We boarded our buses this morning bright and early saying a sad goodbye to Innsbruck.....destination: Kuffstein Castle! Our 10am performance at the top of the castle was wonderful..hundreds of children, teachers and parents were there to celebrate Austria's last week of school and to watch us perform our short show (3 pieces each studio).

Our dressing room was under the castle in the dungeons!!! We wondered out loud to each other how many knights had walked through the very same halls hundreds of years ago in armor with spears and shields :).....it was SO cool (figuratively and literally) down there.

As we entered the stage to perform our hip hop, the MC pulled the girls out in front and had them line up. A man dressed in a suit and tie began talking to the girls, shaking their hands and a news photographer was snapping photos. It was obvious that something grand was happening, but we had no idea what it was :).... Naomi was asked to go down onto one knee while the man in the tie appeared to be giving some kind of proclamation; then, everyone clapped, the girls took their places , and danced their hip hop to resounding applause.

Afterwards we asked our interpreter what just took place. Apparently, the man in the suit was the Burgemeister of Kuffstein and Tirol (definition- Mayor). He was welcoming the Tanzsommer dancers with great joy and anticipation...Naomi kneeling was apparently a custom done as a gesture of receiving the Mayor's welcome and invitation to Tirol....sort of like kneeling to be knighted, it is a carry-over custom from the medieval times. What an honor for us. Of course, it was on the news and in the paper here as well.

Hip Hop!

What an amazing stage, and wonderful venue! It's not often that we get to perform on top of a castle.

"America"

"Mack the Knife"

After our show, we all got to spend three hours in the little town of Kuffstein. Some of us had weinerschnitzel, spaetzle, and Fanta! My group of lunch buddies had the joy of eating at a little cafe with a yodeling waiter! He yoddled and joked with us in broken English each time he brought out our food. He even mucked it up with Madison for the camera.

We jumped on the buses again and headed out for our next city: Lientz......we had dinner at another castle and swam in the roof top pool with 180 degree views of the Alps and cityscape through the floor to ceiling glass windows surrounding us.

Everyone is trying to get to bed early tonight because tomorrow starts at 7 am with stage blocking, a city tour of Lientz, our matinee performance and then some FREE time to shop or head up to the luge top ride down the Alps on sleds (on a track). Guten Nacht!