Harry Amando Matheson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amareladanza) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamlikenewyork2016-06-12 12:38 pm
amareladanza) wrote in dreamlikenewyork2016-06-12 12:38 pm
"And step right up just like a ballerina, stepping lightly."
Who: Harry Matheson
What: Performance of a lifetime
Where: Dance Theatre, NYC
When: Saturday night
Other than the crazy morning with his family members up from Florida, and over from Italy and Ireland coming and going at their place to visit for breakfast, Harry had gone into his creative zone to try to prepare for his performance that night. Ultimately, he had decided to have injections in his ankle for a week leading up to the performance, which meant he regained the strength to dance on it. Both Nick and Cheyne had come along to the doctor's appointment, and the doctor explained all the ins and outs. In a case like Harry's, where there was no permanent damage that would require ongoing physiotherapy to improve it, the cortisone would likely encourage the healing process, rather than band-aid further damage happening.
Nick had been satisfied with that, and after Cheyne spoke in-depth to Harry's folks via Skype, the decision was made to let Harry have the treatment so he could dance in his opening night of Romeo & Juliet. Earlier that day, he had stopped talking to absolutely everyone. He turned his phone off and went away into his own space to make sure he knew the entire routine for the performance. He worked on the more intricate moves, and he played the whole performance over and over in his head.
Now he and Zara were about to take the stage. The theatre was a sell-out, and there was a high chance Harry's family and friends took up a large portion of the seating. It wasn't a small venue either. He was in costume, and pacing slowly back and forth backstage, focusing on his breathing to keep him calm. He and Zara had already shared a hug. Neither of them broke focus again. Zara, of course, had her own zone she went into with probably different ways to mentally prepare. When you were a performer, you all had your own MO.
This was one huge moment for Harry. It was his first professional performance with Joffrey, and he had the lead male role. He had the role a Principal Dancer would have in a professional ballet group. It was his and Zara's job to drive the whole performance through and make the story believable. Cheyne had told him if they didn't work just as hard on their emotional performance as the physical, the audience wouldn't engage. You had to be able to draw your audience in and capture their heart for those brief hours they were watching.
It was a hell of a lot of pressure, and Harry spent most of the day feeling like he was going to be sick. There were a few close calls where he actually nearly was, but he regained his composure. His ballet career was riding on this, he knew that. If his performance stuck in the minds of any professionals, he could have a chance at the Joffrey Concert Group, or even a chance of joining an official ballet group such as the New York Ballet like Cheyne was. That was his dream. He had to nail this.
Soon, the stage director was giving them their cues. The curtains were about to go up. Harry nearly barfed on the spot. His stomach shot up into his throat and did this horrifying warning flip-flop. The only thing that stopped him actually puking was that he didn't want to puke in front of anyone here he was trying to impress. He shut down all emotions and started to chant in his head, 'Block, block, block, block'. It was a mental exercise where you could trick your brain into blocking out everything irrelevant when your mind was wandering. It usually worked for him, and he hoped to hell it did again now.
And then it began. He leaped out on stage with all the grace he had been suffering through gruelling weeks of rehearsals to nail. It would only be a short time before he and Zara were getting a standing ovation, and Harry's performance managing to soon get rave reviews labelling him as the 'THE NEXT BIG NAME IN BALLET'.
NARRATIVE, COMPLETE
What: Performance of a lifetime
Where: Dance Theatre, NYC
When: Saturday night
Other than the crazy morning with his family members up from Florida, and over from Italy and Ireland coming and going at their place to visit for breakfast, Harry had gone into his creative zone to try to prepare for his performance that night. Ultimately, he had decided to have injections in his ankle for a week leading up to the performance, which meant he regained the strength to dance on it. Both Nick and Cheyne had come along to the doctor's appointment, and the doctor explained all the ins and outs. In a case like Harry's, where there was no permanent damage that would require ongoing physiotherapy to improve it, the cortisone would likely encourage the healing process, rather than band-aid further damage happening.
Nick had been satisfied with that, and after Cheyne spoke in-depth to Harry's folks via Skype, the decision was made to let Harry have the treatment so he could dance in his opening night of Romeo & Juliet. Earlier that day, he had stopped talking to absolutely everyone. He turned his phone off and went away into his own space to make sure he knew the entire routine for the performance. He worked on the more intricate moves, and he played the whole performance over and over in his head.
Now he and Zara were about to take the stage. The theatre was a sell-out, and there was a high chance Harry's family and friends took up a large portion of the seating. It wasn't a small venue either. He was in costume, and pacing slowly back and forth backstage, focusing on his breathing to keep him calm. He and Zara had already shared a hug. Neither of them broke focus again. Zara, of course, had her own zone she went into with probably different ways to mentally prepare. When you were a performer, you all had your own MO.
This was one huge moment for Harry. It was his first professional performance with Joffrey, and he had the lead male role. He had the role a Principal Dancer would have in a professional ballet group. It was his and Zara's job to drive the whole performance through and make the story believable. Cheyne had told him if they didn't work just as hard on their emotional performance as the physical, the audience wouldn't engage. You had to be able to draw your audience in and capture their heart for those brief hours they were watching.
It was a hell of a lot of pressure, and Harry spent most of the day feeling like he was going to be sick. There were a few close calls where he actually nearly was, but he regained his composure. His ballet career was riding on this, he knew that. If his performance stuck in the minds of any professionals, he could have a chance at the Joffrey Concert Group, or even a chance of joining an official ballet group such as the New York Ballet like Cheyne was. That was his dream. He had to nail this.
Soon, the stage director was giving them their cues. The curtains were about to go up. Harry nearly barfed on the spot. His stomach shot up into his throat and did this horrifying warning flip-flop. The only thing that stopped him actually puking was that he didn't want to puke in front of anyone here he was trying to impress. He shut down all emotions and started to chant in his head, 'Block, block, block, block'. It was a mental exercise where you could trick your brain into blocking out everything irrelevant when your mind was wandering. It usually worked for him, and he hoped to hell it did again now.
And then it began. He leaped out on stage with all the grace he had been suffering through gruelling weeks of rehearsals to nail. It would only be a short time before he and Zara were getting a standing ovation, and Harry's performance managing to soon get rave reviews labelling him as the 'THE NEXT BIG NAME IN BALLET'.
NARRATIVE, COMPLETE