September 15, 2008 Second Day: Finding a Dog & 1st. rehearsal!
Waking up after a few short hours of sleep, in a different country, after a day and 1/2 of travel was easier than I expected. I was up an hour before our call, went down to have some breakfast, and chatted with new Dogs. I discovered on the way out that morning that Josh was located and it was going to be a long day.
Josh had major ticket issues with his flight. In true "Dog" form he sorted it out. On his own credit card he purchased new tickets. He made it to Amsterdam late the night before and then took a train to Rotterdam. Finally he arrived late in the night and with no sleep was ready to rehearse. That is a determined Dog and we were very glad to see him. I was very excited to see him and took advantage of the 30 minute bus ride to the performance site for some catch-up time. He wasn't living in Vegas anymore. Josh moved back to Vancouver and has ventured into becoming a Chef. Very cool. Very tired from his unconventional trip, it was a lazy but fun little conversation. I missed him over the past 4 years. He and I had a very long history as Dogs together, experiencing all of America over the 6 years we toured with Tap Dogs. It was amazing not to see him, and other American Touring Dogs, for such an extended period of time, yet pick-up just where we left off. It was almost like the four years we all spend apart instantly melted away and we all pick-up these life-long friendships right from where we last parted.
Soon we arrived at the performance site. I say site because this is NOT a theatre, convention hall, or any other traditional stage setting. We enter a heavily guarded international shipping terminal. This is brand new terminal that cost over 1 Billion Euro. That is a lot of money, and a lot more than 1 Billion U.S. Dollars. The terminal was huge and beyond real comprehention. Unless you actually stand in the middle of this vast landscape and visually see and feel the money, power, and strength of this terminal could you possibly understand it's greatness. The event we were the entertainment for, was the official opening of this terminal. It was a 1 Million Euro party with international guests from all over the international big money business world.
We were set up in the "green-room". It was located in a self standing RENTED building , yes rented, which had 4 sections. The main hall. The VIP section. The Kitchen! and the artist's area. We have some coffee and head into the main hall. I slowed as we approached the round stage in this hall but I realized nobody else stopped. Everyone headed to a covered hallway I didn't notice on the way into the building.
We followed this maze for what seemed like 4 or 5 NYC blocks. It started to feel way bigger than I ever could have realized at this point. As we turn the final corner there was sunlight. When we stepped out of the tunnel into the daylight, it started to hit me....This wasn't big - this was huge. In 2 days we were going to perform for enormous business entities that are powerful enough to effect the international business landscape with a phone call or even a simple nod of the head.
Rehearsal was excellent right from the first day. Much quicker than I, or anyone expected, all 14 of us were not only tapping, but tapping TOGETHER and very well I might add....O.K. there was a rusty boot or two but they shed their skin fast and sounded well practiced only after a few short minutes. In the later morning it started to get cloudy and we had rain on and off. We tapped between short storm clouds and then went in for an early lunch.
After lunch it was back to the performance area. It was raining the hardest yet that day. I sat and started to take the moment in. There were shipping containers stratigically placed all over the yard. There was heavy moving equipment everywhere. Large trucks, enormous container cranes and un-manned remote control "jockey horses" to shift and swing the large metal boxes all around us during the actual performance. The best part. The coolest part of the backdrop wasn't even there yet. An actual open ocean container ship.
The stage itself was wooden as expected. Behind the stage, where we were to perform, was a pyramid of even more shipping containers and a large LED screen to broadcast the stage show during the event. There was metal and wood ramps for us to tap on, plus we were going to start the actual performance about 50 or so yards away in the audience. This is going to be cool!
I started getting antsy and wanted to get tapping. It was still raining and some of the guys were clapping grinders. Grinders are industrial power tools we utilized for the brilliant spark effect in a dark setting. The industrial nature of these metal grinding hand-held mini monsters was perfect for this show. Since these are not the safest things to work with in the rain, clapping the beats or counts as a group was a useful way to practice this section of the show.
About an hour later we were back to work. We went through the entire first 1/2 of our performance. Sheldon and Doubtfire (my new favorite best friend) created some new material for the audience section. 10 of us will be tapping up and down the stairs and isles. Then we run across the open section up to the stage area. In true Dog fashion we start the pack and then off we go. Did some drum beats, tables, Basketball (I sat that section out), and finally grinders. Show Part I - Done! It was then I requested a time check.....8pm. 10 hour day...Not bad for the first day back to being a Dog! We did one final run for the day and then headed for the green room. We had a hot meal and then all quickly dragged our bodies back onto the bus for the ride home.
When all was said and done, we were back to the hotel about 10:30 that night. What a long but fantastic day. All Dogs are accounted for, the setting for the show is the perfect for the Tap Dog vibe, and we all "dogged-up" came through and were off to a fantastic start. The rain was a small concern on day one and didn't have it's final say as of yet. But that wasn't going to become evident until show time.
Got to my room. Took a shower...ahhhhhh! Set Bethany an email - darn phone card was the source of my current troubles, and down to hang with the Dogs. Chatted for a few hours. Laughed, told old and new stories, and created an even better bond with the "new-to-me" Dogs. It was kinda like when dogs first meet and sniff each others butts. They are feeling each other out and building life long files in their brains from the sent. Well nobody was sniffing anybody's butt, however that same excited puppy energy was fueling the chatter and cause for much excitement and laughter.
When the pub closed that night we didn't stop the mucking around. We marched out to the end of the parking lot and played tell funny stories until early in the A.M. Slowly we each peeled off an went back to our hotel rooms. The call in the morning was noon though we could sleep in we still had a long day ahead of us. Little did we know how long.....But that is for the next blog! Day Three: Rain, Scaff and a note about pyro during the show! This was going to get better every day!
Its times like these you really appreciate life and your craft! Maybe one day... One day...we could all have that same experience and tell our stories about it! Good luck bro! ~Adam S.
Traveling to Holland was much easier than I expected.....Long but not bad. I left San Jose CA in the afternoon on Sept. 1st. and arrived in the Rott...
Hey Everyone - I was waiting to make some announcements. As you know I recently have had some exciting things going on. Danceregister is starting to...
In the mist of racing around the East Coast this summer I was contacted by Dein Perry. Dein is a good friend and the revolutionary tap Choreographer...
From June16th to the 20th. Bethany & I taught at Pensicola Junior College. While there, I was interviewed by the Pensicola Florida Tribune. I am quo...
