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November 22 Updates!Having just finished with Iphigenie En Tauride (Gluck) with Opera Atelier, I find myself back in Japan gearing up for another show here. My substitute teaching at DanceTeq (www.danceteq.com) has turned into something more regular, which is a great thing considering I'm enjoying teaching more and more these days. I have several classes on my schedule here in Japan at Architanz (www.a-tanz.com), and 5 other private schools. Tomoe and I have found a new travel agent to work with after the retirement of Yoshimura-san, our previous agent, so we can once again offer the Toronto Ballet Lesson Tour for dance enthusiasts to vacation to Toronto and take ballet class at DanceTeq, and depending on the timing, also catch the National Ballet or Opera Atelier (or both) in season. The website I built for Je-an Salas is up an running (www.jsalaspilates.com), but already I'm getting tired with it, and want to begin a version 2 with a smoother design. In exchange for my web-skills, Je-an's been teaching me Pilates and I'm really noticing a difference. She's a wonderful teacher, and I highly recommend her lessons if you want to either stay in shape, or improve your facility. I was finally able to watch "Brandenburg no. 4" which I choreographed for Nishijima Ballet in the summer, but which premiered once I was already back in Toronto. I was very happy with the results: the students danced very well, and the teachers took care of my choreography even once I'd gone. Good work, Nishijima Ballet! Omedetou gozaimasu! I've also been rekindling my love of chess for the past year or so at www.chesspark.com and at www.chesscube.com, at both of which my handle is TorontoJer. If you fancy a game, sign up and we'll play chess online! May 06 Another year passed!I can't believe that I keep updating this blog only once a year! I need to be a bit more vigilant, but I always find myself too busy doing what I do to sit down and write about it. Since I posted last time, I've performed 2 shows with Opera Atelier, Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart), and The Coronation of Poppea (Monteverdi), edited some promo videos of rehearsals for Opera Atelier, substitute-taught both at Atelier and at Dance-Teq, choreographed Summer: diptych for Desireada in the Fringe Festival, done a tour to Italy with Grazia Ballet Tokyo dancing in Giselle, and built a website for Je-an Salas at www.jsalaspilates.com. I just started to work with DNA theatre on a new collaboration, we'll see how that progresses. Unfortunately I've been a bit stagnant musically and I hope I'll have some inspiration to make some new music. I leave for Japan again with Tomoe at the end of the month and am looking forward to Ramen! And of course, to visiting friends and family there... but mainly Ramen! (just kidding...) May 11 Mexican Sunset Released!I am pleased to announce the release on Soundclick of my track "Mexican Sunset" This song is the collection of melodies and harmonies that resonated with me during my trip to Cuernavaca, and Mexico City, culminating with a trip to Lago de Coatetelco with my wife Tomoe, and our dear friends Pepe and Suzanna. Feel the warmth of the last rays of the Mexican sun as it settles over Lago de Coatetelco... August 05 The halfway markI've had three performances so far here in Japan. The theme this year seems to be Paquita: I dance it in 3 of my 5 shows this summer. The first 2 of which have gone well, the third is this coming friday. I also performed the Shades scene in La Bayadere which is another favorite of mine, and a new jazzy duet called Evening Breeze which I composed/choreographed. This upcoming friday in Machida is the third Paquita show, and I also perform Diana & Acteon. It should be fun! I'll try to get some vids posted soon....
July 01 Taking off again!Wow!
What an incredible year it's been so far! I've danced in Opera Atelier's productons of Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice in Toronto, and Dido and Aeneas in Seoul Korea. I performed with the National Ballet in the Nutrcracker, The Taming of the Shrew, The Four Seasons, Balanchine's Don Quixote, and Elite Syncopations in the National's Mad Hot Ballet Gala. I also helped Toronto Aerial Dance Company put together their most recent performance at "Talent Defined" at the Al Green Theatre on June 23rd. (I helped with choreography and musical composition).
