For the second year in a row the company was beset by the stomach bug on our annual tour to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. While last year’s epidemic was fairly isolated with only a few people down for the count, this year’s flu was rampant. It reminded me a little bit of the “Barforama” scene in the movie Stand By Me. There were several replacements and shuffled casting, with two or three principal role changes announced before the show each night. Corps replacements are never announced publicly; if they were there would have been many more names called!
I was dancing Balanchine’s Symphony in C all week. It closed an iconic Balanchine triple bill which began with Serenade followed by Agon. On opening night my regular partner Devin Alberda succumbed to illness right before the show, so I rehearsed with a brand new partner—the very game David Prottas—during Agon since David had to perform in Serenade as well. Poor David, who had never danced in Bizet (the dancer shorthand for Symphony in C) before, was flying blind that first show. But he did a great job of jumping right in. We ended up together for the entire week because by the time Devin recovered someone else was out, so he ended up changing spots too. It was quite the juggling act.
What happens to our tummies in DC I wonder? Last year we had a man throw up right before the Diamonds section of Balanchine’s Jewels. He vomited all over his glittery white tunic so there was no way someone could fill in for him since we didn’t have any extra costumes. We did an elaborate re-rigging of the finale in which couples were cut and demi-soloist men blended into the corps and then reemerged as demis again a step later. It was madness. I remember exiting during
I was dancing Balanchine’s Symphony in C all week. It closed an iconic Balanchine triple bill which began with Serenade followed by Agon. On opening night my regular partner Devin Alberda succumbed to illness right before the show, so I rehearsed with a brand new partner—the very game David Prottas—during Agon since David had to perform in Serenade as well. Poor David, who had never danced in Bizet (the dancer shorthand for Symphony in C) before, was flying blind that first show. But he did a great job of jumping right in. We ended up together for the entire week because by the time Devin recovered someone else was out, so he ended up changing spots too. It was quite the juggling act.
What happens to our tummies in DC I wonder? Last year we had a man throw up right before the Diamonds section of Balanchine’s Jewels. He vomited all over his glittery white tunic so there was no way someone could fill in for him since we didn’t have any extra costumes. We did an elaborate re-rigging of the finale in which couples were cut and demi-soloist men blended into the corps and then reemerged as demis again a step later. It was madness. I remember exiting during
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