance in France! I hope Bonny doesn’t mind, but I took her front row center seat for this show and I hope the dancers were happy to see a familiar face smiling at them throughout the show.
Before the doors opened, Rachel and Katie re-choreographed their swim up the Amazon. They were so cute working together and coming up with ideas. Erin and Tim practiced the near drowning scene one more time, as Tim had missed his cue during the dress rehearsal. All seemed ready for the show as everyone got into costumes. Suddenly Erin was in a panic, she had left one Pointe shoe at her host family's home. Fortunately Amelia had an extra pair that was too big for Erin. They added a few gel toe pads to the shoe and she danced in Seafoam! The magic was there for sure today. Seafoam was beautiful as always. The mermaid sisters each looked stunning as they danced. The French dancers joined Ariel on stage as White Fish and they really looked like a school of fish swimming around the mermaid. Elvers were as cute as ever dancing with Michelle. Each group of seahorses that brought gifts to Katie walked perfectly across the stage and sat quietly as during the mermaid dances. Surfacing was gorgeous with the arabesques all in unison. Katie danced her solo and she flowed so gracefully across the stage.
For the second act, the sailors were on board ship. Tim Bragg had made an awesome ship mast and helm. The lighting was great and it looked like the dancers were on board ship with the red sky warning of the impeding hurricane. The French hurricane dancers were outstanding! The kept their circle big and round, making it look like Katie and Erin were truly in the eye of the hurricane. Tim had rigged the ship mast fall, as if the whole ship was sinking-it was really cool!
The Amazon scene was next. The French dancers were spiders as Amelia (Inna) met Katie and Rachel to swim up the river. Their costumes were so cool with extra legs hanging below their arms. The butterflies and parrots were show pleasers as usual. Tommy and August jumped on stage and Brooke leaped into the scene. She was commanding as ever with her drama and a HISSSSSS at Katie when she looked her in the eye. Since we didn’t bring the potion table, two of the spiders were called into service and formed a table for Brooke to mix her magic potion on. You could feel the drama rising as Katie drank the potion and gained her legs.
What can I say about Ana and the Prince? Elizabeth was enchanting as the princess and Tim (clean shaven for the role!) was handsome. They danced beautifully together. Elizabeth’s extensions were lovely and she positively looked like a princess. Her dancing has come so far the past year! Tim and Elizabeth picnicked on French bread and wine, while swooning over one another! Katie danced the knife dance with passion and drama. She too had fantastic arabesques and extensions. One minor technical glitch happened at the end. The music for final seafoam started but it was the wrong music, it was for Finale. They finally got the correct music. While they figured out the music Katie did a great job acting like she was confused on the stage as she woke from her "dying". Once final Seafoam started the goose bumps began! I always love watching this part of Little Mermaid and I believe the audience did too.
The ballet was amazing today! The girls all looked so beautiful (and Tommy, August, Tim and Heinrick weren't too bad either!) Lee and I were in tears once again. I give Heinrick a lot of credit; he choreographed a wonderful, moving ballet. He seemed very happy with the show and proud of the dancers.
The French and American families gathered afterwards for pictures. There were camera flashes everywhere as families took pictures of the dancers with the French kids. Afterwards there was a cast party at the dance studio with bread, cheese, salads and desserts. The ballet was taped and we were able to watch it all over again! It was fun to listen to them complement each other or laugh at the mistakes they made.
Tomorrow we are off to the Chateaux’s. The bus leaves at 9:00 am so many of the kids need to be up bright and early (like 6:00 am) The French dancers are back in school tomorrow so I’m sure there will be some busy homes in the morning!
(I hope to catch up on Day Three on the bus tomorrow, if typing on the bus doesn’t make me sick!)
Diane
(Sorry still no pictures. :( I never realized how busy I would be and how late I’d be up working on the blog!)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Day Three, Troo, Lavardin and rehearsals
Day Three-Troo, Lavardin and rehearsals
The dancers headed off to Troo this morning with some clouds but the sun was trying to break through. Troo is a troglodyte city with houses nestled into the hillside and there were also caves. To get to the top we climbed narrow staircases and walked small passageways and streets. The views of the valley were amazing with the rapeseed fields in the distance. Rapeseed is harvested and made into canola oil. On top of the hill was a ruined castle. The houses were quaint and it was astounding to see flower and vegetable gardens nestled into the hillside amongst the homes. There were small table, chairs and hammocks near different homes. It was interesting to see the contrast between the ancient homes and the modern world. We were told that the cost of the homes in Troo is extremely expensive and the Japanese would like to purchase homes there. Since the homes are built into the hill, the homes remain cool during the summer. Lee, Kathryn and I weren’t sure we’d want to lug our groceries up the hill and I wondered how the children got to the bus stop in the morning!
