Premieres!

Balada - Chorea Slovaca

It has been done! My first performances with SL'UK. The very first was in the Chorea Slovaca program
where I was part of the final choreography (Balada) based on a war between Ottoman/Turkish soldiers and Slovak protectors of the land. Anyhow a lot of military influence; in steps, costumes, props (swords which send the sparks flying everywhere) music and scenery. The show started at 19:00 but I was already fully dressed at 18:15, even though I was only in the last choreography. My entire ritual of things I usually do before a show was thrown out the window. I didn't need to go search for all my costumes and put them in the correct order, find all shoes and arrange them in a logical way and think about speedy costume changes, none of that; for in SL'UK there is not one, not two nor three costume ladies, there are four. And they arrange everything for everyone. So instead of the usual hour of searching for costumes I was done in four seconds. Nervously I paced the halls of the SL'UK building, thinking about every step a million times. One by one I saw the dancers enter and exit the stage, impatiently waiting for my turn. When the moment was there I got rid of my nervousness and just wanted to go out there and be on stage again. I was satisfied with the performance I put on stage even though it was far from perfect.

My second premiere was last Sunday (26th of October) where I danced in the 65th anniversary program for the first time! Here (Kozarovce) I danced choreographies by the hand of Juraj Kubanka (one of the most famous folklor choreographers in Slovak history (more than once he's been called a pioneer on the area of folklor choreographing)). The first choreography goes by the name of Mal'ovani Zbojníci which tells the story of a painting portraying a group of bandits or lumberjacks (I never knew for sure). Slowly they come to life and start doing some incredible hard steps, tricks and formations; a real challenging choreography to dance but all the more satisfying if done correctly. Also they wear interesting costumes and face paint. The second choreography (finale of the first part) is a Kubanka choreography based on the Vychod region (eastern Slovakia) and is called Hviezdnata Noc which means Star-Lit-Night. A choreography with stretched legs, capas (clap combinations), partnering and amazing lines/choreography. Before the show started I set myself a goal which was to try and shine on stage no matter what happened with my steps etcetera. The day after the performance we watched our show that apparently had been videotaped at work. Of course the performance was yet again far from flawless but I was happy to see that at least I gave it my all and that I very rarely saw myself fall completely out of character on stage. After seeing the video I also saw quite some points that I still have to work on, so I'll continue doing so! On to the 65th Anniversary program in Bratislava's Mestske Divadlo P.O. Hviezdoslava (DPOH) 7th and 8th of November :D :D

Mal'ovani Zbojnici - lekker strak broekie

Visitors Week

During the past few weeks the Dutch dancers of SL'UK were visited by family and friends! It actually started off with Sven being visited by his mother and to be sister-in-law. After that Doron's father and family friend (Frans and Henk a.k.a Frank and Hens) came by. They visited SL'UK's performance in Bojnice in which I was supposed to dance. Sadly however, due to last minute injuries of colleagues, the programme was changed from the 65th Anniversary program to Krížom-Kražom (the folklore programme of last/this season). Since I am not in this programs choreographies my premiere was put off. Together with Doron's guest we wandered around Bojnice and mainly admired it's castle which had a rather Disneyland-feel to it. Because Autumn is falling in, there were a lot of leaves floating through the sky which made it all the more fairy tale-like. The first of the two performances was for an audience filled mostly by the local elderly, I guess that I was the youngest member of the audience by about 40 years. The evening performance was in a packed theater and the show went great.

Autumn in Bojnice! (c) Doron Lenferink

For their last day in Bratislava Dorons father organised a winetasting, which was a fun experience but made me realize even more that I am not the biggest fan of wine. Afterwards I was introduced to American Football (I believe it was Packers vs. Florida somethings) by one of the American friends of Doron. I apparently chose a good game to watch because it was exciting until the very last seconds of the game! Unfortunately this is what I read online later that evening cause I had to leave before the game had ended to go home at the end of the world (Rusovce).



And the next day my own parents arrived in Slovakia! All the way by car from the Netherlands it had taken them only two days including a small detour through Freiberg recommended by my oldest brother Oskar. It was very nice to see them again after more than three months! While they were here they visited a day at work with me (balletclass, folklor rehearsal), two performances (one of them being my premiere!), the surroundings of Bratislava (which gave me the opportunity to practice my driving skills after the three month dry spell) and a lot of nice restaurants in Bratislava. From the moment they arrived it was as if I'd seen them every day since I left, immediately falling back into the usual patterns talking about everything from Paloina to politics in Almere. I was really happy to share my daily life with my parents and show them what's like to work and live here. Also I can't wait to visit Netherlands again from Friday the 21st of November until Monday the 24th !