Adventures in the Middle East!

Hello! We’ve been back in the States for about two weeks now and finally feel like we’ve gotten over jet lag! I’d love to look back on some of our adventures and share with you about our time in the Middle East.  In my last update, we were in South Africa and from there we flew back to Amsterdam to connect to a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

Istanbul is home to 15 million people and is uniquely divided between Europe and Asia. There was so much to see, so we tried to visit many of the top sites, knowing that it would be impossible to fit everything in!  This was our first time visiting a predominantly muslim country and we were in awe of all the mosques and minarets. The most famous Blue Mosque, was under construction on the inside, but the stunning outside did not disappoint. We were able to go inside the Süleymaniye Mosque, which was just as beautiful. My favorite was the Hagia Sophia, built in AD 537 as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral until 1453 when it was converted into a mosque. Aside from visiting mosques, we spent hours wandering the famous turkish bazaars and spice markets. Endless hallways were full of trinkets, rugs, ceramics, dried fruits, any spice you could imagine and of course the sweet treat - Turkish delight. The food was incredible and our visit was not complete without a visit to the turkish bath. In this tradition, every inch of your body is scrubbed to remove dead skin and cleaned in the most luxurious bubble bath massage. I think this was the cleanest we will ever be! This city has inspired our interest in Turkish culture and we can’t wait to come back and explore more of this incredible country.

From Istanbul, we flew to Tel Aviv, Israel. We had a few days to explore the city, and I really enjoyed the modern feel, the gorgeous beaches and of course lots of hummus and falafel!  We took a day trip to the Dead Sea and Masada. Floating in the Dead Sea was one of the things I was looking forward to the most on this trip, and I have to say it did not disappoint! With very little effort your body sits on top of the water and it was such a cool feeling.  We smothered our bodies with the mud from the ocean floor, absorbing all the healing properties of the dead sea salts. We our fresh skin, we headed into the desert to Masada. Masada is an ancient fortress famous for the ruins of King Herod’s Palace which was built in the first century. We took the cable car to the top and the views were incredible. Sprawling desert to the left and the Dead Sea to the right. This was one of my most memorable days of the entire trip!

From Tel Aviv we took the bus to Jerusalem. Zach has family that live there and we were excited to get to visit them. We happened to be there around Thanksgiving, and even though they do not celebrate the holiday, for us it felt nice to be with family enjoying a feast! The rest of our time was spent exploring the Old City. It was helpful to have a guide leading us through the winding streets and showing us the four quarters of the Old City.  The four quarters are the Christian quarter, the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter and the Armenian quarter. The Old city is home to several sites of key religious importance. The Temple Mount and Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Dome of the Rock for Muslims. It was incredible to see these sites, but there was an underlying tension that kept you aware that you were in a part of the world that has had many conflicts over these historic sites. It was hard for me to get used to seeing so many machine guns, especially the young people from the military casually carrying their machine guns with them while wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It was an impactful place to visit and I’m grateful that I got to meet so many relatives from my husband’s side of the family.

Our next destination took us to Tbilisi, Georgia. It was the first country in the former USSR I’ve ever been to and was unsure of what to expect. We quickly fell in love with the cities crumbling charm and had a crazy experience trying to adopt a dog! We spent our time exploring the old city, taking a cable car up to the statue, The Mother of Georgians, that overlooks the town. We spent a few days trying the local dishes, exploring the beautiful mountains and soaking in the sulfur-rich water at the historic bath houses. The majority of our time was spent falling in love with a stray dog and trying to figure out a way to adopt him and bring him home. There are about 50,000 stray dogs in Tbilisi and though it sounds crazy to adopt one, there are actually a lot of organizations that specialize in helping you do this. It all started innocently enough, taking a walk through the park when we noticed a four legged friend following us. A mile and a half later he was still with us and had captured our hearts. We spent the next few days contacting adoption agencies, looking for a host family, learning about the incubation period and how to transport  a dog internationally. At the end of the day, time was against us (we had already booked a flight to our next destination) and there were challenges that we were unable to figure out in such a short amount of time. Meeting Tbilisi (of course this is what we named the dog) was such an unexpected experience, but we will remember our time in Georgia fondly because of it.