After Troo, the dancers traveled to Lavardin. This is a picturesque town centuries old. We visited the Church of Saint Genest which has frescoes and mural paintings. I’ll tell more about this church tonight and a church in Lunay.
The kids were at Lunay in time for run through and dress rehearsal. Between the rehearsals, the dancers taught the French kids the clapping game. It was fun to watch them all sitting on the floor clapping away! Rachel had taught her little French sister a ballet dance and showed it to the group. Dress rehearsal went fairly well, but there were rough spots. The kids were getting tired at this point and really wanted to go home and rest. They were happy when it was time to go home.
More later today. We are heading out to see some more sights this morning.
Diane
The dancers headed off to Troo this morning with some clouds but the sun was trying to break through. Troo is a troglodyte city with houses nestled into the hillside and there were also caves. To get to the top we climbed narrow staircases and walked small passageways and streets. The views of the valley were amazing with the rapeseed fields in the distance. Rapeseed is harvested and made into canola oil. On top of the hill was a ruined castle. The houses were quaint and it was astounding to see flower and vegetable gardens nestled into the hillside amongst the homes. There were small table, chairs and hammocks near different homes. It was interesting to see the contrast between the ancient homes and the modern world. We were told that the cost of the homes in Troo is extremely expensive and the Japanese would like to purchase homes there. Since the homes are built into the hill, the homes remain cool during the summer. Lee, Kathryn and I weren’t sure we’d want to lug our groceries up the hill and I wondered how the children got to the bus stop in the morning!
After Troo, the dancers traveled to Lavardin. This is a picturesque town centuries old. We visited the Church of Saint Genest which has frescoes and mural paintings. I’ll tell more about this church tonight and a church in Lunay.
The kids were at Lunay in time for run through and dress rehearsal. Between the rehearsals, the dancers taught the French kids the clapping game. It was fun to watch them all sitting on the floor clapping away! Rachel had taught her little French sister a ballet dance and showed it to the group. Dress rehearsal went fairly well, but there were rough spots. The kids were getting tired at this point and really wanted to go home and rest. They were happy when it was time to go home.
More later today. We are heading out to see some more sights this morning.
Diane
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Day Three-Stay Tuned
O.K., so it was hard getting up this morning, and we had a busy day. Lee and I went to Erin and Hallie's host family's home tonight and got back at 12:34 (nice numbers!). I will post about the wonderful things the kids saw in the morning.
Diane
PS Deedra: Shannon found the note!
Diane
PS Deedra: Shannon found the note!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Day two-Vendome
Day two in Vendome-
The kids all looked well rested today and happy this morning. The kids were separated into groups and went on a scavenger hunt in Vendome. They had five spots to find in the city. One place was an old, ruined castle on top of a hill. The view from the top was beautiful but the hike to it was long and uphill. There were three churches they needed to find. Holy Trinity Abbey founded in 1032, Church of St. Mary Magdalen, and Saint James Chapel . They had to find the Hotel de Ville (city hall) and sketch the statue in the park. They had to find carvings of some men on an old building that is now a bar. There was some kind of tree that was unique that Jori called the Monkey tree. The scavenger hunt gave the dancers a chance to learn about Vendome and spend time with the host dancers.
Vendome has a wonderful street for shopping. On Friday mornings there is an open air market with all. kinds of different vendors. Rachel and Brooke bought matching coats, Brooke’s is Black and Rachel’s is white. Rachel added some shoes and earrings. Alex bought hot pink shoes, sunglasses and a big red purse and spent enough money to get free earrings. Sarah bought her first pair of sunglasses. Shannon purchased shoes and a scarf. The kids enjoyed all the different stores and learned that sizes are very different in France. Sarah found a size 16 pair of pants that equaled 00 in the USA. They thought the prices were great, hence all the shopping they did! Lee and Diane bought some fresh fruit to have back at the hotel. There were also meats, cheeses, vegetables and seafood available.
After rehearsal in Lunay, the kids went back to have dinner with their host families. A small group of the dancers went out to a “bar” in Vendome to have some “drinks”. The kids there were looking a little weary by 9:30.
Tomorrow they will travel to Troo to see the troglodyte (dwellings in the hillside). They then have a run through and dress rehearsal in Lunay.
Lee and Diane were successful in taking a taxi to the TGV to pick up their rental car. In the afternoon while the dancers were rehearsing, Lee, Diane, Kathryn and Alice took a drive in the French country side looking for a winery. We ended up on some narrow back roads that went past farms. We saw a typical old French man who was so cute! We finally found a winery , tasted some delicious wine and even bought some! Once back in Vendome we stopped at a small shop to get a corkscrew. It was a unplanned exploration of the area.
res to
I'm sorry there aren't any pictures. I have tried a number of times to upload pictures and it's not working. I'll see if I can get them to upload to Snapfish tomorrow night.
