This will have to be short as we've just returned from our whirlwind trip to Jackson, Mississippi for Round Two of the International Ballet Competition. Mathias and Sasha were absolutely great. The program was a totally exciting experience followed by several hours of interesting waiting until the list for Round Three was posted at midnight! THEY ADVANCED! There are now just five junior men and seven junior women left. Mathias and Sasha will dance on the final day of Round Three; that's next Thursday night. (Brooklyn Mack also advanced and is one of eleven senior men left--only three were cut in Round Two; easily the most fiercely competitive category!) I'm already nervous. I spent most of this evening on various internet boards, downloading images, and corresponding with family. Tomorrow I'll try to "cut & paste" some of the things I wrote. For now, however, I'm going to try and sleep. I'm already nervous for them; but they've really nothing left to lose. They're finalists. There are no more "cuts". They only have medals to try to win now. God is this nerve wrecking! The official www.usaibc.com website just posted an image of their contemporary piece. The costumes were provided by Dr. Mark Locke of Columbia's Moore Orthopedic Clinic. The piece is called "In the Morning at...With Sweet Lunatics" and is set to Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso in B minor with choreography by international winner Viktor Plotnikov (who is hoping for additional recognition for this work!)

This morning Steve and I assembled the two remaining chuch pews for the Blues Chapel installation in Sumter. We moved one into the house with the one we already put together. We put the other into the garage. In the process, I backed over a sack of sand on the ground near the flowerbed. I went down. The pew when down onto my leg. I'm pretty badly bruised, but I was planning to wear a longer dress in Jackson so no one will notice.

Two clients came before noon to pick up finished orders. We packed the car, set out a pile of cat food, and left at 1 PM. We took Mathias' newly repaired laptop with us in order to check email, post this message, and look for additional updates from the competition in Jackson. We found two gorgeous photos of Mathias (one with Sasha) dancing Flames of Paris. They were on the Clarion Ledger website which is evidently the local newspaper there in Jackson, Mississippi. I downloaded them and sent them to family.

So far, Mathias has no idea that we are coming. We'll arrive tomorrow with time to check into the hotel, visit the art museum, have a nice dinner and watch the final session of round two. This is the program that will begin with Mathias and Sasha dancing their "crazy" contemporary selection. It is the more difficult of the two and has yet to be seen on a stage. Dr. Mark Locke, an orthopedic surgeon in Columbia, donated the medical garb costumes.

Last night we went to see "Golf: The Musical" at Trustus. Although it was fun, it was easily the weakest performance we've ever seen at Trustus. We'd been suggested to visit Nonnah's to hear Drake the Piano Man, likely the only soul reading my blog! Sorry, but it was late and we knew even then that we were going to travel to Birmingham befoe nightfall after working in the morning! Thanks, though, for reading and caring about Mathias especially!

Mathias called again yesterday morning. The thrill of the evening before hadn't quite worn off. He was as talkative as he ever gets, which is only saying that sentences actually could be diagrammed on a high school level instead of the elementary that is his competition-conversation "norm". Basically, Mathias hadn't paid much attention at all to the devastation around him. The field of over 120 had been cut to a mere 48 dancers. Of course, why should he notice? He was relieved and happy. He should be relieved and happy! He should turn a blind eye to the tears, rejection, and broken dreams unfolding in the midst. This is the part of a ballet competition that I do not miss.

Anyway, the luck-of-the-draw means that Mathias and Sasha will lead off the third of three days worth of Round Two. This round is only the contemporary pieces. There is only one session per day. The first session was just this evening, Friday. Tomorrow is the second. Then, on Sunday, is the final night of Round Two followed by another "cut".

Almost everything is ready for the installation in Sumter. I've emailed the exhibition list, finished creating fans and faux-church bulletins, assembled all the "Stained Glass" pieces for the show, tested the Christmas tree twinkle lights, rented the truck, called Karen Watson to confirm the schedule, and provided a mailing list for the invitations. There are few, if any, loose ends.

Yesterday, Steve asked me what was keeping us from driving to Jackson for the Sunday round of the competition. The high cost of gasoline? But, we'd saved all the funds when we cancelled the two week stay and didn't have to pay for Kuckeruk to go as a coach. Maybe, we weren't going because of Sumter? But, it's ready! Maybe, we weren't going because we had no tickets for the competition anymore. But, a few were still available on-line.

Today, Steve bought the tickets. Tomorrow, without Mathias' knowledge, we are headed to Jackson. Steve has all sorts of country music lined up for the drive including every bad song that includes Jackson, Mississippi (especially on a Saturday night) in the lyrics. We've got cheap hotel reservations and a new answering machine message ready for the business. We'll simply be closed on Monday.

True, next week will be an odd schedule at Mouse House. We'll be closed on Monday as we return from Jackson. We'll be closed on Thursday to install the Sumter Blues Chapel solo show. And, God willing, we'll be closed on Friday because we'll be headed back to Mississippi to see the kids in the gala as award winners.

