From Home to Hometown

Sunday August 15th I flew from Santa Maria to Boise (via LAX) for a short vacation and visit to the great state of Ada.

The original intent of my visit was to see Bob Dylan and the secondary benefit was a week with my Dad in Boise.

I have a list of 4 people/bands I HAVE to see before I die

Bob Dylan

Sufjan Stevens

Arcade Fire

Tom Waits

say what you like... my mother claims I have a thing for old white guys who mumble, that may be partially true. But this is the list and I stand by it.

So Saturday after Jumpbrush and the dance party I went to home at midnight ish and finished getting ready for the next morning. I had to be up at 3:45 to be on the road by 4:15 to be at the airport at 5 for a flight at 6am. (I know I'm crazy) I also REALLY needed to shower so at 1am I showered and finally was in bed by 1:30

*insert 2 hours sleep*

ALARM 1

ALARM 2

*insert cursing*

I get up and pack my stuff up and get ready

I had already printed out my boarding passes and directions to the SM airport the day before so I was pretty much ready to go

TO BOISE

*insert normal boring flight 1hr layover and flight 2*

For the first time in a long time my dad was actually waiting for me at the airport when I walked out of security (normally I'm early and I have to sit and wait around for someone to pick me up).

we head back to the house and chilled until I left for the concert

Kirsten, Keela and I have been obsessed with Bob Dylan since 9th grade when one evening we saw the Scorsese film No Direction Home, a documentary about Bob Dylan on PBS's American Masters series. From that moment on we were hooked.

I was lucky enough to experience Bob Dylan with Kirsten at my right hand. The concert was epic, Bob was wonderful and the best of all, during the encore I looked up to the heavens (we were outside at the Idaho botanical gardens) and I saw a shooting star. My heart almost exploded with joy.

The next day I had coffee with one of my all time favorite Balance girls (ok all of them are my favorite you caught me) Caitlin. Caitlin and her family have essentially become my family in many respects. It was her aunt and uncle that I stayed with in Italy during my break last year and she has danced with/for me for goodness 5 years or so. Now she's headed off to college and I am so excited for her next stage in life!

After that I went over to the Basque Market to grab a sandwich for lunch... where I had a strange encounter. I walked in made my order and as I was standing there a woman who worked at the market approached me and asked "Are you a Balance Dancer?" well I haven't heard that one in a long, long time! I told her I used to be and that I was visiting for the week.

Turns out it was the mom of one of the young girls in Balance right now! Her mom remembered me, and the piece I made for Balance in 2008-2009 about the paintings. To me it wasn't even being recognized but the fact she remembered a part of the small speech I made about the piece in the November showing. She was actually affected and made a mental memory of my work. I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear that people not only like the piece when they see it, but remember it and it actually meant something to them. That's like winning the lottery, or curing cancer (don't worry Mara's on that!), or finding Atlantis for me. I can't put into words the joy it gives me and the hope it inspires in my life.

Tuesday I caught up with another friend at coffee, his name is Cody and we worked on the river together for 3 summers at the raft and tube shop. Ever since I've kept up pretty consistent contact getting updates on high school and such. He has become another little brother like Kurt, meaning not actually my brother but they might as well be.

That afternoon was a Balance pool party at Lauren's house. I was really excited when I got the invite because I haven't seen the girls in so long!!! It was a bonus that Leah was there with her 2 beautiful children Rafferdy and Matilde.

I love Boise in the summer! It is hot but it is such a nice dry heat that your body just absorbs it like a lizard; unlike the heat in SLO which is sticky and heavy so it just sits on your body like a big weight.

I created a new breakfast invention I think is my best yet! honey bunched of oats (with almonds) and fresh blackberries with icy cold milk.

Tuesday night was dinner at Casanova's pizza with Dad, Matt and Debra which was fantastic and super delicious! It was a nice little family dinner thing.

Wednesday I worked on this blog actually! I went to a local coffee shop with the best coffee in the world called Moxie Java while I was there I popped on facebook and saw an Arcade Fire update and they had announced new shows for their current tour. Me being hugely obsessed with them, and them not yet announcing any west coast dates, I scrambled to their website and saw they had a show in Berkeley that I could go to and not miss dance or anything! So I go to look at tickets which were on sale on their website.

