I finally decided on my major and minor!

Yes, you read that correctly.  I actually made a decision about my major and my minor!  We ultimately have to have at least a good idea of what we're doing for our major and minor acts for the end of the year before we do our winter show this December 18-19.  The deadline has been creeping up on me, and I've found myself to be very undecided about what I wanted to do.  Anyway, here is my final* decision:

Major: Single Point Trapeze

Minor: Aerial Chains UPDATE: Handbalance/Contortion/Floor Acrobatics (see bottom)

*yes, technically, if some sort of inspiration otherwise dawns upon me in time, they most certainly could change, but this is what I'm sticking to in my head for right now.

I had been thinking about doing single point trapeze as either my major or my minor for a little while, and as well had thought long and hard about the advantages and disadvantages of choosing two aerial acts.  Ultimately, I decided that yes, two aerial acts is what I want to do.  When I talked to Elsie about the notion of two aerial acts in my last staff liaison meeting, the said that it'd be suggested that one apparatus be a bar apparatus and the other be a vertical one.  She also mentioned the idea of using a custom apparatus, such as tippy lyra, a trapeze with fabric ropes, or a loop at the bottom, or really any combination of things you could think of.  Many of the apparatuses that I thought would be interesting ended up being either bar apparatuses (which would mean that I'd likely have to drop the whole single point trapeze idea), too complicated, or better suited for a duo act.  Ultimately, I thought to myself about chains.  Originally, I didn't think they'd be the best for a major or a minor because I found them so limiting, but what I figured was that since we have four solid months to be building these acts, I'll have a lot of time to experiment and see what works transferred over from fabric/rope and what new things can be invented that take advantage of the chains' inelasticity and weight.

Entering a New Phase of ProTrack

Ah.  Wow.  It really is surprising how much time has passed so far.  I mean, I still fell like it certainly has been two months that has passed, but it's just surprising to look back and just realize that I, myself, have been doing circus almost every day since we've started.  What is probably even more surprising (as well as beneficial) is that I'm doing some sort of intense physical exercise for at least a few hours a day pretty consistently now.  I have begun now to feel it having profound effects on me.

My cardio at this point, and by my judgement, is absolutely wonderful.  It has progressed much farther than I could have imagined it could have in just two months.  If I knew that you could build up cardio this time efficiently, maybe I would have tried harder at it in the past.  It's definitely something that's going to stick in the back of my mind as I continue my pursuit of physical fitness beyond ProTrack.  My strength is definitely increasing as well.  I've particularly noticed improvement in my abs, which now are such powerhouses.  It's such a great and reassuring feeling to be able to have incredible control over your body when you're in the air.  I unfortunately can't really say the same thing about my flexibility.  That's been a real toughie for me.   It's been a bit of a struggle for me in this respect, because, particularly for the disciplines which interest me most, flexibility can greatly increase one's aerial vocabulary by adding a whole new dimension to shapes possible by the human body.  I've been trying hard and consistently to stretch but improvement is very slow.  At least I can say that I'm not losing flexibility since I started in September.  I do know, however, that a lot of this is due to muscle tightening (and not as in the tightness of the material that they're made of, but rather active muscle tightening that's not necessarily in my conscious control).  When I do PNF stretching (if you recall from one of my earlier posts, is when you resist against the stretch for about 20 seconds during the stretch to fatigue the muscles) I do end up sinking a lot deeper into the stretch, so every morning it's just a matter of forcing the muscles to loosen themselves again.  It's frustrating, but I have confidence in its eventual improvement.

A video! (finally)

So yesterday during open studio, I brought my video camera and my tripod and filmed myself doing a bunch of tricks I've been working on lately, and then put it all together into one video and uploaded it to Youtube!  Enjoy!



Just as a sidenote: things have been going a lot better this week already.

Comme ci, comme ça

For this week, I think that's probably the best descriptor of what's been going on.  I mean, it hasn't been a terrible week, but it also hasn't been incredibly spectacular either.  My body has been getting a couple weird semi-injury pains at various places around my body this week, and it makes me a bit resistant to push myself so far.  Back on Thursday of last week (week 6, October 15), I somehow moved my right leg  in a funny way during ballet and some tendoney thing started feeling a little wonky.  I don't remember really how it happened.  I wasn't doing something particularly weird.  It could have been from just walking or something.  I'm not really too sure.  It went away the day after, so I didn't think much of it, but on Tuesday of this week, we were doing some full speed double stardrops (i.e. - roll sideways down the fabric two full rotations) and the landing jerked my right leg outwards in an awkward way and that same part of my leg started to hurt a bit again.  Again, it didn't feel too serious, but it was just an odd pain I hadn't really felt before so I decided not to mess with it too much.  The really odd thing about it though was that when I would do a right leg sidestretch, I wouldn't feel anything from it, but when I'd stretch my left leg to the side, it'd start hurting a bit.  Muscles are weird.  That's all I've really got to say about that.  :P  On Wednesday, I went to the Outer Limits only instead of going to Open Studio or both just so I wouldn't strain that part of my leg.  By now my leg is definitely not giving me any more pain, but if it comes up again, I'll talk to a coach about it.

