One of the most exciting aspects of being a freelance dancer is that every day, and every week, is completely different. This week has been an exciting and very busy week for me. I am working on three different performance projects, so managing time and energy is the biggest challenge of my week.

Monday, October 5th

Today feels like the first day of school! KEIGWIN + COMPANY has been off for a month and today we start back up with rehearsals. We are gearing up for our Joyce season December 8th – 13th.

8:00am-10:00am – Getting ready for the day. 

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Walk the dog. My roommate and I have a mini-Aussie Shepard named Truvy. She is the cutest! It is a beautiful fall day, and she has lots of things to sniff.

10:00am–11:30am – Ballet class.

Ballet class with Zvi Gotheiner. Zvi teaches a physical, musical, and well paced class. I often say he teaches Company Class for NYC dancers.

12-3pm – Rehearsal with KEIGWIN + COMPANY.

We are restaging Sidewalk, which is my favorite piece of Larry’s. It was created site specifically at the Guggenheim Museum, and we are recreating it for a proscenium setting at the Joyce. We will be using every inch of the theatre, onstage and off, for Sidewalk. I am SO excited.

3-5pm – Break.

Run home. Make some dinner. Walk Truvy.

6-9:30pm – Choreographers & Cocktails event at DANY Studios

This event is a fundraiser for The Joyce Theatre. It is an evening of open rehearsals with a few companies followed by a fun dance party. Being in the same place at the same time with a lot dance friends is a rare occurrence, since everyone is always zig-zagging throughout the city. It was really fun watching everyone dance and hanging out afterwards.

11pm – Bedtime.

Tuesday, October 6th

8:00am-10:00am – Getting ready for the day.

Wake up. Eat breakfast. Walk the dog.

10:00am–11:30am – Ballet class with Zvi Gotheiner.

12-3pm – Rehearsal with KEIGWIN + COMPANY.

Continue learning Sidewalk.

3-4pm – Break

Grabbed lunch.

4-6pm – Rehearsal at the Park Avenue Armory

Larry is choreographing a piece for Park Avenue Armory’s Fall Gala. We are dancing toan Israeli pop band, The Young Professionals. The dance is super fun, and we rallied a lot of dancers to join us for this project. My favorite part of dancing for K+C is the range of projects we get to work on.

6-7:30pm – Commute to Brooklyn

The L train was a nightmare tonight! A thirty-minute commute turned into an hour and a half adventure. Luckily, I was with a few friends from rehearsal so that helped ease the delay.

7:30-11:30pm – Boyfriend time

My boyfriend, Kile, also dances for K+C. Even though we spent all day together, it is important for us to spend non-working time with each other. We pick up Williamsburg Pizza, which is my favorite!

Wednesday, October 7th

8:00-9:15am – Getting ready for the day.

Wake up. Eat breakfast.

10:30am-2pm – Rehearsal with KEIGWIN + COMPANY

Continue working on Sidewalk.

2-3pm – Lunch

4-6pm – Rehearsal at the Park Avenue Armory

Today is our last rehearsal in the studio, so we spend a lot of time cleaning.

8-9pm – Made dinner

I am a huge fan of Blue Apron. It is a food delivery service where you are sent the ingredients for three meals which are fresh, delicious, and for a beginner cook like myself, recipies that would intimidate me in a cookbook. Blue Apron is also very affordable — $10 per meal! Tonight I made the Kale Hash. I had some for dinner and packed the rest for lunch tomorrow.

9-12pm – TV and bed

My roommate is on Broadway, so I always know I have the apartment to myself at night. I relax on the couch with the pup and catch up on Grey’s Anatomy. (Yes, I am STILL watching that show.)

Thursday, October 8th

8:45-9:30am – Get ready for the day.

Wake up. Grab some coffee and a bagel on the way to rehearsal.

10:30am-12:30pm – Rehearsal with KEIGWIN + COMPANY

Continue working on Sidewalk. I leave early today for another rehearsal.

12:30-4pm – Rehearsal with Dance Heginbotham

I just started working the Dance Heginbotham, and we will be performing at The Joyce this weekend. I first met John Heginbotham at a seminar my senior year at Juilliard. I worked for him in a project right after graduating, and I danced with him when he was in the Mark Morris Dance Group. I am going to be dancing in his piece titled "Angels’ Share." It is a quintet that was created on the Atlanta Ballet last summer.

