Flight of the Dodo – Live on Youtube!

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The world’s first ballet inspired by tweets from the web is now also viewable on the web! The Diablo Ballet has put their delightful dance “Flight of the Dodo” on Youtube for all the world to see. Two of my tweet suggestions were chosen, and I flew up to San Francisco to see the premiere live. I hope that everyone else enjoys it as much as I did!

If you’re interested, the video of the entire evening’s repetoire is out, too! It includes the Q&A at the end, and I’m part of it! I show up right around the 1 hour mark, where I tell them my thoughts on how the web ballet turned out. It’s so embarrassing to see myself on video!

Flight of the Dodo

So this weekend, I had a whirlwind trip back up to the San Francisco Bay Area to see the World Premiere of the first ever “web ballet” by Diablo Ballet. I posted before about this great idea– using social media to crowdsource ideas for a ballet, and allowing the public to participate in the creation of a piece of art. I submitted several ideas via Twitter, and was shocked when I discovered that some of my suggestions were chosen! I just absolutely couldn’t miss this event, so I snagged some airline tickets.

The Diablo Ballet is a wonderful company. They’re small, exceptionally talented, and very friendly. I was amazed at what a big deal they made about me coming up to see the performance. I was greeted enthusiastically and made to feel like an honored guest. I met with their marketing director, Dan Meagher, one of the dancers, Mayo Sugano, and even the choreographer himself, Robert Dekkers. I was also invited to take part in a taped interview for the local news channel– that was definitely not something I was expecting! All in all I felt so involved and appreciated– way to make a girl’s happiness soar!

The ballet itself was absolutely stunning. It was light-hearted, poked fun at itself, and then took a right turn into dark and twisted territory. The idea of being isolated from your species and essentially tortured in the name of science was as heart-wrenching as the movements of the gender-bending “Dodo birds” was funny. To juxtapose the two, and in such a short performance, was jarring in a thought-provoking and constructive way. The costumes were absolutely perfect: little painted mustaches on the “explorers” (the female dancers), and frilly tutus and turquoise scarves on the “birds” (the males). To my boyfriend I said, “Gee, in another life where I am a ballet choreographer, this is just how I would’ve done this piece.”

The other pieces in the set were gorgeous too– “The Blue Boy,” “La Covacha,” and “Pas de deux from Sinuosity” were all fun or gorgeous in their own way. Outside of the “Flight of the Dodo” web ballet, “Sinuosity” was my favorite because I’m a particular fan of pas de deux. It evoked an underwater feel from the dynamic posing and fluid movements– plus was graced with the extreme power and grace of Mayo Sugano, who quickly became one of my favorites.

Overall the entire trip more than exceeded my expectations. To be able to take part in something like this was mind-blowing as an “adult beginner.” Those of us who begin our dance educations later in life are almost never taken seriously, and we never expect to do much performing or choreography work. As an illustrator, I deal with mostly visual arts. Ballet is a way for me to express my creative energy in a physical way, and I take it very seriously as a hobby– but it something that doesn’t get to be expressed terribly often. This was a great chance for me to feel included in something real, and I’m very thankful that the Diablo Ballet reached out and did such an awesome project.

Recital!

I did it! I survived my first solo! For all my nerves and anxiety, the moment I actually got on the stage brought me a brilliant clarity and I just danced. I reviewed the video afterward and definitely noticed some spots where I messed up or didn’t reach hard enough (like my big grand jeté)… but overall it wasn’t terrible. My port de bras is definitely the one thing that I have going for me. If my legs don’t always listen to me, at least my arms do. Haha! And of course my solo burned off all my stage fright so my group dance went off without a hitch– no nervousness at all! I definitely had some issues controlling my balance, and even stumbled a tiny bit in one spot. I guess that’s just the performance aspect of ballet.

I had a huge turnout of friends and classmates from my graduate school come to show their support. I was absolutely floored and elated! One friend even brought me a little bouquet of daisies! I was so happy I could just explode. My school really outdid themselves supporting the dance “department” (it’s really just a section of their campus rec and wellness center) and letting us art students express ourselves in a different way. They had prize giveaways, an art gallery, a professional light guy, pro videographers and photographers, and even refreshments!

Videos and more details coming soon!

Reflections

In excitement for my upcoming recital at the end of April, I thought I’d share the video from last year’s! It was my very first time doing ballet on a stage. When I was 6 I did tap dance which included a performance, but since I was so young it didn’t really occur to me to be terrified. THIS recital, exactly 20 years after my tap recital, rendered me nearly immobile with fear. I got through it though!

The title of the piece is Reflections and was choreographed by Julia Hollas. The music was Anitra’s Dance from the Peter Gynt Suite. Some of my fellow classmates had only been doing ballet for a few months at the time of this recital– what brave souls!! I think we all did a marvelous job. Let’s hear it for adult beginning dancers getting chances to perform on stage! It’s a rare chance, for sure. Getting to share your love of dance with others is just as important as learning to dance itself.

