So yeah, May...
Since I have a whole month to catch up on...I think maybe it's best to do this thematically rather than chronologically. So dance stuff today, C13 later (I need to edit some pics). Do clicky - there be video links under the cuts.
Le Serpent Rouge was a lot of fun, and a much needed break in the middle of the moving mayhem. Broadway Studios was probably the perfect venue for the show, as it has the old saloon feel with wood floors, multiple bars and a balcony running around the whole thing. It was really cool to watch the Indigo work it in such a small, intimate space. The program was a mix of solid bellydance technique, mixed in with theatrics and bar hi-jinks. Definitely had the vaudeville feel with the Inkwell Rhythm Makers and Tobias accompanying many of the skits and soloing between acts. Some of the more memorable moments included Mardi singing and accompanying herself on piano with Zoe dancing along as a mechanical doll, a drunken trio in can-can-esque skirts that included shot glass balancing (and Ms. Brice doing a backbend with a shot of Jameson balanced on her forehead), and the drum solo finale in which both Mardi and Zoe dressed as old school sideshow girls and shook it on top of circus barrels. (And they used zils! I always forget how much I miss hearing good finger cymbals until somebody busts them out.) The whole thing was over the top and totally fun - it was nice just to sit back with a pink girlie drink and be entertained for a couple hours. All you AoE Carnivale Hypnotique folks would have loved it. Also, I really want to see annie_cat vs. Zoe in a zany dance face throwdown - their stage personalities totally remind me of one another.
They ran bits of the set at Tribal Fest - follow the links if you want to see (only imagine it less grainy and about 10 ft away from you).
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
After that was the moving fiasco...which I'm just gonna skip over. Suffice to say, I'm still arranging things, but everything's unpacked. I traded meddevi sewing assistance in exchange for bookcases, which has made all the difference from room-covered-in-boxes-and-random-crap to room-I-can-actually-walk-in. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Jason graduated from CCA (woohoo!), so there was celebrating with tequila (and the requisite passing out after). And then the exhaustion we hadn't quite been able to feel around finals caught up with us, so we kinda melded with the couch and a pile of movies for a few days. This did not help the unpacking, but did much to improve sleep and sanity.
And then there was Tribal Fest. Which I only actually attended for a few hours during the Saturday show, and that was enough to cause sensory overload. I caught a ride up with Anita and Marsha from FCBD in time to see Nefertem (FatChance's student troupe) perform. It was so cool to see my classmates all blinged out on stage. I got to see Tempest's farewell performance and to say goodbye...le sigh. She promises to be back for TF8 at least. (No seriously, hope the roadtrip and house-hunting are going well. I'm sorry I didn't get to hang out with you more before you left.)
Of the performances I saw, FCBD was awesome (despite hearing about all the stuff that "went wrong" with the music that I heard about on the drive home). I saw Colleena Shakti perform - she is amazing - graceful and a total entertainer. She just lights up the stage - I'm soooo excited I get to take an Odissi workshop from her in a couple weeks! I got to see Zafira's set - really excellent yet again. It was cool to be in a place where you could wander about and find something going on everywhere you went - outdoors a couple impromptu drumming circles were starting as the vendors pulled up shop and the program wound down.
I was actually surprisingly good in bellydance mecca...I got some Eye Kandy for myself and for presents, but that was it. (It's the ultimate in GlitterCrack if you haven't already found it, btw - fine enough to cover your whole eyelid without shadow and won't sweat off.) I have determined that if I ever have money, Colleena's booth will own my soul with all its antique Indian silver goodies. Mmm, shiny things.
And now, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I throw YouTube vids at you:
Colleena
FatChance part 1
FatChance part 2
I got back to SF in time to grab thai food and head over to Thunderdome with Jason. Ariellah's Burning Man camp has built this giant dome that combatants suspended from bungee harnesses can beat each other with large foam bats while flying through the air. When we found the venue, sadly the opera singing and bellydancing were over, but we walked into this semi-abandoned-looking warehouse that resembled a cross between an industrial wasteland and a mad scientist's squat to see a ton of goth kids climbing all over this giant metal bar structure screaming as corseted and booted kids went at it Mad Max style. I got a rum and coke that was probably 70% rum that took both Jason and I to finish, and we watched the fights for a bit, then wandered through the pyrotechnic garden. It had everything from odd gizmo's shooting fire 30 ft into the night sky at the push of a button to a lovely arch entwined with metal roses that blazed at the center of each bloom. Oh, and there was a sizable Tesla Coil going off every once in a while.
