Fame or Famine

One of the sorrowful parts of my whirlwind trip to Milwaukee last weekend was not getting to stay long enough to see my friend Li Chiao-Ping dance with her company at Danceworks. She has been first a teacher, then a colleague, and now a friend, and I also have done work with her partner Doug Rosenberg (who has been something of a mentor in my own dance work).
She did a fine job, apparently. If you get a chance to see her on tour, here’s what you can expect:
“Her unique vocabulary, tinged with Asian martial arts, fits her compact body like …read more

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I got to go see “My Fair Lady” thanks to the generosity of a friend in Milwaukee. You can read about the tour here…my own impressions were surprising to me.
When Liza sang her first solo, I realized what an amazing amount of sound quality is lost in recording. Her voice was like a crystalline glass filled with gleaming in the morning sun. The lighting of the stage, the ingenuity of the set design and choreography..for example, at the Opening Day at Ascot section I would almost picture the palette scraps, the renderings the costume designer must have made, the choreography…
Well, …read more

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Well, it’s official; since I’ve been invited by the esteemed Amy Gahran to be on a panel discussing the ethics of blogging, I will be going to Blogworld Expo in Vegas. Any other dance/performing arts bloggers going to be there? At podcast expos there are often “meetups” for themed podcasts; I’m hoping to find a similar real-life meeting with my peers (ah, to meet Swan Lake Samba Girl, Great Dance Blogger, or BeckyLoooo in person!). That and I’d really like to have my picture taken with Ariana Huffington.
I should mention that the entire thing is sponsored by my Wonderful …read more

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It’s true. When I graduated High School, I came from an immersion in swing choir, summer musicals (Motel the Tailor and Harold Hill), the drama club (four years of Shakespearean adaptations, culminating in playing a rapping Hamlet), and individual voice training that got me 1-stars in the State Vocal Competition.
I was going to be a gypsy. The plan was to graduate from BYU’s Musical Dance Theatre program, and then take Broadway by storm.
Little things like a family and military service got in the way. There’s a part of me that realizes that I probably got my life saved by that, …read more

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I couldn’t be prouder: my hometown’s premiere hip-hop dance group, Crushing All Forces, landed a gig with BET!
However, they need help getting out there. Read the article; this is a great example of the Arts making a very positive difference in lives. And then anyone wanting to help these dancers may make contribution to the Goodman Atwood Community Center with a memo for Crushin’ All Forces BET competition.
Donations can be sent to Goodman Atwood Community Center, 2454 Atwood Blvd., Madison, WI 53704. To support them Wednesday at 5 p.m. during the “106 & Park” show on BET (Cable …read more

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If you’ve not ever gone to the Technology, Education, & Design site and looked at some of their presentations and performances, you’re really missing out on some very nice stuff. I’ve posted about the Pilobolus performance before, and this is also where I first heard about Al Gore’s slideshow and saw the first touch-screen interface (and yes, I do still want an iPhone…)
I’m very happy to say TED got in touch with me, thinking that this blog would be a good place to share this with you:
Kenichi Ebina appears to defy the limits imposed by the human skeleton. He combines …read more

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I’m about to take the plunge and quit my day job; one of the benefits of this will be more time to structure towards the things I feel are important, such as being more involved in the online dance community. One of my favorite bloggers (because she blogs so well about one of my favorite forms of dance) is La Planchadora. Aside from being inspired by her dedication to both her art and towards becoming a resource for her local dance community (anyone who dances so hard that she goes through a pair of shoes in a single milonga is …read more

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While attending the Podcast Expo in Ontario, CA recently I got to have a conversation with the lovely Charlotte Marie, a model and actress in the LA area. I mentioned the rumors I’d heard of the dearth of theatre, and she was quick to point out that she was also involved in a production called “Shadow Hour“, produced by the Actors Space (in Sherman Oaks).
The Actor Space, founded and run by acting coach Joe Palese (Hill Street Blues, Days of Our Lives), premieres its first full length play SHADOW HOUR beginning October 6 th 2007 in its new Sherman Oaks …read more

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One of the best sources for me to feel a part of the Great White Way is to read the Broadway Blog. They’ve gotten even better: Harvey Fierstein, author of hit plays like Torch Song Trilogy and Spookhouse, is putting up a new musical called “A Catered Affair” (based on the movie).
I’m sure I’ll be writing more about the actual show later – instead, let’s talk about the use of social media in this context. He’s blogging this, and like the joys of reading Sally Potter’s blog as she launches Carmen, his blog is more than just a “Show’s …read more

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I’ve often heard one of the more emphatic criticisms of Keanu Reeves be his performance in Much Ado About Nothing. While I agree that in comparison to the others in that cast, he was less than spectacular…well, come ON! When you’re up against Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Denzel Washington, plus a whole bunch of other refugees of the RSC, and you’re doing some of the hardest roles in the Western Canon, shouldn’t you get credit for trying?
Hell, even the Beatles sucked at Shakespeare. On the other hand, from what I hear, Keanu plays a pretty mean bass…

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