Guest Blogger Series - Chris"Topher"

What does Wednesday look like through the eyes of one of our esteemed male dancers? A sneak peek into Chris"Topher" Benjamin's day!

I woke up Wednesday morning at 7:45 a.m. and clumsily stumbled into the kitchen for my coffee cup. Needless to say it took two cups of coffee to get my brain processing information. It really is true what they say about the best part of waking up (insert Irish step dancers). After feeding my dog Poopsy(Owen) I started getting ready. I finished my morning routine, hopped in the car and fastened my seat belt. CLICK IT OR TICKET! Bumping some sick beats, I then made my way to the studio.

Anyone that has come by the studio knows I like to have a little fun with my dance wardrobe. On this particular day I decided to wear my zebra print tights for THE GRUNDY EXPERIENCE. I have absolutely no shame! Karen gave us a condensed class so we could jump right into choreography. I realized this after I came back from the bathroom and no one was preparing for floor progressions. So I reached for my trusty Nannerpuss(banana) to get a little potassium to fight muscle cramps. (Side Note) I recently learned to open bananas from the opposite end of the stem, like a monkey. It keeps the banana from getting mushy. Then it was time for my daily yogurt cup to keep my digestive system working properly.

Noelle, Constanza and I did a walk through of Shannon’s piece to make sure our brains and bodies had absorbed all of the information from the day before. I spent the rehearsal time before lunch watching choreography happen and following the characters’ story lines. Then it was time for lunch, hooray!! I had a deli sandwich, a string cheese, and a Pepsi Max. (Do I hear a future sponsor?!) I had to switch to sandwiches for lunch because I recently had an incident with my phone involving a bowl of Minestrone. Then it was time to head back in to the studio. I played with baby Cordin until it was my character’s time to reenter the stage. After some extremely playful collaboration a conversation and a fight scene was created; putting a period on another section of “Desperate Measures”. It was 2:45 p.m. and time for Noelle and I to mop the studio. The last thing we need right now is an injury from a slippery marley floor.

The weather was so nice I opened the sunroof and drove with the windows down. The Leo in me is getting so excited for the warm weather! I grabbed the mail and then opened the door to an excited Poopsy. He’s always excited to see me when I get home. After taking him outside to go potty it was time to prop my feet up. I’m embarrassed to say I passed out at this point and faded in out for the next hour or so. At some point I dragged myself to my room to sleep for a half an hour. When I woke up it was time for Noelle to run off to teach and for me to make dinner. I made a meat loaf, meat loaf-sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and French cut green beans. Dinner was ready by the time my other roommate Maggie got home so we got to dig right in. After gorging myself on all the fixings it was time for American Idol! I may or may not have gotten ice cream after Idol for dessert.

Thanks for reading!