Oh yeah, I have a blog.

YES!  All of the rumors are true!  I am still alive!  I know it's been a very long time since I've last written a blog post (way longer than I had first expected), but last week I found myself inspired to keep all of you up to date on what has been going on, but then, all of a sudden, when I clicked "post," blogger completely digested my blog post and left nothing but the title (which is weird since I made the title for it at the very end...at first I thought maybe it wasn't saving properly, but that it deleted what I put in first makes me suspicious that blogger somehow has an evil plot against me...*shrugs*).  Anyway, here I am now, and happily typing this up beforehand in notepad before letting blogger touch it. ^_^

Anyway, the original reason why I hadn't been posting so much is because overall things have begun to settle down and I have found myself going through a relatively consistent routine.  It's at this point that the week numbers are beginning to surprise me (yesterday started week seven...I KNOW?!).  Anyway, we've been continuing steadily with our Tuesday and Thursday rotations.  As you might remember from a previous blog post of mine, we have a total of four rotations per week, and do an hour for each of them, making two rotations for Tuesday morning, and two rotations for Thursday morning.  Before that, we stretch and warm up for 45 minutes, and afterwards we condition for 15 minutes.  Below is the breakdown of the stations that my group has been having (the groups are fine tuned every week):

Rain

While I do admit that it is all very pretty (as I have always secretly enjoyed the rain), it has been raining a lot these past few days.  It seems like that too when I check in with my friends from scattered around the northeast, and some a little farther south.  It rained on Monday and Tuesday pretty much all day.  If it wasn't raining, there was still a bit of a mist to keep everything wet.  Wednesday was nice and sunny, but today I wake up on this Thursday morning to see it raining again.  It seems to be a similar case tomorrow as I saw by some weather forecast.  I'm just glad I took the opportunity when I was given it and went out for some food shopping yesterday. :P

Anyway, Tuesday was pretty intense.  I had to take another Wednesday because my body just felt so beat.  We continued with the same style of rotations, but they changed up the groups and the stations.  For some people (like me) the group remained mostly the same, but for others, they changed completely.  On Tuesday we did an hour of Spanish web, followed by an hour of duo trapeze.  Two hours of aerials really takes its toll on your hands.  I got a wonderful rip right at the end of duo trapeze on the outside bottom of my right ring finger, just above the tip of my little finger.  It's still right now not feeling so good, but at least the two rotations we have today are only pole and wire.  Wire doesn't really involve your hands at all (thank god), but I think I can work my way around pole without hurting my finger too much.  Web gave me a few slight abrasions in places I thought I wouldn't still be getting, such as the spiral around the leg and to the foot, from sliding down.  It wasn't a bad burn or anything, as just a day later it was like nothing had happened, but I found showering not to be the most comfortable of things that day.  We mostly sticked to the basics in both classes.  In web (with Serenity), we worked on opposite side hip-key climbs (if you don't know what those are, don't worry about it... they're basically just a great ab workout) and practiced spinning and being spun on a rope with a handloop.  In duo trapeze we worked on individual tricks, which ended up being difficult, but at the same time rewarding since we had to learn to work together with others on what becomes a very shaky apparatus.

Weeks 2+3

Hey guys. I know it's been a few days since I've posted last but the reason that I have not been able to post so much is because my computer has been in for repair. The backlight bulb for the monitor has been getting dark on the left side now for a little while and finally went completely out a few times. It has been doing nothing but getting worse. The repair ended up requiring more money than was expected, so I'm not really sure when it's going to be fixed. Anyway, this weekend, I've taken a trip up to my family's house upstate, where I have access to an actual keyboard (my iPod touch's keyboard gets rather cumbersome to use after a while, but if I don't end up getting my computer back for a while, I'll resort do using that for future blog posts), which is why I'm able to write this blog post and tell you guys about all the wonderful happenings.

Anyway, I heard some pretty shocking news this weekend about stuff back at home. My cat, Mystery, who we've had in the family for about the past 8 years started developing a tumor in his right leg. It only became noticeable about two weeks ago and has grown very rapidly to about a golf ball size now. They said it was a malignant tumor, which means it's of cancerous level and is likely to spread to other parts of his body. The one resolution they offered was amputation of the leg, but that seems to be a bit of out of the question given the time and circumstances (such as cost, his age, and quality of life post-operation). The ironic thing about it all is that it is a known side effect of the annually required rabies shot, which is also applied on the back right leg (a condition known as a Feline Vaccination-Associated Sarcoma). He's been having progressive trouble using his right leg when walking/running/going down stairs, so even without the spreading factor, it's still causing issues for him. We're likely going to be putting him to sleep within this next week.

