Tonya Plank

Author, Dancer and Public Interest Lawyer


Monthly Archive for April, 2006

Take That Back, Performance WAS Heinous!

DVDs from the school of the March performance just came out and I saw myself dance. Ewwwwwwwwww! I look like a spaghetti. Seriously. My arms are flapping madly about; I look like I have no skeleton whatsoever. And I was so scared, I had this look on my face like I’d just received shock therapy and my shoulders were hunched straight up to my ears throughout the entire three minutes. And I looked truly horrified whenever I looked out into the audience – -and blinded; now I do remember the lights being so bright, I got really distracted looking out. I’m never ever ever looking at the audience again; if Pasha makes me face front, I’ll still crock my head and focus my gaze on him — I am dancing with him after all. And in our little Romeo and Juliet pose I look like I’m casting a spell on him not looking down adoringly.
A co-worker friend wanted to see the tape, since he couldn’t make the performance (thankfully), but no way is anyone seeing this. I agreed to show him the the still pictures, which somehow didn’t turn out quite as horrid. But when he saw the carryoff lift I told him I took from the Lavery R&J, he said, “Oh yeah, this is after you’re dead, right.”

“No,” I said. “Romeo predeceases Juliet. She takes drugs at one point and he does a quite beautiful dance with her looking like a rag doll, but this isn’t that scene. This is from the balcony scene and I’m being swept off my feet. Are you sure it doesn’t look like I’m being swept off my feet?”

He scrutinized the picture again. “Nah, you look dead.”

Ugh!

Blackpool!!!

Very excited! I just received an email from one of the Blackpool B&Bs I’d queried weeks ago asking if they still had a room available for the dance festival in late May / early June, and the last one just responded with a “yes!” So, I quickly called the Winter Gardens and confirmed that they still have standing room season tickets available, made a plane reservation to Manchester, and, except for the train tickets between Manchester and Blackpool, I’m all set! Now I can’t get that “Manchester England England” song from “Hair” out of my head… I’m so excited — my first year there! I can’t wait to see the beautiful flowing ballgowns encompass the entire floor during the Standard comp — especially the Quickstep when the dancers are just flying — ah, such a fairytale…