Jack-of-all-trades

What is a woman? I assure you, I do not know...I do not believe that anybody can know until she has expressed herself in all the arts and professions open to human skill.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

I like this quote today. This week I've been performing at the Springville World Folk Festival. It has been so much fun, even if I did learn the dances the morning before our first show! Dancing is something that defines me, in a way. It has almost always been a part of my life, generally a very big part of it. I've danced and performed for over 20 years! Tonight, though, I was reminded that even though I have so much experience in dance, I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades, rather than a specialist in one form. We have an amazing ballerina in our group and she is honestly the embodiment of my childhood dreams! I love seeing her dance. Another two girls are exceptional Irish dancers. Yet another girl is a beautiful lyrical dancer. As I watched the various dance specialists doing their thing tonight, I felt a little twinge of sadness about my own abilities. I really do know tons of different dance styles, and am good in just about all of them. But I don't know if I'm really great in one, more than the rest. 

Then I came across that quote by Virginia Woolf. I like what she implies... that we must try everything and express ourselves in as many ways possible before we can define who and what we are. I am a dancer; that is undeniable. And it is okay that I don't really have something special that sets me apart. Being able to successfully do so many styles of dance is special in itself!

Saintes, France

Well, I hope someone is enjoying these pictures, because here come more! After Paris, we drove down to Saintes, in the Bordeaux region, for our first festival. 

Jam session with Venezuela, Canary Islands, and Mexico

Amanda and I with Eva, from Venezuela. She was very friendly!

Amanda and I with Eva and the group from India. They had a guy doing some nifty magic tricks, which was fun! This first day at the festival was really great for visiting with the other countries. 

With my friends from Venezuela.

So we had a lot of down time at this festival... a lot! This day, rather than wander through the city, Amy and I decided to stay at the school where we ate lunch and just talk and read and nap. This was my view from the ground... quite lovely!

This is Amy and I resting. We had a really great conversation that afternoon, which was so awesome. That was one of the great things about this tour: really having time to get to know people and have more of those deeper conversations.

Jen G.'s awesome friend Amy came on tour for the first little while. She rocks! The three of us were roommates in Saintes and we had a fun time, especially with our self-made booby traps (aka laundry lines). Amy also rocked the bag-watching duty. After our show this night we paraded and she stayed behind to watch our stuff... and ended up having to rescue it twice from the sprinklers! Talk about dedication. 

Jenny and I with a friend from India. They performed some very fun dancing, more towards the Bhangra style, I think. Either way, they did a great job. I wish I could have seen more!

My fun friend from the Canary Islands!  We got to talk a lot in Spanish. He invited me to visit him in the Canary Islands, told me about his house on the beach there, his family, and we even talked a little bit of religion! Chrissy served a Spanish-speaking mission and had talked to him about the Church, and we continued some of that conversation as well. Mom, the minute he invited me to visit and stay with his family, I thought of you and I taking a vacation... :)

Venezuela! Some of these South American dancers have some far-out costumes and dances. In spite of the show-girl-esque costumes, this dance was fairly tame. 

I'm so bad, but I don't remember where this dancer is from. I want to say Taiwan, and I'm pretty sure that is correct.  I should whip out my journal and make sure, but I'm tired and lazy right now. Either way, she is beautiful!

Sometimes the food we got was pretty good. Sometimes we got a lot of mystery meat. This lunch was particularly unappetizing, though. Rice with corn, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and tuna. I didn't eat much. Food was on our agenda for the afternoon outing. 

We listened to our amazing band rehearse for a little while in the afternoon. Seriously, they know how to jam! They are all super skilled individually, and collectively they make great music. They make me want to join the band instead of dance!!

That lunch left us so hungry that crepes were number one on our post-band-rehearsal to-do list. (Sheesh, how many hyphens did I use there?) We couldn't wait to get some delicious food in us!

There were several things about Victor Hugo in the city. I need to research and see what his ties to this place are. 

Nikki and I meant to share a crepe. We asked for a second fork and he brought a second crepe. And then some crazy street performers came along and bothered us... molested Brianne's head, tried to take our crepes, crawled under the table (I thought he was trying to get my purse! Pretty sure I hit or kicked him a little) and other musical nonsense. 

Bananas and Nutella. DIVINE!

The river in Saintes and the old arches from the first century... like 70 AD I think?? Rad!

Old bridge with all the festival country flags flying.

Spiral staircase in the town church. We visited it just a few minutes after a wedding ended. It is very old and beautiful!

