Day 35 - Last Day in the Studio. 2 days until the performance
Jellybeans are used today. Again, all the ballets are run, but we turn them away from the mirror, so that the dancers don’t use it to stay together. I’m not saying that much today, again mostly in reaction to their nervousness.
Mary to another of the dancers: “I think our motto should be, ‘It’s just ballet, it’s not World Peace!”
Response: “Oh, if only it were World Peace!”
I admit I find this exchange breathtaking. My version of the same came when a dancer said “I’m afraid I’m going to hit the chairs when I turn.” I replied simply, “Then don’t.” It’s better advice than it’s taken for. A lot of the nerves are self-manufactured and unnecessary. One of the dancers nearly injured her heel when she stamped on the floor in a fit of temper because she was sick of the hardness and slipperiness of the floor. Even with all the nerves, the ballets all look in shape to go into the theater.