Elenora Morris at the Prix de Lausanne – Registration Day!

PBT student, Elenora Morris has arrived safe and sound in Lausanne for the Prix de Lausanne competition!  She will keep us posted during the whole experience, so be sure to keep checking back for her updates!

Today my mom and I woke up around 7:30.  I slept like a rock all night, it was wonderful!  I’m so thankful that jet lag hasn’t been bad.  Polly and my mom both woke a little throughout the night but felt awake and energetic during the day.  After breakfast, where we met another candidate named Megan and her father, my mom and I set out for church and Polly explored the town.  We went back to the Lausanne Cathedral.  The organ music was glorious and although we could only understand snippets of the French hymns and sermon, it was inspiring to be in a church where people have worshiped for over 600 years!  

After church we met Polly and tried to find lunch.  Surprisingly, almost every single store is closed on Sundays in Lausanne.  It took some time to find a lunch spot, but we did and then, finally, we headed to the Theatre de Beaulieu!

Attached is a picture of Polly and me at the stage door.  We were so excited.

After waiting in a lounge downstairs, at 1:30 we were ushered upstairs to Studio 1.  The studio is raked, and the slant looked really imposing.  I gave myself barre and tried balancing a little on the rake, then all the candidates spread out and tried bits of their variations.  It was crowded at first, but eventually the candidates from Asia went to their orientation and we had a lot more room.  I was very pleased to find that my variations both feel great on the rake!  For the classical variation especially, dancing on the rake feels very natural.  I didn’t watch the other candidates much, but everyone looked beautiful.  I noticed lots of different versions of my contemporary variation.  I didn’t see anyone else doing Queen of the Dryads, though!  

Reassured and happy with the practice, we grabbed a snack and went to the orientation, where we got information about the week and a few goodies like water bottles and T-shirts.  By the end of the day, after some delicious Thai food with Polly and my mom, I felt very content and excited.  I can’t wait to start classes tomorrow!