One bus, three months and thirty-two cities.

This month Scapino Ballet Rotterdam dancer ASHTON BENN describes a day in her life on tour with Scapino’s current show, Marcos Morau’s Cathedral.

Touring is often stereotyped as a glamorous vacation filled with extravagant parties, picturesque cities, and artists thirsting for life. While this may be true for international pop stars, the reality for contemporary dance companies only partially aligns. Yes, we are artists with a prolific worldview and travel to some idyllic places. However, the parties are replaced by long rehearsal days and a fulfilled exhaustion after a well-done show.

Scapino Ballet Rotterdam is touring Cathedral until February. The production by Marcos Morau was created in 2019 and reprised last year. The new production premiered on 28^th November in Rotterdam before beginning its Dutch tour. Three times a week, the cast of twelve boards our faithful Scapino bus for the hour, or two, drive to the next city.

I’m originally from Dallas, Texas, and after moving to Rotterdam last July, I ran into a few culture shocks that I’ve since embraced. For instance, Texas is 16 times larger than the Netherlands, meaning you can cross the entire country in just three hours as opposed to 14. When touring, the compact size of the Netherlands is ideal because once we perform our 70-minute show, we hop on the bus home to sleep in our own beds.

After so many shows, I’ve refined my routine to a science – Ballet class at Scapino, lunch, bus ride, a few hours to explore the city, dinner, makeup and hair, warm-up onstage, lighting checks, touch-ups, then at eight o’clock curtain-up.

The somewhat elaborate Cathedral set is always built by the production crew before we arrive. Black curtains enclose the stage, turning it into a futuristic living room with a gray floor, a door at the back, and a long, black table in the center. The set is carbon-copied from one theater to the next, bringing a sense of comfort – like coming home – every time I step onto the stage.

Performing Cathedral is never dull. Whether it’s the lightning speed of the unison sections or an intimate glance shared between colleagues during our robotic gestures, unseen sparks of life constantly fall around the stage like the puttering embers of fireworks on their journey to the ground.

After the applause fades, I hurry to pack up and board the bus for my post-show snack. By the time we get back to Rotterdam’s towering buildings, it’s often approaching midnight. Then I fall into a dreamless sleep, ready to do it all over again.

Yet, the monotony of my habits has not erased the privilege, magic, and inherent spontaneity of live performance. Each new city and audience brings unique charms that keep the journey fresh.

In Hoorn, the Municipal Theater Het Park nestled against a stretch of gray-blue water that effortlessly blended into the misty December twilight. While inside, Christmas holly and cheer showed me the true meaning of gezellig. At the International Theater Amsterdam, my gentle strolls through the fading sun’s orange and golden treads settled me with a sense of pre-performance peace more effective than meditation.

At each theater, I look out into a sea of faces who are experiencing Cathedral for the first time, which reminds me that I am bringing a world of invention to life. Touring isn’t just about the repetition of shows or my many tourist photos. It’s about the connections I continue to make with my colleagues and the collective story we leave behind.  Ashton Benn  3^rd January 2025 

Photo by Hans Gerritsen