May 17 - Rory Loe, Mickey Zhang & PJ Seeberger

Salute! So there are so many incredible happenings to talk about from today that I have no idea if I can get it all in this blog post!

So the morning part of today included another historical tour specifically discussing the Duomo of Florence and its contributors and intricate design. The construction of the Duomo was so fascinating considering there was no Calculus invented in the 1300's to aid in the architectural process and no modern technology to transport building materials up and down the construction site! There were also years and years dedicated to redesigning the shape and format of the dome and adding specific wonderous touches to the interior decorative features such as murals on the dome itself and a spectacular covering for the altar. Along with the history of the dome, we also learned of other family artist's works such as Donatello's Magdalena and Michelangelo's Pieta designed for his gravestone. We learned a lot on the your for sure.

After the tour we headed to a press conference where we launched the preparation for the "A Time to Dance" performance on the 21st. The faces on composer Alec Roth and the president of Gonzaga in Florence were speechless when we performed. On our walk back to the hotel from the conference, we decided to sing a flash mob in front of the Duomo, and literally hundreds of viewers gathered to film our really short Italian piece and even the mayor of Florence came and so each of our hands and took s picture with us which was all ad lib.

The last part of today aside from yummy gelato and dinner was rehearsal at Gonzaga in Florence for our chamber repertoire. Alec Roth attended rehearsal and spoke with us answering questions after the rehearsal. He is an amazing man with a very inspiring creative view of composition, and his words described his eager anticipation for our show. He said even that one of our American pieces he wanted to dinner into himself with free time, and I think we have enlightened his perspective on new ways by our presence and singing. And vice versa, his work had enlightened us. Can't wait for Tuesday's show! Love you all and from Florence, A dopo!

- Rory Loe

Being in such a historical place as Florence, I feel the constant need to ask myself the question of what remains and what matters. After admiring the incredible work of Lorenzo Ghiberti's Baptistery Doors and Porte del Paradiso (Gates of Paradise), we learned that he used 48 years of his life crafting these two sets of doors. If I had the talent, would I spend 48 years of my life doing what he has done? I'm not sure. But after bringing our gift of music to friends at the press release, and to the mayor of Florence as we walked down the streets, I found myself enjoying the spontaneity of the art form of music, feeling slightly ashamed. After all it would've been hard to feel the passion if we had to wait for decades for a response from the audience. On the other hand the question arises: knowing that time passes with blind eyes, knowing that “love ends, despair, ambition ends”, who do we sing for, what do we sing for?

- Mickey Zhan

Today was a good day. We started off the morning bright and early for a tour of the Duomo museum. We first walked around the building itself as our guides explained the history and little facts about the building itself. As we headed into the museum, this trend continued. Our guide was amazing. She had so much insight on each and every piece of the Duomo. She could tell what era the statues were built by the folds of their clothes. She also was very funny and entertaining in the way she delivered the facts. After the tour we split for our lunch break before rehearsal at 2. A group of us dancers spent the break at a café in the wake of the Duomo. Prices were a little steep but the locale was perfect. Our waiter was very friendly and liked to chat with us. We eventually convinced him to come see our performance on Tuesday at the Pergola. We then made our way across town to the ballet studio. We put in some great work to fix formations, timings, new choreo, the whole lot. Elizabeth and I also got to hammer out our Hilltop dance. Afterwards the gang headed on back to the pencione. A few of us decided to take our time getting back so we could go shopping. We all got some cute new clothes, took pictures on the bridge, and had a nice stroll on the town. When we arrived home, we got our dinner then headed out to gelato. I now end the night curled up in bed doing some reading. I’m a excited for tomorrow’s activities of scaling the duomo and rehearsing with the choir and orchestra. Ciao!

- PJ Seeberger