Day Three: First Show-ish

Hello, Des Moines! Our first stop was at the botanical gardens. We had a tour from the head gardener and it was BEAUTIFUL! There was actually only eleven dancers that came to the gardens as the rest went shopping in the East Village. There were all sorts of tropical plants and a koi pond all throughout the dome. Amazing place! We then walked over to East Village for some window shopping and five of us stopped at The Continental, a small bar restaurant, to eat and it turned out that we are the popular ones as the rest of the company slowly trickled in. Going from an empty restaurant to over seven tables really overloaded the one waitress on duty. But in 45 minutes, we got everyone fed and back on the bus.

So, Ballroom had a great surprise at their first hotel, as it had been hit by lightning during a tornado, so they had to find alternate housing for the evening. Folk was thirty minutes out on their flight over the Pacific and an engine caught on fire and they had to turn back to San Francisco. Dancers' Company just had a rough show. Tech wise, the audience should have been reimbursed; but according to the audience, everything looked great! Oh how I love the naive-ity of the audience during performances. The venue was simply amazing. Everything was ready for us, new equipment, etc ... but being our first show and two lighting techs trying to prep the stage for everything put us behind - since we are mostly based of lighting, not all the other qualities of stage. The worst problem was the projector not working with communication to the computer. The ethernet ports gave out on us, so no projection occurred that show - and one of the numbers is heavy on projection and Erin spent hours upon hours on projection. We're getting it fixed, though.

That evening, three dancers and I stayed with the Cook family, who has four young kids. We stayed in the basement having a nice slumber party - mainly we just went to bed. :-D It was a good day - as long as I forget the show.

Day Two: Driving

Well, driving again... and we had lunch at a Cracker Barrel (at least over half the company did, while a few others went to another place nearby). It's always fun going there ...

Our first stop on the road was at the Winter Quarters temple and visitor center. It was a plan we just made the day before and it was great! We saw a movie about the early saints then toured the Visitor Center. After that, we walked the Pioneer Cemetery and Temple grounds in the rain. That temple is simply beautiful!!

We finally stopped in Des Moines, Iowa to stay the night at an Econolodge. The first thing we did was find food ... and that was at the Eastern Buffet. Ahh the memories of Chinese cuisine. Quite good too. Very impressed with the place. We were even able to barter from $9.25 to $8.50 per meal. Go Julie (our tour manager)! Then, the first thing we did when returning to the hotel was jump into the pool. It's the highlight of tour for dancers to get in the hot tub...don't quite get that one yet. But I had a blast. I haven't been swimming in a while. It was really fun! We made a video of syncronized swimming, played Marco Pollo, chilled in the hot tub, etc. Then off to our rooms. Some dancers may have planned on heading to QT down the road (I wanted to go just for you, Nor, but it didn't pan out quick enough). I was ready for some relaxation time in my room. So, here I am, blogging and preping for bed. Tomorrow is going to be a great day!!! Our first performance and some good morning sight-seeing.

Day One: Driving

Today was just driving from Provo, UT to Ogallala, NE. I believe in sleeping, but we also watched movies like Hercules and Madagascar 2. Our lunch stop was at a place that I remembered being a stop that Andrea and I did while driving back from Kansas to Provo. Good time! For dinner, we had arrived in Ogallala and ate at the Front Street Cafe. They kept it open after closing time just for us. Awww... they just wanted our money! ;-P It was 9pm and it was a great place to eat. The menus were like old newspapers and they served Buffalo burgers, Rocky Mountain Oysters, steak, and other western type food. We were there for an hour, then off to the hotel.

The first thing we did was gather together for choir practice for the fireside this weekend. One of the songs was for women only called Keeper of the Flame and while we were singing it, it took me back to girls camp when we did the Singing Trees. awww... I miss those years....

Then I worked out in the exercise room for 20min just cuz I had nothing better to do, and now I'm trying to decide if I really want to go to bed or not...hmmmmmm.....

Tomorrow, we've got a special treat! But ya'll have to wait for the next post to find out what it is. This is turning out to be fun! Gotta love tour!

Graduate

Well, I'm a graduate. Wow... still hasn't hit me. I think the moment that was the closest to me realizing I'm graduating was at the commencement when the graduate were asked to all stand up, and to see over six thousand people in blue cap and gowns. That was the closest I came. I do have to say my convocation was AMAZING because we had speakers from communication and theatre and media arts. We are a very visual and unique combination of people and totally believe in projections. I'd say I'm happy with my degree!

Now, I am off tour with Dancers' Company for three weeks. We leave tomorrow at 8am and drive for two days to Des Moines, Iowa. There are only six performances during these three weeks, so we have a lot of free time. We do have assemblies and outreaches at schools, but they only last an hour. I'm curious to find out what has been planned for the remainder of the time. It feels so different to see this being my last tour with the dance department. After May 18, I am no longer a part of BYU activities. I almost don't want to leave. It's been my life and passion for the last four years. I've gotten to know so many people in the dance, theatre, and film departments. I really hate to break those ties. But it is time to move on. As one door closes, another one opens up.

What I did ...

Today is the first BYU reading day. What did I do today? Well, I spent eight hours at work striking everything from the RB theatre to prepare for demolition Monday, then I continued packing for tour. It is going to be an adventure! One discovery I made is that instead of the usual wireless headsets that keeps the front of house connected to backstage, we will have to use an RTS system which means everyone will be connected by wire. We have to connect to the power supply up in the booth for two of us, then send a line all the way down to stage and our two stage hands on both sides of stage will be connected by daisy chain really restricting their movement. It'll be interesting. Thankfully, we'll only have to use it if the venue does not have a headset system already in place. Most places should, for how else does booth connect to stage?

After finishing work, Krista (my roommate) and I spent three hours at The Quarry. Yay! I did some rock climbing and boulder climbing. Pretty fun! It was a bit of a challenge at times, but I enjoyed myself. After that we went to Yoasis for yogurt. It's been a good, busy day. I've definitely worn myself out.

I'm Blue ... literally!

So, we were unloading everything from the truck that remained from Ballroom in Concert. We discovered that the blue paint cans got crushed in the movement of cases and one full can opened all over the ground. The pile looked pretty small, so I told Mark and we decided to just paint the floor of the box truck. Too bad it was a much bigger pile of paint then expected. I had to empty the whole truck, sweep it out, then paint the whole bed floor blue. Go School Spirit!! Now DN1 is unique from every other BYU truck. LOL!

Ballroom in Concert

Working away ... again!

This weekend is Ballroom in Concert, the last dance performance before tours begin. For the first time in a Marriott Center show, I am working as a stage hand. All I'll be doing is running fog once and catching a broom once. Wow ... so busy! It is a nice change and I have friends to talk to. Gotta love dancers! Well, it looks like a really exciting show. Lighting is awesome! I always enjoy to see the designs that Mark and Benjamin comes up with, especially in the Marriott as it includes the truss, curtain, and projection. There is always something new to learn when there is always a new design to work with.

While gathered together for hours at a time in the Marriott, we are finally getting to learn more about tour this summer. Thankfully, since we leave in less then three weeks. I'm not buying tour clothes but got a list of what will be needed. Other teams are handing out tour clothes now. It still hasn't hit me. I'm graduating, closing a chapter of my life. I have one more show, one more tour before my job with the Dance Department is over. I will be beginning a new job soon, moving to a new place, meeting totally new people. It's now up to me. There is no school tract to rely on unless I decide on a Masters in Technical Direction. Wow, the possibilities ...