Weekend report for y'all
Friday was the company holiday party, held at the always-lovely Great American Music Hall. I would so love to get PEERS or something similar into a venue like that. *sigh*
There was fabulous food everywhere, cigarette girls with shot glasses in their trays, a band, a photo booth. Everyone was dressed up in lovely clothes, and while it didn't have the teenaged extravagence of the dot-boom days, it did, for a little while, feel similarly happy, but more mature, more present in the moment, more aware. It felt right (tm).
I didn't get to stay long, because I was double booked for a performance with Madame Maraschino down in SOMA. Technically, that was my debut as a soloist on the burlesque stage. We all played to a completely packed house, full of screaming fans and friends and loves. It was wonderful. There are a few photos floating around, I will probably get permission to use them on the Ariyana La Fey pages of my website. One of the most wonderful things was seeing Ms. Isis Starr, who was our Mistress of Ceremonies, again. She inspired me 3 years ago when I met her at Tease-O-Rama, the burlesque convention, and encouraged me to work on myself. It made me so happy to be introduced by her and to share a stage with her. She is an amazing, wonderful, lady, and she's even offered to tutor me a bit, which makes me feel incredibly touched. I'm planning on taking her up on it.
Saturday I went to the Cast Party for Fezzi's, even though I'm only sortof a friend-of-the-family-that-they-are-trying-to-recruit. Lots of dancing, a highly amusingly dramatic "abusive waltz" to The Blue Danube with edge_of_within -- he's small enough and we're a reasonably balanced pair in general that we can fight one another through the dance without the fight being one-sided. It had the feeling akin to Argentine Tango when the partners are less about seducing one another and more about abusing one another, and it actually worked without too many bobbles or cheats on the footing. Could turn it into a fun performance piece with some space to practice in and time to actually plan the choreography.
Saturday night C and I picked up Pop Roxx. The flavor of the month was PINK, to which I wore a hideous pair of Pucci-esque tights that made someone say "I am not looking at your tights. Those tights make the baby jesus cry." I also wore Ginormous Pink Eyelashes, lovingly documented by blaugirl.
Sunday I had rehearsal for The Titanic Ball, and watched a 50's Titanic movie "A Night to Remember". It made me sad and teary-eyed at points, but I'm glad I saw it. I think it gave all of us a better feeling for how we want to portray our characters. Please do come out, as the ball is set on the last night the boat was afloat, and the last waltz we will play will be Automne, the last waltz played as the ship sank. Again, we ADMIRE period dress, but we don't REQUIRE it, and we really just want people to come and dance with us and try to keep the illusion alive for the evening.
Sunday evening I hopped back to SF to pick up C, and we walked down into the Mission, first for dinner at Picaro, one of my favorite tapas places (16th/Valencia, across from the Roxy Theater, and right next to Ti Couz, yon fabulous crepe place). Since we were walking, we shared a pitcher of sangria (I love the sangria at Picaro! It reminds me of the stuff I drank in Spain when I visited as a teen...) *hic hic* and then wandered the rest of the way down to Dance Mission (24th/Mission) for the Women on the Way festival -- I was explicitly going to watch my aerial dance instructor perform, but it was all just lovely and wonderful and I'm really glad I went. The first piece was deep, hit some very personal dark spots inside of myself, and brought tears to my eyes a few times. The second was a perfect counterpoint. Sweet, lighthearted, funny, and charming. We were all laughing, and heartily. That felt really good.
Now it's time to slip back into the bonds of work. Ta!