February 2012
1 post
“Let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me...”
– A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
April 2011
1 post
Response to Megan
1. How do you select your music? Generally, it depends on the performance and the purpose of my piece. For instance, if I am participating in a theme event, I want my music to pay tribute to that. When I did the Gothic/Industrial nights, I worked very hard to make sure my music fell into or alluded to that category. When I am performing at the Hookah Bar, the focus is more on audience...
March 2011
1 post
September 2010
9 posts
““Anatomy of a Step.
In June of 2011 we will shoot the next instructional...”
Come On Out Lil' Muse. I Know You're Hiding...
I am in the process of surrounding myself with books, movies, pictures, ideas, and whatever else I can find. Granted, I know I am still working on the fairy show (only a few weeks left!!!!), but I’m ready to start creating the next show. I’m not entirely sure yet if it will be an adaptation or an original work yet. But I figure, if I go lookin’, opening myself up to...
Week One!: Just Happy to be Back
Recap!
Dance Theatre: An addendum to the previous Week Zero post, I’m now calling this Dance Theatre instead of just Dance. Been very busy. Finally finished all of the choreography for The Block. Rehearsals and make-ups have been keeping me hoppin, but there’s only four weeks so happy to see it finally coming together (somewhat).
History: Slightly behind on reading, but have...
Bring Me the Stages of London!
Unless you happen to be fortunate enough to live in New York City, chances are theatre has been a rather small part of your life. Sure, St. Louis does have The Fox. And most people have seen a school or community production at some point. But theatre seems to be dying out. We’ve moved on to television, film, and now web videos. Our celebrities are those who not only live but perform...
Singing
I love to sing more than I love to dance. I don’t really pursue it openly because it scares me. Singing is much more personal. You literally bring the air and words from within your chest, diaphragm, lungs, and throat and project it out to the space into other people’s ears. Sometimes, when I’m practicing, I imagine myself back in the choir loft at church, standing at the...
Week Zero of The E-P-L Experiment: THE SECOND AGE...
Do you ever wonder if someone in the 1100’s was asked, “So, what’s it like to live in the Dark Ages?” And for their initial response to go something like, “Whoa there pal, we’re medieval now!” Maybe? Ok, well perhaps that’s just me. Are people throughout history aware of the change from one era to the next? When did Baroque become “so last...
August 2010
10 posts
Enter the Mime
I’ve been on a ballet binge lately, nosing through every scrap of dance documentary and book I can find. My eyes, incidentally, ran across one page describing the phenomenon known as “ballet pantomime.” Does that sound like what I think it is? Why yes, yes it is. Mime smack in the middle of a ballet piece. For whatever reason, the creators of certain ballets chose to...
Gotta Catch Em All!
The first inklings of taking bellydance classes is magical. For those of us who haven’t been taking dance since the age of three, finding movements that are both expressive and healthy on our bodies is a fascinating experience. So much opens up to you. New music and rhythms. Seeing how many different ways you can jiggle your belly fat. Mesmerizing dancers to (stalk) watch on youtube. ...
Day Three
For the last week and a half, I ate out pretty much every day. The main reason being I was in the middle of packing up and moving and didn’t want to deal with buying new groceries. My body certainly paid for it. I felt terrible and sluggish and bogged down by heavy foods. So this past week, I’ve been trying out the Special K challenge (eating two bowls of cereal for two meals...
The Battle: Business vs. Pleasure
Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by the idea of owning and operating a business. It’s gone from brainstorming how I might turn my garage into a roller rink when I was six to starting up different types of publications, wanting a cultural arts center, a grocery runner business, post partum doula and fitness work, to goodness knows what else. Once I find something...
Choreographing Process
Choreographing can be the most frustrating thing in the world. I’ve never really preferred planning out every single step and count. I would much rather walk onto a stage and see what comes out of my head and feet right then. But sometimes, when you have a story that needs to be told in a certain way, or you’re doing a group piece, it’s something that must done. Here are two...
July 2010
44 posts
Four Roads to Take
I’m not well-traveled. Most vacations I’ve taken have been to Florida to sit on a beach for a week. There was Disney World that one time, a trip to PA to visit a now ex, and a spell up in Wisconsin when I was three. Outside of that one trip to visit a boyfriend, all of my vacations have been with my family. I’ve never gone somewhere farther than two hours by myself or with...
Hooked (an epic tale on internet use)
The trend towards turning our private lives almost completely public on social networking websites is absolutely crazy. Everyone is turning OCD about checking their e-mails, reading their facebook newsfeeds, and updating their twitter statuses. We post links, make comments, surf through videos, it’s endless. And there’s always someone on. It’s weird because now everyone is...