The return of the callouses

Today is Wednesday, and as such, there aren't any regularly scheduled group classes.  Today is also halfway though the second week, and I have to say, at this point, my body has gotten pretty tired.  For that, I have decided that today would be a good day to take a day off.  Since we started last Tuesday, I have been doing some sort of physical activity each day (whether it be group classes, coming in for open studio, or going to the Outer Limits gym to work on my cardio).  I felt it'd probably be best for me to give my body a bit of a break from constant movement.  It's definitely much more frequent of exercise than I've gotten since camp last year, so I want to make sure that my body will be able to handle it well.  Also, there's just something about working out and stretching for extended periods each day that somewhat seems like its going to backfire.  Haha.  Maybe it's just my imagination.

Anyway, I used today to go to the Coop and get some food (other than NECCA, it's honestly my favorite place here in Brattleboro :P).  I organized the food and whatnot and have my lunches all set up for approximately the next two weeks.  ^_^  I also signed up to be a working shareholder, in order to get a discount on future purchases.  I only wish it wasn't uphill coming back home from the Coop, though.  >.<

Week 1

Typically at this point, I think people usually talk about how surprised they are that an entire week has passed.  Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not how I'm going to begin this post! :P They have been plenty of fun, for sure, but they have also been very demanding, and I certainly have been feeling it in my muscles even when I'm not training.  By now, though, most of my soreness from Tuesday and the following training days has gone away.  My shoulders and arms were the big annoyances.  It was very difficult to even raise my arm straight up over my head for a while.  My legs are now sore because of running from yesterday and today, but I'm constantly working to counter them with stretching.  Live is still very good here in Brattleboro.  :-)

Since many days have passed since my last blog post, and since many different things have happened on those days, I think it'd be best for the sake of organization if I give you a bit of a summary of what's happened since Wednesday.

First Day of School!

I'll be rather frank with you: currently, I'm pooped.  There is not much more that I feel like doing today than things involving absolutely minimal body movement.  I currently find myself in fear of how sore I'm going to be tomorrow morning.  I took a one and a half hour nap already today but actually didn't find my muscles to be in too much distress, so it might not end up being so terrible after all.

These first two weeks are essentially devoted to a wide variety of evaluation.  This morning we began with stretching with Deena at 9, and began with our "Physical Assessment" at 9:45.  During this time we attempted and recorded down our physical limits when it comes to many circus related strength tasks.  These included pull ups, push ups, legs-free fabric climbs, regular fabric climbs, length of time of a handstand against the wall, wall sits, hollow body on the ground, L-sits on the trapeze, and V-sits on the trapeze.   It got very tiring toward the end, resulting with many people crawling across the floor to record numbers on their sheets with their very shaky arm muscles.  It was quite funny actually.  :P  I'm not sure if there has been another time that I have done so many exercises where each one is to be held for as long as possible.  Usually things like that would be individual, or when in groups, simply to a certain amount or length of time.  I quickly found it an easy way to make your muscles not listen to you, which I've honestly found to be one of the strangest feelings.

Journey, part II

The room I'm staying in,
the result of a couple hours of assembly.

Hey everyone!  It's been a teeney bit longer than I was expecting since my last post, but I guess it's better now than later.  :P  Anyway, the day before yesterday (Saturday), my parents and I arrived here at my place in Brattleboro and moved all of my stuff in.  We did a bunch more shopping for extra room stuff and had a lovely Thai lunch at the Thai Bamboo restaurant in town.  It's by far my favorite restaurant here in Brattleboro that I've gone to.  There is always such an incredible amount of flavor in their dishes and soups.

My parents stayed over with me in my room that night and in the morning we went for some more shopping at Wal-Mart and Price Chopper, got a wonderful $5 lamp, as well as some shelves, a refrigerator and a microwave, and some food.  As we were going to lunch, I ran into my old Smirkus Camp counselor, T (he's here for the year as well attending NECCA's Intensive Training Program).  We all went together to the Co-op to get some food and then headed back to my place for me to say goodbye and whatnot.  The move-in process was very smooth in general.  The only real problem that we had was that my iHome transformer blew out when I was trying to plug it in, but I am grateful that everything else went so well.  I don't get cell service in my room though, which is kind of awkward since if I'm not online, there is no way for anyone to contact me, but hey, that's a little bit of Vermont for you.  Other places in town as well as at NECCA itself I get sufficient service.

