Today was my first "real" performance with Aura. I could have used at least another week of rehearsal, but I did the best I could. The performance consisted of two dances, "Extremum Mobile" and "Aceptic Zone". Each are about 30 mins, with a lot of fast violent floorwork. As you can imagine, I have bruises everywhere. But then so does everyone else, so at least I know that it is the choreography and not my dancing. :) I only had about a week to learn both dance...

Thursday was the Lithuanian Independance day, which gave the entire country four day weekend. There were flags everywhere, fireworks, and people going crazy. I celebrated by having rehearsal, and then going to a wonderful blues performance by a group from Chicago. Then on friday we went to the shore of the Baltic Sea. It was beautiful. There is a thin peninsula of sand that protrudes from the Lithuanian Coast (I will try to find a good map). From the top of t...

Arrrggggh.... The Flu. Both Sigita and I (as well as several of the other dancers) have been struck down. So, I haven't been doing much for the last week. Learning how to say peppermint and vitamin C in Lithuanian. Sleeping through most of the day. I still managed to teach some of my classes and prepare a short solo for a performance that Aura did yesterday in Vilnius. Nothing big. Luckily I started to feel much better on thursday, so everything went well. No s...

I awoke this morning and found the entire city transformed by a glistening blanket of snow. We have had several warm(er) days, which made Kaunas all wet and grey with run-off. So, the snow is a welcome sight. I would have run out into it and made snow angels, but my feet and calves are so sore, I merely watched from the window. The ballet classes I take every morning with the Kaunas Musical Theater Company are in a Russian style, with a LOT of jumping. It is good...

The strange thing is that no matter how different I feel from everyone else here, they seem to think that I am really lithuanian. Apparently my face and dress are quite common in Kaunas. When Sigita and I took the bus to Vilnius yesterday, the driver seemed to think that I was only "putting on airs" by speaking in english and that I could really speak lithuanian if I wanted to. I am still learning how to say "I don't speak lithuanian" in Lithuanian, and most don'...