Australian Tour Journal

Monday, January 3
We had a full day today. Many of the cast awoke early (still feeling the effects of jet lag) and opted for a quick work-out before breakfast. Some slept in. We made our way to the BMW Theatre to meet Alex Jones, Festival Director. We spent the morning working on the sign translation of the song we were scheduled to perform in the Opening Ceremony. After roughing out the song, we broke for lunch and then reconvened at the Melbourne Olympic Park.

The Mosaic cast, along with the 1200 other members of the Opening Ceremony began the rehearsal for their portions of the ceremony. We drenched ourselves in protective sun screen and started to work out the choreography for the song. At the same time, several teams of athletes were training on the field. It was a bit of organized chaos but all seemed to come together nicely by the end of the day. We finished close to dinner time.

Exhausted after a long rehearsal in very hot Australian sun, most of us made our way back to the apartments for a nap. Refreshed afterwards, we split up and went our separate ways to find dinner and evening entertainment. Some of us (I wont name names) had dinner at the nearby Crown Entertainment Complex...basically a huge casino. Some of us (I wont name names but her initals are MLC) won big. :-)

Stay tuned...

Rehearsing for the Opening Ceremonies

The BMW Edge Theatre exterior, Federation Square	Flinders Street Station displaying banners of the Deaflympics
Olympic Park Stage -- ready for Opening Ceremony rehearsal	The "horses" rehearse on the field
Long time friend and Festival Director, Alex Jones works with Mosaic cast	Rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Park
Ros rehearsing lyrics for the Opening Ceremonies	Mosaic cast works on movements for their performance