We Nailed It!

So the show was an incredible success!! The audience was phenomenal---especially afterwards when all of the students from the schools we did lec dems at were all waiting for us to come out of the dressing rooms to sign their programs. What a feeling! We all felt like rockstars surrounded by screaming fans. What's really great is that this was one of the first times at the Cultural Centre that a dance show has gotten this kind of rave reaction! There was a definite feeling of accomplishment and enthusiasm amongst AMDC after the performance.

Tides of Change cast

Candy and Stella with Matt Cost, our lighting designer

Celebrating after the show with Josephine!

We all have had such a wonderful experience here, and have made some amazing new friends. We can only hope to come back soon and dance with everyone again! Thank you so much Macau!!! Do jeh! xo 

more Hong Kong fun!

We had such a great time at the big Buddha in Ngong Ping that I felt it deserved a post all of its own.


Our trip to the big Buddha in Ngong Ping was a very relaxing experience for us, what with the cool soothing breeze, the distant chanting of the monks at the Po Lin monastery, and the serene atmosphere at the top of the steps leading to the Buddha itself. Well, it was calming for most of us anyway. sadly, it seems Alex has a small issue with heights and was not such a happy camper on the cable car suspended a few hundred feet in the air on a windy day.






Dani and Natasha , however, fared much better and really enjoyed the view.





As we crested one of the last peaks on the way to Ngong Ping the Buddha finally came into view and we were able to get a better idea of exactly why they call it the "Big" Buddha. From where the gondola ends it's still another 15 minute walk to the base of the stairs leading to the statue itself, but its size is already apparent.







Being at the statue was a calming experience for all of us as we walked around it and took in the surroundings.




All in all it was a great experience for us and left us with a sense of peace that we all needed and are hoping to maintain for the duration of our time here. We are all very thankful to our friends Stella and Jaqueline for giving us such a wonderful day in Hong Kong!




David

Eastern Medicine......

So with a hectic and very physical schedule comes bumps and bruises. I, unfortunately, began my first couple weeks here in Macao with a swollen foot that just didn't seem to want to work with me. After a painful rehearsal it was decided that I would seek some medical attention. I found myself, with the assistance of Ms. Josephine Leong (one of our amazingly helpful and friendly contacts here in Macao), at the University Hospital in Taipa. The hospital was a very clean and organized place and the staff was all very friendly. The doctor that saw me performed a 20 minute, very deep tissue, massage on my foot. Although it was painful and I continued to whimper and moan, he did not let up the pressure at all. He told me that I needed to stay off my foot for a week. I, however, was back on the dance floor in two days seeing just how far I could push myself.
Now for the prescription. I was given 3 giant bags of tea to boil and submerge my foot in at night. David, my roomie, had to suffer from the smell of my herbal foot stew that overtook the apartment we are residing in. If that wasn't bad enough, I also had to wrap my foot with a curry-like paste that stained my foot yellow and gave all the dancers a good laugh. Although I was skeptical of the treatment, it definitly seemed to do the trick. One more visit to the doctor and 3 more days of medicine and I am now back to dancing fully. My foot still hurts, but I am excited to give it my all this coming Saturday.
Thank you to Dr. MassageyourfootuntilyouscreamandIdon'tcare and all the staff at the University Hospital!!!

much much love,
Matt

Hong Kong

Our day off on Monday the company dancers and two of our Macau friends (Stella and Jacqueline) took the ferry to Hong Kong. On our arrival we took the subway (much cleaner than NYC!) to Ngong Ping where the big Buddha is up on a Mountain. We took a gondola to the top, but still had to walk up over 200 stairs to the top. We all enjoyed the serene feeling we got from the experience. After having lunch at the bottom we took to the subway into the heart of Hong Kong and shopped in the womens market. Later on, we enjoyed a wonderful Chinese/French fusion dinner. Lastly, Stella and Jacqueline took us to a great spot where we could enjoy the Hong Kong skyline at night. All in all it was a great day!

Alex and Mat giving a show


the big Buddha

Feeling...nothing more than feeling

AMDC has been making quite a name for itself here in Macao.  Over the past week we have been giving educational workshops and performances to rave reviews.

At each school, the company performs excerpts from the company's repertoire. For these shows we performed sections from Vortex, Mercury in Retrograde, Two Duets and a Quartet, Moonshine, Leyli, and Duet.  

At the end of each show we perform a "special" piece just for each school.  Amy has the company improvise a dance which the students go crazy for.  It is a great feeling to have such great energy from students both as dance spectators and as participants.

  
On Saturday, the company went out for Portuguese food in Coloane where we experienced food most of us would never have attempted. This included: Cow stomach, bloody duck(duck cooked in its own blood), and worm pie. Yes I said it. AMDC ate worms. Truth be told they were not that bad. Only a bit salty, but pretty tasty.

One of the highlights to the evening was the performance by musician extraordinaire, "Feeling".  Yes that is the name he gives himself.  He goes by each table a serenades them with songs in English, Cantonese, and I am sure other languages.  We were lucky enough to have Hey Jude, La Bamba, Yesterday, and a few others.  I don't know if Feeling was ready for us.  We all joined in singing full voice, dancing and making quite the spectacle. As you will see below, it was a lot of fun.

After lots of food and sangrias for days, the company went out for some good old fashioned Karaoke. It is different in Macao.  Each party gets it's own room and you sing in private.  It really wouldn't have mattered because by that time, we were ready to perform!