The biggest news is that the National Ballet of Canada has invited me to re-join the company starting with the next Nutcracker (Dec. 2007). I'm very excited with the direction the company is going, and have really enjoyed my time guesting with them. I look forward to being back on their roster. You can see me in the National Ballet's wonderful new promotional video!
Even having been so busy, I still did find time to compose some more music, and I'm finally getting around to updating my site... I hope to have much more music available online soon.
I'd like to send out thanks to everyone who has made my 2007 the fantastic year it's been so far, especially my ever-supportive and loving wife, Tomoe Yamasaki!!
Tomorrow I leave for Japan once again....
Peace out!
November 21 Back in Toronto again.Hello everyone!
I'm still settling in, but already busy at work. I'm half-way through performing in Opera Atelier's production of Magic Flute. It's the first time in many years that I'm singing on stage, in the chorus. I'm also dancing, and sometimes both at the same time. I have renewed respect for people singing and dancing at the same time in musicals. Either one is enough of a challenge on it's own!
Once Magic Flute is finished, I'll be performing with the National Ballet in Nutcracker. This gives me an opportunity to perform in the new Four Seasons Centre which I'm looking forward to.
Hopefully I'll have time to work on the next incarnation of my website. I now have all sorts of material (photos, music, video) to post, it's simply a question of having time to build the site. And for my Japanese viewers, I promise that the next version will have Japanese translation!
Wishing you a happy, productive, yet relaxing November!
Jer
August 22 I haven't posted an entry since November??Hello everyone!
I can't believe I haven't posted an entry since November. Not for lack of things to post about, that's for sure. I'm still in Japan, and still dancing. I have seven more shows to do until I go back to Canada at the end of October. I've been busy choreogrpahing/composing alongside dancing and teaching. I have four new short ballets premiering this summer, one of which has already been performed. I have even more video clips up on my site at www.jeremynasmith.ca for those interested in having a look.
Bye for now! November 22 I'm back from Canada!To everyone I spent time with in Toronto: Thank you! Working in Japan is fantastic, and there are plenty of opportunities here, but after a long summer my creative juices were running dry. Being home in good old T.O. was the refresher I needed. Not that I was sitting around collecting dust! Six fantastic performances with my home company, Opera Atelier, their 20th season, and my 20th season with them. Congratulations to Marshall and Jeannette, and everyone who lent their talents. And parties! I don't even remember how many we had, that's how good they were. Props to DJs Pure, Quy, Systematik, Lincoln, and gl.tch: sizzling sets that keep your feet from settling.
What's on my agenda now? Tomorrow I dance a few short duets: the classic "White Swan pas de deux" from Swan Lake, "Tchaikovsky Pas de deux" by the late-great George Balanchine, and "Bach Minuet" choreography by yours truly with music by, well, Bach. Then on Sunday it's "Sleeping Beauty" and I put this one in quotes because it's a strange "updated" version. The big pas de deux in the 3rd act is traditional, but the prince in the second act is a modern day kid, and I come onstage in jeans and a t-shirt, groovin' to tunes on my mp3 player... Not my idea, but it's not my show... If anyone's in the Tokyo area and wants to come see, drop me an email for times/locations etc.
Other work on the go: An all new Snow White ballet for kids (music and choreography). Various websites to build (Architanz's English site, IV Lounge etc.) Eventually release a blasted CD (sorry for the wait, everyone who's been bugging me to release one!!) When do I have time? Who knows! September 22 Swamped!How is it that the more work you finish, the more there's left to do?
My ballet "Fated" premiered in Osaka last weekend, and aside from a few lapses of concentration here and there, overall the performance was a success. This was my first "story ballet" and the feedback that I got from people was that they understood the story, enjoyed the piece as a whole, but complained that I didn't dance enough. Well, unfortunately there just wasn't room for my character to really take center stage in this piece. I would have liked to have danced more too!
