Arrivederci, Truffles & Aran Bell

View from the truffle lunch.

Today, our last day in Spoleto, the touring company was invited to a truffle tasting lunch at the Albornozian Castle that sits above the city. When we got to the castle we realized that most of us were severely under dressed. We were told that the event was casual, but the Italians at the party were wearing suits and gowns (which i don't know how they wear that in 90 degree weather). Needless to say, I felt a little out of place in my shorts. Hors d'oeuvres were served in the castle's inner courtyard under a beautiful white tent and all the appetizers made use of black truffle. I ended up leaving the event early to grab some more substantial food, as well as pick up some water and Gatorade and get some rest.  

Class was led by Peter, and it was excellent, barring the touchy CD player that skipped with almost every step we took. We had two guests in class... One from La Scala and the young Aran Bell, who is fearured in the documentary, "First Position." Our last show went really well, which made it feel even more bittersweet to be leaving these wonderful and gracious Italian audiences.  

After the show we headed to a restaurant that James Moore had been to the previous night and had booked out for the whole company following our final show. The food was delicious once again and the staff was so welcoming and friendly. It was a perfect way to end our time in Spoleto. 

Last night dinner in Spoleto.

Tomorrow most of us go our separate ways to experience our week off in various European locations. Personally, I'm headed to Capri and Rome... I'm so excited!!! Hopefully, I won't be too jet lagged/out of shape when Mark Morris begins rehearsals in Seattle on the 16th. 

Thank you for following us on our journey to Spoleto. It was an experience we will never forget! 

--Benjamin Griffiths

Peter Boal Arrives in Spoleto

Our touring party arrived in Spoleto yesterday afeternoon from Rome and the Boals drove in from Florence. All assembled in the garden court of the Cavaliere Palace hotel for a welcome reception with piles of delicious local eats and plenty of cold drinks. What a group we are with 21 in our touring party and 24 guests composed of four wives, three husbands, four boyfriends, one girlfriend, one fiance, two mothers and three children (mine, I also claim one of the wives), and five trustees. We also have one special guest, who was not originally supposed to be a part of this lucky group and that's ballet master Paul Gibson. The dancers each pitched in to purchase Paul a ticket to Italy where he's never been.


Everyone seems to have someone and the group is already bonded by the experience. After I said a few words at our welcome reception I thanked James and Sherry Raisbeck for leading the sposorship for our 40th anniversary tour and James took the moment to speak in his usual frank and endearing manner. James noted that we are all family because of the indescribable experience of touring.

Later that evening as Kelly and I strolled the steep walkways of this pre-Roman town we passed another strolling couple looking very much in love as well. It was Elaine and David taking it all in with true wonder and appreciation.

Today a breakfast that was more than I needed preceded our first company class in the attic studio of the Teatro Nuovo. As the dancers creaked through the first plies, Boyd Bender set up his therapy table and started popping ankles and stretching backs. I suspect the hills were more to blame than the plies. An hour later all were well warmed up and moving with their usual grace. How exciting it will be to see our dancers take the stage of the Teatro Romano on Friday night taking their place in this historic Festival alongside, names like Pavarotti, Nureyev, and Baryshnikov. But first an afternoon of sightseeing for almost everyone in Assissi. The Boals chose a well earned siesta instead. Vacations can be tiring.



--Artistic Director Peter Boal

Peter Boal teaching class onstage at the Spoleto Festival. Photo (c) Jesson Mata.

Opening Night!

Today was the first day that I was able to sleep in! I didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 9:30. After breakfast, Jonathan, Kiyon, and I ventured to the laundromat with our significant others. The laundromat was easy to figure out, and we met a lot of colorful Italians while waiting for our laundry to finish, who all seemed dismayed when we couldn't respond in Italian (especially Jonathan and Jordan with their Italian looks). Once the laundry was done, we grabbed some pizza for lunch and then all returned to the hotel for a pre-show nap. 

At 5:30 I met Kiyon and Jonathan to walk up to the theater. Class was held onstage and led by Le Yin. After class, everyone was busy preparing for the show and discussing how much stage make up would be appropriate considering that the audience is very close. 

