Tour Diary

New York 2014

October 7th, 2014

The suitcases are packed, the visas are applied for, costumes, make-up and point shoes are packed - off you go! Tomorrow morning eleven of our dancers will fly from Dresden to Big Apple. István Simon, Svetlana Gileva, Chantelle Kerr, Elena Vostrotina, Duosi Zhu, Alice Mariani, Anna Merkulova, Christian Bauch, Jan Casier, Joseph Hernandez and Julian Lacey will be with us. After a grandiose performance at the »Dance Salad Festival« in Houston, they were invited to the eleventh »Fall for Dance« festival in New York. This festival takes place at the New York City Center and aims to make dance accessible to everyone. In addition to performances by renowned ballet companies from all over the world, various pre-show events will take place to promote the exchange between dancer, choreographer and audience. New York City: Here we come!

October 8th, 2014

Finally we're off! After weeks of preparation and intensive rehearsals, the time has come: From Dresden to Munich and from Munich to New York. Fortunately the pilots are not on strike today! Maybe enjoy the Lufthansa Oktoberfest weeks with Weißwürschtl and Brezel and then get on the plane. 6477 kilometers over the big pond and 9h flight time have to be overcome until we have New York time today at 15:30 o'clock at the John F. Kennedy airport again ground under the feet. We are all excited and nervous - you don't fly to New York City every day to dance on the stage of the famous New York City Center! After a long, exhausting flight we finally landed in New York! We quickly checked in at the hotel and headed for the city. After all, we want to savour every single second in the land of unlimited possibilities. Oops, since when have there been three Statues of Liberty on Liberty Island? Oh no, that's just Alice, Duosi and Elena hiding here under the seven prongs of the crowns. After a short detour to Times Square with its huge advertising walls we return to the hotel and off to bed. After all, we all want to be fit, because tomorrow the rehearsals start in the studios of the New York City Center.

October 9th, 2014

Today is our first day in the rehearsal rooms of the New York City Center and we participate in an open training. Who else will be at the »Fall for Dance« festival? It's a great opportunity to get to know each other in the rooms of the City Center, because artists have come from all over the world to present their skills. Among others, the San Francisco Ballet and the National Ballet of China will be present. Today's training is given by Israeli-born Zvi Gotheiner, a former member of the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv. With his own company ZviDance he is a regular guest on the New York stages.

October 10th, 2014

After an exhausting rehearsal day yesterday, it's now time to really get going! Tonight our US premiere of William Forsythe's »New Suite« will take place on the stage of the New York City Center. After the training we go to the rehearsal - quite exhausting if you don't know the stage and its conditions yet. The festival technicians, ballet director Aaron S. Watkin and production and tour manager Frank Seifert have already set up the light settings and completed a technical run. And now it's our turn! Then we rested for a moment and off we go again for mask, warming and..: Premiere! We are already looking forward to being able to create a dance evening of the extra class together with the Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Sébastien Ramirez & Honji Wang and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. At eight o'clock it starts - once again the costume is rightly moved and punctually 20:20 o'clock in second place of the evening show what we can.

October 11th, 2014

It was a great premiere last night! Today we are very happy to present a second - and unfortunately last time - our »New Suite« on the stage of the New York City Center. In front of a sold-out house, we thrilled the New York audience and provided a glamorous and entertaining evening. For all of you who are not (yet) familiar with the City Center, here's a small excursus: the place of performance was originally called Mecca Temple and was the meeting place for the Order of the Shriners, an Arab branch of the Freemasons. For a long time it was the most important stage in New York. After the Lincoln Center was built, however, it became less and less important. But in the days of the »Fall for Dance« festival, the house shines in its old glory.

October 12th, 2014

They say New York is the most beautiful city in the fall. We used the morning before our flight home for a little walk through Central Park, breathed in the air of New York and bought the very last souvenirs for our loved ones at home. At 3:55 p.m. New York time we were off on our journey home again - in our luggage: sweaty costumes, new friends, an exhilarating feeling and perhaps a little bit of melancholy to have to leave this pulsating city again. It was a great trip full of new impressions and experiences and thanks to production manager Frank Seifert even without major breakdowns. We really enjoyed performing together with so many different people in a time-honored theater like the New York City Center. Now the rehearsals for David Dawson's »Tristan+Isolde« are scheduled at home: Dresden, we are coming!