Being in the entertainment industry dancers often find that we have the opposite schedule of most other people. We work when others are at leisure so they will hopefully come to see us perform. I have to admit this is hardest to deal with during the holiday season. When others are cuddled up at home with family and friends we are in the full grind of Nutcracker, our busiest time of year.

Last week was very bizarre for me. It felt like about a months worth of things happened in the span of 7 days. To begin with, on Sunday I flew down to Tampa to perform in another gig organized by Daniel Ulbricht. I danced Agon and Nutcracker pas de deux. It was a rather hectic day because I had rehearsal with the company until 7 pm the night before so I couldn’t fly out until the morning of the show. I got up bright and early at 5:30 (actually it was still dark) and flew south, when we arrived we marked through our spacing and immediately got our make-up and costumes on and performed at 3 pm. I honestly don’t know how we all did it, but I guess after performing professionally one learns how to prepare for such things, even in a crunch. What made it more stressful for me was that my original partner sliced his thumb badly 2 days beforehand and was unable to partner so we had to find a replacement last minute. Considering all of the obstacles I think that it was a very nice performance and it is always fulfilling to go to smaller towns and meet the local ballet students and bring them ballets they may never see unless they travel to large cities when ballet companies happen to be performing.
I returned home after less than 24 hour in the Sunshine State in order to make it back in time for my college classes on Monday nights. When Tuesday rolled around I was exhausted considering I didn’t really have any time to rest over the weekend. I had a rather busy day ahead of me as I was called for 3 hours of rehearsal for the new Peter Martin’s ballet that will premiere at NYCB’s gala in less than a month. I was a little confused when I saw the schedule because I remembered hearing that it was his intention to create a ballet with all principal dancers, but there were 4 soloists called to this rehearsal. I figured that he had changed his mind and wanted a larger cast so had decided to expand into the lower ranks. When Peter walked into the room Tuesday afternoon the pianist immediately began playing “Happy Birthday” and all of us quickly realized it was his birthday.  He got started on our movement without any particularly special introduction or explanations. Then about half way into the rehearsal he was refining a step and  was wondering if we could make a single turn into a double turn and specifically said: “Well if you were a principal you should be able to do a double.” He then proceeded to tell the 4 soloist in the room that we had all been promoted! Without much time to absorb this huge news we had to pull ourselves together and continue on with the new choreography. It was not the most glamourous way for a promotion to happen, but none the less it is a huge deal for any dancer. It has been a dream of mine, and I am sure of thousands of other ballet dancers around the world to reach the top echelon of a dance company.  It honestly has not sunk in in the week since this happened. I have been in the company for 9 years (the anniversary of my first day is Halloween) and promotion to principal is something that usually happens a little faster than that at NYCB.  I was perfectly happy to finish my career as a soloist and I’m not sure how many things will be different with my new rank, I guess only time will tell.  But for now I am extremely excited for the future and hoping that I can live up to my new title.

The title of this blog is the last line from one of my favorite childhood books: The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree. For some reason I always say it to myself when I return home after a long or hard time away. We just got back from our tour to Tokyo last Tuesday and while it was a very challenging, fulfilling and interesting tour I think everyone was happy to get back to New York. I really enjoy Tokyo but there are so many little things that are just so fundamentally different there that make it hard for me. Silly things like the fact that everyone walks on the left side of staircases or sidewalks (it took me a few days to figure out why I kept running into so many people) and also the Japanese were constantly bowing to us and while I appreciate their respect I couldn’t help feeling a little awkward. I think that if I took the time to research their culture more I would grow to love the country but I didn’t have time to do that for our 8 day trip. All that being said I did manage to have a good time despite the unfamiliarity of everything. My favorite part of each day was actually dinner because I love Japanese food and wanted to soak up as much of the real stuff as I could. My favorite places ended up being the cheapest meals: ramen, there is just nothing as comforting as a big bowl of soup. I also had some excellent sushi, although the miso soup I ordered one night came with a fish eyeball in it (I still had it and it was delicious!). I am also happy to report that all of the performances went very well. This was the company’s 4th trip to Tokyo and I image that we will be returning again. The audiences in Tokyo were very polite, you would have almost thought that they weren’t enjoying the show because for the first 2 ballets of an evening they would only clap quietly for a relatively short amount of time. However, after the last ballet each night they would show their approval demanding 4 or 5 curtain calls every night. There are also some very devout fans coming to the stage door multiple days in a row to get autographs and take pictures. I even received a gift from a fan or a porcelain crab (in lieu of flowers since they are not lasting) as a memento of the trip. There were even a few people that came to see our buses off at 7:15 in the morning our last day there!
I am still trying to fight jet lag 6 days after returning home, it is amazing how quickly your schedule can be turn upside down. We start rehearsals for our winter season on Wednesday so I am trying to squeeze in as much rest and relaxation before that begins.

