Quick Update

Last night, during a conversation with a bright friend of a friend in Pforzheimer House,

I realized that I have danced 12-15 hours a week on average for most of this semester.

astounded,

rossi

Journal de la Semaine, 9-15 Octobre

9me – 15me

Su           Weston, Connecticut: beautiful trees make beautiful landscapes. 

M            Weston, Connecticut: spending time with Robert driving is just like times at home.

T              Weston, Connecticut: Robert has gotten very involved in finding new music, very pleasing to watch.

               

W            Today was boring and tiresome. Ballet was the most inspiring and yet I simply could not muster the spirit to dance. After work, I returned to my room and Matt cheered me up without knowing it. He was just being himself and in doing so inspired me to dance. Jill and Kevin’s wedding entrance helped, too.

Th            Day 1 of 3: Had a very pleasant time talking with and learning about Catherine Katz. The students in Lerman’s class met Kate and Dave today, of room 404 media. They are both very bright individuals.

F              Day 2 of 3: Woke up at noon, which was too late in the day.

Sa           Day 3 of 3: Jun Shepard and I performed our duet for an audience soaked by the rain on a stage covered in a layer of water. Just before we went on stage, the two of us talked through the piece and agreed to make the entire thing more gentle and therefore more safe to perform. It went very well, I would say. The rain was very enjoyable at first. Everything about the schedule of performances and preparation for them was utter chaos and the rain made it all ridiculously amusing. I left for a time with a very bad attitude because I got what I call “wet cat syndrome”. Basically, I got too wet and got very unhappy, so I left for a while. Kyle and I grabbed a bite at Zoe’s diner before coming back to my room to change into dry clothes. Eventually, we went back to the Yard to a live band, a lot of dancing, and a lot of bare feet in soft mud. When I woke up today, the air was so clean and the sun was out with large white clouds floating in the sky. It was quite perfect. Thinking about all that happened on Friday, I feel that I have experienced an emotional deluge after which I feel capable of starting over again with new breath.

                

My First Yom Kippur Fast

Forwarded Message

----

Rossi,

My first Yom Kippur fast was successful and cleansing. I think that it is good to take conscious time but that

it really is all about your attitude. First of all, a day is not a long time to go without eating (or drinking). However,

I just let my attention switch directly from hunger, when it  inevitably strikes me, to other aspects of my life that feel 

important to me, my valuable relationships in this case. As a result, I feel very grounded in who I am and confident in my 

ability to recognize that I trust in myself to make good decisions that guide me accordingly.

Also, it makes a difference to have the support of over 5 million Jews in the United States, let alone the 

13 million who could be attending to the same tradition. This characterizes the practice of observance

in that everything that a Jew does on the individual level runs much more deeply than that individual,

It's very grounding, if you ask me.

sincerely,

rossi

Everything In Ballet Balance

I think that it is safe to say that I watch more ballet on YouTube than that average sophomore boy in college in America. Maybe I am just being proud.

Either way, I stopped to pause and realize that I have seen some fantastic dancing thanks to YouTube.

So I figured that YouTube, being a site for sharing, would want me to share these with those who are patient enough to watch.

move right along,
rossi

Alessandra Ferri and Wayne Eagling in "Romeo and Juliet"

Alessandra Ferri and Mikhail Baryshnikov in "Giselle"

Marinsky Ballet performing "Don Quixchotte"

Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella in "Don Quixote"

National Ballet of Canada performing 

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
original choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

Journal de la Semaine, 2-8 Octobre

2^me-8^me

Su           Second rehearsal for Don Quixote: my memory is serving me well. I love transforming myself into a dancer. Today was largely spent, however, loading walls and props into the Adams Pool Theater for Andy Boyd’s original play Affordable Rates and Color T.V. All things were properly set up and the run-throughs went very well, I think.

M            The welcome party for Jill Johnson went off without a hitch. It was superb. I had just come from ballet class into a dark room with a video exhibit by David Michalek that was displayed on three large vertical screens which were elevated a few feet from the ground. David Michalek is the husband of the principal dancer at New York City Ballet, Wendy Whelan, whom I met and spoke with for a time.