4-6pm – Home

Run home. Shower. Leave right away.

6-7:30pm – Dinner

Dinner with Kile.

8-10pm – Fall for Dance

The Fall for Dance Festival in an annual festival presented by NY City Center. They put together five different programs, with four companies performing each night. It is an incredible way to see a variety of great dance. Tonight we saw Stephen Petronio’s "Locomotor." I saw "Locomotor" in Petronio’s last Joyce season, and loved it even more the second time around.

We also saw the premiere of "Myelinaion" by Dorrance Dance. What a great piece! Michelle Dorrance is an exceptionally gifted choreographer and performer. I was blown away my first time seeing the company at Jacob’s Pillow this summer and was equally excited about the piece they did tonight.

What a great night of dance!

Friday, October 9th

10am – Wake up.

No rehearsal today, so I get to sleep in a bit!

10am-12pm – Administrative work

I am K+C’s Rehearsal Director, and there are a lot of moving parts going into this fall season. In addition to restaging K+C’s Rep for our Joyce season, Larry has commissioned two choreographers, Loni Landon and Adam Barruch, to work with K+C. We also have a tour in November to prepare for.

12-2:30pm – Teaching prep

I really love teaching. I started when I was 16 at the studio I grew up in Michigan, and it has been a great way to share my experiences as well as filling the void when I’m not performing. I am teaching twice next week. One day is a full day of master classes at a studio in Long Island, and the other is a whole day of choreography. I will be setting a Junior dance and a Senior dance in one day. I use this time to find and edit music, and gather inspiration for the pieces.

2:30-3:30pm – Nap

I am pretty exhausted after a really busy and physical week. With a full weekend of shows ahead, I want to be rested!

4:30-5:30pm – Yoga

On days where I am not able to make it to ballet class, I try to go to yoga or the gym. I try to do something physical almost every day to help keep in shape. I use this class as a warm up for this evening’s tech rehearsal.

6:00-11pm – Dance Heginbotham Tech Rehearsal

We are here! Tech rehearsal at the Joyce! There’s nothing like stepping into the theatre for the first time. Things go really smoothly. Getting excited for the shows.

12:30pm – Bedtime

Saturday, October 10th

9am – Wake up.

It’s my birthday!! I am 28 today. I couldn’t think of a cooler way to spend my birthday than dancing at the Joyce!

11:00am – 12pm – Ballet class with Zvi Gotheiner.

I leave early to pick up some lunch and head to the theatre.

1pm – Call time at the Joyce

Get to the theatre, settle in, and continue warming up for the day. Staying warm on long shows days like this is always difficult. I always set aside time to do a really good warm up at the beginning of the day and keep it up by rolling out and going yoga.

2:30-3:45 – Tech rehearsal w/ musicians

Dancing to live music is the best! Rehearsal goes well, we get some notes and get ready for dress rehearsal.

4-5:30pm – Dress rehearsal

5:30-6pm – Notes

6-7pm – Dinner break

7:15pm – Birthday surprise!

I got a non-descript Birthday packaged delivered backstage. Inside the bag were my favorite suckers from Michigan that my mom sends me every year for my birthday. I texted her to see if she sent anything and she replied by saying, “I delivered them by hand.” My Mom flew in and surprised me to see the show!!! I was so happy.

7:30pm – Showtime

The show went great.

9:30pm – Birthday dinner

My Mom, Kile, and a few friends and I head to dinner at Empire Diner.

12:30pm – Bedtime

Sunday, October 11th

9am – Wake up.

I’m feeling a little bit older…. Grab coffee and a breakfast sandwich on my way to the theatre.

11am-1pm – Warm Up

2:00pm – Show #2

Mom is at this show too!

3:00pm – Brunch

Grab a quick bite with my mom then say goodbye as she heads off to the airport.

7:30pm – Show #3

We enjoy a nice, solid last performance. There are a lot of friends in the audience tonight so that made it really fun.

10:00pm – Visit with friends

Went out with some friends and dancers from the show. Celebrated a great run!

12:30am- Bedtime

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To read Brandon's artist profile on the blog, click here.

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