Our final stop in the Middle East took us to the United Arab Emirates. We spent 6 days in Dubai and took day trips into the desert and to Abu Dhabi.  If you want to have your mind blown, I highly recommend visiting this country. Dubai is known for luxury shopping and ultramodern architecture. Its famous for having the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, towering over the city at 2,722 feet. We went up to the 125 floor (you can go even higher to the 145th floor) where we got incredible views of the city and the desert beyond. Everything in Dubai is larger than life, including the malls. Our favorite was the Mall of the Emirates. It is home to hundreds of stores and restaurants, a 500 seat theater and Ski Dubai. We had to check out this indoor ski resort and couldn’t pass up the chance to meet Gentoo and King Penguins! We spent a day exploring the desert, about an hour and a half away from the city. Here we went dune bashing, which is a special way of driving in an SUV with an experienced driver, over the massive dunes. It was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. The best part was getting into the middle of nowhere and experiencing the calm, peaceful beauty of the desert. Needing a break from the over the top Dubai, we took a day trip to Abu Dhabi. Here we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This is the largest mosque in the UAE and can house 40,000 people. The architecture was stunning and worth a visit. Our favorite part of Abu Dhabi was a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This museum highlighted Middle Eastern art and was stunning inside and outside. Our final days in Dubai were spent relaxing on it’s beautiful beaches staring at the gorgeous water.

Thanks so much for reading and in my next edition I will share with you our adventures in SouthEast Asia and the journey to get back home. 

Best, 
Ashley

Travel Tip #9

When traveling to a new country make sure to research appropriate dress to be respectful to the country you are visitings culture. It was helpful to always have light weight scarf with me to be able to cover my head and shoulders if necessary.

Adventure in South Africa!

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the Holiday Season! In this update, I’d like to share with you our adventures in South Africa. This adventure started with an 11.5  hour flight from Amsterdam direct to Cape Town. It was a long flight, but we didn’t change any time zones, so luckily we weren’t too jet lagged. This was my first time in Africa and I was quite anxious about what to expect. We’d heard lots of concerns about safety, but aside from staying alert and not being out and about after dark, we felt very safe. Thank goodness for Uber, as that was our main form of transportation! Something to keep in mind, Cape Town is easy to explore on your own, but South Africa is a huge country and we found it incredible helpful to explore the Garden Route and going on Safaris with the help of a guide. 

We stayed in a neighborhood called Sea Point which was right along the ocean.  There was a beautiful promenade for our morning walks, with incredible views of Lions Head and Table Mountain. Table Mountain is hard to miss, unless it’s covered in clouds, and you can see it towering over the city from almost everywhere you go. We waited for a clear day and took the cable car up to the top - 3,358 feet! From the top you can see the entire city and all the way out to Robben Island. Our visit to Robben Island was one of the most important and impactful experiences of the trip so far. We took a 20 minute ferry ride out to the island, enjoying the incredible views of the city on the way out. Before this trip, I had a simple understanding of apartheid. In school we basically learned that a) there was apartheid in South Africa, b) it was bad and c) Nelson Mandela ended it. That was about the extent of it. Touring Robben Island, seeing Nelson Mandela’s jail cell and hearing first hand from a former prisoner helped us to learn what it was truly like during that time and how horrific the racism was. I hope everyone can have a chance to visit this place, to help understand and continue to work towards true equality. 

I was very excited to discover that Cape Town had a professional ballet company and we attended a performance by the Cape Town City Ballet at the Artscape Theatre Center. The performance of Satori consisted of 3 works, beginning with Concerto Barocco. This Balanchine work was danced well, but I felt it did not showcase the dancers as well as the rest of the evening. As the night went on the pieces moved to a more contemporary feel and this is where the dancers really started to shine. It was interesting to see such a diverse group of dancers and the 2nd work of the night, by South African choreographer Michelle Reid, especially highlighted the athleticism of the male dancers. The final piece of the evening was by UK choreographer, Kenneth Tindal. This was the highlight of the evening for me. The piece had interesting musicality and played with formation and light in a unique way. The dancer’s technique was exquisite as this piece pushed the boundaries between classical ballet and contemporary movement.

