The Trocks: Brighton, Big Toe and Milton Keynes

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Davide Marongiu

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I am absolutely in love with Brighton. We got there after a short bus ride and I immediately smelled the ocean air. I love to be by the sea. I was born in Cagliari, the capital of the island of Sardinia in Italy, therefore the ocean is in my blood. There’s something calming about the ocean and enchanting. I got off the bus and I breathed the air in, knowing I was going to love this town. I went up to my room and after opening the tiny window overlooking the roofs below me I let the seagulls sing a lullaby and fell asleep. I slept so peacefully it felt like it had been hours, the kind of sleep I never get in New York (and how can you sleep peacefully with the deafening sounds of sirens and cars that will make it through the thickest glass!). I woke up to find a seagull (don’t quote me on the species!) hanging outside of my window. I gave him some cookie crumbles then I regretted it and I worried about having accidentally poisoned him but he seemed happy so now I know birds in England eat Digestive cookies too.

I walked around Brighton endlessly. Those tiny streets with the cute restaurants I just couldn’t get enough of! But the most beautiful sight was definetely the Indian Military Hospital which to me looked more like a King’s Palace. The interiors were in exquisite indian style, the type of overly decorated that is simply magnificent. I was stunned at this pearl of architecture and old world glamour. But then again I am a ballerina so it’s no surprise I like shiny things.

Unfortunately all this beauty was not enough to distract me from a small yet annoying problem with my left foot. You know when they say that dancing on pointe looks very easy but it’s probably a killer for the feet? Well yes they kind of have a point there. My left big toe is not particularly happy, and he is letting me know that I should not be hopping around on it. I mean I can’t just tell my big toenail “Look I have to dance tonight and you are gonna have to collaborate”, which actually when I think about it I do say that to my big toenail sometimes, maybe thinking it’s gonna give me a break and say something back like “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t know you were enjoying yourself hold on let me get out of the way”. No, it doesn’t work like that….So here I am wrapping it, taping it, shaping the nail, and this and that and “oh maybe this won’t hurt….ouch! It did hurt….” and so on. But what about that quote, beauty is torture? I’m sure a ballerina came up with that.

I’ve taken up drinking green tea. I mean, seriously, this tea is like a magic recipe for everything. You wanna lose fat? Drink green tea. You want nice skin? Drink green tea. I don’t know if it’ll do much for my big toe though but we’ll find out about that. At least I’ll be in pain but my skin will be flawless! So I carry this big box of green tea everywhere I go looking for kettles and drinking at least three or four cups a day.

I am excited about getting to Birmingham, I have never been there and when I was in English National Ballet School I had so many friends from there, so I am looking forward to that. And speaking of ENB, I absolutely love the documentary they have been showing on TV, I am very emotionally attached to them and I have to say they did a great job at putting it together, it really shows the reality of a ballet company, the beauty and the difficulties….Sometimes it’s hard to notice when you are in the profession but for some reason an outsider can catch so many different nuances.

We are in Milton Keynes now and I can tell that Spring is finally around the corner. I have been enjoying the company of my dear friends Iliana (ballet mistress) and Giovanni (roommate). Our after show dinners are what I look forward to at the end of the day, unwind and chill with a glass of red wine. There is a picture of us in this blog!

Stay tuned for what’s next, I am gonna go talk to my big toe and see how he feels about bourrees on pointe tomorrow night! Mwah!

yours

Davide (Giuseppina)