joyeuses fêtes

So as I happen to be on a different continent from most of you, the idea of sending presents or even cards seemed a little daunting, not quite carbon-responsible, and the end result would be that there would be a lot of people I care about either left out or who got something that didn't come close to recognizing how important they are to me.  What I'd really love is a place on Santa's sleigh, to just pop around the world in the blink of an eye so I could be in many many places at once and get to spend a little time with each of you.  Given Santa's technology hasn't gone public yet, I decided in lieu of wishing my way to each of you, I'd put together a little montage of my life thus far in Toulouse.  


Nutcracker's well on its way, the shows are all completely sold out (including Dress Rehearsal Thursday night), which is nice to have all that excitement and energy coming from the audience.  The two youngest kids, Philippe and Isaure, came with Christine and Olivier to watch Dress, and they were very very excited to see me from their little side box on the first balcony -- Isaure was potentially in danger of falling over the edge craning to see every tidbit, but was very enthralled with the whole thing, and loved my little wink to her during the curtain call.  


Last night a big group of the orphaned dancers all went out for pizza as our big Christmas eve dinner.  Having us all together was a great way to forget just how far away home is... and in case you're concerned about how a bird is going to come by and land on my big lip, I have a bundle of home coming my way right now.  Mackenzie's currently flying over the North Pole and waving to Santa, and arriving this afternoon (eeee!!).  I'm so so excited to have family here for Christmas, and to get to share Toulouse with her.... and Paris for the first few days of January should be fantastic.  Tonight she'll be meeting me after the show, and then we're coming home to make butternut squash risotto with Christine (the mum) and Jeanne (the 13 year old dancer) who are in town just for tonight because Jeanne had the lucky draw of the show on Christmas.  They'll head back to the grandparents' house to join the rest of the family tomorrow morning, but for tonight, it should be a lovely little girls night.  


With Mackenzie here, I'm guessing this will be my last post of 2011.  I'll do my best to take lots of pictures and try to catch myself up once life gets back to "normal" -- whatever that is -- early next year.  Thank you to all my lovely readers (er, that'd be Mum, Dad, and Nana, I think) for giving me an excuse to have all this documented.  Sending you light and love, and wishes for health and happiness in the New Year.  Joyeuses Fêtes à tous!  Bisous!  

 

il y a un chameau dans le parking

So we were mostly very focused on work this week... until we discovered our new neighbour, this lovely camel, tied up next to the parking lot.

 Only at Montaudraun... So in addition to the gypsies camped out in the parking lot across from us, we also now have a full on circus.  There's also a horse to keep this guy company, and as we were driving by, some teenagers hopped out into the street to stop us so there could be a herd of llamas stampeded across the road.  Just to reinforce how I'm at the top of the arts-and-culture food chain over here...

Last week was busy, finally turning all our focus to Nutcracker run-throughs, despite all sorts of injuries and sicknesses and new babies, oh my! that kept us from having a full cast.  I got to work on finishing up my Christmas presents for my French family -- I'll try to remember to take pictures before I give them away -- and hand painted cards for the various Seattle family and friends who are going to see my parents between now and Christmas.  Hurtling towards opening night now, but with Nutcracker, somehow there's the slight feeling that whatever can go wrong, has definitely already somewhere, so there's a little less pressure....


Mmm, but for now, Christmas carols are playing in the background, lights are up on all the trees and storefronts downtown, my grocery bags were mosre than half full of chocolate, the Christmas market with its "bretzels" and mulled wine and rows and rows of gifts-to-be-had is visible from the window of the dressing room at the theater.... and Mackenzie will be getting here on Christmas day, which is somehow impossibly in less than a week! I can't wait for her to be here -- the two of us get to hang around Toulouse while I finish up Nutcracker, celebrate various Christmas-New Years-Birthday fêtes, and then boogie our way to Paris to see some of her UPeace friends, maybe meet up with some Columbia people, and, you know, be in Paris.  Sounds like an okay scenario to kick of 2012. :)

nutcracker is in the air

So all of a sudden it's December, the weather has turned from crisp to cold, and a misty rain has descended over Toulouse.  And, as per the natural order of things, Nutcracker is in the air.  Tchaikovsky's least favorite score is wafting through the hallways, children are running up and down the stairs at Montaudran (our studios), and the whole city is starting to be decorated in red and white and gold.  

So, a quick review of what's happened since Thanksgiving.  Dan arrived on that Saturday, and stayed until early early Wednesday morning (thanks to a strike by the airline crew supposed to get him to Paris...), for a really really wonderful visit.  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with 10 or so of the other dancers, completely vegetarian except for the roast chicken (apparently turkey was too hard to find in France), lots of really really good food and good wine and great company.  

The rest of his visit was spent rediscovering Toulouse, from coffee at the top of one of the buildings downtown (note all the great pink-tiled roofs you can see in the photo) with Eleonore and Jake -- two friends of friends who moved to Toulouse who I really really like -- to cassoulet at one of the traditional southwestern French restaurants in the city center to working on the lift that Patrick Swazye does at the end of Dirty Dancing in the Jardin des Plantes... in the 60 degree sunshine.  Pretty pretty good.  It was fantastic to get to see his face on this side of the Atlantic, and hard to see him go, but all in all, a really great four days. 

Since then, we've been focusing in a little more on Nutcracker, and continuing to work on Twyla's Nine Sinatra Songs.  Julian and I have gotten a few chances now to actually rehearse in the space (instead of in the back while trying to half watch the first cast and not step on anyone else), and it is really a great pas de deux, full of all sorts of opportunities to make eyes at each other, to balance and pull out long slow movements, to jump and run and be fast and slide, and to embody each movement with the character.  What felt uncomfortably awkward just a few weeks ago is starting to become natural, especially when we have Nanette, Paola, and Valerio all watching with a ton of experience and advice on how to make it all smoother.  Nutcracker is coming along, we're working with the kids in party scene now, and fitting in runs of Snow and Flowers where we can around the other rehearsals.  Michel Rahn, Nanette's husband, is here to set the last ballet for the January program, Benjamin Millepied's Paganini, but I'm not in it, so I'm getting a little bit of extra time to relax and think about Christmas shopping.  

Things otherwise are falling into place, my days continuing to mostly be full of good friends and food and folly :)  Wishing everyone warmth for the holiday season, I'll try to have some more updates along the way.