Archive for student
February 26, 2008 at 5:38 pm · Filed under dance, student, john neumeier, performance, san francisco ballet, MADISON
Photo Credits:
San Francisco Ballet School Students in Neumeier’s “Yondering” © Chris Hardy
Being the infamous procrastinator that I am I am finally going to write about the amazing experience I had in San Francisco during January. As many of you may know this is a huge year for San Francisco Ballet, it marks the 75th Anniversary of both the company and the school. So, it should be no surprise that the Gala, the kick-off of SFB’s 2008 season, was quite the event.
This Gala was especially different for the school because many of the dancers in the top levels got to perform. Not only did the school have this amazing opportunity and exposure at such a major event, but we all got the chance to work with John Neumeier for a couple of days before the gala. We performed his ballet, Yondering, which was created in 1996 for the Hamburg Ballet School and since has been performed by such schools as The National Ballet School and The Paris Opera Ballet School. This was the first time that any American school was privileged enough to perform this ballet, and I felt honored to be in the premier. I felt even more fortunate because I performed one of the lead parts for the girls.
I have always been a huge fan of Neumeier’s choreography, but somehow I learned to love it even more after working with him. Everything was so meaningful and every single movement had a very specific reason behind it. John Neumeier is a true artist. He understands everything that I believe ballet should represent. I could go on for days about all of this but I am going to talk about one incident that will always stick in my mind. At the end of the ballet there is a section that revolves around the death of a child. In order for us to get the correct feeling of what John wanted he started explaining what was going on. That sounds very logical and simple I guess, but it was so much more than that. While he was explaining these intense emotions and feelings to us he was speaking in a very matter of fact way. During this he paused for a second and while a single tear streamed down his face he continued. There was not one ounce of shame or embarrassment as he began to get so emotional and I admire that so much. Human emotion is a beautiful thing and I feel that too many people are constantly trying to hide those emotions. I respect this man so much and I hope to be able to work with him again one day soon.
From what I got to see in dress rehearsal the rest of Gala was mind-blowing, but there is no surprise there. If you want to read more about it here is just one review from the night… http://danceinsf.blogspot.com/2008/01/sf-ballet-gala-1232008.html
Here are some more pictures.
This one is my roommate and myself in the dressing room after the show.
Here is a picture of the cast of Yondering. Sorry the quality of the picture is so bad.
In the middle from left to right is Lola De Avila (associate director of the school), John Neumeier, and Jean-Yves Esquerre (assistant to the artistic director, as well as the trainee program supervisor)
Recent Posts by Madison Keesler
February 9, 2008 at 11:53 pm · Filed under dance, studio, student, CATHY, brazil, life, school
This year is, without a doubt, a transition of all sorts in my life. Many changes have already happened - big changes, in reality - and there are even more to come.
I had already mentioned the fact that school has ended (and I still didn’t make it to university) and that this year will be mostly devoted to study in order to sit for the university’s exams.
As of dance life, I have left my studio in which I had spent most of my life training. I’d go there every single day, rehearse and take classes for endless hours. We were definitely a family (still are) and I have learned so much from these years. So, I have only to thank all my teachers there because they offered me such amazing opportunities - that I’m sure that if I’d be somewhere else, none of them would have happened! - and for supporting me so much. In fact, I have been approved in my last Royal Academy of Dance examination!
I decided to leave because I realized I couldn’t grow there anymore. I wanted to change, meet new teachers, a new vision of ballet, and find better quality training also. Here in Brazil things are difficult and I’ve been looking for a good school for a while.
Until this amazing place opened a few blocks from my home, a few months ago. I have mentioned it here a few times already - and now it’s concrete: my dream studio is where now I dance!
It’s amazing. I’m completely in love! The rooms are spacious, everything is new and beautiful. (picture above)
Besides, there’s something else that caught my attention and also made me fall in love: the view!! As it’s in a quite high place, there’s this privileged view from the city. And every room has huge windows so that you can appreciate it during your class.
In terms of ballet itself - it’s Vaganova method, to which I’m trying to adapt. I must confess it has been a challenge. It’s considerably different from RAD. And I have already improved so much! The teacher is a Russian, who barely speaks any Portuguese (that definitely makes the classes even more interesting!)
Another big big change is that I have been hired in my former language school (where I learned English). They called me and offered a position as a sub teacher, twice a week. It was very unexpected, I never ever saw it coming (especially considering the fact that I completed my language studies there two years ago). I have accepted and I’m hoping this is going to be a good experience!
And what’s curious is that I was almost 100% decided that I was going to spend the next couple months in Canada, but that has been postponed for now!
I’ve also taken a nice trip to the south of Brazil - a city called Florianopolis. It’s a paradise: beaches surrounded by nature, excellent parties, nice people.. If you ever have the opportunity to go there, don’t miss it!! Unfortunately I caught bad weather there (that explains the lack of pictures.) - it rained most of the time, but still I managed to enjoy the time!
see you all!
Cathy
Recent Posts by cathy godeghesi
January 9, 2008 at 12:53 am · Filed under dance, student, CATHY, brazil, education, sao paulo, performance, university
Carol doing her pas de deux with our teacher .
After a sort of long hiatus, I’m here once again!
I hope you all have had amazing holidays and am wishing you a wonderful 2008! 
Life’s a little bit crazy and many things happened the past weeks.
A not so nice thing happened: I didn’t enter the university I wanted to, because I hadn’t studied enough (therefore I was kind of aware that it would happen), so I’m spending this year studying by myself in order to enter it. I got close though, out of 90 points in the exam, I needed 62 - but I got 60.
