Beppu Ballet Blog, Part IV

Our latest entry from Boston Ballet dancer Romi Beppu ... go go dancers, sweaty bus rides, and won't Miss Kuranaga finally bare some skin?

For the first Beppu blog, go here.
For the second Beppu blog, go here.
Part three is here.

Saturday, August 4th:
Last day in Madrid calls for ….. party! After the last La Sylphide performance we all (most of the company) decide to meet downstairs at 1:15 am for party plans. First stop: Rendall Salsa Club. Nelson knows one of the promoters of Rendall Club and gets all of us in free of charge. It is a small, intimate club with people coupled off and serious salsa action in play. Young, old, big, small, no matter, people are here to get their salsa on. We stay for about half an hour and decide to move on to our second destination: Club Kapital. Katelyn and Tempe work their charm on the bouncers as soon as we arrive and once again manage to get all of us in for a reduced rate. Thanks girls! Wow! This is my kind of club! With 7 floors, each floor having a different theme and a different style, it was hard to decide on where to begin. We ended up on the first floor (House music) it was amazing – crazy lights, dry ice, go-go dancers…. Hmmmmm – am I sharing a little too much information? In any case, you get the idea – party accomplished – check.

Sunday, Aug. 5th:
Travel day to Santander, destination #4. we load onto two buses, each dancer getting two seats for maximum comfort. Roman and Megan shoot for the last row on the bus – six seats all to themselves. Thinking they have snagged the first class section of the bus, they set up shop for what they think will be a comfortable ride. Little do they know, it will be the “hot seats” of the ride. Within 15 minutes of departure, I hear Roman saying “Why is it so hot back here? I am sweating like a pig!” Megan is feeling sick from the heat as well so she is lying on the seats, legs up on the windows. In the next hour Roman is walking up and down the aisle of the bus for some air and heat relief. We discover that prime bus seating as far as temperature goes is in the mid-section. One will freeze towards the front of the bus and the rear seats are basically padded stoves. Again, we are learning as we go.

As we hear the hotel, Kirsten (company manager) announces “Okay, everyone listen up! Now I want everyone to know that the location of the hotel isn’t near any restaurants, nor is it walking distance to the city, however I have been told that the hotel itself is quite nice. The exterior might not look that way, but don’t judge a book by its cover”

“Uh oh, I immediately thought – what are we in for?” Well, she was right. We were in the middle of nowhere, an undeveloped semi-industrial flat-land. With the only thing in sight being a Cortes Ingles (think of it as the Spanish Wal-Mart) and what looked to be a large pile of metal scraps and waste, depression and mild irritation was quickly settling in. And to top it off, it was cold, grey and rainy. Thrilled we were not.

With each passing day, the weather warmed up to us as we did to Santander. Once in the Centro de Ciudid we discovered wonderful restaurants, beautiful beaches, eclectic boutiques, a castle surrounded by water and beaches and oh…. The best helado ever!

Highlights:
#1 Jonathan McPhee and our beloved pianist Freda Locker (Freddy as she is known to us), join us for the Santander performances. Jonathan is here to conduct the Lithuanian Orchestra, and Freddy accompanies us for our 3 shows. I can’t tell you what a difference live music makes to dancers – you feel that extra sparkle onstage, and all of us did! Muchas gracias Jonathan and Freddy!

#2 I am getting 8 hours of sleep per night this week, finally! Being in boonlyland does have its perks.

#3 Our free day was spent at the beach – two beaches in fact. Playa de Los Bikinis, and Playa de la Magdalena. With perfect beach weather, soft therapeutic sand and chilly but refreshing ocean water, we couldn’t have asked for a better freeday.

Side note: Miss Kuranaga once again joined us at the beach with yet another interesting beachwear outfit. I think this time she wore what looked to be a hoodie jacket under a baseball cap with a fall coat covering her entire head. All this in efforts to block any or all sunlight. Bless her heart, we love you Misa.

#4 James Whiteside stepping in last minute for an injured Nelson Madrigal in The Four Temperaments, dancing Sanguinic alongside Erica Cornejo, with one rehearsal and learning the part via videotape and help from ballet master Tony Randazzo. James’ debut went off without a hitch and he was fantastic – a true professional. Congratulations James!

Fun and funny moments worth mentioning:
#1 Kelsey and Tempe both dropping their breakfast trays in the same spot within minutes of each other – it must have been a slippery countertop.

#2 Rie continues to ask for a “café colacha” por favor, even though we keep advising her that it is “café con leche” that she wants.

#3 Desperate for something, anything, in English to read, Katelyn shares her July issue of Elle magazine with me. She has read the entire magazine from cover to cover and I am sure I will too. Reading material printed in English is hard to come by in Spain!

#4 Boyko performing his rendition of Michael Jackson’s “ee-hee” high pitched yelp with choreography to match, after company class.

#5 Tony’s fabulous beachwear / safari / hiking (or ready for any adventure)attire. On our freeday, he was spotted leaving the hotel with what appeared to be a fishing hat, sunglasses dangling from his neck, a fanny pack draped around his shoulder, water bottle attached to the pack, another bag draped across the other shoulder, (with what I’m sure contained a first aid kit, snacks and perhaps a tent?) and hiking shoes with ankle length socks. He was a sport and posed for us (and our cameras) hitting a perfect passé and an academy award winning smile. His best accessory though was his sweetheart, the elegant and beautiful Kathleen Mitchell.

Saturday, August 11th:
Travel day to Perelada, destination city numero cinco.
AKA: “The Great Bus Ride ’07 - the 13 hour bus ride that really should take only 7 ½ hours”. In Spain, along with taking siestas everyday, not being able to readily catch taxis on the street (one must wait at designated taxi stands) and other rules/regulations that we as Americans don’t have, there are strict bus stop rules that are enforced by law. It requires that the bus driver must take a half hour break every 2 hours of driving time, and then in addition to that, an hour sometime in the middle of the trip for a lunch or dinner break. Bus drivers have it much better here in Spain than in America!

Bus ride itself was fine. With two seats to each dancer and the 8:30am bus call, most of us immediately set up camp, put on our i-pods, feet up and dozed off………

Rie Ichikawa, Karine Seneca, Larissa Ponomarenko, Romi Beppu, in Santander. (Photo by Sabi Varga.)