Back on Track

I've been letting a lot of things slide lately. Between regular teaching, private lessons, competition and all the rest, many things have slid down the priority list. Like laundry. Dishes. General cleaning. I spent all last Monday getting my house back together. It looked as though Hurricane Tressa had blown through it. Which I had. Hastily throwing a meal together after getting home from competition, only to jump in the shower and flop in bed. Then get up before dawn to do it all again. Talk about clutter. 

    I feel more back to normal this week. Busy as the last weeks, but a little calmer about the whole mess. Which is relieving. My entire new way of life had suffered. I reverted back to drinking pepsi all hours of the day. Consistently having a bottle in my hand. Damn you pepsi. Damn you. I ate all the easiest (worst) meals when I got home at night.... I'm back with it now. Bringing real food with me. Ensuring I have water on hand. Basically taking care of myself because who else will? 

  Competition has been going really great. The students are all dancing well, there has been minimal costume catastrophes... And they are just the cutest things in the world. Case in point....See above. 

Couple of the highlights so far, sr. duo/trio overall 1st and 3rd. jr. small group 1st overall, sr large group 1st overall, dance offs. sr solo 1st overall. It's been great thus far. This weekend we head to Toronto (students all ready there, I head down on Saturday) to get our groove on at Rhythm Dance. So continued good luck to all the students and I just can't wait to see how they do. 

Compassion Must Extend To Self

There's a shift happening right now. Not the shift in seasons happening outside (though Spring is whispering through the trees) but more an internal shift. I feel myself becoming more grounded. More settled. It's an odd shift, one I am still assessing my feelings on. But I'm happy. Really, truly Happy. I started doing yoga again. And wondered why on earth I stayed away for so long. I took up baking. Delicious smells fill my new house, I bake, he cooks, we clean. I eat more fruit and vegetables. I am trying to live greener, more consciously. I think I'm just trying to live responsibly. Make a better future for any children I might have and their generation and the generations after.
     Competition is next weekend. I'm hoping my new calm collectiveness will carry me through this traditionally hectic (ok, freaking the fuck out) time of the year. Take it as it comes, costume mishaps, mistakes, spacing hell..... Let it come and let it go. I am very much excited for it. To see my pieces take to the stage, the forum which they are meant to be seen and displayed in. The students have all worked so hard and I look forward to them seeing the fruits of that labor. Learning that you get out what you put in. And they've put in a lot. It's going to be an exciting and emotional few weekends.
     The video for Kay is done! Filmed a few weeks ago on a frigid and late Saturday night. It may have been freezing, and I may have been at work for 14 hours that day, but what an amazing experience. The crew was fantastic, Ian provided an awe inspiring track, what more can a dancer ask for? The muses were with us that night. I can't wait to see and share the final product. Hopefully I can have that on its way shortly. It's going to be a good one!

SO MUCH GOING ON

There's been so much happening lately, and so quickly that I can't keep up. On top of it I've had health issues to contend with, so that certainly doesn't help. First things first. Competition is a super short 6 weeks away! It's insanity at the studio right now, between rehearsals, costume mishaps, formation changes, and general mayhem. And regular classes, getting things ready for recital..... No time to breathe, but it's great.
    Been working hard on the "Kay" video for Ian Keteku. We did show and tell on Monday and I'm happy that he's happy. It's going to be a great project and I'm really looking forward to filming. It's going to be a lot of fun for sure. Work on the reel is coming along, just about finished. I can't to film that one too. I am truly blessed and fortunate to work with such talented and dedicated dancers.
     On top of all this we bought a house! We're very excited to move in and get it all set up and that's going to be a lot of work, but the great kind. It's always exciting to set up a new home and organize everything just the way you like it. And in the middle of all this I'll be turning 26. Talk about a whirlwind birthday.

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!