Kay

    I am so balls to the wall excited for the future. I mean that literally. It is time to go balls to the wall, no fear, no hesitation, no holding back. I am thrilled at the prospect of it. Energized to work, work until I weep from exhaustion, until my body can no longer stand it is so wrecked from hours of rehearsal. Sounds awful, but to me, it is what I live for. To be so consumed by my art. And the opportunity is more than out there. I just walked through the door. A few really exciting projects coming out soon. They are all in the works (I have the aches from rehearsal to prove it) and I can't wait to share all of it with you. More details to come soon and it's going to be one for the books. Tell your friends. It's what I would do.

Don't Keel Over Now... PIPA and Plies

 So here's something I want to get everyone rallied on. The new SOPA/PIPA that congress is trying to get passed. It's causing a huge clusterfuck, and for good reason. It will cripple the internet. Just destroy it. And my friends, if you think it has no bearing on dance, think again. Internet copyright infringement is already affecting us. You want to upload a video on youtube of your dancing? Better make sure you're not using any music. Odds are the track isn't authorized for use. Regardless of not making any money off of it. But they are. They absolutely are making money off of you dancing to that song. What if someone watches your video and decides they love the music, then that person goes and buys it. Money in their pocket. That person then tells their friends about the awesome new song they found. They buy it too. Take that song off the video because it isn't authorized for reproduction? You just cost yourself money Entertainment Industry. Not that you need it.
               Check out this video. It explains all the nitty details about the act and why it needs to be stopped. What it doesn't mention is the US has already sued a 12 YEAR OLD for copyright infringement over a youtube video. I will repeat that. THE US GOVERNMENT SUED A 12 YEAR OLD. A child who has no concept of what copyright infringement even is. Her life is effectively ruined. So check out the video and if you agree with me that this act is ridiculous, sign the petitions, write a congressman or simply pass along the link to others. The best part about this, is I'M NOT AMERICAN. I'm Canadian. And I think it's deplorable that the American Government thinks they have the right to decide how the entire world uses the internet. Like they own it. Here's the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwNWGlOXP6c&feature=related


  Now on to dance related things. Busy these days. Very busy. It is, once again, January which means competition approaches swiftly. There's still so much to do. It will get done. It's my job to get it done. And to inspire these kids to give more than they thought they had.
      I'm also in the midst of work on my choreography reel. It's coming together. I am happy. It's a labor of love, but maddening at times. So it is with joy, determination and a healthy dose of frustration that I go about my daily work. Art can be unforgiving at times. And all those old self-doubts resurface just when I think I'd gotten rid of them. Insecurities have no place here. But I feel the fear and do it anyways, because who among us has any other choice? If we let fear cripple us we would never move forward. I'm ready to move forward and sick, so sick, of standing still.

It's Been Comin For Some Time

A few things I'm loving right now..

-oldies music. Classics like nobodies business. Must. Buy. Record player.
-Blond hair. It's new and I'm not used to it yet but I like it
-Choreo almost being completely finished. Pretty exciting to be able to get into the nitty gritty details of cleaning and making it amazing. Couple more weeks and it should be all completed.
-Exciting projects. More on that, details to come but needless to say I'm stoked and when it comes out man it's going to be something else.

There Was Little We Could Do To Stop The Ice

There is nothing like the first snowfall of the year. It's always struck me as the most magical day of the year for as long as I can remember. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I woke up this morning to this.

Sincerely, the best morning view I've had since, well, the last first snow of the year. And so by default, today must be a great day. It just can't go any other way. Not with me in this incredible mood. And so it shall be a great day. I have rehearsal first. I get to create in the studio with Luke. It's a new experience as I'm going in to this one without everything prepared and choreographed beforehand. We're playing with discovering movement on the spot and in the moment. We're getting some really great, interesting and certainly unexpected stuff. It's a new experience doing choreography in the moment for me. I usually come in hyper-prepared, as if the world will fall apart and nothing will get done if I don't have the whole thing mapped out from starting pose to ending pose. I am learning that's not the case. The world will keep on spinning and sometimes I might surprise myself in the process.