We were really excited to see more beyond the city itself and through an Airbnb experience met up with Blaine Smith of Reveler Tours. We started with a one day trip to see the penguins at Boulder Beach and the Cape of Good Hope. We had a great day and got to see a lot of wildlife including ostrich and a family of baboons playing alongside the road. We had such a great time with Blaine, that we decided to take his 4 day Garden Route tour. Now we really got to see the beauty of South Africa! We had an incredible time and each day was full of adventure. Some of the highlights included Wilderness Beach, where I conquered my fear of heights and jumped off the side of a mountain to go paragliding! We saw the Cango Caves, walked with the elephants in Knysna Elephant Park and stayed in the only Wagyu beef farm in South Africa. We went on two safari drives and saw so many beautiful animals! We were lucky enough to see elephants, zebra, giraffes, hippos, lions, rhinos and even two cheetahs and five cheetah cubs! There is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing these creatures in their natural habitat, and we can’t wait to explore more of Africa in the future.

There is still so much to explore in South Africa, but this trip was hopefully not the only time we will come to this amazing country. The people were friendly, the markets full of interesting arts and crafts, the food was delicious and the scenery and animals were incredible to see. I would highly recommend putting this on your bucket list as a place to visit. Thanks for reading and please look for my next update about our time in Turkey and Israel!

Travel Tip # 8

Embrace the fear of going somewhere “scary”! I was afraid to go to Africa, but now that I’ve been, I can not wait to explore more countries on this incredible continent!

Adventure in France!

Bonjour!  Zach and I are grateful to still be on this crazy adventure and recently hit the mark of 100 days of travel!  In this update, I’d like to share with you about our time in France. We spent about 2 weeks exploring Paris, Normandy and the Loire Valley.  This was Zach’s third time in Paris and my first, so there was a lot to see!

 Our days were full of delicious food, art, museums, palaces, gardens and of course that stunning Eiffel Tower!  I spent hours exploring the Louvre and barely made a dent in all the incredible art. For my first visit, my goal was to see the famous Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Everyone always exclaims she is so much smaller than expected! So having my expectations in check, The Mona Lisa did not disappoint! It was also really cool to see the Venus de Milo because we recently spent time on the island of Milos where it was discovered. (You can read more about our time in Milos in my 5th newsletter!) My favorite museum was the Musée de l’Orangerie. This museum is famous for being the permanent home of eight large Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet.  The murals engulf the room and it’s stunning to be able to walk alongside them. Later in our trip we visited Giverny, where Monet lived and worked. The gardens were stunning and it was not hard to see why they were so inspiring to Monet. 

Visiting the Palace of Versailles was a huge bucket list item for me.  In 2016, I produced and choreographed a marketing event for the BBC show, Versailles.  Ever since then it has been a dream for me to visit. I got their first time slot of the day and that helped to avoid some of the crowds.  The Hall of Mirrors was a beautiful as I hoped and I was lucky to have it almost all to myself! The palace is ornate and the grounds are extensive. Even though the weather was gray, it was incredible to spend an afternoon strolling through the gardens. 

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing a performance at the Paris Opera House. The Opera House on it’s own is a stunning place to visit. There is a ballroom that took my breath away and might be just as beautiful as the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. It was incredible timing that the performance we saw was the world premiere of Crystal Pite’s, Body and Soul with the Paris Opera Ballet dancers. This was my first time seeing Pite’s work live and I was blown away. As described in a review by the New York Times, “The physical language is gestural and convulsive, torsos contracting, bodies lunging, the movement low and grounded.” Below you will find a link to The New York Times review if you are interested in reading it in full. I was particularly in awe of her use of the floor.  Instead of feeling like a hard surface or a barrier, it felt like the dancers were melting into it or using it as a supple springboard. The full length evening finished with an electric dance party on stage and left me leaving the theater with a smile on my face. 

Our last week in France we spent visiting Normandy, D-Day beaches and the Loire Valley. We stayed in the towns of Bayeaux and Ambroise, visiting many castles including Château de Chambord, Château de Cheverny and Château de Chenonceau.  From here we took a train back to Amsterdam (under the English Channel!) to catch a flight to our next destination.  We made our first continent change and flew to Cape Town!  Look for my next newsletter to here all about our adventures in South Africa.  Thanks for reading! 

Best, 
Ashley

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/arts/dance/crystal-pite-body-and-soul-review.html

Travel Tip # 7

France is a huge country and it was helpful for us to divide the country into North and South! We can save Southern France for another trip!

Adventure in London!

Hi Everyone! Zach and I have now been traveling for 3 months and we are so grateful for all the amazing experiences we are having. After soaking up all the sun in Greece, we made a huge switch and hopped on a plane to London!  

There was so much to see and do in this city and we didn’t waste anytime. The first few days were filled with the mandatory tourist activities. We visited Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, walked through Kensington Gardens, saw The London Eye and my favorite and home to the Royal Ballet, Covent Gardens.  London is a sprawling city, so we quickly figured out how to use the Underground and even took photos in the iconic red phone booths. 