$60... ouch! especially since I had just paid that for Bob. So I try to call my mom and get her second opinion since I had 30 mins to hold onto the tickets online. She couldn't talk so I decided, screw it! I'll just buy the ticket and I can pawn it off later if I have to. I go to hit purchase and the internet cut out at moxie. So I hop in my car and drive home halfway, my mom calls me and I start chatting with her about the ticket (it's legal in Idaho to talk and drive) I get home, run inside and hit enter again on the tickets... sold out

GOD MOTHER F#(* @*#(@$*_*)@!@#IV_@(I#$8@$93$

I thought the curse was over!

I hang up with my mom and curse at god telling him to stop being mean and let me go to the concerts I like... I go back onto the website to see if any other dates would work and magically more tickets for Berkeley appeared! Without thinking I purchase one and snagged a ticket, General Admission standing floor at the Greek Theater in Berkeley... I almost died of happiness not only do I get to go but I have phenomenal tickets!

Talk about a roller coaster of emotions... a women in menopause couldn't have topped that

That afternoon I went to the Western Idaho Fair to help with the 4-H judging since I know the lady who runs the show and it's $40 to eat a bunch of candy and cakes etc. While there Jacki texts me that Austin and Chase McBride are in Boise on their tour... I tell her to give them my number and if they want to hang out to let me know. (some of you may remember I used Chase McBride music my first 2 weeks of teaching)

Later that day Austin texts me that they have a show that night at Solid downtown... I call Keela and we decide to go, our friend Laura met us there.

It was a lot of fun and a great show, I also love sharing my California life with my Idaho friends.

After the show we headed over to Flying M for a bit to catch up and chat a bit (since this is the first time in years that I've seen Laura and it's been a long time since I talked to Keela as well)

Flying M is SUPER hipster which makes it great

Thursday was a very relaxing day, went for a run, worked on this lovely blog then I went to lunch with my brother, his roommate and his friend. The 3 boys are basically my 3 big brothers and have been since I was a kid.

After that I went home and picked some blackberries with dad and got ready for dinner with the grandparents and Caldwell Night Rodeo!

I am an expert blackberry picker... just thought I'd mention that

Dinner was nice since I haven't really seen my grandparents since like christmas or something, even though the dreaded question did come up... I really hate being asked if I have a boyfriend and the ever present follow up of why not.

The Rodeo was fantastic! I'm a civi personally (meaning I'm a civilized viewer from the shady stands not a rowdy in the sun) It was tough enough to wear pink night too!

I really love the rodeo, I'm not sure why but I have a lot of fond family memories from my life that occur at the rodeo.

This girl's hair perplexed me to no end!








Matt and Debra!

After the Rodeo we went to my aunt and uncle's house to see the new puppy Sammy
Friday morning I got up early to pack and get ready to go.my dad dropped me off at the airport on his way to work... and I was homeward bound.
I know this is hard to say... but Boise is now a place to visit my family and SLO is now my home. In many ways I have a family in SLO that look out for me in my parents stead but it's just not the same; nothing is the same anymore. It is very hard when you feel like a guest in your parents' house and a visitor to your hometown. I used to call Boise home now it is my hometown. When people ask me where I'm from I now ask in return "currently or originally?"

Observe and Report

Wednesday August 25th I went to Nipomo High School and observed Chrissy's dance classes for the day (well from 10am on it is summer!)

Out of the blue I had the idea that it would be really cool if I could observe Chrissy's classes and look at her dancers and really see them in an environment other than the audition back in May.

I wanted to observe the company class for the purpose of, almost a pre audition, viewing. I care more about my dancers' attitudes than ability. They made it to the company because they can dance, but I am a tough choreographer and I want to push the dancers to their limits. I'm not going to give them elementary material like I did in the audition. So I need dancers willing to risk a little more in performance and really commit to the work.

I also REALLY hate a bad attitude and lazy behavior. I don't appreciate it. In the past I have stopped rehearsals and sent dancers home because they were physically present but mentally absent.

The actual day of observing was interesting, the first class was the company.

of course all the girls and a couple of the guys recognized me and I watched them rehearse a piece they are performing at the football game in a couple weeks. It seemed like at least half the dancers weren't feeling well (I guess a flu outbreak or something) so many were marking it. You can tell a lot about a dancer by the way they mark a piece.

I simply observed and in general kept my mouth shut, which is hard sometimes.

Next was Dance 2 with a ballet routine... most of the dancers were far from dance 2 level but according to Chrissy she can't do much about it.