And that's what it is. A process. I'm still evolving in my process and I find it changes a little more every year. In some ways. But some things will never change I'm finding. Like how I do 90% of my choreography lying down in bed, listening to my Ipod in the dark and 3 in the morning. And those are the things I'm not sure I should change. I'm not sure how much the boyfriend appreciates my 3am replaying of not only a song, but 30 seconds of the same song, but he doesn't complain about it too much. But I am a lot more open to change now. To going in and changing my own work, and being more objective. Knowing when something just won't work and having the courage to take it in a different direction when it doesn't. Ever- evolving.

After rehearsal today I have the customary daily paperwork and such and such, (email overload people) then class and tonight I'm subbing inter/adv jazz so come on out!

Occupy and Other Strange Things

The Occupy movement doesn't make sense to me. I understand what they're protesting against and agree with them. Yes there are many inequalities. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But when I was reading up on it many of the people in Occupy Ottawa sound rather like... communists. Really that's exactly what they're describing. I think Occupy needs to sit down and figure out not only what they want, but HOW THEY WANT THE CHANGE TO HAPPEN. We all know that these are problems, but unless you come up with a concise solution and what exactly you would like to change, nothing is going to get done. No one can work off such inane suggestions as "we want you to fix the inequality". Well great. But how?

...Reveal themselves one star at a time...

 I must apologize. My absence from here as been much too long. An entire summer long at that. But things have been busy. Very busy. And becoming more so. It's been an amazing past few months and ones I will always treasure. Truly some of the happiest of my life. I completed my second year of ADAPT training (only one more to go!) taught some amazing classes (and took some) assisted the wonderful Tiffany Mclean and fell in love. Quite a stellar cast of characters. Then September rolled around, as it always does too soon. And it was back to WORK, back to real life, back to all the things I love.

  Competition season is in full swing once again. 5 out of 8 solos done, all unique and vital in their own way. Groups taking shape, ideas solidifying into reality. There's little I love more than the beginning of a piece, when it's still just an ephemeral substance in your head. Before it becomes tangible reality and there's still nothing but pure and distinct possibility. The hum in the air at the start of rehearsal. Joyous.


 I'm in the middle of choreography for a benefit concert/talent show happening at the end of November. It's going to be a blast and the ladies I'm working with (though not actually dancers) are willing, intelligent, and oh so much damn fun. And it's all for a great cause, so I would like to take a moment to applaud their excellent community service and sheer balls for getting up on the stage and shaking what their mama may (or may not) have given them.


I am, quite literally, in the middle of shooting a music video for Brandi Disterheft. A Juno winner and Grammy nominee, Brandi is just the sweetest little, giant bass playing chick I've met. Shooting finishes tomorrow, thus far it's been an experience worth remembering. But that's another blog.

This Year, All But Disappeared.

And so a season ends. Recital was great. It's always so exciting to see the kids show off all the skills they learned in the past season. And an emotional one this year at that. Our first grads. Such amazing students and young adults, now going out into this harsh world to fend for themselves. It's hard trusting that they're ready for it. That they're going to be able to know when to be bold and when to hold back and protect themselves. To know that they will inevitably fall down and make mistakes and get their hearts broken. But eventually you have to let them stand on their own. I hope they keep in touch.

After recital I did something I never do.... NOTHING. I actually for the first time in years took the time to take a deliberate rest. A deliberate break away from what I do. I spent time with my friends. More time in the last 2 weeks with them than I had spent this entire year combined. I went to bbqs and hockey games and sat on my porch people watching for hours on end. It was really great and I needed it. I'm now coming back to work refreshed and ready. Bursting with energy. I'm trying this new balance thing and maybe sometimes I think it's working. We'll see how that continues.