What I enjoyed most about London, was that we felt right at home. Being back in an English speaking country probably had something to do with it and it strangely felt like a bizarre version of New York City. My first priority was getting to a ballet class. I made my way to Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Gardens. Founded by Debbie Moore in 1979, this studio reminds me of NYC’s Broadway Dance Center.  Buzzing with activity you can find whatever style of dance you are looking for. Ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, salsa, flamenco among others are offered seven days a week. I took the advanced/professional ballet class a few times while we were in town. I especially enjoyed Ian Knowles class. Mr. Knowles trained at The Royal Ballet School and was a principal dancer with Northern Ballet Theater and Washington Ballet DC. His combinations at the barre were efficient in warming up the body and his combinations in center were challenging and fun. The pianist was excellent and added a great energy to the classroom. You can check out the link below for Ian’s website called Ballet Position. It focuses on audition advice, junior companies and working abroad. It’s a great database and full of resources for dancers starting out their careers.

The highlight of our time in London, for me, was seeing The Royal Ballet at Covent Gardens. The Opera House was stunning and more modern than I expected. The evening’s performance was Manon, choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and brilliantly danced by Natalia Osipova and guest artist David Hallberg. It was extra special to see David dance, as we had the opportunity to dance together when we were just teenagers training at American Ballet Theater’s summer intensive. Having both been through traumatic injuries, I relate to David a lot and admire his strength and dedication to his rehabilitation and returning to the stage. You can learn more about his career in his book, A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back.

While continuing to explore dance in London, I discovered, The Place. As described on their website, The Place is one of Europe’s most exciting, innovative dance spaces, where artists from all over the world come to push creative boundaries, to experiment and to perform outstanding new work for audiences who expect to be surprised, inspired and delighted. The Place is home to London Contemporary Dance School, Richard Alston Dance Company, a 288 seat theatre, an extensive range of classes, courses and participatory opportunities for adults and young people, and professional development programs for artists. I was excited to attend one of these programs on Marketing and Press. Led by The Place's Communications Team: Rita Chowdhury, Marketing Manager, Suzanne Frost, Press and PR Manager and Sian Gilling, Communications Assistant, this workshop covered topics from defining your target audience and working out the best plan to reach it, to choosing an image that will draw attention to your piece and perfecting your marketing copy. I left feeling inspired and excited to have learned some tools to help market my work creatively and strategically. 

We were able to see a few shows during our time in London. Zach was super excited to see a British rock concert and we enjoyed an incredible show by The Struts. During a quick trip to the English countryside, we stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon, famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespere and saw a play at the Royal Shakespeare Theater and lastly we enjoyed a stunning performance of the musical,  Waitress in the West End. 

London was incredible and there is still so much more to explore! Thanks for reading and watch out for my next edition where I will tell you about our adventures in Paris! 

Best, 
Ashley 

Travel Tip #6

For a major city like London its hard to get everything in! Divide the city up and save some sites for a future visit!

Adventure in Greece!

Hello Everyone! It’s hard to believe, but Zach and I have been traveling now for over two months!  In this update I would like to share our adventures in Greece with you. We started in Athens, explored the islands of Milos, Santorini and Naxos, and then ferried back to Athens to fly to our next destination. 

Athens had so much history that we couldn’t wait to see and we didn’t have to wait long.  The city is built around a huge hilltop with the Acropolis right on top. The views are spectacular from all around, particularly from a rooftop bar at night. The city can be very grimy and intense. Drivers and motorcycles are zipping around and don’t often stop for pedestrians! Our apartment host, Akis, was incredible in helping us plan our time and even picked us up from the airport making it a smoother transition into the city. It was interesting hearing his local perspective about what life is like in Athens. Even though he is proud to be Greek, he hopes for a better life for his children away from Greece. Both of his children are learning German and English in preparation for other opportunities elsewhere. We stayed in a neighborhood away from the tourist areas and were able to get a local feel.  The food was incredible and I think we had a greek salad everyday we were there!  

We spent most of our time walking around the city and my favorite site hands down was the Acropolis. It was as awe inspiring as expected. Dating back to the 5th century BC, the Acropolis contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. We also spent some time in the Acropolis Museum, which was helpful for understanding the importance of what we were seeing. 

