By Matt Mariner
Tonight, was my second night of rehearsal for a production of Hair taking place on
Martha’s Vineyard in August. I arrived at Spindrift Studios in Edgartown at 6:45pm and
chatted with fellow actors in the waiting room before being called into the main studio
for the beginning of rehearsal. Rehearsal began with a warm-up led by stage director
Tessa Permar. Tessa led us through a series of yogic positions and partner stretches that
allowed us to center ourselves in preparation for staging the first musical number,
“Aquarius.”
Once the warm-up was completed, the cast was introduced to choreographer and
Spindrift Studio owner Sandra Stone-Benjamin who was in charge of choreographing the
movement for “Aquarius.” Sandra split us up by gender and explained the basic
formation and movement sequences for the first number, which was inspired by the
movement of the planets in solar system. Step by step, Sandra displayed where each actor
should move during each moment of the song. The upbeat energy of the movement
complimented the peace-oriented lyrics and groove of the song perfectly. After a few
rehearsals, we were successfully able to bring Sandra vision to life. Sandra was so
impressed with how quickly we picked up the choreography that she agreed with Tessa to
let us out an hour earlier than scheduled.
This weekend we will keep working on movement for additional musical numbers. Hair
will be performed at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center from August 9-6.
Check back for more rehearsal updates soon.
