Come Fly Away - a Workshop at the Royal Theatre

I went to a workshop at the Royal Theatre. It was on the old stage...BEAUTIFUL!! I went with my sister, mom, aunt and Mormor.

The workshop was for an upcoming ballet by Twyla Tharp called Come Fly Away.

"Twyla Tharp, who is celebrated as one of America’s most acclaimed and versatile choreographers within ballet and modern dance, has previously staged works set to Sinatra’s music, and with Come Fly Away she has now created an entire ballet based on some of the very best of Sinatra’s songs.

Come Fly Away combines Sinatra’s smooth vocal with Tharp’s elegant and seductive dance style, giving the Royal Danish Ballet dancers the opportunity to explore new and more show-like sides of their talent. Sharing the stage with the dancers is an orchestra. The orchestra is composed for the occasion by the world-famous Danish jazz bassist Chris Minh Doky, who will also help bring the music to life."

It was super interesting to hear all about how the production came about. The costumes were amazing, the dancers fantastic and the theatre was really old and gorgeous! After the workshop Stella and I were the only ones that got to meet John Selya and Stacy Caddell who both are American dancers and who ran the workshop as well as staged the show for Twyla Tharp. Very cool!

The Royal Danish Theatre's Old Stage: 

The Royal Danish Theatre's Old Stage

• The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen has graced the Kongens Nytorv Square since 1748.

• The Royal Theatre's has two main venues at its disposal: the Playhouse, and the Old Stage, the latter almost exclusively for ballet performances.
• All performances are state-subsidized, making tickets quite affordable compared to theatre tickets elsewhere in Europe.
• Should Her Majesty attend a performance, the audience is required by tradition to rise and remain standing until the Queen is comfortably seated.

I thought that the performance was amazing. It sort of made me miss dance and preforming more than I already do. At the very end we heard the Danish jazz bassist Chris Minh Doky and another musician play- they were also very good. *insert picture of me dying to dance to the music, but instead sitting properly and sophisticated*

I really hope that we can go to see the up coming performance!

Link to Picasa web.

Horseback Riding Competition!

Competition: I went to a competition for beginners. It was Bente's idea.... It turns out that Bente has 5 other sisters that all love horses and they all have stables. Bente brought a couple horses out to the stables for the riders to use. I saw so many horses and I recognized a large deal of them. One was Sofus! I haven't seen him since the second or third riding lesson because he was sold. I was extremely nervous because I didn't get to practice for 3 months like in the nutcracker... I did have a girl running with me and the horse- so that did help. After I saw a few other girls ride from my category they passed out awards... I got FIRST place!!!!
JK!!! (got you!) Actually, everyone got an award... I felt so proud of myself for doing it!

 

More pictures at Picasa web.

Horseback Riding! ( #s 3-7 )

Horseback Riding #3: Today I rode Prince. At first he was acting a bit weird like he was irritated by the mouth piece, but besides that, he was a very good horse. Today was the day that I was let off of the leash and told to ride by my self... Stoked!
We have just been practicing walking, trotting, and galloping (the movements) and going from a to c to m (link for more info on that). We also practice jumping by putting a pole on the ground and riding over it while standing...

Horseback Riding #4: Anne was my horse today. She is an old competition horse, while we were in gallop I nearly fell off! It was so much fun! Bente always tries hard to keep us on the horses but if we fall off we have to bring a fluffy sweet treat called "flødebollers", so my mom made a joke that we should just bring them anyway to encourage Bente to try even harder to keep us on the horse. We called them the "non-fell off flødebollers"...
At the end of each of the classes, we go on a walk with the horses outside, which helps us connect even more. I love riding out in nature with the horses. I feel peaceful when I do so.

Horseback Riding #5: "No Name"... Bente unfortunately can't remember his name, but Bente does know that he is a "real" horse. He is a purebred palomino so he is a beautiful chestnut color (palomino link here). He is super tall and I needed help getting on, though my aunt said that I didn't look small on him.
Bente told us to go into trot and I think by now I've got the hang of it. Up, down and up, down. My muscles are definitely stronger!
After the riding we went on a walk. "No Name" is a new horse, so he was very curious about the surroundings. When we got back, there was a family wanting to buy a horse so Bente took "No Name" with her. I was pretty sad that I didn't get to brush him down. He is my favorite horse so far.

Biking: My mom and I biked out to the horses a few Thursdays ago. It was loads of fun to just see (and feed) the horses. I felt more than happy to see "No Name" again. He definitely deserved more than 1 small apple. I am not sure, but I really hope that he is still there next weekend!

Horseback Riding #6:
I went to Bente's stable to find out that she wasn't there. I was already geared up and I didn't want to leave. It turns out that Bente went to a horseback riding competition with her daughter in Jutland. There was an elder man there who we've seen before. He has always wanted to ride and he always loved horses, but unfortunately he has never gotten the chance. Later in his life, his grandchildren began riding so he thought that maybe he should start also. Now he had the time and the money to do it. Anyways he helped us take "No Name" out. We got him saddled up and then I took him into the riding house. I didn't really like being without Bente because I didn't know what I should do.  Should I walk or trot or should I go from A to C? I still thought that it was fun and I got a lot out of it- now that I had a competition the next day and I haven't been out there for 2 weeks.