From Athens, we took a ferry to the Island of Milos. Milos is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea. The island is famous for unique beaches with white volcanic cliffs and the best way to really see the island is by boat.  We set sail for an all day excursion that took us all around Milos. We stopped at 3 different locations throughout the day. Kleftiko was my favorite! We jumped off the boat and swam in the crystal clear water surrounded by amazing cliffs.  Our captain prepared a delicious lunch of hummus, olives and grape leaves. Our group took turns going on a dingy that took us in and out of the amazing caves. Our last stop of the day was the hidden beach, Tsigrado. If you are feeling adventurous there is a tiny ladder at the top of the cliff you can use to hike down to the beach.  Otherwise, it’s only accessible by boat. We had a quick swim to the shore and it was so beautiful to basically have this beach to ourselves! Another must see is Sarakiniko beach. It feels otherworldly and the white rocky cliffs somewhere resemble moon rocks! If you’re going to Greece, I highly recommend visiting this island. 

From there we took the ferry to Santorini. Coming from the calmness of Milos, we were not prepared for the intensity of Santoini.  Thousands of people were arriving in the port from ferries and cruise ships and just getting out of the port was crazy! Up, up and up you drive through many switch backs and the views did not disappoint.  We stayed just on the far side of Oia and it would have been lovely, except that it was a bit too remote. We needed a car and we had a bit of travel fiasco renting one (they gave us a car with almost no gas and we almost ran out going up steep mountain roads!!!) We can laugh about it now, but it was pretty scary at the time. The town of Oia is as lovely as you would think and the views of the white villas with the blue domes are spectacular.  What you don’t always see are the thousands of people fighting to get that same shot! We went into the town early and it was beautiful to walk the narrow streets and enjoy the epic views. By 11:00 am it was time to get out of there as the cruise ships had arrived for the day. There was a heaviness to the locals we met in Santorini and most had not had a day off since April. It was a reminder that over tourism is real and it made Zach and I stop to think about how can we experience these incredible places, without being part of the problem. 

The last island we visited was Naxos. Ahhhhhh we were back to calm! It was the last week of the season for many places and you could feel that many were ready to shut down and get some rest.  We used this as a time to rest and mostly just read at the beach. Zach did his work, I did our laundry and we had some time to regroup and think about where we wanted to head next. Our plan was to head to Istanbul, but with everything going on we decided to save that for another time.  We completely changed course and hopped on a plane to London! 

I can’t wait for next time to share our adventures in England with you!  Thanks so much for reading. See you soon!

Best, 

Ashley

Travel Tip #5

When traveling around the islands its helpful to pre-arrange pickups at the port to take you to your hotel or apartment.

Adventure in Croatia!

Hello everyone!  So much has happened since my last update. We’ve been enjoying the beautiful water of the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, amazing sunsets and so much feta (more about Greece in my next newsletter)! In my last update we were leaving Slovenia and about to cross the border into Croatia. Driving across the border was easier than we expected, but keep in mind if you are going the other direction you need to budget at least an hour for the crossing. In this edition, I’d like to share about our time in Croatia.

Our first stop in Croatia was the city of Rovinj.  Rovinj is a picturesque fishing port on the west coast of the Istrian peninsula. You can easily explore this town in a day or so. The beaches are rocky and there is usually a ladder leading straight into the sea! Rovinj is best known for its olive oil, wine and truffles and you can feel the close proximity to Italy in their delicious pizzas! From there we drove a few hours to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park. Along the drive we passed many abandoned buildings. The bullet holes and bombed out buildings silently reminded us that just 20 years ago this country was at war for its independence. Plitvice is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia. It is famous for its many lakes and cascading waterfalls. When visiting it is best to go as early in the day as you can. The park quickly fills up and the lower lakes can be overwhelmingly crowded taking away from the natural beauty of your surroundings. A quick boat ride to the upper lakes and we escaped the crowds and were able to really enjoy the beautiful colors of the water and the magic of Plitvice. 

From there we drove about 2.5 hours to the town of Zadar. Here we had our first driving mishap! Driving through the old town, the roads were narrow and navigating was extremely challenging. We ended up going the wrong way on a pedestrian only road! Thankfully we didn’t end up the ocean and made it safely to our apartment. My favorite part of Zadar was seeing the Zadar sea organ. Concealed beneath a set of large marble white steps leading into the water, the instrument consists of a series of 35 tubes and a large resonating cavity, which is played by the wind and the sea. 

