The Passion Play, King Ludwig's Castle, Performance in Absams

What a day,what a day! Our trip to Oberammergau, the town in Bavaria where they host the Passion Plays of Christ, was amazing! Here's the history: In 1634, the village was nearly wiped out by the Plague. In an act of desperation and faith, the city officials voted to offer up a dramatic performance in recognition of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ as a prayer to God to spare their village of any more death by the Plague. After that first performance of John's gospel in 1634, there was never another death of the Plague in the town. As a thank you to God for his mercy, the residents of the town perform the Passion Play of Christ now, every 10 years since 1634. The venue has grown to seat 5000 in an open air theater where the sky can be seen and birds fly in as part of the paly, and nearly everyone in the village participates. Tickets sell out internationally 2 years prior to each show...and the next performance will be in 2020. The men of Oberammergau grow their beards for two years to look authentically Biblical, and live animals including camels are used in the plays. We got to tour the stage, the dressing rooms, the backstage sets and it was incredible.

Next, we toured King Ludwig's castle...the same castle that Disney modeled the Sleeping Beauty castle after! Magnificent. After lunch of schnitzel and goulash near the castle, we boarded our buses and drove to the city of Absams for our first performance of the tour. So exciting. We had a sell-out crowd of more than 600 people and received 2 separate standing ovations: one after the first finale, and one after the encore we did as a thank you for the first standing ovation...the audience would not stop clapping until the dancers reset the last number to perform it one more time. * see rehearsal and make up pictures below

A dinner was held in our honor afterwards in the outdoor patio of the theater. It was a wonderful start to a great tour ahead.... The girls all have crushes on the Tanzsommer choreographer (of course), and have made many good friends already with the other studio's dancers.

Tomorrow is our big show, at the Dogana Theater in Innsbruck, after a day of rehearsals, Ballet classes with the Innsbruck Ballet Company members, and a city tour. Whew! We need sleep :)