It’s been a rainy start to our tour here in Tokyo, typhoon Melor decided to visit at the same time as us! Even though it has been raining for the past three days I have still tried to get out and take advantage of some of the free time we’ve had so far. On the first morning here a group of us met at 5 am (which was surprisingly easy thanks to the jet lag) to visit the famous fish market in Tokyo. It was a sight to see tuna that were over 5 feet long and appeared to weigh well over 150 lbs. We ate breakfast at a sushi bar right off the market, it was amazing to have fresh fish that you know was literally caught hours prior. I think that may be the best sushi I will ever have.
Yesterday was the first day of rehearsal and I have to be honest it was a difficult day for everyone. With three days off, long travel days and and an unfamiliar environment everyone was a little cranky, but we got through the first day and opening night is tonight. The audience here in the past has been very warm and receptive and we always sell very well in Japan.
I’ll let you know how the show go and any more fun outings I got on soon!

I have to leave my apartment at 5 am tomorrow morning to start the long journey to Tokyo. I’m a little apprehensive about the 13 hour flight and time difference and am hoping that I will be able to sleep on the plane tomorrow so I can pass the time and try to adjust my body clock. It is always difficult for me to pack for tours, especially one in Asia. I am packing some extra snacks and nutrition bars for before shows because while I am usually adventurous with food, right before a hard performance is not the time to be consuming something that my stomach is not used to. The company supplies all the dancers with theater cases that we can keep some belongings in that they will transport. I haven’t seen mine since we left Saratoga in July so I am hoping that everything that I remember packing then is actually there when I arrive. But just to be safe I’m going to throw a few extra pairs of point shoes in my suit case anyways. There are a couple of parties that I have to pack nice clothes and shoes for but I also want to comfy things for the plane too. It is really hard for me not to want to put my entire wardrobe in my suitcase, I guess my friends will have to forgive me for a few repeat outfits when we are half way across the world.
Anyways, I think that my whole ploy in writing this entry was to procrastinate on the task at hand and that I should be getting back to it. Wish me luck and I’ll give you an update while I’m away!

Sorry for the week off from the blog, but I found myself rather busy last week. After a long layoff I forgot how hard it is to get back in the swing of things. We started rehearsals for our Tokyo tour, which I leave for on Sunday, last Tuesday. I am doing the second pas de trois in Agon and also the solo girl in Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #2. While I have done both of these parts for a long time now, that doesn’t make either of them easier on my body. I love both of these ballets but they both have a lot of big jumps in them and needless to say I came home everyday last week with my legs feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds. I think the company as a whole is a little nervous about being ready so quickly after the whole summer off and we take our international appearances very seriously because tours are hard to arrange with such a large company and we do not want to appear out of shape or ill prepared.
I am also a little stressed because I have to miss a week and a half of school and am trying to get ahead now because I would like to enjoy Japan for the few days we get to spend there. It is very hard to balance my school and dance schedule but they are both things I love and I find essential to remaining balanced and sane.
Anyways, I just wanted to say a quick hello because I have to get back to studying before I head to class and rehearsal for the day and get started on packing for the trip tonight. I will keep everyone updated (hopefully with some pics too) on the tour.

This weekend I to flew to Buffalo to dance with a small group that Daniel Ulbricht (principal dancer with NYCB) put together. I really enjoy doing small gigs like this for a number of reasons.  I get to work on ballets that I don’t have the opportunity to dance in NYCB because it is such a large company.  This weekend I performed the pas de deux from Balanchine’s Diamonds and also “Man I Love” and “Fascinating Rhythm” from Who Cares?  It was nice to have something to work on and think about (in hopes that maybe someday I will get to perform these roles with NYCB at our home theater, keeping my fingers crossed!) during the long summer break between our summer season in Saratoga and our tour to Japan that we begin rehearsal for tomorrow.  I also enjoy doing gigs because it exposes communities to first class dance performances that they might otherwise never get to see.  Ballet as an art form is struggling in these times and it is important for us as dancers to do all we can to recruit new audiences and continue to introduce new generations to the beauty of dance.  I know that Daniel took the time to really reach out to the community the entire week before out performance giving lectures in local elementary and high schools, appearing on news casts and also visiting hospitals to offer free tickets to sick children.  We even got to meet one of the children, her name was Miracle, that got tickets to the show and it is always refreshing to see the joy that it is possible to bring to people’s lives, even if it is just for a couple of hours when you get to perform on stage.  Just meeting Miracle made the entire trip worth it!

My name is Teresa Reichlen (but everyone calls me Tess) and I will be a blogger for Danceworld. I am a 25 year old soloist with the New York City Ballet and a part time student at Barnard College. I just started back at school last week and will begin rehearsals for NYCB’s upcoming tour to Tokyo on Tuesday so hopefully I will have some exciting things to report in the very near future.