Journey, part I

I wasn't originally going to make a blog post today because I didn't think I had very much to say but I feel like I should update all those interested as to where I am in my Chappaqua to Brattleboro transition.  :-)  My parents and I finished up all of my packing and we put everything I'm planning on bringing into a U-Haul trailer.  We drove up today to our house that we have upstate, which we're basically using as a rest stop for the rest of the trip tomorrow.  Without a U-Haul trailer, the drive up to here is about four hours from Chappaqua as opposed to the about three to Brattleboro, so it is a bit of a detour, but it's nice to have a place to comfortably stay for a night (as well as a place to drop off the cats while I move in).  There also are a couple of things that we have kept up here that we're going to bring to Brattleboro as well.  The overall combination of these things made it make more sense to come here first.

Tomorrow morning we leave with all of my stuff for my new home for the next nine months.  I am still a mix of emotions, but I currently find myself more excited than anything.  I have been waiting for these days for quite a while this summer, and really am overjoyed that they have finally arrived.  I can't wait to meet everyone who's going to be in the Professional Development program (it's only 18 people, which I think should make for a very interesting experience!) as well as to start training.

When I arrive, I plan to take pictures of my room, so I can post them on my blog here for all to see (In a predicted "Journey, part II" post :P).  I really hope moving in goes smoothly.  Wish me luck! ^_^

Trevor

Packing

So, the time has finally come. I have only about a week before I begin to move myself into Brattleboro. The plan is to transport all necessary items next weekend (September 4-6ish). In one respect I am very excited, but in another, I am a bit nervous. The actual state of being nervous about moving in is an interesting thing for me, as it's something that I have oddly enough been able to avoid almost completely until now. For pretty much the entire summer, moving into Brattleboro, getting adjusted, and whatnot really seemed like a no-brainer. Oh there's so nothing to worry about. I have stayed in the same place I will be staying for a full week at the beginning of last summer (while I was attending their 2009 Aerial Skills Workshop), have been to NECCA before on many other occasions for workshops and other classes, know many of the instructors well, as well as am rather familiar with the surrounding town. I knew I could handle living there, as I had shown myself that I could. The only real difference was that this is just going to be for longer. Everyone goes to college and almost (I guess :P) everyone survives the experience fine. This, although not quite set up in the same way as college, would overall be a similar transition. Clearly a no-brainer. (HUR HUR HUR...)

Friends

Over the course of my four years at High School, I have developed a very strong group of close friends. For as long as the idea of High School has been in my head, so has College. I've always known that at some point everyone would have to go there separate ways. I never had any sort of moment of true realization where it eventually hits me that I'll be seeing these people very little over the course of likely the rest of my life. That idea has always been in the back of my head, percolating. I wanted to keep things realistic, so I did. What was to happen was to happen, and there's no use of repressing it out of your head because it's something that's just going to come up. It's just a fact of the way that society here in the United States works.

Some of my close High School friends and I.

However, this morning, I woke up with an odd feeling regarding these close friends of mine. Already, even though most hadn't left yet, I felt a bit of a tension in my chest, because I miss them. It was an interesting moment for me, as I began to realize that no matter how much you can be aware of the fact that something like this is going to occur, there is nothing that will be able to stop your emotions. I value my friends greatly and have had so many great experiences over the past few years, and to finally let go of that is something that I currently have found to be of unanticipated difficulty. I wasn't expecting this. I thought I had it all down, I thought I could make this transition as easy as could be if I just had the right mindset, but today I found that I was proved wrong. You may know that your friends are all going to go away, but it still affects you just as much.

A List of Goals

Currently, with twenty days left until I start my training, I have decided to sit down for a bit to put together a little list of goals for myself that are to be achieved over the course of this upcoming year. This may be the first time I've actually written a list of things I've wanted to do, but it certainly isn't the first time I've thought about it.

A couple of months ago, I had a short chat with someone who was in last year's Professional Development Program (2009). One of the things that he told me was this: "You have to know what you want. They'll help get you there, but first, you must know what you want." So I took his suggestion to heart, and began to think about what I really wanted to get out of this year of my life. At first, I started to mentally make a list. Every time I saw a new trick on YouTube or at some sort of live performance that I found interesting, I'd think to myself, "Ah. That's so something I want to learn." Mentally, I was a bit stuck in this mindset that I was going to NECCA this year to learn individual tricks and skills, however, I have come to realize that this is really not the case.

Audition Video

Well, there are currently about five weeks until the program starts, so I guess at this moment, this would be a good place for me to begin. ^_^ For any of you guys who haven't already seen it on youtube, here is the video I used for my application to NECCA this year. There was a list of things we had to include in the video, as well as time left for a showcase of skills as chosen by the applicant.