Originally, I told the dancers we would resume our twice-weekly rehearsals on August 22 (when the academic year started back and we had use of our usual space at Cardinal Gibbons High School). However, looking at the calendar we have so much to prepare for in the first few weeks of the season, so I called everyone back early to rehearse on August 11. We made a plan to meet at a basketball court in the apartment complex of one of our dancers… little did any of us know (even though we asked ahead of time if we could use the space) that they would close the court for refinishing the night prior.

Problem solving time! We thought about moving into a grassy field at the same complex, but there was some thought as to how many residents walk their dogs through that same field… (you know what we’re getting at). So moving to a nice, flat surface – a community tennis court near my house. Concrete is naturally not the ideal surface for modern dance, but we took it easy on the jumping and falling – and honestly, it is nothing I have not done before. I can remember when I worked summers at Walt Disney World and would go give myself ballet class on the tennis court at Vista Way apartments – pointe shoes and all! (It is not something we hope to make a regular occurrence, but we made it work for one day.)

So what are we rehearsing for? Let’s take a look at the list:

Julep for the NC Dance Festival tour (first performance Sept 7)
sections of Indulge at SPARKcon (Sept 13)
Finding Place (with fewer cast members) at SPARKcon (Sept 14)
maybe something for the outdoor main stage at SPARKcon (Sept 15)
more Julep tour dates, with different dancers (Oct 26, Nov 2)
sections of Fashion Briefs for a show at Dance Place in Washington, D.C. (Dec 8 & 9)

A busy fall season up ahead – thus the early return to rehearsals! We will also begin work on new material soon for our own show next spring – stay tuned for details. In the meantime, come see us around Raleigh in the coming weeks.

-Autumn
(Code f.a.d. Artistic Director)