The Rhythm of Japan

We are just about halfway through our performances here at Huis ten Bosch, and we've settled into the rhythm.  We usually sleep in a bit, until 9:30 or 10, then get up and have tea, make breakfast (on the unbelievably slow and underpowered hot plate) and then do a little wandering during the day - visiting local shrines, exploring the neighborhood, or taking a train trip into town for shopping.  

Our work day starts at around 4, when we pedal our bikes into the park and start getting ready for our shows - makeup, lots and lots of stretching, prop repair, etc.

The first show is a mini (solo) at 5, then we've got shows at 6, 7, and 8 and sometimes 9 and 9:40.  We all like that they're pretty much back-to-back so there's not a whole lot of waiting around.

We are becoming absolute masters of efficient shake-off and show prep.  We can prep all 14 props in about 8 minutes, give or take.  

We are also becoming masters of performance in inclement weather.  Who needs to be able to feel their fingers while fire dancing?  Not us.  30MPH gusting winds during fire eating?  Not a problem.  Last night I found myself balanced on Darrell's shoulders, leaning waaaay back while a terrifying gust of blizzardy, snowy wind nearly put my fire poi right out.   I just smiled and gave the crowd a wink.

The audiences are troopers, huddling in their coats and braving the conditions to see us out there in the storm.  It's a little rough on us, though... they clap, with their gloves on, and we can't hear them.  They're too cold to cheer and they're all covering their faces so we can't even see them smile.  But they stay to the end, so I guess that means they like us.

We pedal home in the moonlight, and the next day we wake up and do it again.  The sameness is strange to me.  I ran away to the circus partly because I want each day to be different, and here I am, reporting to work at the same time every day, following the same routine.   I'm trying to let it relax me.  No worries about where to be, no decisions to make, no problem.  I must admit, I will be happy to get back to a life where the day of the week actually matters. 

It's also fascinating to me how accustomed I'm getting to the absolute weirdness of our environment.  Electric disco swans and people in giant tulip costumes no longer get a second glance.  It's just Huis ten Bosch.  

It's still a challenge, and we're still dragging home exhausted every night, but it's manageable.  The main variable of each day is still the weather.  Fire dancing in a blizzard is really no fun at all, and if the temperature gets way up into the 50s we all find ourselves grinning like idiots all day long.  Muscles and joints are not made for below-zero-acrobatics, and while the heat of the fire helps make it possible for us to do this at all, it's still not much fun in the bitter cold.  

Japan Day 6

We've been here at Huis ten Bosch for a week now and are starting to feel the rhythm of our routine.  Today's show schedule is the same as yesterday's show schedule, and that's the first time that's happened - the week after New Year's is a major holiday week for the Japanese, so everything and everyone has been running on overdrive.  Our bodies are begging for rest, but we're all fit enough that I'm confident we'll make it through the next couple days.  We will all be glad when Monday rolls around and our daily show count goes from 7 down to 3.

The intense schedule has us making little mistakes.. singed hair and eyebrows, mini burns on hands and arms - nothing major, thank goodness, but enough to put us on our guard.  Yesterday I misplaced my fire hula hoop wicks, and had to borrow Sequoia's fans to sub for the hoop solo during one of our shows.  (Darrell found them before the next show, earning 10,014 brownie points and a gold star)  That put me a bit off balance, and then one of my poi handles caught fire during that show's finale and I had to finish the choreography with just one poi.  That's NOT easy, folks.

I dropped it in time to save my knuckle skin, so I'm ok.. but we've had multiple instances of handles catching fire.  I think it's the combination of the slightly different fuel we're using and the sheer volume of shows - the handles never have a chance to fully dry and breathe.  On my first day off, I believe I shall attempt to make some spare handles so we can rotate them out.

So, we still haven't had much time to explore either the park or the surrounding area, but we start getting days off next week so that will come.  This weekend is all about head-down and pushing through to Monday.