Ethan, the Dancer

Today was the second three-show day so far on this tour. I'm wiped, although it's hitting me a little late in the day. Maybe the glass of wine with my second dinner helped the crash along (and, yes, since this tour started I'm eating two dinners almost every night after I perform; it's one of the parts of this experience that makes me feel like an Olympic athlete).

Anyway, today's first show was at a lovely Friends school in a quaint town in South Jersey. This was, actually, my second visit to this town, having performed in a giant gymnacafetorium (with the world's worst acoustics) the last time. The room was intimate, the stage had a working traveler and well-placed teasers and I was certainly pleased to have such an attentive crowd (except for an annoying fourth grade boy in the back row, but I won him over by "volunteering" him for an activity). And, after the show, the contact came up to me, all smiles.

"You were wonderful," she told me. "Where did you study?"
"NYU," I said, with a semi-exhausted smile. "My degree is in Theater and Middle Eastern Studies."
"Oh," the contact said, turning away sheepishly. "I meant, where did you study dance"

DANCE?!

Anybody who has ever been in a dance class with me, or witnessed the shamefulness that was every "demos" dance presentation in college knows that I have two left feet... at best. Despite nearly nine years of modern dance in Minneapolis (where, mind you, I was a member of a youth dance company and had a piece that I choreographed for myself performed in a new choreographer's evening!), I have turned out a moderately-stunted dancer. My standard line at auditions is, "I look really great in a chorus, and I can tap up a storm." So, you can share my surprise when, time after time, principals, teachers and PTO presidents inquire about my dance training and then proceed to compliment it.

(Tangentially, I am always curious what part of my performances qualify as "dance." I do a few bell kicks, the occasional chaîné turn, the Robot (!) and some really "white" hip-hop. Regardless, it seems to be working)

Despite all this confusion on the audience's part, however, the repeated compliments are really boosting my dancer ego. This is indeed an unexpected result of the tour: along with my rapidly-raising stamina, endurance and cardiovascular health (and mounting credit card bills as I buy the food I need to replace the calories I burn), I may come out of this thing believing, at least the first few calls, that I am actually a decent dancer. Which, while a complete shock, is something I am willing to accept wholeheartedly.

Call tomorrow: 8am, Brooklyn street. Off to Hartford, NY and other points north.

Kid quote of the day: During the "Champions Challenge" section of Musical Health Show, a little boy got so excited that I picked him to join me onstage that he completely forgot his name. He didn't even recognize it when teachers prompted him.