Grace Harlan ’18, for her first assignment as a
by Grace Harlan
Hello, Scotland!
journalist for LA, accompanied Dance Director
1 2 LAWRENCE ACADEMY FALL 2018
Brian Feigenbaum and the LA dance troupe to the 2017 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The 2017 issue of the Journal had already gone to press by the time they returned, so we present excerpts of Grace’s blog here, for your reading enjoyment.
May 24, 2017: Preparing for the Fringe Festival GROTON, Mass. — As LA Dance gears up for their trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it's obvious that a whole lot of work goes into the preparation — and not just from the student performers. Three faculty members, Director of Dance Brian Feigenbaum, Director of Theatre Joel Sugerman, and art teacher Dina Mordeno, will be accompanying the 12 student dancers (and one student journalist) on the trip to the worldrenowned two-week art festival in Scotland. Not only will the students be performing on numerous occasions on two continents, but they will also have the chance to see other acts representing dance, music, and theatre.
August 9, 2017: London Calling LONDON, England — Despite landing at what felt like 2 a.m., we all managed to successfully pass through customs and receive our luggage this morning at the airport. As soon as we boarded our bus, the tour of London began. We passed by the streets of South Kensington, the Royal Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament, all before 10 a.m. The bus then dropped us off, and we were able to explore and eat lunch in small groups.
August 10, 2017: Last Night in London The morning started out with a quick breakfast, and then a group walk to Siobhan Davies Studios. The team used the three-hour practice to go through the entire dance again, section by section, and ensure they are ready to perform this coming Monday. The practice required lots of concentration, but with the help of Mr. Feigenbaum — and each other — they were able to remember all the pieces of the dance, including intricate details like transitions.
Afterward, we all walked back to the hotel and proceeded from there to lunch. Then, we were allowed to split up into small groups and explore some more of the city. We were all happy to get the chance to go to bed after a long day of hard work. However, Victoria Hodgkinson ’18 said, “I wish we didn't have to leave London so soon.”
August 11, 2017: Hello, Scotland! EDINBURGH, Scotland — We were off to an early start today, with a 6 a.m. departure from London to Edinburgh. Our group shared a bus with a theatre group from Michigan and another from New Jersey. It was a relatively monotonous drive until we entered into Scotland, where we were greeted with a beautiful view of the ocean by the countryside. Even though most of us slept on the bus, by the time we rolled into the University of Edinburgh at 5 p.m., we were all tired from a full day's worth of travel. The group was happy to find excellent accommodations, and — finally — we were able to completely unpack. The most unique experience of the day was, by far, the flash mob rehearsal we attended. The American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) organized the dance to the opening song of the musical Hamilton, and it seemed as though we were the only group that had never actually seen the dance done before. The Hamilton theme struck close to home for us LA students, resulting in Fairlight Chemelli ’19 declaring, “We should totally perform this for Mr. Scheibe's birthday next year.” Perhaps it is a good thing today was so tiring, for now maybe we can all sleep through the jitters and excitement that await us with the first day of Fringe tomorrow.
FALL 2018 LAWRENCE ACADEMY 1 3
August 12, 2017: So Much to Do (and See)! This morning, after a dorm breakfast, we traveled on a doubledecker bus to a practice hall in Edinburgh. The girls danced for three hours, managing to complete an entire run-through after a couple of hours of technical work. Later, a bus took us to Central Studios, where we had our first official tech rehearsal in the room where the dancers will be performing. It was a shorter practice, mainly used to see how efficiently the girls could run through everything they needed to. Overall, it went very well, as the piece is incredibly beautiful and fluid.
August 13, 2017: What a Whirlwind of a Day! The LA Fringe crew started with a rehearsal in the morning, before catching the bus midday to their very own street performance. Every group gets to advertise their show on the Royal Mile before they perform, and today was the girls' chance. They ran through a shortened piece four times, and people came from all over the street to form a horseshoe shape around the students and watch them perform. After each performance, the girls handed out the flyers for the show to the various viewers.
emotional and internal, but then we also do the stress section, which is very true to our daily life, and the whole piece comes full circle. We reach so many different points, with parts relatable to everyone.” To have one show officially (and successfully!) done comes as a huge relief and pleasure to everyone here from LA. There is truly nothing like accomplishing something incredible through hard work. In celebration for the performance, the entire cast, along with their families, went out to dinner with Mr. Scheibe, our head of school, and his wife, Ms. Montesano.