While warming up before the show, it was apparent that nerves were high after the difficulties of last night's rehearsal, but once we were out there those nerves seemed to melt away. Opus went really well and was a lot of fun! Sarah danced really well in Opus, but I could tell that she was nervous about getting through Sinatra, and I was nervous that we weren't prepared to perform it having missed dress rehearsal. However, it was clear that the audience was loving Sinatra from their reaction at the beginning of the first duet, and that helped to energize us. When Sarah and I went out for "Domani" the audience cheered, clearly showing their appreciation of the song's Italian title. The duet was not perfect, but went really well considering the circumstances!

 

All in all, opening night in Spoleto seemed like a success. After the show, Alessandra Ferri came back stage to congratulate us on the show  before we all departed for dinner. Hopefully the shows will continue to become better and feel more relaxed as the weekend goes on. 

--Benjamin Griffiths

Countdown to Opening

My third day in Spoleto had a lazy start, as company class did not start until 2:00. I wanted to make sure that my body was rested before the day's rehearsals after all the walking we did yesterday in Assisi. At 1:15 the dancers gathered to make the trek up to Teatro Nuovo once again. Once there, we had a great class led by Elaine Bauer to get us ready for rehearsal. 

At the beginning of rehearsal Peter suggested that we mark the steps because it was so hot in the studio, as he did not want us to get dehydrated before dress rehearsal later that night. As such, we went through the three ballets with the music to reacquaint our minds and bodies with the steps; however, Sarah Orza and I did some of "Domani," our duet from "9 Sinatra Songs," full out because we will both be premiering in this duet on tour and felt the need to still work out some details. After rehearsal I made my way back to the hotel to rest before dress rehearsal, stopping for a piece of pizza with sliced zucchini on the way. 

At 6:45 we met in the hotel courtyard to walk to the performance venue, Teatro Romano, which is an ancient Roman amphitheater that provides a truly unique performance setting for the performers and the audience. Peter led a warm-up from 7:45-8:15, after which we had 45 minutes of free time to prepare for rehearsal. Knowing that it is hard to stay hydrated in this weather combined with having really tight calf muscles, I set out to find some Gatorade, which I luckily found! 

Rehearsal started with a spacing of Opus 111 at 9:00pm. Although the performance venue is wonderfully unique, it is also very unconventional, as there is only one small space to enter and exit the stage on each side at the very back of the stage. Plus, the stage is rounded at the front and it is huge! With people constantly running on and off stage in Opus, this created many obstacles that we needed to work out. After the spacing, we proceeded with the run through, which was really rough, especially first movement. Despite the time that we took spacing the ballet, it was still really hard for all of us to remember the changes and work with the diminished sight lines from backstage... I have my fingers  crossed that opening night will go better. After Opus, we got to meet Alessandra Ferri, a legendary ballerina with both ABT and the Royal Ballet, who now programs the dance component of the festival on Spoleto! Then, Carla and Karel danced beautifully in the pas de deux of Waterbaby Bagatelles and we moved on to Sinatra. Unfortunately, Sarah, my partner in both ballets, who hadn't been feeling well, made the decision to return to the hotel to get some rest after Opus and I ended  up doing Sinatra solo. It was definitely a good decision on her part to return to the hotel, but it will be nerve wracking to premiere the role tomorrow without a dress rehearsal. Aside from that, Sinatra went pretty well.  There were just a few lighting issues that needed to be worked out. 

After rehearsal (11:30pm), almost all of the company headed to a pizzeria that extended its hours to accommodate us for dinner, which was a great way to decompress from rehearsal and conclude the evening. 

--Benjamin Griffiths

Photos: Spoleto Festival amphitheater and Ben and James Moore's dressing room.

Class - in Italian!

Today we got off to an early start as we had ballet class at 10:00 in the studio at Teatro Nuovo, which is an indoor performance venue used by the festival that is quite an uphill trek from out hotel. The dancers were all joking that we didn't need to take class because our muscles were already warm from the walk! Class was held in the theater's rehearsal studio, which is a rustic attic space with wide planked and slightly uneven floor that, while full of charm, proved to be a challenge for those in pointe shoes. Even still, it was nice to get our bodies moving after all the traveling. 