After two days in Zadar, we made our way to Split and said goodbye to our car. Split is the 2nd largest city in Croatia, so I was hoping to find some dance here, but it was not meant to be. The only ballet I could find was in the capital city of Zagreb, which logistically didn’t make sense for where we were headed. The most important thing to see here is Diocletian's Palace, an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town. For any Game of Thrones fans, this location was used for the filming of where the character Dany kept her dragons! 

From there we hopped on a short ferry ride and spent an amazing week on the island of Hvar. The best way to see the island is by boat. We spent a day exploring secret swimming holes, the famous Blue Cave and beaches only accessible by boat. The sunsets were spectacular and it was nice to spend a week in the same location. 

Our last stop in Croatia was the city of Dubrovnik. It's known for its distinctive Old Town, encircled with massive stone walls completed in the 16th century. The best way to see the Old Town, is by walking the city walls.  We did this first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds and the heat! The view is spectacular and stopping for a morning coffee with a view of the ocean and the sounds of the waves crashing was beautiful.  After walking the wall we hopped on a boat to avoid the cruise ship crowds and headed the the island of Lokrum for the day. This island is full of creatures like peacocks and rabbits! Zach and I have a special love for peacocks! They are definitely our family animal. The love began when I met a white albino peacock that  lived on 113th st. in NYC, named Phil. Phil was even a part of the day Zach asked me to marry him! We stopped for a swim in a spot that was so salty that we floated similar to the Dead Sea! Heading back to Dubrovnik, the city calms down after dark and we were able to wander through the charming streets. On our last day, we took a bike ride through the countryside. We enjoyed seeing a different part of the country and learning about what it was like to live there from our guide. We stopped in a small village and tasted the local treats and learned about the old water mills used to make clothing. 

After almost 3 weeks, we were ready to head to the next location.  We made our way to the airport in Dubrovnik and took a flight to Athens, Greece.  I look forward to sharing about our adventures in Greece in my next newsletter! Thanks for reading! 

Best, 
Ashley

Travel Tip #4

Renting an apartment is common in Croatia and coordinating check-in can be tricky. Make sure to check reviews when booking a place to stay. A helpful host can make the experience wonderful!

Adventure update!

Hello everyone! We have been traveling for almost 40 days, by far the longest time I have spent on the road! Thank you so much for reading and I can’t wait to catch you up on what Zach and I have been up to! After exploring Berlin, we headed to Prague, Czech Republic. Prague was one of the top places I wanted to visit and the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle did not disappoint. The city is full of history and charm, however incredibly crowded and I would recommend visiting in the off season if possible. The dance schools were still on break for the summer, but we were able to attend a performance of Swan Lake at the Divadlo Hybernia Theater. While the performance felt like it was geared for tourists (it was an abbreviated version - typically told in four acts, this version shortened the ballet into only two), the storyline was easy to follow and the highlights were all there including, the “Little Swans” from Act II and the famous Act III Grand Pas De Deux and featuring Odile’s 32 fouettés. At first I struggled with the shortened version, missing the depth that the full length provides, but I began to see the value of this shorter performance as it can be a good introduction to those that might not traditionally come see a ballet. Even with his love and appreciation for the arts, my husband has a hard time sitting still for long periods of time. So for him the length of this show was perfect. I can imagine that this would appeal to others as well! As the show went on, my head was filling up with ideas for how a ballet school could create a production like this. With a cast of about 20 dancers, they were able to create the magic that is Swan Lake with minimal costumes and sets. This would translate well to a pre-professional program giving the dancers a chance to perform a challenging pas de deux and variations that they might not otherwise get the opportunity to perform. 

After the busyness of Prague, we headed to the countryside and spent the next few days in the charming village of Cesky Krumlov. It felt like we stepped right into the pages of a fairytale! I highly recommend adding a few days to visit this place if you’re heading to Prague. We followed Rick Steve’s recommendation and took a canoe down the river to the Abbey. Though most of the river is calm, there are a few rapids and Zach and I did end up in the water!  Tip- take the raft, not the canoe!

