a photo (by david manning) from our Spanish Web piece that opens Pirates of the Airrrr, our fall rep show at Canopy (i’m on the right, Melissa Roberts center, Allyson Mann left). This was an intense piece to learn — spinning at this velocity literally takes your legs out from under you, so movement in toward the rope requires this physical fight against the spin. And when you stop, the dizziness is so intense you really can’t see for a few seconds. But once you get used to this sensation and know it’s going to be there, you just move past it. Of course, then comes the nausea. But luckily my body’s adjusted to that as well; eating a few pieces of crystalized ginger (sugar coated) and drinking a Reed’s real ginger ale about a half hour before has curbed that (I’m not gonna lie, though, I almost lost my lunch after one rehearsal).
On top of that, Allyson’s and my spinners, Rabun Dekle and Carrie Kretzer, respectively, are just learning to spin (Allison Workman is a champion spinner and has been a great teacher). That’s a hard position in itself; keeping your flier going at such a pace is a huge shoulder workout (I have only tried it a couple of times and it wore me out).
All that to say, lots of work goes into all our pieces! We love you so when you come to our shows!
Three left: 4 and 8 p.m. today and 4 p.m. Sunday… ARRRRR
