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A hellish heaven of a first year at Rambert - Part Two - Elizel Long
Posted by: Elizel Long on 27 September 2010
In those early days after finding a far-from-perfect place to live, I turned 21 years old. Being away from home, and by home I mean South Africa , I found it incredibly hard to not share this special day with my parents and the friends who I grew up with.
But the day didn't turn out too bad in the end; I got treated to a birthday cake by a special friend of mine in the Company and I asked the traditional phrase to all, "drinks at the pub after work?"
Then came the month of September: the beginning of the Comedy of Change Tour. I think if anyone else feels my pain best when I mention this, it would be my beloved friend and fellow apprentice, Otis-Cameron Carr. I would like to dedicate this paragraph to him because it was during this tour that pain and frustration hit hard. There is, indeed, an art to touring. I read Pieter Symmonds blog not too long ago on this exact topic, and I realised that it wasn't only myself and Otis who felt this way about touring at the beginning of ones professional career as a dancer. Cutting a very long story short, I have now learnt the ins and outs of where to stay, what to eat and where to go when you feel it's just all too much. I can almost say that I am looking forward to this year's Awakenings Tour, because I now know some of the tricks of this touring trade.
Being a first-year apprentice at Rambert Dance Company really is not easy. It is most certainly a RAW, RICH AND RELEVENT experience in a sense that you must cope, learn fast and adapt with ease to be part of this family. Do not get me wrong, I am probably the most proud apprentice in London , being where I am with this particular company. But, apart from the fact that you must watch and learn a lot of the time from the rear end of the studio, it is psychologically difficult to grasp the concept that you may only be able to dance on stage, when perhaps other dancers are injured or are not well. It is hard at a young age to sit back and just observe, as the passion to dance and the energy one has as a young person is so very much alive at this stage, yet one must be restricted and held back to wait your turn. It is a huge learning curve and I have learnt a lot from specific individuals in the Company by just sitting and watching them move. An apprentice almost develops a people-watching skill. It is interesting, as I find myself using this newly acquainted skill to analyse ordinary people, in life outside of the studio. It is also perhaps a proven technique to put apprentices through this torture, as I presume once they are unleashed after their holding time, they'll attack the dance floor with full force and I guess "Viva a la 21st century dancer?"
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