Cellista: ‘You’re tempted to default to being nice because it feels easier in the moment.’ Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Terence O'Donnell View image in fullscreen Cellista: ‘You’re tempted to default to being nice because it feels easier in the moment.’ Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images/Terence O'Donnell A day in the life Well actually ‘I suck at breaks’: a day in the life of an aerial cellist Cellista, an aerialist who regularly performs upside down with her cello, shares what her life looks like training for the stage
Prefer the Guardian on Google M astering the cello is hard enough, but Cellista also regularly performs upside down. She’s based in Las Vegas, but the aerialist spoke to us while traveling in Germany, and told us about what her life looks like training and writing for the stage.
I woke up at 7.10am and beat my alarm clock, which was set for 8.01am. I felt triumphant. The feeling lasted until 11am and then I was back to my usual self.
I fast. I really dislike eating in the morning and never have much of an appetite when I wake up. Although, technically I cheat because I have a nice big cup of coffee with ample milk and sugar.
I start every day by reading and journaling over coffee. I’ve been reading Nabokov’s love letters to his wife, Véra. He’s one of my favorite writers, but I now suspect from his letters that he was a neurotic love-bomber.
After reading, I write. I’m currently writing a book to accompany my aerial theater piece, Mémoire. It interlaces my writing, old journal entries, a film I direct and aerial cello into one stage poem or one-woman show.
I began the process of submitting the album that accompanies Mémoire for Grammy consideration. I also had to follow up with a client about their very overdue payments. It felt weirdly emotional for me. It’s the freelancer life: you feel guilty asking for what you’re worth, or requesting what is due to you, and you’re tempted to default to being nice because it feels easier in the moment.
I suck at breaks. I know that rest is better for my body and mind. But my mind just chatters away, and it feels incredibly difficult to take enough time off from training.
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View image in fullscreen Cellista Photograph: Terence O’Donnell Who was your favorite person you spoke to today? I got to chat with my dad. He was a professor of philosophy for 42 years at the University of Denver and I was sharing my experience visiting Nietzsche’s house in Naumburg. We talked about Nietzsche’s breakdown in Turin when he tried to shield a horse from being beaten by its owner and became inconsolable at the horse’s suffering. Nietzsche never recovered; it was the onset of the neurosyphilis that would kill him.
Since I’m in Bayreuth for the Wagner Fest, I got to eat schäufele, which is roast pork shoulder with crispy yummy skin. It came with a potato dumpling the size of the moon, and cabbage.
I try my best to sleep by midnight. Every single night, I watch old episodes of The X-Files, but nothing after season seven because that is when it gets intolerable. I usually have a cup of cocoa and three Voortman Vanilla Wafers while I watch. By the time Scully utters her last exasperated “Mulder!!!!” , I pass out.