“A beginning is only the start of a journey to another beginning.”

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about college lately. You all know that last time that I began something hugely new in life. The last time it was my goal to reinvent myself and discover how I would function in a new world with new people all with like minds. While my graduation had a similar feel, I knew people in New York I already had a home, at Hofstra, I knew no one.

When I got to college I discovered that while we are all of like mind it’s the nuances that make us the best of friends. I think of how far we have all come in the past six and a half years. How many of us were so sure we wanted to be actors live in New York and how many of us are. Those of us who have decided that they’d rather live upstate, or design beautiful things, or write, or direct, or stage-manage, or run away and join the circus, and those of us who really truly want to act. We have all given ourselves the freedom to discover what we really want. There is such power in that. Life is short, yes, but it is also so long—so full of twists, turns, adventures, and new beginnings.

A few of the cast!

It makes me wonder about the people I’m meeting now. About the life I’m beginning now. How will our lives interact and intertwine in the future. It seems that everyone I work with knows each other from some place or another. I can’t wait until I come back next year and we have all worked on some other project together. We’ll hopefully have that same kinship, but we’ll have greater skills to share.

Our teacher, Dave, and I

So Monday we went to Trapeze High and swung on their rig there. It’s the first time I’ve ever been on a rig that isn’t at the Warehouse and I don’t like it. Mostly I don’t like their trapeze bar it’s to light and too thick I couldn’t get a good grip on it. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just different from what I’m used to and it really threw me off. I threw a few 1½s, the net was so low that they turned into double layouts. Which means I clearly didn’t have enough height to catch them but it still worked. I did some turnarounds too but they’re just funky. It was a good two days.

I still can’t get over the talent that’s here. These people are amazing.  The second day Trevor was on the trapeze he threw a beautiful double pike. Alex has only worked on the Trapeze for five months and has a triple.  It’s so inspiring.

Me, rocking the pole

I finally had a chance to hang out on the net Wednesday. Elizabeth, Elaine and I have spent the past few days messing around and that’s been really great. We’ve put together a semi-routine and it includes a press up handstand, which I’m so excited about. We’re basically going to put together a series of things that we like that look good and when the choreographer comes she’ll look at what we have and see what she likes. My skills on the Chinese Pole have tripled. Apparently in years past the ladies have been a bit shy about learning extra pole skills, but we're all about it. We're going to be three BAMFs by the end of this. Hopefully they'll let us have a chance at playing in the center poles. 

We've been given two wetsuits. Our primary wetsuits are nude colored so we can wear them under our costumes if we want to. It's funny because we always look like we're kinda naked.

I've also spent tons of time with my dad, my brother and his girlfriend this week. We've eaten at beautiful places and really enjoyed discovering the city. 

Random Job Perk: Meeting Jack Hanna

The thing that I will most remember from this week in my life is that everything is possible.  The world of skill is so much bigger than I thought. The physical language is so much more elaborate that I thought and I can’t wait to use it in my fusion!