Last day of summer is here. Tomorrow the kiddo finally gets to don her new clothes and find out if she’s in class with the cool teacher she’s hoping for. Much as I’ve enjoyed this summer, I’m looking forward to the fall transition. Summer felt like a sprint from one thing to the next and the back-to-school return to routine feels like the opportunity to begin projects that can slowly build over time.
Got to put my fresh rigging skills to work on Saturday moving equipment around for the show I’m choreographing and directing. Despite the many hours spent in my high school and university theatre departments this is the first time I’ve ever tried making something and wearing the leader hat as opposed to auditioning for other people’s projects. After dropping out of my university drama program to pursue engineering, who would have predicted that I’d feel driven to make performance art in my mid-forties? On one hand, I’m fully confident that it will be just fine, which of course it will: the stakes are low and my fellow adult circus student performers all seem happy to be coming along for the ride. On the other, I’m walking a mental tightrope of taking the project seriously without falling into getting pretentious about it. Definitely a tricky balance. Mostly I try to remind myself that this is my first kick at the can and I have to accept that whether it ends up being good, bad, or something in between I’m at least trying.