Next up: Don Quixote in Fukuoka with Sugai Risa. Rehearsals are going well, and it's easier than I thought it would be in terms of stamina. There's no romantic pas de deux in the second act in this version, and the order is such that there's plenty of time to rest before the third act. For all those people who complained that I didn't dance enough in "Fated" they should make the trip down to Fukuoka for Don Q. I'll be pulling out all the stops for this virtuoso showpiece... Send me good vibes, readers! ;-)
So what's all the work I have to do that I'm complaining about back in the first sentence of this blog? Well, it's all the stuff that I have to get done before I head back to Toronto. I'm currently working on a new "Snow White" for a school in Chigasaki. It's a production for kids, and it's all original music by yours truly. The problem is that between doing "Fated", getting ready to dance "Don Quixote", and rehearsing the various shows I have in November and December, I don't have enough time to spend on composing the score for "Snow White", and I have to get a significant portion out of the way soon. There just aren't enough hours in the day to be a dancer, a choreographer, and a composer! At least not if you want to sleep ;-)
Anyways, enough blabbing from me for now (I have to get back to the music) but coming soon to www.jeremynasmith.ca:
-- New Video Clips! (Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Firebird, and maybe a bit of my choreography too, we'll see)
-- New Music! (New ballet music, and maybe even a good old-fashioned trance track!)
-- Japanese! (Why am I bilingual, but my site's not? Good question! For my Japanese fans, the translation's done, I just need time to recode the site using it! Have patience)
That's all for now!
Jer August 23 Long time no news...Hello Everybody!
Well, these are the dog-days of August when the temperature lingers into the night, and the humidity hangs around just to aggrevate your sweat-glands. All of my Tokyo shows are done for the time being, but I still have 2 to go in Osaka, and one in Fukuoka before my echappe to Toronto. Things are going well, my piece "Juxtaposition", an abstract ballet in four movememnts, was well recieved, and I had a glimpse of the video: not bad. It was made for a ballet school, so obviously it wasn't like watching the Paris Opera Ballet, but the kids involved pushed themselves, and the results showed.
Next on the agenda is the I.S. Ballet school show. I started working with I.S. Ballet the first year I worked in Japan, and each year since. My longest running Japanese gig. And the standard of this studio is very high. One recent graduate is dancing in the Dresden Ballet, and another student just took first prize in the junior division of an all-Japan ballet competition. I'm happy to continue working with I.S. Ballet.
After that, I have the premiere of my next ballet "Fated", a story ballet based on the idea that the three fates from ancient Greece are still deciding our destinies, but gone are the spinning wheel and scissors of antiquity. In contemporary times, technology is their tool for controlling our fate. The music is 90% finished, and the choreography is about 75% done. I'm looking forward to this one because it will be my first story ballet, and the theme intrigues me: particularily because my art is so dependant on technology.
In October I dance Basil in the ballet classic Don Quixote. Possibly my all time favorite role to dance, Basil is a lighthearted prankster, and the role calls for fireworks technique. My partner is Sugai Risa who I danced Esmerelda with a few years ago.
After that, it's back to Toronto for Opera Atelier's 20th anniversary season, and Lully's Armide. Dancing, swordplay, acrobatics (maybe)... How can you go wrong?
Peace out from Japan....
Jer
July 28 Video Clips on My Site!!!Tomorrow I perform with SGI Ballet, a small group based in Tokyo. I'm dancing Raymonda Act I pas de deux, and the grand pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty. It's pretty standard stuff, but that's what keeps you in shape.
Two days after that, on the 31st, I'll be dancing 3 pieces, the adagio from Les Sylphides, the grand pas de deux from Don Quixote, and battle (? Translation from "tatakai" in the Japanese... this piece is usually cut back home, so I don't know the English title) from Coppelia. A little on the tiring side, but it should be fun nonetheless.
