The Continuing Act

Performances seek me out.

Believe it, baby. I sang in 2 Christmas Concerts last weekend (Australia). I danced in 3 Nutcracker Performances this weekend (America). As I only arrived in the States on Wednesday, I think it's safe to say it was an abnormally quick turnover. I've danced in the same studio for ... 17 years. It was great to be back among my fellow dancers!

Filipino Start

Per usual, Vangie cooks up a filipino breakfast for us on performance day, and per usual, I refrain from eating. As you may or may not know, Longaniza is a breakfast sausage cooked with an inordinate amount of garlic, making it tasty, yes, but you and your breath smell absolutely disgusting all day. If I had any sense of schadenfreude,  I would've eaten a plateful and addressed my fellow dancers loudly with, "Helllllloooo Ballerinas! [belch]."

I stuck to cereal.

Longaniza and Fried Eggs (served with rice of course)

Dancer's Delight

Dancing in the Nutcracker is fantastic, especially after the huge Thanksgiving portions and the immobility that only comes from a 14 hour airplane ride. I love how my muscles tug against me as I stretch, how they become increasingly taught throughout the process. I love being beautiful through precision. It's a wonderful art form. Look how much I love it:

Staring through the Cracked Mirror in our Dressing Room

Okay, maybe that didn't convince you. Try this: 

Party Scene Preparation with Sarah Conrad

The music is gorgeous, the costumes are (on the whole) gorgeous. My rat costume was particularly smelly. Mary Jean's costume ate into her skin... but look! How amazing is she?

Bam. 

Bam.

I am so grateful for another experience at Mrs. Haddad's. It gives us cause to reconvene, celebrate, and smile! Even through the blood, sweat, injuries and ice packs, we sit and laugh through it all. We must congratulate ourselves:  we're still agile enough to accomplish this!

Elizabeth, Sarah, and I - Haddadsters since 1996

Now before I head off...

I'd like to address the title of this blog. It's called "Terra Incognita" for a reason - that is, it was created to talk about my adventures in new places. The term dates back to 150AD in Ptolemy's geography writings. It has resurfaced in cartography, where it would be used when the land was uncharted or unexplored. Terra Australis Incognita (the unknown land of the south) was a popular idea in the 15th to 18th centuries, as Europeans thought there was an uncharted continent below Europe. 

Australia's name derives from this title.

I branded myself with this phrase when I left for Australia. It was a very momentous move for me, and I was excited for my future! 

Marius captured the moment [of pain]. I look positively radiant! Schadenfreude?

Satisfying Outcome? I think yes.

Essentially, the idea developed to mean more than just travel. Read Eric Overmeyer's play On the Verge. You'll understand it to mean a quest for new experiences, even if "new" means a repeated action at a different time. To me, respecting "Terra Incognita" is to treat each moment as an opportunity to learn.

Therefore, I will write about my studio of 17 years, the dances I'll have forever memorised, and about traditional filipino meals that I've had hundreds of times before. The facts may not change, but the experiences are dynamic, ever-changing.

Trust me, I wanted a tattoo that would stay relevant, regardless of where I'd go. I treat it as a constant reminder to stay vigilant; the future is never easily predictable.