Breakfast in foreign countries is considerably better and more unique than in the States. You don’t see fish head for breakfast very often! Yum!

View from the hotel room in Manila.

On the plane to Tokyo!
12 hours to Tokyo and then 4 to Manila Philippines. Time to sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.

Thank you to the State Department, DanceMotion USAsm and Brooklyn Academy of Music for making this tour possible. 

Here are a few things we have been doing to prepare for our trip to the Far East… 

…T-shirts, luggage tags and pins, oh my!  

At our last tour meeting we were handed our Dance Motion USAsm t-shirts, luggage tags, and pins. We are all decked out in Dance Motion USAsm gear for the tour. Proud to be representing the United States of America and American Dance! 

… vaccinations are done! 

Each dancer had to consult with our travel doctor to discuss proper vaccinations for our trip to Asia. It seems like each dancer had shots for Hep A, Hep B and Tetanus. We had the option to take an oral Typhoid pill or receive the Typhoid shot. Glad to have all of these over with. 

Keep your fingers cross that we all stay healthy and safe.

Oh yeah, and a little anti-dirahhea medication never hurt anyone! 

…visas and passports are in hand! 

It has been quite the process to make sure we have the proper visas for our trip to Southeast Asia. Yesterday we had our final tour meeting and received all of our paperwork. So exciting! This is really happening. 

Thank you Juta (TMP’s Operations Manager) for taking care of these Visas. Not an easy job and we are all so thankful 

…. and we have our compression socks! 

Anyone who travels knows that sometimes flying can make the lower half of your leg swell to double or even triple the size it normally is. As a dancer, this swelling really gets in the way. It takes a couple of days for our bodies to feel normal again, and sometimes we just don’t have the time. That is were these lovely compression socks are going to come in handy. We are all so excited to give them shot on our 15 hour flight over to the Far East. 

Thank you so much to Elk Rehabilitation Center for donating two pairs of compression socks each for the dancers and crew that are traveling to Asia. So generous and we are all so thankful. 

Cheers to no swelling! 

Photo Shoot at Bruneau Dunes. 

Last September the dancers and Trey headed out to Bruneau Sand Dunes with Lois Greenfield to do a a photo shoot for new images for Year 5. Last week Ashley, Brett and Trey headed back out to the Dunes to take a another round of sand images with a Boise-based photographer, Otto. 

As we were driving out to the Dunes it was raining and there was lightning in the distance. Pulled into the state park and it started to hail. Not a great way to start a photo shoot. About 30 minutes later the storms blew over and some of the most amazing clouds and weather blew through. The sunset was magnificent. 

Lets hope they got the shot! Fingers crossed. 

Peter Pan. 

Annali and Brett have been at Pennsylvania Ballet for almost two weeks now staging Trey’s full length Peter Pan. Trey choreographed Peter Pan on Houston Ballet in 2002 and last performed in 2004. 

It has been such an incredible experience. Learning so much each and everyday. 

Here is a photo of the Fairies! 

Another photo from outside of the ICA Boston. 

Outside of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. 

Day 33- During our warm up yesterday, the theater staff opened up the shades inside of the theater to let the sunlight pour in. It was so amazing taking ballet class and looking out over the water and seeing the city of Boston in the background. It is amazing what sunlight can do for the soul! 

TMP had a great show at UCONN last night and apparently inspired some young artists in the audience. This letter was written from someone in the audience and we would love to share it with you. Always so fulfilling to know that we are inspiring young dancers and is aways amazing to hear when those young artists are young men. 

Good Morning,

I just wanted to say thank you!!! Me and my family had the pleasure to watch the Trey McIntyre Project last night at Jorgensen CT.  I have an almost 11 year old boy who started taking ballet and modern dance classes last year.  He has struggled a little bit because some of his family in Puerto Rico and some kids in his school thought ballet wasn’t for boys.  He enjoys dancing more than anything and I am very happy that he decided to stick with it.  It was great to see strong  male performance in the show; it motivated Daniel to work harder. 

Vanessa

Thank you Vanessa and stick with Daniel. It only gets better! 

Day 26- TMP has been on the road now for almost 4 weeks! We are nearing the end of our 5 1/2 week national tour. It has been an amazing journey full of experiences and activities. To keep pushing ahead, each dancer and Trey has their essentials they need to continue on tour. These 5 essentials have helped us make it this far and will continue to help for the rest of the journey. 

Yari:  

1. Pointe shows and ballet slippers for each performance

2. 2 pairs of great heels (I always need options)

3. Arnica Gel (Does amazing stuff on my achy body)

4. My phone and laptop (have to stay connected with my family)

5. Socks! (I just love socks!)

Annali- 

On tour I cannot live without…

1. Pointe shows and ballet slippers for performance

2. My computer

3. B-Complex (it’s the stress vitamin)

4. My endangered species pouch (the contents are top secret and vital)

5. My toiletry case- it contains almost everything

On tour, items I do better with…

1. Ginger

2. Chlorophyll

3. Chocolate

4. Wooden Roller

5. Homeopathic and Allopathic medicinals in case of injury!

Lauren:

1. Plenty of books to read

2. My computer

3. Swimsuit

4. Photos of my Love

5. Music

John Michael: 

1. Apple Products- iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Air

2. All purpose, dress-it-up-dress-it-down jacket

3. Sleeping pills for overnight flights and time zone adjustments

4. Water Bottle

5. Dance Belts and Ballet Shoes

Trey:

1. My Eagle Creek packing containers to keep my stuff organized

2. Healthy snacks for the plane

3. Neck pillow- Planes are hell on giants

4. iPad with magazines loaded onto it

5. Portable hard drive full of video projects

Chanel:

1. Foam Roller for my muscles

2. Variety of shoes- 1 pair of pumps, 1 pair of sneakers, 1 pair of boots and 1 miscellaneous pair

3. A book. 

4. Approximately 10-12 leotards

5. My Laptop. :)

Travis: 

1. A photo of my Mom

2. MEC booties

3. computer

4. Advil

5. Per Diem

Brett: 

1. A couple of good necklaces and broaches

2. My Computer

3. Peter Pan DVD and notes

4. Dance necessities 

5. Staying connected with friends back home and all over

Ashley:

1. lots of rest

2. healthy food

3. I always wear a big scarf on the plane (it doubles as a blanket)

4. my iPhone

5. comfy/functional but still adorable footwear