And that's your novel for this evening/morning. Thank you and goodnight.
Le Serpent Rouge was a lot of fun, and a much needed break in the middle of the moving mayhem. Broadway Studios was probably the perfect venue for the show, as it has the old saloon feel with wood floors, multiple bars and a balcony running around the whole thing. It was really cool to watch the Indigo work it in such a small, intimate space. The program was a mix of solid bellydance technique, mixed in with theatrics and bar hi-jinks. Definitely had the vaudeville feel with the Inkwell Rhythm Makers and Tobias accompanying many of the skits and soloing between acts. Some of the more memorable moments included Mardi singing and accompanying herself on piano with Zoe dancing along as a mechanical doll, a drunken trio in can-can-esque skirts that included shot glass balancing (and Ms. Brice doing a backbend with a shot of Jameson balanced on her forehead), and the drum solo finale in which both Mardi and Zoe dressed as old school sideshow girls and shook it on top of circus barrels. (And they used zils! I always forget how much I miss hearing good finger cymbals until somebody busts them out.) The whole thing was over the top and totally fun - it was nice just to sit back with a pink girlie drink and be entertained for a couple hours. All you AoE Carnivale Hypnotique folks would have loved it. Also, I really want to see annie_cat vs. Zoe in a zany dance face throwdown - their stage personalities totally remind me of one another.
They ran bits of the set at Tribal Fest - follow the links if you want to see (only imagine it less grainy and about 10 ft away from you).
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
After that was the moving fiasco...which I'm just gonna skip over. Suffice to say, I'm still arranging things, but everything's unpacked. I traded meddevi sewing assistance in exchange for bookcases, which has made all the difference from room-covered-in-boxes-and-random-crap to room-I-can-actually-walk-in. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Jason graduated from CCA (woohoo!), so there was celebrating with tequila (and the requisite passing out after). And then the exhaustion we hadn't quite been able to feel around finals caught up with us, so we kinda melded with the couch and a pile of movies for a few days. This did not help the unpacking, but did much to improve sleep and sanity.
And then there was Tribal Fest. Which I only actually attended for a few hours during the Saturday show, and that was enough to cause sensory overload. I caught a ride up with Anita and Marsha from FCBD in time to see Nefertem (FatChance's student troupe) perform. It was so cool to see my classmates all blinged out on stage. I got to see Tempest's farewell performance and to say goodbye...le sigh. She promises to be back for TF8 at least. (No seriously, hope the roadtrip and house-hunting are going well. I'm sorry I didn't get to hang out with you more before you left.)
Of the performances I saw, FCBD was awesome (despite hearing about all the stuff that "went wrong" with the music that I heard about on the drive home). I saw Colleena Shakti perform - she is amazing - graceful and a total entertainer. She just lights up the stage - I'm soooo excited I get to take an Odissi workshop from her in a couple weeks! I got to see Zafira's set - really excellent yet again. It was cool to be in a place where you could wander about and find something going on everywhere you went - outdoors a couple impromptu drumming circles were starting as the vendors pulled up shop and the program wound down.
I was actually surprisingly good in bellydance mecca...I got some Eye Kandy for myself and for presents, but that was it. (It's the ultimate in GlitterCrack if you haven't already found it, btw - fine enough to cover your whole eyelid without shadow and won't sweat off.) I have determined that if I ever have money, Colleena's booth will own my soul with all its antique Indian silver goodies. Mmm, shiny things.
And now, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I throw YouTube vids at you:
Colleena
FatChance part 1
FatChance part 2
I got back to SF in time to grab thai food and head over to Thunderdome with Jason. Ariellah's Burning Man camp has built this giant dome that combatants suspended from bungee harnesses can beat each other with large foam bats while flying through the air. When we found the venue, sadly the opera singing and bellydancing were over, but we walked into this semi-abandoned-looking warehouse that resembled a cross between an industrial wasteland and a mad scientist's squat to see a ton of goth kids climbing all over this giant metal bar structure screaming as corseted and booted kids went at it Mad Max style. I got a rum and coke that was probably 70% rum that took both Jason and I to finish, and we watched the fights for a bit, then wandered through the pyrotechnic garden. It had everything from odd gizmo's shooting fire 30 ft into the night sky at the push of a button to a lovely arch entwined with metal roses that blazed at the center of each bloom. Oh, and there was a sizable Tesla Coil going off every once in a while.
And that's your novel for this evening/morning. Thank you and goodnight.