One of our directors for Aladdin had asked if we would be willing to help out a former student (we being me and the other choreographer for Aladdin). She's teaching at a middle school and is directing a play. And we agreed, and so this morning we caught a taxi to somewhere in Tai Po. I don't remember the name of the school, mainly because it was written in Chinese, but it was one of those seven or eight story buildings, staircases interspersed at what seems to be random intervals, bball courts and playgrounds, and a gorgeous view of the ocean. We were on the top floor and looked out and could see the water (it was a really clear day) and the little islands...if that's what they are. So, the play that was being done is a 7-page version of Romeo and Juliet. Hahahahaha. Amaaaazing. Since Shakespearean English is a bit of rough going at, really, any middle school, a narrator was added: a student who is supposed to be reading it for class and then falls asleep and has a dream in which Shakespeare walks her through the play. But! Okay, they show (briefly) the actual ending, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet die and it's sad. And then, the student goes no no! Too sad. And so it's rewritten, and I would like to excerpt from the actual script here:

Tybalt: Romeo, you and your family are crazy. You should go to Tsing Shan Hospital!
Romeo: I'm not crazy. You are crazy. Now go away before I get upset.
Mercutio: You can't talk to Romeo like that! I'll fight you!
Tybalt and Mercutio fight kung fu style. Romeo tries to part them but all three end up hurt. Make it slapstick. Finally, Romeo saves Tybalt as Mercutio is about to kill him. Juliet enters, with her father.
Lord Capulet: What is going on here?
Tybalt: I was just about to be killed when our enemy, Romeo, saved me.
LC: What? A Montague saved you!! This is wonderful. Romeo, is there anything I can do to repay you?
Romeo: You could let me marry your daughter Juliet.
LC: Never. She loves a man named Hilton. I mean Paris.
Juliet: No father. I love Romeo. I have loved him with all my heart for two minutes now so I think it is serious.

~From "Romeo and Juliet Revisited" by (I think) Cora.

Pretty awesome. Anyway, the play ends with a party/dancing. So, there are two 'dances'. The first, of course, is the scene where R&J meet the first time. It's about a minute long to a slow song. I actually drew on my experience when my middle school did R&J (which, for those who saw it, was ridiculous and unfortunate), and used a few moves from the dance sequence there...only this was much shorter and easier. I saw in them the same reluctance and ooh-he/she-has-cooties-I-don't-want-to-dance-with-him/her that affflicted our version. The second dance is the ending. Apparently, our director had suggested the song "Livin La Vida Loca". No. So, we go through my ipod, and come up with (are you ready for this...): Do Wah Diddy. Hahahahahahahaha. It's fantastic. The dance is all of thirty seconds and it's absurd. Love it. So that was a fun start to the weekend.

After that, we left and went back to Tai Po KCR station and bought tickets for The Nutcracker!!! So excited! I'm pretty sure I haven't seen it since I was in it. So actually, I don't know if I've seen the whole thing straight through since before I was in it. We are going to see it on the 19th December, it's the HK Ballet Company, and I'm very excited.

After that, we decided that pizza was the best way to go. So we went to Pizza Hut and had yummy cheesy pizza. And on our way out, we decided to go look at glasses. And I got a pair. :) I don't have them yet, because the lenses have got to be put in, but I'm excited. They're blue, somewhat rectangular, and are awesome. The salesman really wanted the two of us to buy glasses, so he gave us a special discount. Price breakdown: 480 for the frames, 880 for the lenses (which is 400 more than most people would pay but because my eyes are so bad, I have to get special thin lenses so that it doesn't look like I'm wearing Coke bottom glasses), and then a 360 discount. So it came to a thousand even. Which is, what, 130 USD? My last pair of glasses were 99 just for the frames, so I'm quite content with this. I had my newest glasses prescription, which I hadn't gotten filled yet, and they went ahead and gave me an eye test just to verify. So sweet. Should have them Friday.

Then I came home and napped. And then I wandered around my room, read, watched movies, painted my nails, and did my PT exercises. My PT would be proud. Tomorrow is going to be chock full of lesson planning etc.

WooOOOoooOOOoooOOO!