“We’ll buy the kneepads, you bring the sneakers.” Kneepads and sneakers?! This sentence, sent in an email by our faculty advisor, was my first glimmer of how intense working with Diavolo would be. After weeks of planning, we finally got to experience Diavolo firsthand on Sunday, February 21.
Our four hour workshop began with situps, pushups, and running laps—quite a workout! Then, before the Diavolo aesthetic, we were introduced to the Diavolo attitude. Jacques Heim, the company’s artistic director, led us in a series of attitude-building exercises, the first of which was a name game. All twenty dancers stood in a circle, and one by one, we turned to the person next to us and said our names, as sharply, directly, and confidently as possible. Jacques had no use for hesitation or giggling; we all learned quickly to step up to the plate and deliver.
We then worked on trust exercises to help us grow as a team. With the cast running around the room, one person would shout “me!” and begin to fall backwards—and everyone else would rush to catch them and set them back on their feet. We also took turns, one by one, running towards the rest of the group and leaping into their waiting arms, being lifted up and turned around, mosh-pit style. We were taking leaps of faith, literally!
When Garret finally taught us a combination, I think we were all a little shocked. He demonstrated stunning acrobatic feats, expecting us to follow suit. We performed our best handstands, elbow cartwheels, and squatting-backflipp-y things, catching our breath in between his shouts of “go!” and realizing how much work we had in store for us!
We finally got into pairs and practiced several partnering stunts, climbing, jumping, and flipping over our partners. It was really fun to discover moves I didn’t even know were possible. It was so invigorating that my roommate and I went home and showed off for other friends, somersaulting around our living room!
All in all, we had a fantastic first visit that pumped us up for the rehearsals to come.
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