Sooooooo this is from a WHILE ago (like Feb. 2016), but I finished it cause this time was SO cool.
It's funny how things come up that you don't expect. I feel like that happens too many times with me and school, or concerts, or tests, or assignments at Church or particularly conflicts between two different important things. Like seriously, WAY too much. It's nice though cause even though most of these things are BAD things you wouldn't expect until they're staring you in the face, an audition for a music festival in NYC this weekend was definitely a GOOD thing I didn't expect.
There are lots of reasons I wasn't expecting much. An audition for one was pretty stressful. I was taking almost two days off school to play some pretty tough solos and excerpts for a German Festival I REALLY want to get into. And with over 30 hours of preparation over the past two weeks, it was all going to amount to 5-10 minutes of playing (#auditionstruggles). The nice thing was, Mommy decided to come a couple days before, so it felt just like college audition time again! Just me and Mommy, checking out schools and having some fun on the side. But this was just an audition, and then a whole day in NYC. I was "expecting" it to be pretty chill.
Nope. One thing about Mama is if she's going somewhere, she's going to be plan out a billion things to do(:
Our plane left Detroit at 6AM (meaning we woke up at 3:50.......) and we got into New York City at 7:30 for an audition at 12PM. It wasn't exactly the ideal morning schedule right before an audition, but it was what we had. We went to our hotel, I warmed up, and we took off through the metro. In the past as a little kid, I always remembered the subway as a scary, confusing, dark labyrinth of tunnels and stairs and sketchy people you tried to avoid on the tiny platforms. It's amazing though what having lived in St. Petersburg and having to rely completely on metros and busses can do for you(: The best part about it all was how it felt like home, and despite my small amount of stress, Mama just kept talking and we kept laughing.
The audition itself was just kind of a that: a high-pressure performance experience. I thought it went pretty well, its just the judges were just kind of informal about it all. I already knew that going in from other people who auditioned for the festival before, but still... It was kind of a weird experience.
Of course, the post audition euphoria was AWESOME! It's kind of comparable to the last final of a semester, and you walk out of the room, and you feel this heavy weight lifted off your shoulders! Just no pressure, no stress, just elation and happiness that it's done! So back through the metro we went, no problem.
By this time, I'm feeling pretty good about the day, but this is just when it's getting started! First stop post-audition is lunch at Shake-Shack! Apparently it's like a whole ordeal in Manhattan to go here cause there are always HUGE lines, but we found one right out by our hotel in Queens. Mmmm it was just natural straight up burgers, with thick fries and homemade shakes!!! Having been stressed most of the day, I hadn't eaten much up to that point, but we ate and ate there. Interesting thing to note: they had the nicest people working there! And as we came to found out, most of NYC has a nice population. I don't know how many of you reading this have ever been to NYC, but in the past our family has always gotten the nastiest people there. Just rude, impatient, upset stupid heads all the time. I swear if that was a couple years ago, somewhere in those years a magical city fairy spread some weird magic dust everywhere, cause only met the friendliest, most helpful people this time. We even tried to tip this one guy in Shake Shack cause he was so helpful, and he wouldn't take it. It was AWEsome!
With our bellies full, of course we head back to the hotel and do what any super active, fast traveling tourist would do: take naps(: Man I've never fallen asleep so fast. We were OUT. It's a good thing too, cause there was still a lot Mama had planned.
Mama in her planning genius decided we should go to a Broadway show that night! I've honestly only seen Wicked in New York City (twice actually) so I wanted to see something else. When I found out they were doing American in Paris though, I was SOLD!!! For anyone who doesn't know, American in Paris is one of those quintessential musicals that combines the best of everything artsy: classic solo and couples dancing scenes, tap dancing, music by George and Ira Gershwin (basically the musical masters of 20th century composition!), striking avant-garde visual sets, and probably most classic of all, the original movie has Gene Kelly in it! Being basically a Gene Kelly fangirl, this was basically the best of everything. I was a little nervous about it though, cause I knew if the dance scenes weren't perfect to me, I was positive I wouldn't like it that much. Music AND dancing play an equal role in this musical, so if one or the other wasn't up to par, I knew I wouldn't be completely satisfied.
This I guess is where I'm going to get a little preachy. Being a musician primarily but also someone who wants to master different types of art just to be able to enjoy it for myself and create, it blows my mind when I see someone who's really become a master at what they do. Particularly I've ALWAYS enjoyed watching dance. I can still remember Mommy putting in a DVD of Singin' in the Rain as a Sunday movie, and being blown away by Gene Kelly the entire movie. I just couldn't imagine how somebody could move and sing and just draw you in. I still love watching musicals with him. Just the way he moves when he dances is UN-REAL, almost like he's flying.