Definately check out the new photo gallery, links page, 2 music pages, and for the first time ever, the video archive on my site, www.jeremynasmith.ca. You can catch clips of various solos I've danced over the past few years in Japan so far, with more things to come in the near future. Enjoy! July 21 July: Two Shows Down, Two to GO!Having finished dancing Rothbart in Grazia Ballet Tokyo's Swan Lake, I found myself thrown in as a last minute replacement in the corps de ballet for Don Quixote at IDS. I had three rehearsals including the dress rehearsal to learn 3 acts worth of choreography, and the repetiteur and most of the cast spoke russian, which I unfortunately don't. But nevertheless, the curtain went up and came back down without any serious mishaps. A few years ago that kind of lack of rehearsal would have really stressed me out, but not anymore. I don't know if that makes me more professional, or just more apathetic towards my work.
Next week I dance the grand pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda Act I, Don Quixote grand pas de duex, the adage from Les Sylphindes, and some incedental stuff in Coppelia. If you're in Japan, drop me a mail, and come and see a show!
Peace out. July 13 Building a Website: Step 3Having purchased a domain name, and chosen a hosting company, I then had to design the actual site. While still a work in progress, there's enough content to warrant an upload. My advice at this point: once your site is up, test it thoroughly! It's easy to spell links incorrectly (or other things) so don't wait to hear about your mistakes from your viewers! Once you have your site up, tested, working and ready to go, you have to put the word out to the world (or at least to your friends and family) that your site exists, and is ready to be seen. With that, I'll sign off, because I have some mailing to do...
Swan Lake...I just finished performing Rothbart in Grazia Ballet Tokyo's Swan Lake. Rothbart was definately a stretch for me: I'm not used to playing the bad guy, and the weighty inertia-filled movements of Rothbart are totally foreign to my usual light, crisp style. But it was definately a good learning experience, and the people I talked to seemed to like my interpretation. Thanks to Komatsubara sensei for her coaching!
Up next: filling in for an empty spot in the corps for a Don Quixote with next to no rehearsals on the 21st. It ought to be interesting... July 02 Teaching finished; on to PerformingI just finished a two week teaching run at Architanz in Tokyo. Classes were quite full and the students and I had a good time sweating it out during the hot June days. Architanz always hires a pianist to accompany classes which makes it a pleasure to teach, but I'm glad to take a break from teaching to get back to performing.
My first show will be dancing Rothbart for Grazia Ballet Tokyo in Hamamatsucho on July 10. I don't have much experience playing the "bad guy", so I'm looking forward to the challenge that dancing Rothbart represents.
See you there! June 14 Thailand!Tomoe and I are off to Thailand for a short 3 day vacation! I'll try to post some pictures when I get back... Later! June 05 Hear my music on NMC!Follow this link to CBC Radio's New Music Canada, and you can hear some of my music!! Enjoy!
May 25 The second step to building a website...First you have to register a domain name. Then you have to purchase web-hosting. In other words, you need to buy space on the internet where you can store your site. I've been hosting my production company's site (www.kazokuproductions.com) with www.bluedomino.com to great satisfaction. I have no complaints with their service, but I guess I was feeling a bit patriotic (or maybe homesick?) and I decided to host www.jeremynasmith.com with www.canadianwebhosting.com, a Canadian owned and operated company based in Vancouver. (I wonder why they are a .com and not a .ca?) The next step is to actually design and implement the site. (If any of you tried to click on my link and found nothing, sorry! Have a bit more patience!)
May 22 The first step to building a site...I just finished purchasing www.jeremynasmith.com! However, before you get excited about that (which I'm sure you're not really anyways) right now it just points to the Kazoku Productions website. But I'll keep you posted as I post new entries. Other news: I'm in Japan and keeping busy with various rehearsals. I have a whole string of performances starting in July, and three choreographic projects. I'll keep the details for another entry, though. Bye for now! April 21 Welcome!I'm in the process of making a bang-up flash site for myself which I plan to release in the next couple of months. In the mean time, you can find information about my upcoming performances/tracks/choreography/sites here. Be sure to visit http://www.kazokuproductions.com as well! |
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