Diane
The kids all looked well rested today and happy this morning. The kids were separated into groups and went on a scavenger hunt in Vendome. They had five spots to find in the city. One place was an old, ruined castle on top of a hill. The view from the top was beautiful but the hike to it was long and uphill. There were three churches they needed to find. Holy Trinity Abbey founded in 1032, Church of St. Mary Magdalen, and Saint James Chapel . They had to find the Hotel de Ville (city hall) and sketch the statue in the park. They had to find carvings of some men on an old building that is now a bar. There was some kind of tree that was unique that Jori called the Monkey tree. The scavenger hunt gave the dancers a chance to learn about Vendome and spend time with the host dancers.
Vendome has a wonderful street for shopping. On Friday mornings there is an open air market with all. kinds of different vendors. Rachel and Brooke bought matching coats, Brooke’s is Black and Rachel’s is white. Rachel added some shoes and earrings. Alex bought hot pink shoes, sunglasses and a big red purse and spent enough money to get free earrings. Sarah bought her first pair of sunglasses. Shannon purchased shoes and a scarf. The kids enjoyed all the different stores and learned that sizes are very different in France. Sarah found a size 16 pair of pants that equaled 00 in the USA. They thought the prices were great, hence all the shopping they did! Lee and Diane bought some fresh fruit to have back at the hotel. There were also meats, cheeses, vegetables and seafood available.
After rehearsal in Lunay, the kids went back to have dinner with their host families. A small group of the dancers went out to a “bar” in Vendome to have some “drinks”. The kids there were looking a little weary by 9:30.
Tomorrow they will travel to Troo to see the troglodyte (dwellings in the hillside). They then have a run through and dress rehearsal in Lunay.
Lee and Diane were successful in taking a taxi to the TGV to pick up their rental car. In the afternoon while the dancers were rehearsing, Lee, Diane, Kathryn and Alice took a drive in the French country side looking for a winery. We ended up on some narrow back roads that went past farms. We saw a typical old French man who was so cute! We finally found a winery , tasted some delicious wine and even bought some! Once back in Vendome we stopped at a small shop to get a corkscrew. It was a unplanned exploration of the area.
res to
I'm sorry there aren't any pictures. I have tried a number of times to upload pictures and it's not working. I'll see if I can get them to upload to Snapfish tomorrow night.
Diane
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Day one-Bangor to Vendome
No lost dancers in the airports and no lost luggage!
Our first flight from Bangor to Detroit was uneventful. We were seated in the back of the plane and the flight attendant wished Bangor Ballet successful perfromance in France. The kids loved the Detroit airport and could've stayed longer in the tunnel watching the lights dance. I'm sure they would've danced with them had we not kept them moving so they could eat some dinner! There was a cool fountain also in Detroit and the kids took pictures of each other and the sunset behind the fountain.
The trip from Detroit to Paris was LONG!!! Many of the kids did try to sleep, some with more success than others. Hilarie and Katie were behind me and they worked out interesting sleeping arrangements in the two seats they had. Sharon let Tommy and Abby sleep in shifts across the two empty seats next to her. Rachel stretched out across four seats (occupied by three other dancers) and slept most of the flight! At 3:00 am there was a medical emergency on the plane which awakened everyone-announcement on the speakers, flight attendants rushing around and the lights were turned on. Our decent into Paris was very turbulent and you could heard the kids say "whoa" as the plane dipped and rose. Some of our dancers handled this better than others. Once on the ground we had three with motion sickness, Kelsey, Erin and Shannon. Kelsey and Shannon bounced back a whole lot quicker than Erin. Before we left the plane I grabbed about 5 motion sickness bags at Lee's suggestions since we had a two hour bus ride ahead of us.
Once off the plane we made our way through the airport, found Jane and boarded the bus. Many of the dancers fell asleep again as we headed to the catedral of Chartes. We had a nice lunch at a small resturant with fresh baguette bread. Shannon was completly over her motion sickness and ate a salami baguette. Erin on the other hand was still recovering from her motion sickness and was out cold at the table as the motion sickness Lee gave her also knocked her out. Rachel helped me wake up her. Rachel had been concerned about her in the airport. (thanks Rachel!)
What a magnificent building the catherdal is. The stained glass windows are amazing and so detailed. You could spend days or months studying them. There were also intricate carvings throughout the church walls. The building left some of the dancers speechless. Abby learned the improtance of staying put when she can't find people. She didn't see anyone in the catheral so she walked back to the bus! The bus driver immediately brought her back to the cathedral to be reunited with Sharon. Lesson learned for all of us, stay put if you think you are lost.