I've been thinking about this post for a couple of days, trying to find the right word to describe the whole experience watching this production of American in Paris live. The problem is, the only word I could come up with is transcendent, which kind of defeats the purpose because the word literally means indescribable. I don't mean that in that it just took my breath away, or that the music was familiar so I felt more connected to it. The whole experience just breathed of life and natural feeling and a human connection that true art is meant to achieve. For me personally, obviously the dancing played the biggest role in the whole experience, and mainly the dances between the main girl and guy. The one beautiful thing about it was the dancing just matched the same feeling of Gene Kelly in the original movie. It looked more like a conversation between two people through movement rather than a dance. I mean maybe it sounds kind of dumb, but you felt this whole dialogue of emotions between the two characters. Part of me was jealous, cause I want to be able to do that, but at the same time it was a beautiful thing to be present for, to feel that artistic connection of precision and feeling.
A lot of times with music (at least for me) as the performer, I feel like the best moments are actually in pathetic little practice rooms, where nobody can hear you but yourself. You may be able to perform pieces perfectly in concert halls in front of hundreds of people, but the act of creating, the act of making art, happens in your own creative sphere in one of those gross, dull practice rooms. It's when you work your butt off, and one day you feel the connection of notes, techniques and emotions come together into harmony, after hundreds of hours of work and effort and frustration. The artistry is first created in that moment, and it's the result of years of blood and sweat and tears and fears. That's art. Building off of that, the beauty of performing then is a transference of that feeling and all those hours of work to the audience. Its the transference of an affect. As a performer of music, I don't know if the actors in "American in Paris" really felt emotions dancing on stage when we were there, but for me, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And its not just because of how much they had practiced, but how the artistic energy of all those hours of work could be transferred so powerfully to me.
I'll literally never forget that performance, and how amazing I felt afterwards. Later that night we went to Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square, and went to a bunch of different stores, which was SUPER fun, but I kept thinking about that performance way into the next week. It's just nice when you're able to appreciate art and a performance so fully and powerfully like that, it seems to elevate and inspire you.
Anyways, thanks Mama for that amazing trip! With the trip already being done, I know that I didn't actually get into the music festival, but I'll remember that trip more than a lot that I've taken before. It was just such a great time, in a great place, with a PERFATO Mama(: Love you!
It's funny how things come up that you don't expect. I feel like that happens too many times with me and school, or concerts, or tests, or assignments at Church or particularly conflicts between two different important things. Like seriously, WAY too much. It's nice though cause even though most of these things are BAD things you wouldn't expect until they're staring you in the face, an audition for a music festival in NYC this weekend was definitely a GOOD thing I didn't expect.
There are lots of reasons I wasn't expecting much. An audition for one was pretty stressful. I was taking almost two days off school to play some pretty tough solos and excerpts for a German Festival I REALLY want to get into. And with over 30 hours of preparation over the past two weeks, it was all going to amount to 5-10 minutes of playing (#auditionstruggles). The nice thing was, Mommy decided to come a couple days before, so it felt just like college audition time again! Just me and Mommy, checking out schools and having some fun on the side. But this was just an audition, and then a whole day in NYC. I was "expecting" it to be pretty chill.
Nope. One thing about Mama is if she's going somewhere, she's going to be plan out a billion things to do(:
Our plane left Detroit at 6AM (meaning we woke up at 3:50.......) and we got into New York City at 7:30 for an audition at 12PM. It wasn't exactly the ideal morning schedule right before an audition, but it was what we had. We went to our hotel, I warmed up, and we took off through the metro. In the past as a little kid, I always remembered the subway as a scary, confusing, dark labyrinth of tunnels and stairs and sketchy people you tried to avoid on the tiny platforms. It's amazing though what having lived in St. Petersburg and having to rely completely on metros and busses can do for you(: The best part about it all was how it felt like home, and despite my small amount of stress, Mama just kept talking and we kept laughing.
The audition itself was just kind of a that: a high-pressure performance experience. I thought it went pretty well, its just the judges were just kind of informal about it all. I already knew that going in from other people who auditioned for the festival before, but still... It was kind of a weird experience.
Of course, the post audition euphoria was AWESOME! It's kind of comparable to the last final of a semester, and you walk out of the room, and you feel this heavy weight lifted off your shoulders! Just no pressure, no stress, just elation and happiness that it's done! So back through the metro we went, no problem.
