Saturday 11 July 2015

Backstage and tutus

Two weeks ago I spent my Saturday in a sea of tutus, reliving my younger days as a member of the stage crew. Throughout my time at uni I worked panto season at a local theatre, as well as the occasional other show/event. It's where I met several of my closest friends.

This time it was the end of year production for London Amateur Ballet. A was the official photographer for the day and I had tagged along as assistant photographer (not that he needed one!). It started with company class at The Place studios, after which we all decamped to The Bloomsbury Theatre for technical rehearsals and then the two shows.

It was strange donning stage blacks and hanging out in the corridors and wings of a theatre - after four years of panto season (plus the odd other show), I left that part of me behind over 10 years ago.

I basically had no proper jobs to do. I tried to take some photos, but it was tricky with the low levels of light that you get in the wings. However, I did find a variety of ways of being useful and staying busy:
- "tagging" the tutus to keep the layers together
- dressing chairs with fabric (it was actually skirts!)
- running to find the principles when they were due onstage
- getting water for the dancers
- dresser for a quick change
And many more little jobs to help out.

I'm pleased to say that both shows went very smoothly and A took some fantastic photos. Watching all the ballerinas really made me want to get dancing again. I reckon I should be fit enough for class in a week or two. I hope so!