The final 2 classes I observed was Dance 1 in hip hop. This was a lot of fun to watch... let me just say Chrissy's got swagger!

After observing I chatted a bit with Chrissy about random dance chit chat and headed on my way.

The next 3 weeks I'm teaching beginning modern for Variable and I think I'm going to work on material for Nipomo and teach an audition class in a couple of weeks.

More to come!!!

Jumprush: the play by play

(photo curtesy of Jumpbrush, centerpieces I made with Tanya)

For me Jumpbrush was more than a fun dance intensive I was taking part of, it was a weekend of opportunity and experiences. I wanted to get absolutely everything I possibly could out of Jumpbrush and I, in many respects, sacrificed things a normal person would never give up to do so. I know I can come off as cold and less than inviting to the average person (and to my friends and family) because I will always put dance first. I made the decision, without realizing it in many ways, to choose dance over the people I care for. I don't take that back and I definitely don't regret it, but I understand that it can make an enemy out of me to those around.

The actual events of Jumpbrush were eye opening for me. I have taken huge intensives before with choreographers from across the country and world before but not as an Adult (yes that required a capital A) and not as a dancer looking at a career in professional dance. I am a perfectionist and my hardest critic which makes me a good dancer, I never give up and always want to find more. Which is why it was good to start with Jude, she calms me and teaches me more about my body and spirit that I would never have learned otherwise. Jude is like my spirit guide in many ways, I know when I'm around her to just shut up and listen and my answers will come.

Next was tech which involved my first experience with the PAC stage... wow, that stage is like a punch in the chest. It knocks the wind out of you and makes your body feel so small and insignificant. Therefore my challenge was to make my tiny frame fill every ounce of the space around me. I wanted to command the stage and ooze into every crevice of the audience.

(photo curtesy of Jumpbrush of VV tech)

I failed... at least for my first time in the space. I felt like a drowning rat, then a cat in water, then maybe a dog, and finally a frog... not graceful but not dead or drowning.

Next was Swany's class which was my first Jazz class since 10th grade (that was 5 years ago... holy shit!) I loved his class and the combo was badass to say the least... however I have a BIG bone to pick with the way he conducts the class. It became an audition, not a master class. I understand pointing out and clarifying the things you like, but the last 20 mins of class should not be dedicated to the 6 people out of 25 that you like the best and only letting them perform the combo. Personally I was not one of his top picks but I did get chosen for a couple of the small groups. I don't really care if he likes me I just had to remind myself "this isn't an audition and I don't need a job just to do MY best." I could visually see the people around me having their moods change though. I still respect Swany and I admire his work and I would consider auditioning for him in a few years but that left a bad taste in my mouth and I know that not everyone took it as neutrally as me.

Thank goodness for Angie to bring back the joy in the next class. She teaches traditional modern dance in many ways, Limon technique etc. I enjoyed pushing myself and seeing how precise and clear I could be and really MOVE. After the class we chatted and I got her card because I know she will be a great help in my search for Grad school. She lifted mine and many other's spirits.

Next I went to Composition with KT, possibly my favorite part of the entire weekend other than performing. I wish the class had been much, much longer. I love composition and creating work. The phrase she taught us was unusual and quirky, then adding my own quirk to it and creating a whole new phrase was beyond rewarding. I loved my phrase and when I found out I was got to work with Harmony I was double excited. We created a piece together that in my opinion was ready for the stage. It felt good to do and was dynamic and interesting.

(photo curtesy of Jumpbrush of Harmony and I performing our phrase with another pair)

After comp we all ran to the pavillion for a Convergence rehearsal. Convergence was the final piece of the Finale show. It consisted of all of the companies and teachers "converging" for the first time. It was a structured improv dance that, to be honest, was in no way an improv just structure. However it turned out beautiful and was an event.

The last official part of the day was the Moving Mural. The idea was for the dancers to completely circle the Cohan Center in a structured improv (a real one) with the help of live musicians. It was a fun way to just clear your brain and de-stress from the day. To quote my friend Leslie the moving mural was "Oh getting-out-of-one's-head happiness!"

The best part was the media coverage, I actually made the cover of the SLO City News (pictured below) from the moving mural!

After the Mural there was Salsa dancing (like every Friday at Cal Poly) Brittany, Megan and I decided dinner and a bath was a much better idea. We headed to Natural Cafe in downtown SLO and grabbed some nutritious and filling food for our tired bodies. Then it was bath time! I don't have a bath tub in my hipster house, but megan's place has 2 bathrooms and her roommates are currently not living there, so I borrowed her spare bathtub. It was wonderful a long bath with music and epsom salt followed by a lot of arnica.

