When in Piacenza

Because I’m lucky enough to I get to travel everywhere, quite often I get to meet famous people along the way. My company is popular therefore different types of people come to see us. You see people on television or in movies or hear their music and you get to know them for what they put out there. Meeting someone face to face is always a different experience.  It can either make a connection stronger or completely separate it. I was a fan of Duffy, the British jazzy pop singer, but not until I got to meet her in London did I really fall in love with her talent. Her personality was so engaging and natural that I felt like she was just talking to me; a trait that always makes people feel better about themselves and the person they are talking to. I instantly quadrupled my passion for her music.

It’s not always what you expect. You see people as how they portray themselves in the media and you expect them to be just like that. If there is one thing I have learned about showbiz, it’s that life is constantly a show, from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to bed. I need to work on my acting skills.

Places that I have been to are like this. Sometimes the cities that I like the most are not the ones that everyone would think. It’s all a matter of your perspectives. A place is what you make of it. Life is what you make of it.

Saying that, I’m gonna bitch a little bit. Italy is a tough country to get used to. Everything closes all the time. Why? Not quite sure, but walking around Piacenza on a Sunday afternoon will make you feel like you are in a ghost town. It’s a day of rest.

Maybe we can learn something from this. What’s wrong with everyone getting together one day every week and spending the entire day at home, eating, talking, drinking and being with each other? What’s the difference between the media portraying famous people and how we perceive people walking down the street? We are so quick to judge someone. If we took the time to get to know where someone was coming from would we be so hostile with a rebuttal?  

これは私の日本のともだち用です。

この朝に私たちがバスにのっていました。メサ、アリゾナに行っています。ただ今US Tourをしっています。

アメリカは大きくておもしろいです。ニュ一ヨ一クからロサンゼルスまでとってもちがうです。二つをすきですがときどきアメリカのあいだの村をすきじゃない。

が毎村から何かをならいます。
私たちの日本のtourはおなじです。毎日はちがうのところに行きます。

このtourはほんとにさむいでした。たくさん雨がありました。

日本語をあまりべんきょうをしていませんでした。むずかしですがもうすこしべんきょうをしたいです。いつも私の日本語の本を私ととりますそして時間までの時間から読みます。

じゃ、私のあねは私にでんわをしっていますそしてかのじょとはなしをしたいです。

xoxo!!!

ジョシュ

Vegan in Asheville

I am not vegan, nor am I vegetarian, but due to a new friendship of mine, I have recently been introduced to a completely different lifestyle of food.
Did you know that there is more protein in a cup of spinach than there is in a pound of beef?
I love eating meat. I am not an animal rights activist so I don’t really care about killing animals when it comes to the usage of their meat. But it is really interesting to learn about different types of food that give you the same nutrients. Tofu for example was something I never wanted to touch until a few years ago. It’s now one of my favourite foods. Of course, even as I write this, all I can think about is the bland flavour of vegetables and rice, but actually there are many different flavours that can amuse the palate when it comes to vegan foods.

And that is why I am writing about this. I was in Asheville, NC this past week and tried a wonderful restaurant. It was called the Laughing Seed Cafe, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant on Wall St. in downtown Asheville. My friend, being a vegan, after having to pick through menus to find something that he could eat at regular restaurants, was in heaven. And I surprisingly was as well.  Now, I know it’s not the only one of its kind, but the food was great. They took regular meals and “vegan”ized them. I had a burrito and while it had nothing in it even resembling meat, it tasted just like something out of any Casa Rosada Tortilla Mexicana Cantina. I highly recommend checking it out if you are in the area.

To add to it, just 2 doors down on Wall St. is the Full Circle Salon. After grabbing a bite for lunch at the Laughing Seed Café, get Aaron Karcher to cut your hair. He’s a perfectionist when it comes to hair. Huge recommendation.

Going to switch tracks. The show in Asheville went really well. We had 1,800 people there, a great audience. My grandparents, my aunt and uncle and his brother and wife were in there also. The first time for all of them and they loved, loved, loved it.

I am learning something about myself and about my performance quality. Less is more. While I am in a company that tends to exaggerate style to bring out comedy, there are certain things that I have to exaggerate and certain things that I have to hold back on. There was a party afterward and many people came up to me saying that their favourite part about my character was my subtlety. I’ve got a big body so I have to take the style of my dancing to another level, but when it comes to making the audience see something comedic, even the smallest of gestures or a look of the eyes is enough. I think. I’m going to play around with it a bit. Most the time, subtlety is best; it leaves more to the imagination. Learn from Betty…

“That’s where the double-entendres came from. What you don’t say is funnier than what you do. Now they let it all hang out. It’s all single-entendre... They keep hiring young writers with no frame of reference.  Older writers are subtler. And subtlety is a rare commodity.” – Betty White on her version of comedy and the difference of television back in the day and today.


COPY AND PASTE FOR MORE DETAILS 


http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com/

http://fullcircleasheville.com/

Outback in Virginia

People will stare.