Why the Hell Are They Closed?
The lovely ladies of the “Stitch and Bitch” and “Subversive Sewing” books at one point had a sewing lounge operating out in San Francisco. It was so popular, other branches opened up around the US. They provided space, equipment, and even classes for local designers and sewing amateurs. What a brilliant idea! Why do all of the best stores, fashions, parties, music,...
Week Thirty-Three: My Master Plan
I’ve decided to change up my three aspects on this experiment. It’s essentially the same and not. Like to confuse you right off the bat, muwhahahaha. Anyways.
Dance into Dance Collaborations/Business
There are three enterprises, one might call them, that I plan to take on. Each of them are related, yet separate and distinct, and work with the other. The first endeavor is a dance...
“Ah … I hear everyone talk about how many genres [I work in] like...”
Manifesto
I believe:
a) in complete honesty
b) in giving an experience a full try because you only have one life to live
c) in being myself, even if that means acting like a dork, over playing games
d) in never giving up, no matter what, because I listen to my heart
Danse Macabre
I am and heavily identify with being a Libra. A Libra adores beauty, quality, creativity, love, justice, and diplomacy. But the defining aspect of this sign is balance. Just as the scales tip backward and forward until finding an equilibrium, so too do Libras experience the opposing sides of their experiences and personalities. The ability to touch on both the light and dark sides of nature...
What Then?
Artist > Writer > Children’s Author and Illustrator > Archaeologist > Botanist > Writer > Historian > Librarian > Doula > Bellydance Teacher > Historian > Writer > Historian/Writer/Dance Teacher and Performer/Mother
That is the chain of “when I grow up I want to be a ….” from when I little to present. I was about four years old when I...
Week Thirty-Two: Strategizing
Dance: Away on vacation, I was taken away from the usual routine. Mostly, worked on rehearsal scheduling and a little bit of choreography. Felt overwhelmed at times. The theme from this past week is, “Shut up already, you’ll do fine!” Bit of tough love needed to combat the whining. This week, I need to finish up choreography. Big challenge. And not worry about starting...
Relief, it's found
There is a letter in my keeping that I have held on to for almost six years now. The author was my first love and though we were never together as anything more than friends, his words have been a comfort to me in the darkest of times. I thought I had misplaced the letter in my last move and have been searching for it for awhile now. I was relieved when looking through some old notebooks...
Head to Desk Moment
Creative whirlwinds. Currently undergoing one. What is it? A creative whirlwind is when multiple ideas hit you at once and your brain swirls at a million miles an hour trying to process, organize, and develop them. Sometimes the ideas are connected to one big concept, sometimes not. Either way, it leads to long bouts of body shut down, staring into space, while thinking and ends in hurting...
"Have you read.." "Whoa, let me stop you there."
I work at a library. For whatever reason, people make two big assumptions about this. One, that I’m an actual librarian. No, I just work at the front desk, have no bearing on any of the important matters in the facility, and frankly, a monkey could do most of my job. Two, that I read copious amounts, and more particularly, that I’ve read all the latest books. I do read quite a...
Courage, Friend
Little wrenches keep being thrown my way. It’s the self-doubt. Someone saying I can then I’m sorry I can’t. The lack of experience. Little things build upon each other. I’m fighting with myself every day for this show and it hasn’t even gotten to rehearsals yet. I have to duel each and every one of those negative thoughts each moment I plan, choreograph,...
Kronos Quartet
My heart literally just skipped a beat. Previewing their music on itunes now. If you love classical, eerie, dramatic music, CHECK THEM OUT! Swooning over their Black Angels album. I think I’m in love.
In a Coma
Vacations put me into a near coma. I don’t know what it is about them. I slept on the plane ride over. On a chair at the beach. On a couch reading. In bed into the late morning. On the concrete ground next to the pool. While I was in school, I would either stay up until about 4 or 5am and then sleep in and nap off and on all day or just would barely sleep at all in bouts of...
Sun Rises
I’m at my aunt’s house right now, winding down for the night. Found out that she also likes Diane Lane (I’m a bit of a fanatic). We watched movies and had a relaxing evening. Now, I’m down in my cousin Stacy’s room. She’s grown up, married, and moved away to New York to be with her aspiring filmmaker husband. This room just holds all of her furniture and...
To the Lady of Shalott
Her Small Song
Her Small Song His face appeared, shadow in the mirror. My veins they stirred, my body wakened. Rushed to the window, clear, cold air. Open eyes to the world, the curse has come upon me. The madness of real sensation, swells to my mind. I left my dreams, flowing towards a glimpse. The debt to live is paid, such small time...
