Week 8:
We’ve come so far but we’ve got so far to go!!!

August 4, 2021

Wow! This was my final week in the Big Apple!!!! I can’t believe that the time went by so quickly, but you may see me back here sooner than you’d think 😉

This week I had more appointments at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Theatre on Film and Tape (TOFT) division to view more Fosse materials. During one appointment, I watched The Pajama Game from 1989 and the 2014 Broadway revival of Pippin. They were both good productions, but I was extremely blown away by Pippin in particular. The subject material, music, and DANCE blew me away. Fosse choreographed everything so specifically to the music.  

On my next visit, I viewed a 1994 production of Damn Yankees taken at the Marquis Theatre in NYC. I had never seen a performance of Damn Yankees before this one and was very impressed with the production. The only thing I knew about the show before watching it was the number “Shoeless Joe” from dancing to it in a Musical Theater dance class and the number “Who’s Got the Pain” from watching a clip of Fosse and Verdon dancing the original choreography in the movie. I was so impressed with all aspects of the production. The recording was also excellent quality and was fun to watch. I was excited to realize that Victor Garber was one of the main characters because he is such a talented actor.

After watching the show, I ate my lunch in the Outdoor Patio Reading area of the Library and attended Stella Adler’s Chekov Masterclass Webinar on Zoom with Stephen McKinley Henderson. It was a wonderful discussion about Henderson’s career and life experiences in the industry. In the evening, I went to an exciting interactive art installation at the Color Factory with my friend Kyleen from the MTI. We couldn’t believe how much fun it was.

The two final Fosse works I viewed at the TOFT were a recording of Dancin’ from the late 70s and a PBS recording of Fosse that was aired on television. The recording of Dancin’ was really cool to see but, unfortunately, was not the best quality. I could still take notes on the different dance numbers being shown and piece together which dance was which, but after a while, I had to stop and cut the film early. I moved onto the recording of Fosse, which I had such a good time watching because it contained all of the most iconic Fosse pieces that he ever created. It really captured the magic of Fosse’s choreography and the legacy that he has left on the dance world.

I also took more dance classes at the Broadway Dance Center. I went to an Advanced Beginner Tap class that was really advanced and fast but also a lot of fun! Our combination was set to a jazz version of “Anything Goes,” It was very syncopated and fast. Every level in NYC seems to be intense. I also took an  Intro to Bob Fosse dance class with Spence Ford. I liked the class a lot. I really loved our warm-up and the exercises we were doing because I love jazz dance, and it is definitely a fundamental element of Fosse’s movement. We learned some of the Fosse port de bras in an Adagio exercise to the “Crunchy Granola Suite ” from Fosse’s 1978 Musical Revue Dancin’. It was definitely a Fosse-filled final two weeks!

My final dance class at Broadway Dance Center was the same Advanced Beginner Theater dance class I went to last week with Jason Wise. I really enjoyed the class and the energy from the week before and decided to use my last drop in credit on that class. I really enjoy the way that Jason runs class as he is super energetic and encouraging. We learned a combination with the original Broadway choreography to “Where You Are” from Kiss of the Spider Woman, an iconic Chita Rivera number. It was so much fun, and I really went for it. What a great way to wrap up my time at the BDC!

Another exciting part of the week was touring some potential apartments with my MTI classmate Jade. We visited the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood! I am thinking of moving out to NYC to start my professional career this fall or early winter. 

Saturday morning, my Cornell bestie, Zakki Ali, and her family came to pick me up, and I checked out of the Webster Apartments. I had such an amazing time in New York and have learned so much. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to visit the city that never sleeps and progress on the path of making my life goals a reality!