Putting yourself out there is scary– heck, this video was taken a year ago, and I can see tons of things wrong with how I danced (I’ve learned a LOT since then). I’m glad I did it. It was super rewarding! I am looking forward to this year’s recital even more.

P.S. I’m the blonde with the super light green leotard that starts second from the right at the beginning.

San Francisco Ballet’s “The Little Mermaid”

So the other day I was surfing around the internet, and discovered a link to view the entire PBS recorded version of the San Francisco Ballet’s The Little Mermaid. Holy mess, I thought! I had wanted to see this during the season, but had regretfully missed my chance. But here it was! I could see it! And see it I did. It was one of the first times I’d been able to see a ballet recorded, and it creates a whole different experience. You can actually see their expressions and action clearly, instead of from the very back of the auditorium which always seems to be a full mile away from the stage.

Anyway, it was different. The movements of Yuan Yuan Tan as the Mermaid herself are fluid yet alien… honestly she comes across as downright creepy with that innocent, wide-eyed look she has going on. It was a very successful endeavor into making us realize that the Mermaid comes from a different world. The sets were interesting and on the minimalist side. I had some trouble telling when they were above and below water sometimes, but that wasn’t necessary to the story. Some of the costumes were a little odd too, but as this entire ballet was a departure from what I’m used to, perhaps it’s something commonly seen.

What really grabbed me about this ballet was the riveting emotional torture. Watching the raw pain of the Mermaid (and therefore the Poet character who essentially created her) as she saw the object of her love fall in love with someone else… it was intense. Since I’m no ballet expert, I am not sure what it was that really spoke to me, but I literally could not take my eyes off the screen. Perhaps it was being able to see the dancers’ faces properly for once, but it was agonizing and heart breaking yet beautiful all in one.

The link to see the video is here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/the-little-mermaid-from-san-francisco-ballet/watch-the-full-program/1217/

The Dislocation Express

So on Wednesday I got to see a wicked cool “Flash Mob” sort of dance event. One of my ballet instructors is part of a dance company called Dandelion Dance Theater, and in collaboration with AXIS Dance Company they are currently doing a “traveling performance in three acts” called The Dislocation Express. The performance begins at one BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station, continues on the train itself, and then concludes at the destination station. Audience members are invited to watch, ride the train with the performers, and also download an instructional mp3 file that they can listen to on the train ride. It was a hugely interactive experience that concluded with a neat group dance with audience members! I unfortunately only got to see part of the performance (the part at the Powell BART station), but loved it!

The music was delightfully organic and raw; it consisted of live cello, violin, harmonica, accordion, banjo, guitar, and singing. There was a piece with spoken word that was very stirring, but everything was energetic and emotionally charged. The piece explored themes about homelessness, wandering, and the “American Hobo culture.” The movements were powerful– from both the dancers with or without disabilities. These two groups are truly talented, and do some powerful, thought inspiring work.

There is one last performance of The Dislocation Express tomorrow, July 30 at 6 PM at the Ashby BART station, for anyone that is interested. I recommend it!

Sugarplum Fairies

So I got my mother tickets to see the Atlanta Ballet perform the Nutcracker for Christmas, and the show was last night. She was so excited when I told her– she loves the Nutcracker, it gave us an excuse to dress up, and it got her out of the house for awhile. We had a blast, and the ballet was BEAUTIFUL!

Of course the Fox Theater itself was gorgeous: for those that don’t know, it’s a really old theater whose auditorium has a night sky with lighted stars and moving clouds, grandiose bathrooms with lounge rooms, sculptures, plush carpeting, artwork, and every one dresses up! It’s like visiting a palace– it reeks of fancy. Imagine our surprise when we were greeted with picketers on the sidewalk outside.

The Atlanta Ballet has been struggling for awhile, and donations aren’t helping them cover all of their expenses. So, they had to make a difficult decision and cut out the live orchestra and instead replaced it with prerecorded music. Apparently this caused an outrage amongst the musicians and art community. While I can see why they are upset, at the same time I can see the art director’s view of things as well. What else was he going to do? It’s a tough situation that I feel I really can’t take a side on, and only hope it can be resolved peacefully.

The ballet itself was gorgeous: the costumes were beautiful, the dancers were phenomenal, and the music was… well… not so great, but acceptable. It just wasn’t the same without the live music. You could hear the dancer’s toeboxes hitting the stage, and with live music normally that isn’t as easy to notice. It was a joy overall to see it again (since I hadn’t been since I was 12). The two main ballerinas (Ballerina Mayra and the Dew Drop Fairy) were actually SISTERS! I was surprised by this, and it even led to a bit of confusion for me since they look similar. They were both exceptional dancers though, and I admired all of their fluid grace that I lack.

Mom and I had a blast, and were even home before 10:30! I’m trying to talk her into going to see the Chinese New Year Extravaganza this January over at the Atlanta Civic Center… it looks like it’s going to be amazing.

Originally written on December 10, 2006 but has been edited for readability.