Horseback Riding #7:
Today, I went to my seventh horseback riding lesson. I picked out "No name" and we saddled him up and took him into the riding house. We were told to tighten the "gjoren" in the riding house and not in the stables. So that's what we did and then we waited for Bente. The horse was getting anxious and so it kept nodding its head. I started yelling no to him and then he just go frustrated and scared. It went up on its hind legs and stood up. I was terrified. My mom had to let go of the head gear and we both backed up.
My mom got hold of the horse and started walking him around to calm him down. As he started to settled down my mom asked me to go and get Bente. Everyone came rushing in because they heard me scream. Bente explained that once we get all of the gear on the horse and get into the riding house we have to get up on the horse and start riding. I'm glad she explained that and we learned something new. I got up on "No Name" and after that everything went fine. I actually thought that that lesson was the most fun so far (well, besides the first part - which was a good life lesson)! We mostly trotted and also galloped (I preferred to be on a leash and not on my own even though Bente offered). In trot, we went up and down and stayed in the seat. At the end we went outside on a nice walk through the forest. I had such a great time and I was sad for it to be over...

 

More pictures at Picasa web. 

Skype with MSped and Grade 5...

Skype Video

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to put the Skype video onto my blog, so you can just see it through the link above.

I just wanted to say thank you to Mr. Spedding and grade 5 for taking their time to talk to us all the way across the globe, 9 time zones away...

I really miss you all and I think that it would be great to find a time to talk together. My email is imabunhead@icloud.com I would be super happy if we could Skype together. Please send your Skype address and we could work out all the time stuff later...

Ear Piercing...

See the title- if it sounds boring, please skip...but it was a big day for me!
I went to Allerød with my mom and sister to meet my Mormor's Cousin, Annette. She was the one who years ago mentioned that she thought that I should have my ear pierced - sorry, you already know... So we met Annette at the station and then we headed over to the shop. I was SO excited. We went in and asked the lady if she could help. She said yes and then she had me pick out a pair of earrings. I already knew which ones I wanted to have. She had me sit down and then "ouch!". Bam, tada!
"You can say ouch if you need to," the lady said to me.
"Owww..."

I feel so much prettier now...

After that slightly painful sequence, we went into a bakery where we celebrated with some heavenly rumkugler (Danish for rum balls). Then, we all drove home to Mormor and had a very good old Danish meal and ice cream. I had a GREAT day!

Pictures at Picasa web.

Lynge Byfest x2

Friday- Day 1:
I went to the fair in Lynge with my Aunt, but she left right away so I hung out with a few of my new girlfriends. Before my Aunt left, she bought me a ticket for one ride. My friends all wanted to go on a twirly ride but I disagreed knowing that if I went on it, I would puke! Instead, I chose to go on a bumper car ride. It was loads of fun! We bumped and crashed and turned our car, driving so fast it was basically impossible to stop. Us girls kicked butt! After that ride, a few still wanted to try the twirly ride so that's what they did.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring any money, so I was unable to buy anything... I did get a few tasters and later I learned that in Denmark you do not get a few tasters, but just one. Oops! : D

My aunt came to pick me up about an hour later. At that time, my friend Julie (pronounced you-li-uh) was playing one of the games. As I mentioned before, I didn't have any money with me so one of my friends kindly let me ride with her for free! FYI she is a dangerous driver!!!

I went home about ten minutes later on my bike...

Sunday- Day 2:
On Sunday, I wanted to take my little sister and treat her to candy, a ticket and a day to remember. She agreed and that's what we did. We got our bikes out to ride to the fair but right as we were about to leave, our cousin and uncle pulled up in the driveway.
Mom: We are going to the fair. Do you want to come?
Uncle Anders: Sure, we'll see you up there in a bit...
(don't you just love that!)

Anyways, we biked up there and met up all together again. Stella and I ran ahead, we were both excited for the candy and rides! I bought Stella a ticket and we ran over to the bumper cars. We went around crashing into others and having the time of our lives. When the ride was over, I took Stella in the hand and pulled her over to the candy booth. She got a huge lollypop for under a dollar (5 kroners)!

We walked around, looked in the booths, said hi to familiar faces (I learned that you would be considered weird if you said hi to a stranger. The Danes don't smile at anyone they don't know but are so friendly and open when you get to know them...) and checked out the things that we haven't done yet.

I had a fun day and I was glad that my sister accepted my invitation!

 

 

More pictures at Picasa web.

Thinking of you...

Hi everyone! I've been thinking of all of you, my friends and family.

I feel proud of my blog because it's my way to share my life in Denmark with all of you and someday, I will be able to look back at it and remember the year of change and life building experiences that I experienced. I would like to thank you in person right now, for all of your support, but unfortunately that will have to wait...

There will be quite a few of upcoming posts coming up soon. I promise! :-)