After the cathedral the bus continued through small towns to Vendome. The roads in France are narrow and there are round abouts instead of intersections. The towns are quaint and the buildings very old. The land reminded us of Iowa, mid west and North Carolina. Some flat with few trees, other times, rolling hills and lots of trees. The roundabouts brought on another round of motion sickness for some, but without the same affects as the plane.
Vendome is a beautiful old city. The dancers were met by their host families and had a short gathering at the dance studio. Even with the language differences, everyone seemed to be getting along adn learning about each other. There were smiles and laughter as they talked. there have been no phone calls to the hotel so we hope everyone has had dinner, a shower and are sleeping! (Lee is asleep already!)
Lee and I are in a nice hotel and are happy to have internet access. We walked around the nearby streets looking for a place to eat but found very little open so we had desert for dinner tonight. We enjoyed our long hot showers when we got back. It's time for bed now. I'll post pictures tomorrow as the blog isn't letting me do it tonight! and I'm beat!
Love,
Diane
Our first flight from Bangor to Detroit was uneventful. We were seated in the back of the plane and the flight attendant wished Bangor Ballet successful perfromance in France. The kids loved the Detroit airport and could've stayed longer in the tunnel watching the lights dance. I'm sure they would've danced with them had we not kept them moving so they could eat some dinner! There was a cool fountain also in Detroit and the kids took pictures of each other and the sunset behind the fountain.
The trip from Detroit to Paris was LONG!!! Many of the kids did try to sleep, some with more success than others. Hilarie and Katie were behind me and they worked out interesting sleeping arrangements in the two seats they had. Sharon let Tommy and Abby sleep in shifts across the two empty seats next to her. Rachel stretched out across four seats (occupied by three other dancers) and slept most of the flight! At 3:00 am there was a medical emergency on the plane which awakened everyone-announcement on the speakers, flight attendants rushing around and the lights were turned on. Our decent into Paris was very turbulent and you could heard the kids say "whoa" as the plane dipped and rose. Some of our dancers handled this better than others. Once on the ground we had three with motion sickness, Kelsey, Erin and Shannon. Kelsey and Shannon bounced back a whole lot quicker than Erin. Before we left the plane I grabbed about 5 motion sickness bags at Lee's suggestions since we had a two hour bus ride ahead of us.
Once off the plane we made our way through the airport, found Jane and boarded the bus. Many of the dancers fell asleep again as we headed to the catedral of Chartes. We had a nice lunch at a small resturant with fresh baguette bread. Shannon was completly over her motion sickness and ate a salami baguette. Erin on the other hand was still recovering from her motion sickness and was out cold at the table as the motion sickness Lee gave her also knocked her out. Rachel helped me wake up her. Rachel had been concerned about her in the airport. (thanks Rachel!)
What a magnificent building the catherdal is. The stained glass windows are amazing and so detailed. You could spend days or months studying them. There were also intricate carvings throughout the church walls. The building left some of the dancers speechless. Abby learned the improtance of staying put when she can't find people. She didn't see anyone in the catheral so she walked back to the bus! The bus driver immediately brought her back to the cathedral to be reunited with Sharon. Lesson learned for all of us, stay put if you think you are lost.
After the cathedral the bus continued through small towns to Vendome. The roads in France are narrow and there are round abouts instead of intersections. The towns are quaint and the buildings very old. The land reminded us of Iowa, mid west and North Carolina. Some flat with few trees, other times, rolling hills and lots of trees. The roundabouts brought on another round of motion sickness for some, but without the same affects as the plane.
Vendome is a beautiful old city. The dancers were met by their host families and had a short gathering at the dance studio. Even with the language differences, everyone seemed to be getting along adn learning about each other. There were smiles and laughter as they talked. there have been no phone calls to the hotel so we hope everyone has had dinner, a shower and are sleeping! (Lee is asleep already!)
Lee and I are in a nice hotel and are happy to have internet access. We walked around the nearby streets looking for a place to eat but found very little open so we had desert for dinner tonight. We enjoyed our long hot showers when we got back. It's time for bed now. I'll post pictures tomorrow as the blog isn't letting me do it tonight! and I'm beat!
Love,
Diane
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Pictures from Little Mermaid
Time to practice a little more with adding pictures. Hopefully you enjoy these pictures. These are all from the Dover show and hopefully I'll be able to get some up tomorrow of Ellsworth.
Please try to post some comments-I can always relay messages to your dancer! Lee and I have found a hotel in Vendome with internet access so each evening I should be able to post updates and pictures.
Diane
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Congratulations on two great performances!
Wow! You all did a great job dancing the past two weekends. I look forward to seeing you all dance in Vendome!
Diane
Diane
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