Counterbalance

Shannon taught our morning class today and Karen had us for rehearsal before lunch. We had finished the second movement of "Falling" on Friday and began working on the third today, which involves a solo danced by Wendy followed by intricate partner work with her and Genene - lots of counterbalancing!

Then Shannon ran her female ensemble piece and added on a bit more for Wendy and Noelle, who were onstage when we finished working on it last. The newest movement tagged on involves drastic weight and center of gravity changes whilst promenading and turning. Again, a bit of counterbalance surfaced and continued right on into the pas de trois with Fernando, Chris, and Noelle. Shannon explored a partnering vocabulary using planks and hinges, such as in the style of Pilobolus.

As promised, the second in our series of MCB Dancer Profiles. Find out more about Melanie Auinbauh, our resident brainchild who manages to juggle a double life as a second-year MCB apprentice and full-time student at the University of Missouri. She is pictured in this post in costume as Kitri from Don Quixote.

Full name: Melanie Katherine Auinbauh

Age: 19

Hometown: St. Louis, MO/Dallas, TX

College and location: University of Missouri / Columbia, MO

Favorite TV show: Dancing with the Stars

Favorite movie: Phenomenon

Favorite book: Mara: Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Favorite dancer: Drew Jacoby

Most visited website: Facebook

Favorite place in Columbia: Campus Lutheran Church

Three words to describe how you feel about this year with MCB?: It's finally here!

Biggest influences in your life: Jesus Christ and my mom

If you could invite anyone to dinner, living or deceased, who would it be and why?: Kurt Warner because he seems like a really nice guy who would be easy to talk to.

Favorite indulgence: Any flavor of ice cream

Craziest moment onstage: Summer of 2008 I did a hip-hop dance onstage, and everyone doing the dance could not stop laughing. It was so much fun, and even our teacher was laughing at us from the wings.

What do you like to do in your free time?: Hanging out with friends, baking, knitting, watching movies, star gazing, spending time in the country

Words to live by?: Love your neighbor as yourself.


In other news, Frank Stack spent quality time with us in the studio today with his sketch pad (he really deserves the MCB "artist-in-residence" title) and we are planning the best way to provide our fans with a behind-the-scenes perspective at our photo shoot next week. Exciting!