DAY 2

Day 2 began with me oversleeping and not making it to Ryan Beck's Yoga class... which was probably a good thing since I was performing that night and my body needed rest. My first class was Drew's contemporary jazz class which I was really excited for. I've never met Drew or taken his class before this weekend but I have always heard a lot about him.

His class was fantastic! I had a lot of fun and felt like it could have been longer.

(photo Curtesy of Jumpbrush: Me in Drew Silvaggio's class)

After that it was time for Diana's Bollywood class. My body was sooooo sore and to be honest I was in a fair bit of pain. This physical condition caused Diana's class to be a bit rougher than usual for me. However the class was rockin and I was so excited to be there and represent VV.

During lunch we had the final rehearsal for Convergence and my final time to adjust to the PAC stage. I needed that! After we converged and became slightly comfortable in the space with the piece it was time to move on. For me that meant home to pack and prep.

I decided to skip my afternoon classes in order to get everything done I needed to and to save my body for the performance that night. I went home, packed for Idaho, cleaned my dirty dishes (a week gone with a sink full of gross dishes wasn't going to happen), pack and prep my stuff for the show that night, pack a "dinner" etc...

I made it back to the theater with time to go and observe KT's comp class, which was really interesting since that class did things mine did not.

After that VV met to run both our dances for the show that night before the warm up.

While we ran our dances Daniel and KT from ODC watched, to be honest I should have marked it more than I did but I wanted to impress them. By this point my body wasn't in so much pain and moving around a lot helped so very much!

Next up was warm up! The ballet dancers and modern dancers all warmed up separately, we were in the pavilion and I believe the ballet warm up was in Spanos. KT led our warm up with Daniel's assistance which was one of the best warm up's I've had in a while. I LOVED it! It was reminiscent of the warm ups Leah gave before Balance shows.

After warm up we got in to costume and did hair and make up, which was a little more intense that our normal because the PAC is so large.

(photo curtesy of Jumpbrush: Variable Velocity receives notes after Tech )

we slowly migrated to the hallway to jump around a bit and shake off some nerves. Then it was go time and as we say "I'll see you on the other side"

Daedal went ridiculously well. I didn't feel like a drowning rat (ok there might have been a holy shit moment) and I felt big on a little stage, not little on a big stage. I'm not necessarily the tallest or biggest person you will meet but I try very hard to dance big and move larger than life. That way I'm always pushing myself to project more and fulfill the movements to my greatest extent.

After intermission we had Viscera, again pre dance jump around the hallway, wake the body back up, say hello to my sore muscles and beg them for just 5 more minutes of hard work.

Viscera went swimmingly! It was a lot of fun... which is why I love VV. I work so hard at dance and I put all of my effort into it, from rehearsing for hours several days a week, conditioning on my days off, watching what I eat (less cheetos more fruits and veggies etc), giving up alcohol for weeks and months at a time (it's hard hanging out with friends when they just want to play drinking games or go to the bars during your only time off). When I perform dances with VV I feel a kind of joy that I get no where else in my life, the people around me are my family and the work I do is a miracle to me.

Someone said during a speech at Jumpbrush that there was happy, then there was Dance Happy... I know exactly what they mean.

After the performance was the dance party where I found my new friends from the noodle house, Paul and Patrick, as well as old friends and Variable dancers. It was so nice to be around so many people and hearing such great things from random strangers about the show (ok I eavesdropped a little, sue me!).

If anyone reads this and took part in Jumpbrush in any capacity please leave a comment with your thoughts on the event! I'd greatly love to hear what other people experienced and thought about everything!

Again these are all my personal opinion and in no way related to Cal Poly, Jumpbrush or anyone else involved so if you don't like what I wrote tell me directly (below in comments is best)

I LOVE DANCE!

For more info on Jumpbrush see my previous post as well as their:

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Jumpbrush: Pacific Coast Dance Convergence

For the last week or so my life has been consumed by Jumpbrush, which is the Pacific Coast Dance Convergence. Essentially it is 2 days and 3 nights of master classes of a wide range of styles, as well as performances and activities in the evenings. Jumpbrush was held in San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO) on the Cal Poly campus centered at the Performing Arts Center (PAC). From August 12-14 over 100 dancers, choreographers, and artists converged and created a magical couple of days full of learning, creation and artistic expression.