By this time, I'm feeling pretty good about the day, but this is just when it's getting started! First stop post-audition is lunch at Shake-Shack! Apparently it's like a whole ordeal in Manhattan to go here cause there are always HUGE lines, but we found one right out by our hotel in Queens. Mmmm it was just natural straight up burgers, with thick fries and homemade shakes!!! Having been stressed most of the day, I hadn't eaten much up to that point, but we ate and ate there. Interesting thing to note: they had the nicest people working there! And as we came to found out, most of NYC has a nice population. I don't know how many of you reading this have ever been to NYC, but in the past our family has always gotten the nastiest people there. Just rude, impatient, upset stupid heads all the time. I swear if that was a couple years ago, somewhere in those years a magical city fairy spread some weird magic dust everywhere, cause only met the friendliest, most helpful people this time. We even tried to tip this one guy in Shake Shack cause he was so helpful, and he wouldn't take it. It was AWEsome!
With our bellies full, of course we head back to the hotel and do what any super active, fast traveling tourist would do: take naps(: Man I've never fallen asleep so fast. We were OUT. It's a good thing too, cause there was still a lot Mama had planned.
Mama in her planning genius decided we should go to a Broadway show that night! I've honestly only seen Wicked in New York City (twice actually) so I wanted to see something else. When I found out they were doing American in Paris though, I was SOLD!!! For anyone who doesn't know, American in Paris is one of those quintessential musicals that combines the best of everything artsy: classic solo and couples dancing scenes, tap dancing, music by George and Ira Gershwin (basically the musical masters of 20th century composition!), striking avant-garde visual sets, and probably most classic of all, the original movie has Gene Kelly in it! Being basically a Gene Kelly fangirl, this was basically the best of everything. I was a little nervous about it though, cause I knew if the dance scenes weren't perfect to me, I was positive I wouldn't like it that much. Music AND dancing play an equal role in this musical, so if one or the other wasn't up to par, I knew I wouldn't be completely satisfied.
This I guess is where I'm going to get a little preachy. Being a musician primarily but also someone who wants to master different types of art just to be able to enjoy it for myself and create, it blows my mind when I see someone who's really become a master at what they do. Particularly I've ALWAYS enjoyed watching dance. I can still remember Mommy putting in a DVD of Singin' in the Rain as a Sunday movie, and being blown away by Gene Kelly the entire movie. I just couldn't imagine how somebody could move and sing and just draw you in. I still love watching musicals with him. Just the way he moves when he dances is UN-REAL, almost like he's flying.
I've been thinking about this post for a couple of days, trying to find the right word to describe the whole experience watching this production of American in Paris live. The problem is, the only word I could come up with is transcendent, which kind of defeats the purpose because the word literally means indescribable. I don't mean that in that it just took my breath away, or that the music was familiar so I felt more connected to it. The whole experience just breathed of life and natural feeling and a human connection that true art is meant to achieve. For me personally, obviously the dancing played the biggest role in the whole experience, and mainly the dances between the main girl and guy. The one beautiful thing about it was the dancing just matched the same feeling of Gene Kelly in the original movie. It looked more like a conversation between two people through movement rather than a dance. I mean maybe it sounds kind of dumb, but you felt this whole dialogue of emotions between the two characters. Part of me was jealous, cause I want to be able to do that, but at the same time it was a beautiful thing to be present for, to feel that artistic connection of precision and feeling.
A lot of times with music (at least for me) as the performer, I feel like the best moments are actually in pathetic little practice rooms, where nobody can hear you but yourself. You may be able to perform pieces perfectly in concert halls in front of hundreds of people, but the act of creating, the act of making art, happens in your own creative sphere in one of those gross, dull practice rooms. It's when you work your butt off, and one day you feel the connection of notes, techniques and emotions come together into harmony, after hundreds of hours of work and effort and frustration. The artistry is first created in that moment, and it's the result of years of blood and sweat and tears and fears. That's art. Building off of that, the beauty of performing then is a transference of that feeling and all those hours of work to the audience. Its the transference of an affect. As a performer of music, I don't know if the actors in "American in Paris" really felt emotions dancing on stage when we were there, but for me, it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And its not just because of how much they had practiced, but how the artistic energy of all those hours of work could be transferred so powerfully to me.
I'll literally never forget that performance, and how amazing I felt afterwards. Later that night we went to Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square, and went to a bunch of different stores, which was SUPER fun, but I kept thinking about that performance way into the next week. It's just nice when you're able to appreciate art and a performance so fully and powerfully like that, it seems to elevate and inspire you.
Anyways, thanks Mama for that amazing trip! With the trip already being done, I know that I didn't actually get into the music festival, but I'll remember that trip more than a lot that I've taken before. It was just such a great time, in a great place, with a PERFATO Mama(: Love you!
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