So the morning after our fantastic shows in Salt Spring we departed for Courtenay driving in a rainy down pour listening to great tunes from Jeff's ipod in one van with Tara, Marc and Day in the other car. Once in Courtenay Tara and Day were off to teach workshops as the rest of us grabbed a bite to eat at a pub where Maria and Jeff even had the chance to play a game of pool and darts. After pub food Amber was off to nap/grant writing, I went to check out my favorite knitting store in town, Maria and Jeff went to scope things out at the theater and at the end of all that Maria, Jeff, Marc, Tara and I had a movie night at the hotel watching Anchor Man. (Day and Amber had packed it in for the night). I highly recommend seeing Anchor Man if you haven't, its hysterical. The next day at the theater was filled with constant quotes and reliving of scenes from Anchor Man.
On show day, I think we dancers had finally hit our wall of exhaustion so we each found some time to take a nap, all at different times and in different places throughout the theater. After naps and a lovely soup dinner at the Rose Tea Room (which I highly recommended from eating at on Karen's tour the year before) we were getting ready for our last show. Lights, Sound, and its Showtime! The audience in Courtenay was great. They gave us a warm response and we had a really nice talk back with them after the show. We heard that one elder gentleman wasn't too sure what he was in for when he was brought to the show but upon leaving the theater he commented that he had a fantastic time and really enjoyed himself! Woo hoo! I forgot to mention that we were also welcomed with a lovely array of food at the theater that got us through the day! Thank you Courtenay!
So 7 shows later and the tour is done. I have to say that I have absolutely loved dancing Surge and loved even more the chance to dance it in 7 different cities in BC. By the last show in Courtenay Surge felt like it had a real continuity and energy between the three of us that rocked. And getting to listen to/watch Tara from backstage so many times on the road was a real treat, she is brilliant and her work gets funnier and funnier every time you see it. Another amazing part of this whole experience is getting to see some of the most beautiful parts of our province and getting to build connections with so many absolutely wonderful people.
Of course this whole tour would never have been possible without the combined efforts of all of the presenters, theaters, outreach workers, teachers, theater technicians, audiences, choreographers, grant writers, grant support, tour managers, the New Works Team, Movent and the fabulous work of Joyce and Caroline at Made in BC. Thank you to everyone for making this tour so special and such a hit! We had a spectacular time and felt grateful to have the opportunity to share Surge and Banger with so many different communities! At the end of it all I think everyone from tour was inspired by the support for the arts that exists throughout our beautiful province. We experienced more than ever on the road that art changes people, it makes a difference and that what we do does matter. Thank you BC for reminding us of that!
Thanks Meredith! Welcome home!
ReplyDelete