At this cool venue we got to get ready outside. And we got to do quick changes in the dark. Behind the stage. With the stinging nettles. But before all that we got to get ready here... until we got kicked off the tables and had to find somewhere else to go. 

So happy! Despite the craziness of moving here, there and everywhere and figuring out quick change, this was a pretty cool chateau to perform at!

We had a lot of spare time before dinner, so everyone did fun things with makeup. I helped Jenny with her bold colors (not the she really needed help though). And Amy did Erin's eye makeup!

We did finally eat, and the food was tasty! They kept close track of who could have how much of what, but in the end we all left dinner happy and full. Our crazy guide didn't help the peace of the situation, but at least we all got to eat!

Paris Highlights

The big recap of tour... here it comes!!! (In other news, I'm in the midst of trying to figure out my future. All good-wishes, job advice/tips, prayers, etc are accepted!)

A glance of the famous streets, as redone by Hausmann. I've got a text book that tells more about why these are significant.... But if you really want more about the rebuilding of Paris, let me know. One thing that came out on tour is my vast amount of random knowledge. 

View from the top of the staircase in our Paris hotel. This is the seventh floor, where my room was at. Yes, I did have to carry suitcases up and down these stairs, more than once. 

Auguste Rodin: The Kiss. Absolutely beautiful workmanship and expressiveness. As I was downloading pictures, this one came up and I got little thrills from seeing it again and remembering what it was like to see it in person. Lovely.

Auguste Rodin: The Thinker. One of his most famous sculptures. Amy and I talked a little about him, wondering if he was meant to be viewed from a height or not. (He's on a pedestal, so his feet are about at my head-height.) At this moment, I think that perhaps putting him on a pedestal keeps the viewer from feeling that his pondering stance excludes others; rather, his elevated position illustrates the nobility (?) of thinking and pondering. 

Basilica Sacre Couer, in Montmartre

Notre Dame Cathedral

Interior stained glass window, Notre Dame Cathedral

Organ and Rose Window, Notre Dame Cathedral

Gotta prove that I was there!! Do you see the flying buttresses and pointed arches? You can probably see some gargoyles too, if you look closely. And the rose window there on the transcept. Gothic architecture through and through!

East altar area, Saint Chapelle. They call this small church the jewel-box. Pictures don't do the experience justice, because the whole main level is filled with these panels of beautiful stained glass. It was absolutely amazingly beautiful, a must-see for anyone going to Paris. 

Eiffel Tower! I was lame and poor and didn't pay to go up in it. I didn't want to pay for the elevator ticket, and  my feet couldn't stand the thought of walking up the stairs on the cheaper pass. Paris isn't necessarily the most attractive city, in my opinion, so I don't feel like I missed out. If I go back to Paris again, though, I'll add that to my to-do list. 

Classic illusion pictures with the tower. Pretty good job, photographer! 

So happy to be in Paris at the Eiffel Tower!! I may have been dog -tired from walking, but there's always energy for a jumping picture! (There are many more to come throughout tour.) 

Arc de Triomphe. I really want to process some of these pictures in Photoshop and see if I can get some more attractive results, but I like the general look of this one. Anyways, we walked to the Arc and then along the Champs Elysses to cap off our evening in Paris. Well, this evening, at least. We had a few nights there, and we used them all to the fullest extent.

Louvre, with Pyramids and ferris wheel in the Tuileries gardens

One entrance to the Louvre. Once you snap your picture of the most popular entrance, aka the pyramids, walk across the street and over here. There is no line, even on days when the main entrance has an hour + wait!

Da Vinci, Madonna of the Rocks. I thought the painting would be brighter, but apparently it dulls down over time, so it probably just needs some archival care. Beautiful piece. 

When at the Louvre, you can not skip seeing the most famous painting in the world. I did not get any closer than this, mostly because the crowd wasn't worth it. That museum is full of amazing artwork, so I can handle seeing this one from a distance. It's actually relatively small, too. You would need time and peace to contemplate Da Vinci's rendering here, and the viewing experience obviously doesn't lend itself to that type of contemplation. So, this is my face time with the Mona Lisa. 

Theodore Gericault, The Raft of the Medusa

Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People

Ingres, The Grand Odalisque

David, Oath of the Horatii. We went to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery and saw his grave as well. 

Winged Victory, Nike of Samothrace

Eiffel Tower at night, in the city of lights. It sparkled too, but not while we were there taking pictures.


And that is Paris in a nutshell! The Musee de Orsay was my favorite part, but pictures weren't allowed so Amy took a few clandestine shots. (Want to email me those files?) So outside of that museum, this is Paris! Normandy and Versailles posts to follow...