August 15, 2017: Max Capacity! The girls put on another fantastic performance today in front of a max-capacity audience. Despite everyone's hard-earned bumps and bruises, each girl has given her absolute best every day. As Brian said to them before show time, “You've never done the show you're about to do today. We're here for this, and this isn't just a high school performance. We're trying to do something bigger: We've got a world to save.” Tomorrow marks the first off day from dance the girls have had all month, and it will surely bring a whole new batch of adventures.
Finally, at 6 p.m. it was time to perform our flash mob with the rest of the AHSTF on the Royal Mile. The street was packed, but everyone made way for the group of high schoolers as they moved to the Hamilton number. It was quite a thrilling experience to be out in front of so many people. After the flash mob, we returned to the dorms to learn the Ceilidh, a traditional Scottish dance, with the other students from AHSTF. We learned by a combination of watching the professionals dance and practicing ourselves.
August 16, 2017: Dancers’ Day Off
August 14, 2017: Showtime!
None of us really knew what to expect of the Tattoo. The fact that every single seat in the stadium was sold out certainly was a positive sign, but once the announcer stated the guests of honor, we got really excited: Prince William and Prince Charles were in attendance.
The day had a great start thanks to our first sleep-in of the trip. After a slow, drizzly morning, we made our way to an AHSTF play by a school from California. We then went back to the dormitories and had one final rehearsal before the thing we’d all been preparing for: showtime! The group boarded the bus back to Central Studio, arriving early enough for the girls to set up the stage and stretch. The audience filed in, and it was time to start! The turnout was amazing, with nearly a full house. The girls’ performance was captivating and beautiful. Recent graduate Vanessa Hsiao ’17 said about the piece, “You feel a lot of parts of your normal life: In the beginning, we introduce ourselves, then it becomes very
1 4 LAWRENCE ACADEMY FALL 2018
ST. ANDREWS — Finally, the team had a well-deserved day off! We took a trip to St. Andrew’s on an AHSTF bus. We went sight-seeing and grabbed lunch, and then proceeded to Falkland Palace. The palace was built around 1450 and, at one point or another, housed numerous Scottish royals. When we got back to the dorms, it was already time for us to head out for dinner. The entire group had tickets to attend the Military Tattoo in the Edinburgh Castle.
August 17, 2017: 75 Percent Done ... EDINBURGH — Already, three-quarters of the performances are done! It is so crazy to think how far these dancers have come: from practices in LA’s Black Box all the way to soldout shows at the Fringe Festival.
The group in Scotland.
Before today’s performance, we attended another high school's play and rehearsed our own. Free moments are hard to come by here, but dedication is engrained in each member of the team. Fairlight Chemelli ’19 explains, “We’ve worked really hard, we have been rehearsing so much, and everyone has been tired, but it is totally worth it. This has been a great experience.” After tonight's performance, everyone rushed off to various venues to see shows. As time is running out, we are all realizing how hard it is to fit everything we want to see in our schedule; some tough ticket-purchasing choices have to be made in the upcoming days. A large group of us saw Tape Face, who was a huge star on America's Got Talent last year.
August 18, 2017: Final Performance An entire month's work of rehearsals and a year's worth of material all came to a close tonight as the girls performed “Room” for the final time. The performance was gorgeous — the best I have seen it done — and the audience agreed, giving the girls a standing ovation at the end. It was a bittersweet moment as they took their final bow, but Brian helped prep them for it during the morning's rehearsal. He said, “Don't let your nostalgia or thoughtfulness about your life taking on a new chapter override this incredible opportunity. Take this opportunity as a performer. Don't worry about the future; don't let that take away from you being 100,000 percent invested in this moment.”
Even though everyone is sad to say goodbye to the performing aspect of Fringe, it is hard to be too upset with two full days left in Edinburgh. Most of our schedules for the weekend include 4-6 shows daily; we will not feel ready to leave until we've seen all that we possibly can. The dancers set to return to LA this fall are already gaining inspiration for and creating new shows to perform this upcoming year.
August 19, 2017: Freedom! The only thing required of us today was a morning meeting to debrief with the adults about our plans, and then we were completely free. Ironically, despite all making different plans in various small groups, the entire dance team happened to go to two of the same shows today. Considering that both those shows were dance performances, perhaps it's not so coincidental, because everyone seems to share somewhat of a similar taste. I first went to a two-man show about PTSD, then shopped around the Royal Mile, then watched an all-men’s ballet group, a modern dance group, and finally a Scottish ballet/hip-hop troupe — lot of dance, yes, but the variety from show to show was still astounding. The possibilities truly are endless. The day, along with the trip, is slowly winding down, but, thankfully, we still have one last day to soak it all in.
FALL 2018 LAWRENCE ACADEMY 1 5