"Ladies and gentlemen of Phoenix Dance Theatre, this is your beginners call, please make your way to the stage." One of my favourite sentences to hear, it brings up so many different feelings, from excitement to nervousness, and it marks the fact that in one minutes time I will be on display in front of judging eyes to earn my salary and put bread on the table!
Holidays started and finished, much too quickly as it always feels to everyone, preparation for the shows done and tour time approached once again.
When your life revolves around going from theatre to theatre there is something rather nice and comforting about the little constants which happen no matter what the destination is. Like our sweet mini-bus and Barry the driver, who smokes like a chimney and has a voice which would make Barry White jealous... maybe it's something that comes automatically with the name?
Or Tracy, our rehearsal director, playing Angry Birds (and getting angry herself!) on her iphone during travelling time, Josh sleeping any time possible, and the freshly washed, perfectly folded towels waiting for each one of us in the changing rooms.
I'm now in Cambridge, just a bit less than a year has gone by since we were here last. It was when the big snow covered the whole of England and when students were protesting against the new University fees.
There is no snow now but a timid sun trying to give some light to the day, students are still walking around but with no banners this time... At least not carried out in the open, I am pretty sure they still have them on clear display in their homes.
The hotel is the same one: good old, 'full of character' Travelodge and its unique £8 breakfasts. Bowling will be once again our destination after tonight's show and I will astound every single person there with my unbeatable skills...not!
It's the little things that so often make a difference in your life... I can already see Josh sleeping in the changing room with his head resting on the perfectly folded towel.
After my indispensible morning coffee (I'm still Italian after all) I made my way to 'the black cage'.
The Junction is the theatre where we will perform; it's a nice, intimate space, one of those where you can shake hands with the first row, and my favourite kind of venue as it feels like the audience becomes part of the show. I have always enjoyed being able to clearly see people's faces and expressions whilst I'm on stage.
It gives a very human approach to the performance and it breaks the usual barrier between dancers and audience. What is displayed on stage becomes a shared experience amongst everybody who is present in the space and it makes the whole night a very unique and precious event to be part of, especially as a performer (although I must say that I do feel sorry for those people who are so close to us that they receive some of our sweat drops on them...
They certainly get more than what they paid for! But hey that's life performance there and then, with all its poetry and hardcore reality!)
It's now late night: another venue ticked, another performance under my belt, and the towels are now resting in the washing basket waiting to be washed and perfectly folded once again.
It's road trip back home tomorrow, Angry Birds is already waiting for Tracy and my little comforts are just a few hours away. As much as I love traveling, and moving around, there is nothing better than coming back home and finding all that is close to your heart.
We all strive for extraordinary and life defining moments, but what really warms your most inner being are the little things, the ones we forget about until they're not there anymore.
The ones which transform something from being 'nice' to being 'great'... boy I did miss my pillow!
Thanks for reading, see you next month
Azzu
