Hi OBT Friends!  You haven’t previously heard much from me via the blog, but now that I’m spending less time in pointe shoes I’m looking forward to sharing a bit of my “behind the scenes” perspective.  As you may know, I recently retired from my performing career during our recent “Song and Dance” program.  My final show was magical….thanks to all of you for sending me into the next phase of my life with such warmth and generosity.

Speaking of which, I’ve spent a good bit of my summer going through all the messages written on the aerodynamic yet safely designed paper airplanes that were launched at me during my final curtain call.  They made me laugh, they made me cry; I will look forward to re-reading them far into the future when I’ve forgotten what it feels like to spin around on my toes.

One such message, from a dance teacher/season ticket subscriber in the area, asked me to describe my duties as Artistic Coordinator.  I am very happy to report that much of what I do involves being in the studio working with the dancers of the company and school.  When the company is “on contract”, I’ll assist choreographers and/or repetiteurs, notate new works, teach company class, re-set older works, teach in the school, and participate in artistic staff planning and problem solving as needed/assigned by Christopher.  I have also been pursuing touring opportunities for OBT and coordinating the tour planning for our upcoming Korea tour, which occupy a good bit of the company’s “off contract” time.  That’s kind of it in a nut-shell.  If anybody has any questions about my work, or any other behind the scenes matters, please ask!