the lovely thing

about being in a city where you don´t speak the language is the way it expands your vocabulary of hands and eyes. The hundreds of ways you find to connect and communicate without speech - glances, smiles, the lift of an eyebrow, the shrug of a shoulder. The pleasure of being an observer in conversations, with no sense of exclusion, because you couldn´t participate anyway.

The lovely thing about the imperative of total voice rest i.e. silence, in-between rehearsals and performances, is that it liberates me to be alone without feeling lonely. It´s like a children´s book adventure to wander the streets of Vienna, dive into tiny hidden squares and snowy courtyards, delight in scenes and sounds and cafes, museums and esoteric shops, without being able to speak. Without any wish that I could show this to X, or share this with Q, because my voice is in protective silent custody.