It’s amazing how you get so used to your surroundings, from both sides of the coin. You get used to the environment that you live in and people get used to what they see in their own environment. It’s like aliens from Mars when you see someone that you aren’t used to seeing. It happens everywhere. Being 6’4”, I guess I get my fair share of staring just because I am a giant.

When you walk into a neighbourhood in New York that you haven’t been into, it’s like walking into another world. New York is the most accepting and open minded city in the world, yet when something is so open, it allows for all types to come in. While you want to be in a place where you are accepted, you still have to be aware that others will be just like you and want the same thing, yet will have completely opposite views as you.

Going to other cities in the US, the US having such a broad spectrum of people living in it’s borders, sometimes you might walk into that “neighbourhood” that isn’t full of people welcoming you with open arms.

I’m in Virginia right now, a state that kind of borders, figuratively, on being considered the south or the north. The south, a word that puts a weird feeling in my stomach having grown up all over the south and been put down because I was “different” my entire time there. It’s a little unsettling to be in an area when you feel out of place. You are constantly on guard that someone is going to say something to you or worse, get violent. How much of it is in our heads though? How much of it is that you think they are going to say something therefore you expect them to say something? Meanwhile, they are just living their own life, not thinking twice about you. But, that being said, they can’t take their eyes off of you, trying to figure you out.

I went to Outback Steak House last night. (There aren’t many choices by the hotel.) I felt like I was on display the entire time. We have a joke… “Yes, the circus has come to town.”  Now, I will get a little partial here.  Many tourists come to New York and will ask me directions from time to time. I answer and move on. They are not from New York, they don't look like they are from New York but they are there enjoying the city. People like or do different things, why can’t we just let each other be even if we don’t agree on any level?

I love Japan and as this goes on, you will come to see my obsession with the country. The Japanese people are very to themselves. They are very polite. But at the same time, they have a wonderfully subtle way of staring. You have no idea unless you know how to spot it.  They are very respectful and at the same time, very true to themselves and their beliefs. A bit rigid at times and some could say conservative. Quite conservative. A friend asked me if I still liked the Japanese mentality even if they may or may not accept my thoughts and beliefs. Yes, most definitely! The thing about the Japanese people is that they may not agree with you, but they will never put you down for something that you believe in. They will never confront you. They may disagree but they will look past it and see what else there is to you. We may not have the same views on many things but there is always something that we have in common, we are both living on this planet, trying to get by. It’s all very Buddhist.

Getting around America

I know I have the luxury of traveling around the world, and trust me, I know it’s a luxury even as travel becomes more of a hassle day by day. But travel doesn’t have to mean across an ocean or around the globe. Many people live their entire lives in one country, one state or province, or even one county. Not everyone has the desire to get out and see the world when you have all your comforts right there within a short drive. 

My next trip is around the country that I call home, sometimes proudly and sometimes reluctantly, the US of A.

Living in New York, it’s hard to go to smaller cities, especially being someone who loves the hustle and bustle of fire trucks driving by at 3 in the morning and people’s car stereos blaring random songs that no one else wants to hear. But there is something to be said for the fact that no two cities are a like and no two kinds of people are a like. People from the south are very different from the north and people from the west coast are very different from the east coast. It’s a huge vast span of land and a huge vast span of people to fill it up.

Now, I have been all over the country before. I have lived in the southeast, the southwest, the northwest and the northeast.  But I am starting to see things in a different way. Starting to see things with different eyes.

I’m sitting in my window exit row of this Continental ERJ Jet, looking out at the sprawl of Virginia we are passing over. Bays from end to end each filled with beaches that look like they are completely untouched by nature. Waves and swathes of current and tide swirl through out the waters. Nothing moves, everything is completely still, yet there is a constant movement to it. Everything is so much more peaceful from 25,000 feet, and then turbulence hits.

Not to get too deep with this, but I just read this and it’s beautifully said.

“Time is always moving, minute by minute and second by second.  As time moves on, so do our lives. Nobody can stop this movement. However, one thing is in our own hands, and that is whether or not we waste the time we have; whether we use it in a negative way or a constructive way. The passage of time through which we live our lives is the same for all of us and there is also a basic equality between those of us who are a part of this time. The difference lies in our state of mind and motivation. “  - Tenzin Gyatso, XIV The Dalai Lama

Monte Carlo - Karl Lagerfeld, Princess Caroline and others

For the record, this is not how I intend on writing on this usually, but when I mentioned that I was going to start a blog, my boss asked me if I would write something for the last tour that we went on. And seeing as I need somewhere to start, here it goes.

Six Nights in Monaco

When one thinks of high society, class and glamour, there is one place that tops the list of cities; a principality that is nestled into the side of a mountain just one hour to the east of Nice, France.  When you stand near the top of the mountain, you look out at a city that is compiled of winding roads, escalators, a harbour filled with the largest of yachts, buildings with old French charm and a castle that over looks it all from high a top the mountain on the other side. And like the cherry on top of the sundae, you have a perfect view of the Mediterranean as a background to this magnificent city. It is a city-state ruled by the reining Prince Albert II and his sister, Princess Caroline, both children of the late American actress and wife to the late Prince Rainier, Princess Grace.