T              I updated my Facebook status to: “+2papers in <24hours. -1 three hour. +3 meals. +1 two-hour nap. Lifestyle efficiency.” It’s true. Before I skipped class to finish my paper, I napped on a pillow and blanket on the middle of three benches placed in the courtyard outside of my window. The sun was gentle enough through the leaves of the large tree so as to warm me but not overheat me. I slept for an hour and a half and woke up from a dream in which I was an old man thinking about his death. Images of my roommate’s face, smiling, and my own face, crying, came to mind. Contrary to what these two visualizations juxtaposed may insinuate, I felt very much at peace with my death, so much so that I woke up feeling renewed and fresh. Deciding against class and work for the hour afterward was not difficult. I walked to the river and wrote some sort of poetry, then burned it, and then wrote freely again.

W            I was very hungry in the afternoon and in the evening Andy Boyd’s Affordable Rates had a very successful run. Show goes up tomorrow night at 8pm.

Th           First showing of Affordable Rates and Colored T.V. Successful. First day at the Quincy Grille. Despite the spilled oil, which was not my doing, fortunately, the first day went comfortably. 

F              Today I cleaned the house at 17 Putnam for the brothers who will there and use the space.

Sa           Today’s rehearsal with Jun went very well and my rehearsing her steps last night paid off. We finished creating and learning the choreography today. When I asked, she said that since the last rehearsal to this one her level of security about this piece had increased from 4 to 7 on a scale of 10. Very good. 

Journal de la Semaine, 25-1 Octobre

25^me-1^re

Su           First rehearsal for Don Quixote: challenging and fantastic.

M            Regarding ballet, my balance is getting better. I can land somewhat securely after a pirouette and transfers of weight are done with more facility than before.

T              Today a very pertinent series of questions and thoughts arose while in discussion with Liz Lerman and architectural designer Michael Singer, among which were the notions of a “centralized thoroughfare” and sustainable food consumption at Harvard University. In the late evening with Lauren Simpson and gentlemen from the Lerman course, I participated in a first-stage collaborative effort to conjure moving ideas for Lerman’s installation-exhibit on the Civil War and the War in Iraq. The show goes up on 20 November. After returning to my room from a run in with the quality group of a few Pledges of AEPi and a brief walk with one of my roommates, I called my father, who silently fell asleep on the phone. Before going to bed, I noticed that the large white spider was not sprawled out on its web as it usually by this hour. I was worried that someone had done away with its web and the spider. To my delight, I found it curled up in the metal railing of my window, still alive.

W            This morning Kyle and I lay together in bed the entire morning without a worry or regret. I chose not to attend any of my classes today, which I do not regret, however I wish that the day was more progressive quantitatively (qualitative progress was high; I was happy to say the most). Regarding ballet, it pleases me that I am becoming more proficient in how I carry myself. Dinner with the Rabinowitz’ and company was lovely, and their home, exquisite. I have no reason to believe that I made an unfavorable impression on Mrs. Rabinowitz aside from the fact that, upon pulling out a petite note, in which I thank them with my own handwriting for their hospitality, a condom fell out of my pocketbook. It was quite funny, at the time. At the end of the evening, which had dragged on much too long, Mr. Rabinowitz graciously drove us all back to campus, at which point I promptly returned to my room, undressed, and slept.

Th           Today the rain came down from laden clouds and I bathed in it freely, content with all that I was.

F              My mind was very dissonant tonight and out of it I created an emergency gift for myself, bound with orange ribbon. Afterwards, I got very drunk at the party of a lady friend of mine who was turning twenty-one. (She had put a large photo of herself at the age of 15 on the window, though her appearance was exactly the same as it is currently).

Sa           I went to bed too late and woke up too early, so I went back to bed and then woke up feeling bland. I was swept away to Zander’s 21^st birthday—his parents had invited fifty of his close friends over to a bar for drinks, appetizers, and billiards. I almost didn’t go due to a severe confusion but I was very glad that I had.