Folly Farm

So I've been here for just over a week now and am starting to get into a pretty solid routine! I'm learning the ropes and lots of tap dancing to boot; it's an all-singing, all-dancing version of 9-5...except it's 24/7! Here we eat, breathe and sleep circus that's for sure. And it's brilliant!

My day looks a little like this:

8.00am- Wake up and wander over to the 'kitchen tent' for a breakfast of porridge and tea. Usually discuss the rain and the day's schedule which is hanging on the wall outside the barn.

9.00am- Tap call. Get a lift to village hall to practice the tap dancing sections of the show. Try to master the finale changes and the shuffle-tap-step combination!

11.00am- Back to the farm. Grab a quick cup of tea before we run through the whole show in the big top with the band and all the animals. This sometimes lasts a while if the doves are misbehaving!

The Doves misbehave a lot

1.00pm- Lunch break. Head to kitchen tent for lovely homemade bread and tomato soup or roast chicken and crispy potatoes. We're definitely spoilt when it comes to food here! Everything is either grown on the farm or locally sourced and cooked to perfection by the resident circus chefs.

14.00- Various sections rehearse individually to refine timings, cues and musical accompaniment. I rehearse tap, usherette cues and do some song writing if there's time.

5.00pm- Usually we finish by 5, but sometimes we stay later to practice bits of the show. It's certainly coming along though, but we tour to Gloucester on Saturday, so time is tight!

6.00pm- Dinner is served! It's usually accompanied by red wine and sometimes birthday cake and champagne if there's a special occasion...

 



Hanging out in the barn



Then the evening is ours to do what we like with! Usually there's Zumba in the barn or Hannah does a belly dance workshop. If there's nobody in tent we rig the hoop up for some aerial practice and get sawdust everywhere. Sometimes there's a party in someone's caravan or in the house (people here love to party!) which can often results in unco-ordination (to say the least) the next day! Sometimes we're so tired we just sit in front of the fire for hours toasting marshmallows and eating chocolate. There is no entertainment, in fact there's nothing besides fields and sheep, within walking distance, but there's always something happening here so you never even notice you're in the middle of nowhere! We're only on the farm for a matter of days now. Next stop; Gloucester! And that's where the real fun begins...

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