From Cesky we headed South to Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria famously known for The Salzburg Festival, a prominent festival of music and drama held every summer since 1920. Salzburg is well known for being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most talented and prodigious musical composers of all time and it’s possible to visit the house that he grew up in. The highlight of the trip for me so far, was going on The Sound of Music bike tour! This musical drama was filmed in 1965 and the tour takes you to many of the famous spots used in the film. We saw the Abbey, Captain Von Trapps' house (side note- the front of the house and the back of the house are two seperate places!) and the fountain used for “Do-Re-Mi”. The gazebo where Lizel and Rolf dance to “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” was my favorite and riding bikes down a tree lined street singing tunes from the movie will be a memory I will never forget!

After Salzburg, we headed to the Alps and spent the next few days enjoying nature. We stayed in a town called Werfen, with was a great home base to get to many different towns. We explored the world’s largest ice cave, Eisrienwelt, toured the Lake District visiting the iconic Lake Hallstatt and soaked in the sulfur baths in Bad Ischl.

Next, we crossed the border into Slovenia! We spent a few days in Lake Bled, where swimming and taking a boat to the island at the center of the lake are the main activities. From here we headed to the capital, Ljublijana. This city was full of European charm without all the crowds typical of Western Europe. Unfortunately, we had four days of intense rain, but we were still able to enjoy this city and the food was incredible! It was an unexpected surprise to find such culinary delights and we had many memorable meals.

In my next newsletter, I will share about our adventures in Croatia! Thank you so much for reading and please let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions for where we should visit!

Best, 
Ashley Kohl Adler

Travel Tip #3

Build in rest days! It’s okay to take it easy and curl up with a good book or people watch at a cafe. This will help you reset so that you don’t burn out!

First up: Amsterdam and Berlin!

Hi Everyone! Zach and I have been traveling for almost a month now and we’re having a great start to the trip!  So far, we’ve been to 5 countries including The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia. There have been a few hiccups including falling in the river on a rafting trip in Cesky Krumlov, but nothing that we can’t handle and we are starting to find our travel groove. One of the big things I noticed right away is that  August is the month that most Europeans go on vacation and lots of things are shut down. This made it challenging to explore dance in some countries, but I had the most success in the bigger cities. In this update, I’m going to tell you about my experiences in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Our first stop was to The Netherlands. We stayed in a town called Haarlem, about 20 mins outside of Amsterdam. I was looking forward to seeing one of my favorite dance companies, The Netherlands Dance Theater which is just a short train ride away in a city called The Hague.  Sadly, they were not performing while we were there, but I did stop by to see their incredible facility. Lots of construction was going on, but it was cool to get to see a bit of where the magic happens! 

 If you’re looking for a great studio to take class at, I found the Amsterdam Dance Center.  They have beautiful studios and live accompaniment for class. I took an advanced ballet class from instructor, Asuka Watanabe. Interestingly, she taught the class in English even though she spoke Dutch amongst the other dancers in class. She was an excellent teacher and I was excited to get to know her more and what her experience was like as a dancer in Amsterdam. Originally from Japan, Asuka also studied in France, New York City and The Netherlands. When I asked her what the biggest difference she felt between the dance community in the USA and The Netherlands, she responded, “I think in the USA the people dare more to challenge things and being themselves, and they do have much more energy and drive. In Europe in general they sometimes still stuck in tradition. I do love and respect the traditional way of doing the things/training though. It gives so much clear and beautiful lines and structures but sometimes it makes much harder to go beyond the boundary. I learn so many things through the experience of putting myself in the different environment. It would be nice if we keep experiencing new things, getting to know new people, getting inspired from them to open the world. And meanwhile we get to know ourselves even more.”

 Asuka has developed her own teaching method which she describes as, “Asuka Method is a new dance method to capture the pure essence of dance and life.” If you’d like to learn more about Asuka check the link below for her website. 

From there we headed to Berlin, Germany. Berlin is a huge city and I knew I would find interesting art here. It was incredibly impactful seeing the Berlin Wall Memorial.  Something that once signified such a terrible divide, is now a beautiful work of art, showcasing artists' creativity. 

I found a ballet class taught in English at The Center Berlin. The class was geared for an advanced beginner/intermediate level and the studio had an old school charm to it.  There I met instructor, Zarah Branzi. Her corrections were thoughtful and her spirit was encouraging to the class. She started off her dance training as a teeny tiny one at The Oregon Ballet Theater (OBT) and spent my childhood summers at The Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA). She received her BFA in Dance & Choreography at the California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS), graduating in 2010. When I asked her what she enjoyed most about living in Berlin, this was her response, “Berlin is a big bustling city packed full of artists. I am constantly inspired by the huge array of work being created by dance makers and non body based artists alike surrounding me. On any given day of the week there are endless options for shows or exhibitions to see!” I was also curious to know what major differences she notice between the US and Germany.  She responded, “When I first came to Berlin I was a bit put off by the performance art leaning work being created in Germany. I was used to choreography, legs, music & counts which is so prevalent in the work being created in the US. I honestly found a lot of the work lazy or boring. With time, and a deeper understanding I’ve gained an appreciation for this research based work and have found my views have shifted. Now I am interested in work that lies somewhere in the middle with plenty of movement, while still remaining conceptual and dramaturgically sound.”