Okay, considering the talent and the pressure levels, I'm not holding my breath about the gala! I am, however, thrilled beyond words to be able to see Mathias and Sasha dance Viktor Plotnikov's choreographic debute of the "crazy" piece. (Personally, I think the piece should have been put on a stage and infront of some sort of audience before an important round of an international competition....but...I wasn't asked about this!) I can hardly wait.

Dr. Mark Locke, an orthopedic doctor here in Columbia who treated Mathias for his stress fracture years ago, donated the costumes.

By the way, Renee Renouf Hall completed her review of all the contestants in Round One. It's on the www.ballet.co.uk website in the What's Happening Forum. She evidently liked Mathias and Sasha, commenting that Mathias showed controlled testosterone!

Yesterday in the early evening Mathias called home to talk to Steve and then to the studio to talk to me. Flames of Paris was wonderfully received by the audience. The couple following them did the same pas but not quite as well. Still, Mathias was his usual self, hyper-critical and not very communicative (at least with words that make much sense to us!) He said his turns weren't as good as they ought to have been but his jumping was better than normal. They signed autographs after the session. What seemed important to me was that neither he nor Sasha fell or stumbled; they smiled and danced to the delight of all (except maybe themselves). It wasn't perfect but it wasn't a problem either.

Mathias was calling from the shared dorm room. Brooklyn was there resting and mentally preparing for his round later in the evening. I made Mathias promise to call when Round Two was posted, no matter what time that was to be!

He called at approximately 1:30 AM which is actually earlier than I had anticipated. In Helsinki, the postings never came within an hour and a half of their scheduled arrival! In Jackson, however, the posting was due at midnight, CST, and it came then. Mathias and Sasha both progressed into Round Two as did Brooklyn. Willie Moore was cut. Kiri Chapman, Sasha's roommate and former Kirov graduate now at Tulsa Ballet, had fallen in her variation and was cut. Of course, odds on favorite Daniil Simkin progressed. Joseph Gatti, Isaac Hernandez, Kyle Davis, Jeffrey Cirrio, and others all continued on too. Today is a day off.

I'm getting nervous as I type. It's two hours before Mathias and Sasha will lead off the program in Jackson. There are a total of four days to Round I. Each day is divided into a 2 PM and a 7 PM session. Mathias and Sasha lead off the afternoon program. Brooklyn dances tonight. Daniil Simkin will follow Brooklyn, just the opposite of last June's Helsinki line-up. This evening also finishes Round I. Then comes "THE CUT". Please God, let them all dance well--no stumbles, no falls, all smiles, glory, and beautiful ballet.

In the meantime, I've been working toward the Sumter Blues show. I've completed twelve hand fans, like those used in Southern churches that advertise funeral parlors and such. Each fan is actually a digital image of the individual blues pieces. I've also printed up and hand bound (simple, pamphlet style stitch with blue ribbon thread) twelve "church bulletins". The bulletins follow a typical protestant style church service, including scripture readings, a gospel lesson, hymns, offering, and a homily/sermon section. This "sermon" consists of a page per each of the Blues singers featured in the installation. There's a thumbnail image and a short biography for each. I also sent my exhibition list to Karen Watson at the Sumter Gallery of Art. I haven't hear from her in a couple weeks, but it's okay. I'm proceeding on schedule.

I took slides of the finished Stained Glass series. Steve picked them up yesterday afternoon. They look fine, so I'm ready to close them. Just about the only things left to do are to assemble two more church pews, rent the truck, create a biography notebook with a complete exhibition list, have Kinkos enlarge/print my statement, pack it all up, and install.

I've also been working on the Currier and Ives altered book. All the pages left in the book have been painted. I've cut and torn hundreds of "Americana" images for collage work and have created quite a document of information for the latter addition of haphazardly placed text. I started the collaging yesterday. I've also made a few more "ancient" looking textile fragments as I work toward the December show with Janet Kozacheck. Most evenings I get a little hand stitching on the "sampler" piece intented for the Open Eyes show, Shelter, which is also the intented display time for the Currier and Ives book. I've got to think of a new name for the book, likely "American Dream: Shelter" of just "American Dream".

Steve found the battery recharger for the digital camera, Thank God! I had just given up looking for it and ordered another last Saturday. I was able to cancel the order. Soon I'll have time to download the images I've taken and put a few new pieces on this blog.

I went to dinner with Connie Williams on Monday night. Thankfully, I only do this once a year as I didn't return home until nearly 1 AM. Too much wine and champagne and "girl talk". Britta Cruz came by but couldn't stay. She had her newly adopted two and a half year old daughter Jessica with her. Jessica is precious and was wearing a funky hand knit outfit of Britta's artistic creation. Britta also brought along three big skeins of her hand spun yarn. One skein is actually made of mostly dog hair, quite cool but a little scratchy. The other two are for me to use for vessels as a collaboration. At least two, one for each of us.

That's about it!