The Art of Packing for an International Tour with Company Dancer Holly Doyle

The lead up to our international tour has been incredibly busy with rehearsals and getting our personal things together.

Over the last three weeks we have been working hard and effectively in the studio to get the triple-bill of Interplay together. Prior to these three weeks, we had loosely revised the repertoire of all three works and now it was time to cohesively put the program together. Our rehearsal director Chris Aubrey works on fine tuning each work and in particular making sure the unison sections are together and sleek. Choreographer Gideon Obarzanek has been with us in the studio this past week working on L’chaim. It has been really great and enlightening to revisit Gideon’s work after two years. The work has definitely been given a second life and the growth is evident. We did a costume run to make sure that component of the performance all goes smoothly and the finishing alterations were then made.

Outside the dancing component there is a lot to organise in preparation for the trip. All the necessary vaccinations were endured by everyone traveling on the tour and I also couldn’t go away without my beloved trip to the chemist warehouse. Skipping around the aisles of the chemist I’m ticking off a checklist of:

Vitamin C

Magnesium (for muscle cramps)

Nurofen for inflammation

Hydralyte to replenish lost electrolytes when travelling

Anti bacterial Detol soap

Shampoo and conditioner

Toothpaste

Probiotics (I love this stuff!!)

Insect repellent for South America

Facial Cleansers and Moisturisers for the month

This is just to name a few of the items I bought.

It can be difficult to not forget things when you’re trying to pack for a four and a half week tour! So I asked my fellow Company dancer Petros Treklis what he was taking. This is the list we came up with:

Dance Clothes/Items –

Multiple tops (we sweat so much on tour and don’t always have access to a washing machine!)

Sports Jackets (for warming up in)

Tracksuit bottoms / shorts

Our beloved socks specifically for dancing in

A large range and variety of balls for doing self massage

Therabands/theratubes

Ankle weights

Roller (got to release those muscles!)

Runners/training shoes for when we do circuit training

General Clothes – We’ll be facing two very extreme opposite climates on this tour, so we’ve packed for the cold of Switzerland and the heat of South America in one suitcase, this proved difficult with the weight allowance!

Coats/Jackets/Jumpers

Variety of smart and casual tops

Jeans/trousers/shorts

Two pairs of shoes

Some pyjamas

Can’t forget underwear and socks

Extra items –

Wash bag (this has so much in it!)

Toothbrush / toothpaste

Face wash

Nail clippers/tweezers

Hair products

Shampoo / conditioner

Any medicines we might want to bring (Volatren for me!)

Hairdryer

Basically all toiletries!!

MacBook or iPad

iPhone of course

Chargers and adapters

For more updates on our international tour through Switzerland, Germany, Brazil and Chile follow #SDCOnTour via our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
International Tour: 8 -April – 4 May
Full tour dates and venues can be found here.