After class we ventured to the medieval hill town Assisi on the train,  passing through beautiful countryside... fields of sunflowers and vineyards with the hills in the distance; however none of this compared to our first view of Assisi from the train, with it's amazing architectural detail from another era. We then hiked through the cobblestone streets, taking in the history of the streets and the beauty of the cathedrals. We finished at the at the cathedral of St. Francis, exploring both the large, airy upper basilica and the more intimate lower basilica. The amount of decorative details in both was breath taking. 

After that, a few of us headed back to Spoleto on our own and had a relaxing dinner on a beautiful terrace overlooking the valley below Spoleto. The antipasto and pasta were almost as good as the view! 

Benjamin Griffiths

Journey from Rome to Spoleto

Unfortunately, even with all of the activity in Rome yesterday and forcing myself to stay up to get acclimated, I still could not sleep last night. As a result, Jordan and I were two of the first people at breakfast at 6:00am. After breakfast, I decided to head to the gym to do my therapy exercises, get my heart rate up, and do a little stretching in hopes that ballet class will not be such a shock to my body tomorrow after 4 days off and 13 hours spent sitting on the plane. Afterwards, I had just enough time to reorganize and check out before our bus call.

The countryside became more and more beautiful with each kilometer on our bus ride from Rome to Spoleto, from the unique Mediterranean fauna, to the picturesque hill top villages, and quaint stone houses. Shortly after arriving in Spoleto, I headed off with a group of dancers in search of food, which proved to be very difficult, as most of the town was shut down for the afternoon siesta and would not reopen until 4:00. Luckily, we found a small cafe that was open and I finally had my first taste of Italian gelato!!! Upon ordering, we realized that English was not as widely spoken by the locals here as it was in Rome, and it motivated me to review some Italian phrases when I got back to the hotel. 

Then, at 4:00, the touring company gathered for a reception in the courtyard of our hotel to officially kick off the tour and thank James and Sherry Raisbeck for helping to make this possible for PNB. 

We finished the day off with another great meal before turning in for the night and trying to catch up on the sleep that we missed out on the past two nights. 

Photo: View of the reception with James and Sherry Raisbeck from Ben's room.

Italy or Bust -- PNB Soloist Benjamin Griffiths Arrives in Italy

This morning I woke up well before my alarm went off (which is a seldom occasion), too excited to sleep in anticipation of my first overseas tour with PNB!!! Upon waking to foggy views of Elliott bay, Italian sunshine could not come soon enough. After ironing out the last details of the trip and zipping up my suitcase I was out the door, headed to the Phelps Center to catch the shuttle to Sea-Tac International Airport... which proved to be a complete zoo! I have never been in the airport when it has been so busy. 

I had a little bit of anxiety for the flight, as our first leg went straight from Seattle to Amsterdam. Spanning 11 hours, this was definitely the longest flight that I had been on to date. The flight was fairly uneventful. Many of the PNB dancers tried to sleep, but I think I was too excited for that. The one really odd thing was that although we left on the 1^st and arrived on the 2^nd of July, it never got completely dark outside because of the time difference. We were chasing the sun in more ways than one!

Once in Rome we headed into the central city for some sight-seeing and a company dinner with Roberta Guidi di Bagno, the scenery and costume designer for Coppélia. It was truly amazing to see the colliseum from the taxi on our way to the Spanish steps. Once at the Piazza di Spagna, we sat down for a snack before setting off on foot for the Trevi Fountain. While there, we met up with another group of dancers, took many photos, and then set off for piazza del popolo on the via del corso to the area where we were having dinner.

We ate dinner at Babette, per Roberta’s recommendation. It was nice to enjoy the authentic Roman food in the calm and peaceful inner courtyard of the restaurant surrounded by lime trees and great company. It was a truly memorable day to kick off PNB's Italian tour. Tomorrow we are off to Spoleto and one day closer to the performances!

Benjamin Griffiths

PNB Soloist