All in all it was a great week.  Amy has finished Tides of Change yesterday and it is going to be beautiful.  The company looks great. A couple of minor scares with dancer injuries, but everything seems to be in control now.  More to come!

Chad

A lot in a short amount of time

Firstly, I apologize for the lack of blogs over the past week.  The company has soared into high gear with educational workshops, company rehearsals, and the beginning of the creation of "Tides of Change", Amy's newest work.  And adding on to each day, we saw the Ama Temple, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Lighthouse, and have managed to do some very necessary shopping.  

We are finding that Macau is big into public exercise.  Throughout the city, there are government bought exercise equipment for everyone to come and go as they please.   This is great!  We can get our shopping on while doing a workout!

For Amy and me, Macau has been a life changing experience. We cannot believe how everything seems usual to us and yet exciting and new.  Devlin and Pasha have been the new celebrities of Macau.  Everywhere we go, people swarm to take pictures of them, with them, and try to touch cheeks, hands and feet.  It is overwhelming, but the kids eat it up!  According to Chinese custom, twins are good luck, but boy and girl twins are especially good luck.  They refer to them as the Dragon and the Phoenix.  I am on a major search for a piece of memorabilia showcasing both animals.

So back to AMDC.  Amy began the Tides of Change (TOC) rehearsals on Tuesday and the additional local dancers are wonderful.  So far, Amy has completed sections 1-3 out of seven and she is on her choreographic role.  This piece already has a voice and its message will surely resonate very clearly.

Our days are long, usually starting at 11am and finishing at 10pm. We are all exhausted, but at the same time we are drunk with the excitement of a new culture and all that we can manage to take in during our stay.

More to come, I promise

-Chad

Macau Baptiste College

On Friday, AMDC went to visit their first school in Macau.  What a great crowd.  The auditorium was filled with students looking wided eyed and excited to watch.  AMDC started the afternoon with a show of our back exercise, then we showed the students how we move thru space, with hip turns.  Starting the show was Chad with Vortex, pulling out back-handsprings, and quadruple turns, he wowed the audience right out of the gates.  Next to perform for the students was Dani and Alex with Let Me Fall, the laughs were pouring from the kids.  With Leyli, Solider and a Lady, and Two Duets and a Quartet, the lecture demostration was a hit.  Right after the students were filled with excitement some of them were able to take class with AMDC.  What a great group of students.  They went for everything that Chad thru at them.  And Natasha even found a secret admirer.  I don't think "Ice" will every wash his hands again...  

And All That Jazz.....

Before you read this blog be sure to stretch.... On Thursday, Matt introduced our students to the New York City style jazz.  With his hips moving his leg warmers pulled up high and the sounds of Miley Cyrus blasting thru the speakers we got our jazz on.  Matt was a great teacher and really got everyone to break out of their shell.  By the end of the night everyone was coming up to Matt with arms in the air yelling "jazz"... Thanks for a great class Matt, next time I'll bring my leg warmers..

-eileen

The first days....

Yes, I managed to sleep throughout the entire

flight, so I was able to adjust to the 12 hour difference very quickly. 

However, my feet managed to swell to the size of a Neanderthal woman...see exhibit A above. haha!! Anyway, once we finally arrived in Macao, all of us were taken to our apartments to get settled in...since we had a big first day ahead! We all managed to unpack in time to go out our first night for some Korean BBQ- thanks to Stella's recommendation!

The next day, we all arrived at the Cultural Centre to be greeted by Josephine who took us on a tour. We got to see the gorgeous stage we will be performing on Oct. 18th, as well as the spacious dance studio we will be rehearsing and teaching classes in with the workshop students. We ended the day with a brilliant fireworks display beside the magnificent Macao Tower. It seemed like everyone in Macao came out to see the show. It was so beautiful and such a great way to end the first day------

So, now after a couple days of teaching and rehearsing, I feel like the jet lag has finally worn off and we are all excited for a great time! Everyone here is so welcoming and gracious to us, that I really can't imagine the next few weeks being anything but incredibly memorable!!

--Alex

Finally in Macao!

What a rush the past two days have been.  Two dance companies took Asia by storm.  It turns out that we were sharing the plane with none other than the Paul Taylor Dance Company.  Being that this was Amy's and my former organization, what a treat to be flying internationally, but with our own company.  It was a great feeling. The flight to Hong Kong was pretty uneventful.  Our twins Devlin and Pasha were the hit of the flight as if that wouldn't have been obvious:-)  Pasha did have about an hour and a half meltdown during the middle of the flight.  They are both teething pretty hards so all in all they managed well. Oh yeah, and they only slept around 2 hours for the 15 hour trip.  The rest of the company were awesome.  Alex was the funniest as she took 2 PM cold pills as was asleep for 13 hours of the flight. She only woke up to eat and say a couple of words that we are still trying to figure out what they actually were.

Hong Kong airport is beautiful and we made our transfer to the Macau Ferry without any problems.  It's funny that when I first took my impression of China, it seemed very comfortable.  To get to Macau, the company took the TurboJet which takes roughly 50 minutes to get to Macau nd then we were greeted by Gary who took us to the hotel and apartments.  

One of the dancers, Stella Ho, who is one of the assistant choreographers met us at the hotel and took Eileen Jaworowicz and myself to see the poster that we are on. Don't worry, there will be more pictures to come.

Okay, so day one, check. Next is the beginning of our residency.  We are all very excited and I'm sure you will read some very funny stories about this trip.

Stay tuned.

-chad