First Full Day

After our first full day in Shepherdstown, I am ready for bed, but wanting to first tell you about the wonderful experiences had this day!

I very much enjoyed meeting all of the other dancers that will be participating in the festival this weekend. It is an intimate group of only about twelve people (I think that is how many I counted!). I am excited to see everyone's work. Today was tech, so we did not get to see anyone's pieces today. However, I am happy to learn that there is a diversity of styles being represented this weekend, and many examples of multimedia work. I am interested to see the varied approaches to the genre. Our own tech went well. We took little time to get everything squared away and I am excited to perform our pieces and show our films to whoever our audiences might be this weekend.

Apart from dancerly activity, today has been a happy reunion with and rediscovery of a place that we have happy memories of. Yesterday evening and today, we ate at some of our favorite restaurants and cafes, along with some we have never been. We ventured into all of the small shops, to find unique jewelry and clothing. Though we were happy to find most of these fabulous finds were very reasonably priced, we were good, and only looked. We have re-connected with some people we met during our last visit, namely Quincy and Robert, our hosts for the festival. Their home will be our home for the weekend. Meeting Kitty, the festival's artistic director again was joyous, and even more joyous was meeting Val, her daughter who was only a bump on Kitty's statuesque frame last we knew!

This evening, we took a trip across the street to enjoy the Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University. We saw a play called, "Bread Crumbs," about an aging writer who is going through the experience of having alzheimer's and the young woman who comes into her life to try to preserve her memories before it is too late. The play shows how their relationship grows, and how they come to depend on each other, and learn from each other. The play deals with themes of identity, and how we take childhood experiences into our adulthood. It was beautifully written, and beautifully played by the two actresses.

Tomorrow, we gear up to perform, and now it is time for bed!

~Cara