Soreness

The weekend was wild...


First it started with a party Friday night. It was a huge ImPulsTanz opening party at the Kasino at Schwarzenbergplatz with a live band show, lots of drinks, and so many people. I obviously got lost first and found a different casino that told me where the even was. So then I found my way and saw the big obvious lights that spelled out IMPULSTANZ on the building... duh. The night was amazing. I had a few drinks and finally found Syreeta, a fabulous and lovely dancer who was in the Toronto Dance Theatre company while I was in school there. We caught up a bit, lost each other a few times at the party, but found each other again. I found a few other friends I met at ImPulsTanz and we decided to go to this other party hosted by Archie Burnett, my Waacking teacher that week! So we found the bar called Roxy and found a group of amped up dancers having so much fun, so we danced forever... Well, until 4AM. And even then the party was still raging when we left!



The street on which I got lost



Then the next day at 12:15PM I had Parkour... Maybe partying so hard the night before was not the best thing before such an intense class, but the workout for sure helped my hangover. Leech was our instructor and he had a really great approach to teaching it and about the philosophy around Parkour. He spoke about it as though you speak about life. The choices you make in Parkour are the same as life in the sense of how you calculate risks in your head. In life when you think about achieving something, most of the time one would say that the risks are worth the outcome, so take the chance. In Parkour, if you feel like you are feeling afraid of doing something you have in your mind, as long as you trust your body enough, you should take those risks. The downside of Parkour is blisters... My hands hate me now, but it's okay because I really do feel like I have a better sense of my fear and when it makes sense and when I should let it go. All in all it was a great experience. My body is so sore going into this week. We were walking on railings, running up walls, in the playground being monkeys, just experimenting and playing around.

Sunday night I also saw a performance at MUMOK (contemporary art museum) by Ana Rita Teodoro called Gut's Dream. It was a very beautiful solo with paper bags that extended and came apart. However, it was only 30 minutes long so I felt there was more to be said, or something missing. It felt like only part of something, rather than something shown by itself. After that I got some delicious Froyo and went home.

I saw this guy on the way home in the subway

Today I started my weekday workshops. First I have Becoming Animal with Bruno Caverna, A Body In Question with Sybrig Dokter, and More Than Naked with Doris Uhlich.

Bruno's class was all about play fighting and feeing as though you are a young animal learning to fight with your brother. So the entire time you know you are safe, because you are still soft with each other, you are purely learning. Sybrig is exploring relating to identity and minorities and finding where your can fit into the equation. It's a softer class physically, but very nice to think about. Especially after having Pilippe Riera's project last week I feel very in the political space of the injustice towards minorities. Then finally Doris' class is, yes, you guessed it, all about nudity! We were very well introduced to the aspect of getting naked as a group and dancing without worry of jiggling, in fact embracing the jiggles! It was a fantastic dance party and we all were very naked and sweaty, but happy and immersed in the infectious music and beat. I'm very excited for what is to come.

I will have it all in dirty details for you next week!

Happy Travels,

G

Reunions

It's been half a week in Toronto. There hasn't been to much need for adjustments, just lot's of time to see people and be with myself a bit.

I do feel as though the adventure hasn't quite started. I'm living with my brother for the time I spend in TO, and I know Toronto so well that it hardly feels new. I'm feeling comfortable while I'm here, and I know that won't be the case when I arrive in Vienna. For now this is for sure a good thing. I still have a little extra time to sort some things before I sail the seas, which is going to come in handy as I deal with my phone plan, credit cards, make sure I have everything, etc.

I really started to find good friends that I really value from my time spent here in Toronto. I spent 3 years at The School of TDT and had 15 truly talented classmates with whom I was fortunate enough to graduate. Now upon revisiting, I've been looking through my contacts and realizing who I really truly want to see. Some I'm unsure of whether I'll be able to reach them before I leave... I would clearly love to see all of them, but this week I've seen a few that have been some great reconnections.

My roommate and best friend, Miguel, in my last year of school has remained close compared to some classmates, which is natural and doesn't mean I love them less. I was very grateful to see Miguel and his boyfriend for a sushi date Friday night. I always love catching up with him. Sometimes I wonder what it will be like, and if I've changed too much for us to find common ground, but it was like old times!

And we had some good times :)

On Thursday night I also got to see my good friend Vanessa. What a hippie that girl is turning into. I mentioned to her that when  you don't see anyone except for on Facebook, all you see of them is what they post. For Miguel that includes a lot of selfies and videos of him playing music, and for Vanessa it's articles about the moon's position in the sky and past life regressions. I went with Vanessa to a poetry reading and book launch in Kensington, where I met a lot of her friends from a festival she attended. It was great to be able to be with a group of young people so caring and inviting. Not a moment did I feel awkward or alone in the crowd of people that knew each other, which I find rare in most situations. A cool thing to be at.

This morning I went to brunch with two girls I teach in Halifax and one of their mother's. They are both doing the Ballet Jorgen summer intensive and it was nice to see them briefly before I leave and before they start their hardcore ballet intensive.

This weekend is also the pride parade! And what a good pride season this year will be with the entire USA finally allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry! It's kind of nice to see my Facebook blown up with rainbows :) #lovewins. I was not planning on going to the celebrations this year. I think I'd  rather collect myself and save my money for Vienna. I have been to 3 Toronto pride celebrations before so I think the community will forgive me.

All in all, these reunions and the others to come will prepare me that little bit extra for the main event.

happy travels,

G