So some dedication over the next months will most likely help me to enter. A year won’t make a difference, right? Good thing is that I have endless chances to try!
So bottom line is, school is over, and I have here a year with more time to dance. I don’t know exactly how my dance life will be, I am almost sure I am going to go to the other studio to train with Russian teachers that will provide me really good training, I hope. I still have to take some classes to see if I like it or not, but as soon as it happens I’ll be here again telling you how it went.
As promised in my previous post, some pictures from 2007’s performance in my other studio! It’s just a glance, because there are thousands of pictures and it was quite tough to pick up some
Us dancing a choreography with music by Piazolla - i’m in the front row, on the right.
Yolanda, her turn doing the same pas de deux, and her beautiful arabesque.
Dancing Help (by the Beatles), i’m the one with the hair down.
Myself, in a solo representing japan. it was a contemporary piece, I loved the experience!
Abraços and see you next time!
Cathy
Recent Posts by cathy godeghesi
December 7, 2007 at 5:38 pm · Filed under dance, rehearsal, student, CATHY, brazil, university, school, sao paolo, wings
Here in Brazil, we are watching the very beginning of summer - which means heat + rain almost every day.
My life is a little bit less chaotic now as I’m fully on vacation. Right now the only excitement is that I am anxiously waiting for the results from the universities.
I haven’t had enough time to update you all about my recent performances, rehearsals and all that complex preparation that, deep inside, we all love so much.
The performance actually already happened - nevertheless, I barely saw time passing. All of sudden, I was on stage again.
For a month I was able to rehearse only once a week, which is completely absurd to me. As a matter of fact, this semester as a whole was kind of confusing to me due to injuries also.
So, I took the week before the actual performance to rehearse intesively.
But anyway, here are some pictures from the dress rehearsal: (that out of three, I managed to attend only one)
Kids in tutus
Joana, Carol, Yolanda, amazing dancers!
Carol stretching before her entrance
The classical view from the wings!
I am very soon to be back with pictures from the performance itself!
Abraços!
Cathy
Recent Posts by cathy godeghesi
November 4, 2007 at 7:04 pm · Filed under dance, friends, student, CATHY, brazil, sao paulo, life, university, school, carnival
Today was my last day at school, forever.
As I’m typing this, I’m getting very emotional once again…I’ve been like this the whole day 
I’ve been to that place everyday of my life since I was 7.
There were moments in which I would get tired and hate it, of course. But deep inside I’ve ALWAYS loved it.
It was where I grew up, where I met my closest and best friends, where I had teachers that I’ll remember for life.
I am what I am because of this school. It’s amazing how empty I feel right now! I never knew I’d feel like this once it ended. Afterall, it’s school.
Now I won’t see those teachers that I admired so much everyday. Me and my best friends won’t be going to the same universities.
Everything changes from a minute to another!
Ok, emo part done now 
Let me tell how we celebrated this moment this week:
We did parties during our breaks - The first day we wore our typical yellow t-shirt, it’s a symbol of the school.
Then, the following days we wore costumes and celebrated in a very brazilian style: CARNIVAL! the way it should be done! Everybody from the senior year gathered, dancing and hugging each other, while the people from the other years watched us. We’d sing and scream…we all had a lot of fun!
Our graduation will be in a few weeks, then we will have our party, and later, our trip!
In fact, many things changed since I last wrote here.
The most important and that is obviously affecting me most is that I had to cut many ballet classes (I had to reduce from almost full time dancing to twice a week) because I’m taking an intensive preparatory course to university.
I’m still going to dance with my studio by the end of this year.
It was pretty much a sudden decision, because it was tough studying by myself so I decided to do this little sacrifice to dance less for a single month.
The course ends in a couple weeks, so gladly I am soon to be back to a normal routine! I might start dancing soon in the new school I told you about previously, full time.
I don’t really know where life is gonna take me, but this is definitely a curious stage of life!
Hugs,
Cathy
Recent Posts by cathy godeghesi
September 25, 2007 at 6:02 pm · Filed under dance, friends, student, CATHY, brazil, roayl academy of dance, exam
Hey!
I have just had my RAD exam that I had previously told you all about.
The examiner was a Chinese lady and I took it with three other girls: one of them was my friend Joana, the one in the picture (it was taken a couple of minutes before entering the room), and two other girls that I had just met.
I must confess that I was nervous at the beginning… These major examinations are mostly technique and don’t give much space to dance, but still I attempted my most to feel the music and dance my best.
They evaluate everything, and to me, the hardest part is the music. In the barre, they test you by doing one of the sides with the usual music from the syllabus and the other, with a song that we never heard before. I was the first in the barre, thus that made me shake a little bit. However, thankfully, it went all right.
My only problem was during the center. My double pirouettes en dedans didn’t come out as expected and I had some not very nice landings.
My allegros turned out be pretty good.
The examiner gives us a free enchainement, that she makes up during the exam. It was a good thing that she gave us enough chances to do it and improve, because my first attempts were quite poor :S
Then we had our variation, and then pointe.
I honestly don’t have the slightest idea whether I have passed or not. I know that I could have done much better - but now all I can do is to wait for the results!
Keep your fingers crossed!
And by the way, I’m now a contemporary student also! Took my first class in that school I told in my previous post and it was awesome. I’ll keep you guys updated with that and the recitals that are coming on the way.
Cathy
Recent Posts by cathy godeghesi
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