While in Berlin, we went to a performance of the Broadway musical, Cabaret! Even in German, we were able to follow the story and the iconic songs and dancing were fantastic.The best part was that we got to enjoy the show with my colleague from Colorado Conservatory of Dance, Marnie and her children Inara and Bergen who were both trained at CCD and are both continuing their training at Canada's National Ballet School!

Thanks for reading and following our adventure! Please let me know if there is anything you would like to hear more about. In my next newsletter, I will share my experiences from the Czech Republic and Austria! 

Best, 
Ashley Kohl Adler

Check out the links below for more information:
Netherlands Dance Theater -https://www.ndt.nl/en/home.html
Amsterdam Dance Center - https://amsterdamdancecentre.nl
Asuka Wanatabe - https://asukamethod.com/
The Center Berlin - https://www.thecenter-berlin.de/

Travel Tip #2

Don’t be afraid to take class in a different country! Ballet is a universal language and connects us all.

The Adventure Begins!

Hi Everyone!  I am writing to let you know about a big adventure that has just begun. This month I am fulfilling a lifelong dream of traveling the world with my husband, Zach. Throughout our travels, I will be looking at the world through the lens of dance, taking classes, attending performances and meeting dancers throughout the world. Each week I look forward to sharing what I learn with you! Before I tell you more about that, here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to since moving to Colorado.

What an incredible year and a half its been! In January of 2018, my husband and I took a gigantictic leap of faith and moved to Colorado from New York City. After living in NYC for 12 years, it was terrifying to think of living anywhere else, but we were both ready for a change and the mountains were calling to us.  Having only lived on the east coast, I was unsure of what to expect, but was immediately blown away by the natural beauty of Colorado and it was literally a breath of fresh air that I needed. Exploring this amazing state was a huge part of our year. Weekend adventures took us to places like Vail, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Santa Fe, Moab and South Dakota. My husband and I got married in the mountains and just celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary!  

The dance community in Colorado was so welcoming and after a few months I found my “home” at Colorado Conservatory of Dance.  As the Conservatory Manager, my main duty was to oversee all day to day activity at CCD including student enrollment, tuition, studio rentals, residency programs, and the wellness room. In addition, I supported the Artistic Director in assessing and evaluating new students, and developing new creative programs. One of my main goals was to create consistent communications between parents, students, faculty, staff and volunteers. In addition, I taught various levels in the Conservatory and directed the Young Children’s Summer Camps. Throughout this year, we broke records in ticket sales, fundraising and summer enrollment.  My proudest accomplishment was helping to create a new summer intensive called, Movement Lab. This program was designed for contemporary dancers interested in choreographic thinking. In its inaugural year, this program was a great success and the dancers got to work with phenomenal master teachers including Dominic Walsh, Mario Zambrano, Tina Bohnstedt and Sarah Hillmer. It was an incredible year of learning and growth for me and I am so grateful to be a part of the CCD family. 

To begin our adventure, we road tripped across the US, making stops in Chicago, Pittsburgh, DC and NYC to visit friends and family.  Along the way, I took a class at the famous Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago and was happy to be in my old stomping grounds at Steps on Broadway in New York City.  If you are looking for a place to continue your training, I’d recommend taking Elena Kunikova’s class at Steps. She is tough, but her generous spirit is encouraging and inspiring.  Both classes were accompanied by live music which is always a joy to dance to. 

Now, it is time to say goodbye to the USA!  First up on this adventure, The Netherlands and Germany. Look out for my next newsletter as I will share my discoveries from Amsterdam and Berlin. I hope you will follow me along this journey! 

Best, 

Ashley Kohl Adler

Travel Tip #1

Pack light! This 40L eagle creek bag pack holds everything I need and only weighs about 25 lbs. This makes getting through airports, trains and buses a breeze! Don’t forget to pack your ballet shoes!