Jumpbrush was born from the collaboration of 9 people but specifically what became known as the big 4, which consists of the directors of the 4 dance companies in SLO:

Diana Stanton of Variable Velocity

Drew Silvaggio of Civic Ballet

Lisa Deyo of Deyo Dance

Theresa Slobodnik of Ballet Theater San Luis Obispo

as well as 5 other members:

Tanya Tolmasoff - Festival Coordinator

Nancy G Moore - Dance Historian

Steven T. Lerian - Cal Poly Arts Director

Ron Regier - Managing Director of the Christopher Cohan Center of the Performing Arts (PAC)

Melody Klemin - Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the PAC

in addition to the "Brush" of Jumpbrush Liz Maruska who created an alarmingly beautiful piece or art that was on display throughout the weekend.

Then a Variable dancer and Florist extraordinaire, Amanda Rounds, designed and created all of the floral arrangements on display from her shop Shell Beach Flowers. I've been to her shop, and let's put it this way... she has created paradise of magical wonder in a strip mall in Grover Beach, CA. Amanda is nothing less than a genius and also an AMAZING person. I really can't tell the world enough how epic she is.

Below is a video from Jumpbrush with short interviews with the Founders explaining what Jumpbrush is all about.

The week before the event I acted as assistant to Tanya and completed many of the tasks she didn't have time for or need to do, i.e. copy and collate the welcome packets, cut up the class tickets, create spreadsheets, welcome DVD, etc.

I love doing anything that has to do with dance and I will give 1000% when it comes to dance.

On Thursday I helped organize and run the check in table for registrants, which was fascinating for me to meet all of the dancers involved in Jumpbrush and to meet them and talk to them about this amazing weekend we had ahead of us.


Thursday evening there was a welcome party and lecture before the ODC show. Again I loved mingling with new friends and catching up with "old" friends (I really hate that expression). here is a photo of many generations of Variable Velocity dancers.

(from left Megan, Tanya, Jude, Brittany, Shelly, Horacio, Me, Leslie, Hilary)

ODC was epic! I loved their performance, the first piece was very quirky and introverted which I LOVE. The lighting was brilliant, the costumes were innovative, and the choreography was complex and true. I was very, very, very, impressed.

I also could not be more excited that KT Nelson and Daniel Santos from ODC would also be teaching us in the next 2 days... it felt like an audition in many ways.

There were 3 groups of registered dancers in Jumpbrush all three would essentially take the same classes from the same teachers, with a few variations.

Angela Bachero-Kelleher--Modern Dance

Ryan Beck--Warm-up Yoga

Jude Clark Warnisher--Warm-up Yoga

Lisa Deyo—Ballet and Jazz

KT Nelson of ODC/ San Francisco--Composition

Jennita Russo--Ballet

Daniel Santos of ODC/San Francisco--Ballet/Modern Phrasing

Drew Silvaggio--Contemporary/Jazz

Theresa Slobodnik--Ballet

Diana Stanton-- Modern Dance Technique

Mark Swanhart (Swany) and Jennitta Russo--Jazz/Contemporary

and also

"Moving Mural"-- Diana Stanton and Jude Clark Warnisher Interactive Workshop

On top of classes the big 4 had technical rehearsals for the finale show on Saturday night. My schedule on Friday was as such:

Wake up yoga with Jude 8-9am

Tech Rehearsal in PAC 9-11:15am

Contemporary/Jazz with Mark 11:30-1:15 pm

lunch 1:15- 2:15 pm

Modern with Angela 2:30-4 pm

Composition with KT 4:30-6 pm

Tech Rehearsal in PAC 6-7 pm

Moving Mural with Diana and Jude 7-8

Dinner with Megan and Brittany at Natural Cafe

Bath

Bed

Saturday

Sleep through yoga

Jazz/Contemporary with Drew 9:30-11 am

Modern with Diana 11:30-1 pm

Tech Rehearsal 1-2:30 pm

go home pack for Boise 2-3 pm

prep for show that night 3-4 pm

Observe KT's composition 4:30-6 pm

VV run through 6-6:45 pm

Show warm up with KT 6:45 - 7:15

Make up/hair/costumes/etc 7:15-8

Show 8-10:30

After party 10:30-12

for more about Jumpbrush and the weekend please see

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(also I will be updating this post with more personal feedback when I have time)