You are in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Well, the Trocks were at least. And though it is part of our namesake, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has never actually performed in Monte Carlo. That is till now.

And did we ever perform. Three shows of Les Sylphides, Carnival de Venice, Don Quixote, Go For Barocco, the Dying Swan and Paquita. We were in Monte Carlo as part of the Monaco Dance Forum celebrating 100 years of The Ballets Russes, Diaghilev’s ballet company for Russian refugees. Different companies from around the world, and the local Ballets de Monte Carlo, all came together for the dance festival. Due to The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and Princess Grace’s admiration for the art form, Monte Carlo has, and probably forever will be, a huge epicenter for dance. It was an amazing honour for the Trocks to be invited and to be a part of the festival.

We performed at the Salle Garnier, the theatre in the famous Monte Carlo Casino. It’s a smaller theatre but what you get inside is a feast for every sense. The house looks like the most ornate of all European houses.  Gold leafed designs of angels and candelabras swirl around the room with murals of old French scenes painted as their backgrounds. Rich, red velvet seats are hovered over by a large, fully working chandelier. On one wall, there are mirrors meant to reflect the windows from across the room, which have a view of the Mediterranean. During the day, sunlight fills the house as audience members take their seats. But at night, one can gaze out to millions of tiny stars, twinkling out over the sea. Resting behind and just above the audience is the royal box. It is about the size of a small apartment, with two thrones in it for the royal family when they decide to catch an evening at the theatre. A single large crown presides over the box to signify that this is the place of royalty. And that it was, for on opening night of the Trocks performances, two audience members gave us the honour of performing in their presence. The Prince and Princess of Monaco, both avid lovers of ballet, a trait passed down from their mother, came to the show. And from what I hear, they loved every minute of it.

The audiences did so too. We performed to packed houses each show and even had to add an extra show due to the fact that our first two shows had sold out almost immediately.  We were the only company in the festival to do so, another great feat for the Trocks. Stomping their feet and doing their rhythmical European claps, I think the shows were a huge success as we were most warmly accepted by the Monaco audiences.

Nothing compares, although, to the gala that concluded the festival. About 15 companies were represented to include the Trocks and as always, the Trocks were the highlight of the show, bringing the audience to a boisterous applause from the moment the curtain came up. Pas de Quatre was danced by Fernando, Raffa, Bobby and Claude and each one was at the height of perfection for the show, generating so much energy from the audience that they continued to scream and clap well after the curtain came down. Again, the Trocks were the only company to receive such excited feedback from the audience and it made us, even those of us watching from the audience, feel a sense of pride and joy to be part of the company.

The gala was performed in honour and in the presence of Princess Caroline with a party afterward hosted by the House of Chanel. Also there to bring in the celebration was none other than the House of Chanel artistic designer, Karl Lagerfeld.  Now, here I must admit that some of us were more excited to meet and greet with Karl Lagerfeld more so than with the princess, but to be sitting at such a glamourous dinner, five tables away from Karl Lagerfeld, Princess Caroline and Prince Albert II, all you can say is “WOW!” You have to pinch yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming. But, meet and greet we did. Most of us got our picture taken with both Karl Lagerfeld and Princess Caroline. Italian being one of the many languages she speaks, Davide held a lengthy conversation with her. Something I’m sure he will keep with him for the rest of his life. I, on the other hand, spoke with Karl Lagerfeld for a moment, him being one of my favourite designers. They were both very approachable and elated to speak with some in awe ballet dancers.

The tour was a huge success. Enjoyed equally by the theatre, the audience and the Trocks.  It was a wonderful experience to be part of. But like every dream, it must come to an end and with a minor flight scare (there was a huge snowstorm in New York City that threatened to leave us stranded in Nice, France with no flight home) we all made it back to NYC just in time to make our connection flights to our various homes for the holidays.

To finish I’ll say what we always hold dear to our hearts. There are good times and there are tough times, but it’s times like this that make us always want to keep on Trockin’!

xoxo.

Josh

Let's get started

Hey everyone.

Let me start by saying who I am. My name is Josh, and I'm a traveling ballet dancer. I work with a ballet company named Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo based out of New York, but we are a touring company so we travel the world for about 35 weeks a year. I've been with the company for about 4 years now and so far I have been to every continent except Africa and Antarctica
with about 25 countries under my belt.

I love to go places and see new things and cultures. I'm starting this blog because I want to have a place where I can share my experiences and hopefully others may get some enjoyment out of it too.
I'm hoping this will be a bit more than a travel blog, but that it will also be a people blog. I am so lucky that I get to go around the world, and one of the most enjoyable parts about that is the people and the experiences that lend themselves to my everyday life. That's what I want to share with this. Life situations for the traveling ballerina.

Feel free to comment and post your own stories. There are many places that I have been and there are lots more that I haven't been to so maybe we can help each other out.

Looking forward...