Misa's Alhambra Debut

Since I last wrote from Las Palmas so much has happened!

In Las Palmas, I danced “Rubies” in our Ultimate Balanchine program. There were a few casting changes and I ended up with James as my partner (James to the rescue again!).  The change came right before the performance, and James and I had only a little time to rehearse together that day. It was a little scary but also a lot of fun for us.  

“Rubies” is so playful and a perfect ballet to dance on tour. There is one moment in the third movement where James and I have a little competition. We keep looking back and forth at one another and the energy between us is so fun.

The second day I had the night off, so I went out to dinner with Altan [Dugaraa] and Rie [Ichikawa]. We had a Spanish fish called Dorado. It was actually St. John’s Day as well, and there were fireworks at night. We were sitting right under them – and it felt like it was raining fireworks. It was so loud and almost scary, but very exciting – a nice way to end our stay in Las Palmas.

We flew from Las Palmas to Madrid and Madrid to Granada on our travel day. The second flight was so bumpy! We all kept looking at each other hoping it would smooth out. It finally did. It was a long, long day for everyone and we were so happy to arrive to Granada.  

Our theater in Granada is beautiful! It’s an outdoor amphitheater located in the Generalife Gardens at the Alhambra. My favorite spot is the wall covered in jasmine, stage right, that smells so good. It’s an incredibly inspiring place to dance. Being on stage in an open air theater feels so freeing. This was the biggest stage on our tour so far and the freedom of movement I wrote about before came right back to me.

It was a completely sold-out house for our Ultimate Balanchine program. To perform in front of a huge audience of new people was a great feeling. I danced Ballo with Jeffrey Cirio as my partner. It was my last Ballo for the 2009-2010 season so I gave everything I had to give. All of the corrections from our artistic staff and all of the energy I could muster, I put into the performance and I hope it showed.

After performing in Barcelona, San Sebastían and Santander, the performances in Granada were our last stop on the Spain tour. Our performances in Madrid were cancelled because of the economy and some challenging logistics in that city. I can’t believe it’s the end of the season, but it’s a great ending in Granada–a beautiful place–with two performances and theater full of new people.

Up next for me is a gala in Japan on August 1 with New National Ballet Theatre. James and I are performing Tchaikovsky pas de deux. I’m very excited for that–it’s James’ first time to Japan–and hopefully we’ll get some time to enjoy Tokyo. Then, I’m going to Vail Dance Festival where I’ll dance with Daniil Simkin and Herman Conejo–and I’m very excited to see Damien Woetzel and Heather Watts and other dancers that are coming to Vail.

Then, back to Boston Ballet for our 2010-2011 season. Thank you all for reading! Love from Spain!

-Misa