Fame or Famine

I’ve been hesitating to get too involved with the Dancing with the Stars blogosphere, mainly because I think that in the realm of manufactured drama, or worse, taking advantage of actual drama (such as the travails of Marie Osmond for the last few months) this is one of the worst offenders. I just want to see people dance, dammit. And based on this review in the Baltimore Sun, I spared myself a great deal of annoying reprises and montages and such.
On the other hand, the winner, Helio, actually is a pretty fun guy to watch dance – not necessarily due …read more

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Here in the states it is the time of year to talk about what we’re thankful for. And yes, I am thankful for a lot of things, not the least of which is this blog and the company, B5Media, that lets me write it.
While I do try and focus on performing arts, I come from a dance/theatre background, so my blog is kind of skewed in that direction. But I also get to read lots of dance blogs for my “research”, and in this case I have to share a quote from Maria of “A Time to Dance”, who expresses …read more

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Happy T-day, everyone. My own is spent in a weird kind of solitude (the family gathering is tomorrow, and my kids are off with their mother today). But here’s some tidbits that I’ve found amusing:

“For hardly any man dances when sober, unless he is insane. Nor does he dance while alone, nor at a respectable and moderate party. Dancing is the final phase of a wild party with fancy decorations and a multitude of delights.”–Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Murena  (from The Topic is Tango)
“Lorenna McKennitt’s “Marco Polo” is the “Stairway to Heaven” of belly dance.” – The Right & Kind …read more

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NOTE:  the following blog entry is a review of the stage show “Fashionistas” which is based on the adult film of the same name. While not explicit, it deals with adult themes of sexuality and alternative lifestyles. If this offends you, please skip this blog entry.
Fact is, it was a ballet.
Really. Complete with the libretto being projected pre-show, describing the time-honored tale of the mousy young fashion designer who falls for the gorgeous male fashion mogul that her boss, Cruella de Lapdance, has her eye on, and how she snares him with the oldest trick in the book – that …read more

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Archana Kumar performs with Adam Hurst at the
Seattle Winter Fest Dec 1st & 2nd 2007
Venue: Seattle Center, Center Stage, 305 Harrison St, WA -98109
Date & Time: Dec 2nd 2007, Sunday, 2:55 PM
Artists’ Info
Adam Hurst
Archana Kumar
Exploring Confinement
Using various imagery, most recently inspired by ‘the veil’, this piece has been a yearlong exploration of confinement to the space, to the body, to sight, to time itself. I combine the pure narrative & rhythmic quality of Kathak(north Indian classical dance form) with yoga & modern dance techniques aiming to create a fluid and dynamic visual aesthetic for the viewer inviting you to my …read more

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“…this company and, indeed, the entire organization is an informal federation of individuals who come in, make a contribution and, in most cases, move on. Secondly, I am reminded that this art form, like this federation, is fragile and ephemeral, dependant on human agreement and subtle affinities in a matrix of time and circumstance that constantly shift in surprising ways.” — Bill T. Jones
Reading Bill’s Blog today, this phrase struck me as we continue to have our conversation via the web about the role of bloggers vs. “traditional” journalists. Stay with me for this metaphor…
Traditional journalism is like a traditional …read more

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At the Blogworld expo the panel I spoke on dealt with ethics (as opposed to the panel next door, on blogging 101, where they apparently didn’t need ethics). One of the concerns had to do with credentials – the fact that typical journalists have the press credentials of a paper to back them up, whereas bloggers are any old schmuck with access to a computer and the ability to string words together in something approximating a sentence.
But there’s a freedom to that, and a freshness that can overcome the misspellings and such. Moreover, in the arts you are able to …read more

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The party was wild, crazy, absolutely a fantastically good time!
Not.
It started out well enough – heck, part of the reason I went was because my friend Steve Boyett was going to be spinning. There was a great room, good food, and an open bar! What’s not to like? It was a little weird not to see any signs or powerpoint slides on the projectors declaring that the great music was produced by DJSteveBoy.com, creator of Podrunner and Groovelectric podcasts, but I figured they’d announce it later, right?
Well, I’ll tell you. About an hour into the evening, the music suddenly stopped. …read more

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Here at Blogworld Expo I got to meet some of the staff and other bloggers from B5Media at the soiree they threw at the Fusia restaurant in the Luxor Hotel. Among other things I got to talk at length with B5Media’s CEO, and as my companion put it, “It’s really cool when the CEO is actually passionate about the company, not just about the money.”
I have to agree. I also got to talk to some other bloggers, in social media and celebrity (I’m told I missed some cool stuff about Jennifer Garner’s new broadway show, have to look into that). …read more

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Let’s get serious for a bit.
About 11 months ago my wife and I separated, due to some irreconcilable differences. It was unexpected and it felt like my entire life had fallen apart – like everything that I’d thought I could count on was gone in a matter of weeks, leaving behind a ruined emotional landscape of my life.
I spent a lot of time dealing with that landscape, picturing it in my mind, trying to understand it, make sense of it. I’ve worked a lot to try and get past it, and a part of that treatment has been the arts …read more

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