Jarkko Lehmus Diary

Torn Things, Union Shit and Invisible Spine

Today was the day... Err... Yesterday was the day that the dancers' pay deal got finalised after almost a year of negotiations. Finally I've got that off my table and I've got some time to focus on organising the running of the dancers' accident cover, looking into the injury prevention and occasionally even having a private life!

I've been trotting up and down the paper-trail like a bloody Cerberus to make sure that everyone knows what they should know and that they have all the papers they really should have known to have sought for themselves all the while trying to maintain the illusion that I'm here here just to dance.

My mission to appear as a regular dancer wasn't helped by a repetition induced strain of my left tricep resulting in a couple days of rest. Having a little detachment from the job has enabled me to observe it all the better: our latest addition to the ballet staff, Amanda Eyles, has already made a marked difference in the way the rehearsals are run.

After all these years we're finally fully staffed in the artistic department. For me personally it has been very interesting to observe the impact that Amanda has had in the daily running of the company. i don;t really know her background that well, but I know that she knows her shit and if she doesn't she'll check it out for the next session. I've got plenty of respect for Ms Eyles and I do believe that her presence within the company will make a marked difference in the way the company will appear in any given performance.

After almost a year of wrangling the pay negotiations are finally over and I'm snipping all the loose ends relating to the Equity membership, the dancers' insurance and still trying to establish a clear structure of prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation of injuries. So far I'd like to thank Shaw Bronner and Helen Laws for their support and Paul Cameron and Robbie Smith for their interest in working with the company. I am determined to get through the red tape to eventually clarify a proper course of action for the treatment of injuries in this company.

Politics aside I've been growing my hair for the role of The King for Sleeping Beauty. I'm second cast as one of the princes and will have to actually do quite a bit of very balletic dancing! It's been scary and exciting throwing my limbs about with all these ballet boys. A year from now I'll be wearing a sparkly top and white tights... As fu****g if...

Since the last time managed to string a few sentences together we've done the Edinburgh Festival, again, and a very quick stint at the Tramway and another one in Aberdeen. Now the full focus of the company is on getting Sleeping Beauty on the stage.

We might work ever so hard, but foreign touring still eludes us; there have been talka about Portugal, New York and China, but none of the above has actually materialised so far. I'd be proud of showing the company around on the European festival scene with just about any program we've done in the past. Unfortunately it takes a very long time to convert interest into a booking...

I'll keep this short and sweet for once, since I'm trying to get to work on time to do that dancy thing that I'm actually paid for. I promise that next time I'll have some photos and some randomness for your entertainment.

Posted by Jarkko at October 5, 2007 04:33 AM