Hi Everyone!!
We arrived in Cuzco Tuesday, after a 20 hour trip from door to door of our hotel. With slight weather delays and tight security checks, I seemed to always be the last one on all our planes! Luckily we all made it here to Cuzco.
The high altitude here allows for clarity of distance and beautiful Andean views. It is warm in the day and very cool at night, much like the high desert I grew up in as a child in NM. But Cusco is almost double in altitude, so for the first day I thought I would just sit and not move everytime I tried to walk up a hill. It takes days to adjust.
After beginning to acclimate to the high altitude which affects the amount of strenuous dancing you can do as well, we taught a wonderful master-class to local dancer, actors and acrobats at the Kusikay Theatre. They were great movers, very engaged and interested in new forms of movement. Their physicality was awesome! Many people were from a local show that I am going to check out their show Monday night after our show on Sunday.
Yesterday we rehearsed in the theatre and Sarah, Laura, Richard and Susan began work with our DVD projection needs and tweaked the music into the wee hours of the night. They are tireless in their commitment!! Thank you!!!
Our light designer on tour is my old friend Qui Que who I met in Lima years ago. He is bilingual and so talented in staying calm and getting the job done. He begins work late tonight focusing lights.
Yesterday Renzo our host helped us buy baskets as props for one of our dances from a great lady at the local market. Renzo has been great to take care of us as we manuever from rehearsals thru the city. He is a very good dancer and artist as well.
Today many of our group are going to Macchu Picchu. They just left the hotel and now I am going to run to get ready to go to the Sacred Inca Valley with Kelly. It is one of my favorite places in the world, especially the open market at Pisac.
More soon, tomorrow is a long day!
Dana
Dana recently attended an event for local Washington, DC artists at the Vice-President's residence. He was thrilled to get a private photo with Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife Jill.
Dana's new work Island features beautiful historical images from Angel Island projected from above. To achieve this effect a heavy-duty projector was installed above the stage. Getting the projector in place and then back down at the end of the three night run took some teamwork.
Today's rehearsal was exhilirating. We worked with musicality details for Island. It has a beautiful montage of music from 1920's Shanghai to classical to electronic. When we get to the point in a rehearsal process where we can work on details, I get very excited. The company is always so supportive when I nit pick each scene and each detail. I believe the details are what audiences are ultimately moved by and it takes quite a while to be able to feel secure enough in the overall structure to then work on nuance. Every focus change or gesture becomes more and more important in a work like this.
Dana was named State Alumni Member of the Month by the US Department of State.
Dana, Connie, Sara and Laura had a wonderful meeting with Peter Michael McKinley, US Ambassador to Peru, at the US embassy. Security was tight but once inside the compound we spent about 20 relaxing minutes discussing the arts, culture and cuisine of Peru with the ambassador. Ambassador McKinley is so gracious and loves the arts. He truly understands the importance of culture as a way to build bridges between our cultures. What a joy!
Yesterday Renzo our host helped us buy baskets as props for one of our dances from a great lady at the local market. Renzo has been great to take care of us as we manuever from rehearsals thru the city. He is a very good dancer and artist as well.
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