The Spirit Light Dance Company's Spring Showcase

Yesterday I attended the Spirit Light Dance Company's Spring Showcase.   There were only three numbers but each one was a little jewel.  

Truckin', choreographed by Amari DiRicchezi Thomas and Dancers

Since there weren't a lot of people I dared to try taking a few photos, although they did crash me a few times so I'm not madly happy with them.   Besides if you take photos you can't enjoy the performance, especially when you use freeze frame as I do.  

Truckin', choreographed by Amari DiRicchezi Thomas and  Dancers

To take really good photos of dance performances you need to see them danced more than once and get a feel for the dance.  I know many people like ToySoldier Thor take photos all the time "on the fly" but I guess that's not how I work.  

 Somewhere  from Westside Story

choreographed by Caryl Meredith with Si de Brit

This was a beautiful romantic dance with a wonderful set and the heartbreaking music of Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim - "Somewhere " from Westside Story, which is a timeless classic.

Somewhere from Westside Story

choreographed by Caryl Meredith with Si de Brit

There's a place for us,

Somewhere a place for us.

Peace and quiet and open air

Wait for us somewhere.

There's a time for us,

Someday a time for us.

Time together with time to spare,

Time to learn, time to care.

Someday, somewhere

We'll find a new way of living,

We'll find a way of forgiving,

Somewhere.

Imagination from Alice in Wonderland  choreographed by Eva Harley with Dancers

I crashed out on during this number and only took the one photo.  But I did see some very clever scene changes and the other dancers whom Eva Harley used to present her very entertaining number.

Elysium Cabaret enters the Blogosphere!

In a long overdue move the Elysium Cabaret has started a blog on Wordpress, which is a bit of a mystery to me since my many years of blogging have involved the Blogger platform.  But I'm sure all the contributors, including me, will manage to master it sooner or later. 

Myth Raven posted the first review of last Friday's show and what a great job she did! Along with her excellent commentary she took some wonderful photos which is not an easy task at a busy dance venue like the Empire Room.

Jo, Roni and Winnie celebrate the Vernal Equinox
photo by Myth Raven

Along with the many other fine performances by Ally, Baby, Wiz, Queenie, Winnie with Diiar, Jilley and Baby, Roni and Winnie and I celebrated the Vernal Equinox with a dance performed to Enya's Pax Deorum.

As always the audience was invited up to the stage to join in the dance fun and Wild made us all look like stars with her wonderful group dances.

Group dance choreographed by Wild
Photo by Myth Raven

Remember Elysium Cabaret performs for your enjoyment every Friday night at 6pm SLT at the Empire Room!

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Copperhead%20Road/74/64/2754

Idle Rogue Productions Presents: MAYFAIR - The Stories of The Mayfair Witches

I was fortunate enough to attend the dress rehearsal of Idle Rogue Productions' newest offering, MAYFAIR, The Stories of the Mayfair Witches, which opens on January 21st at 7pm for 6 performances only.  I can only emaphasize that this is a show you will not want to miss.  

Thirteen dancers bring to life a story based on Anne Rice's spellbinding novel of witchcraft and the occult, The Witching Hour.  Spanning four centuries it tells the story of a great family of witches, the Mayfairs, a family which is haunted by a powerful, dangerous and seductive demon, Lasher.

Deborah Mayfair - Zahra Ethaniel- casts her magic spells

Sitting in the garden of the Mayfair Mansion in New Orleans, at wrought iron tables under an outdoor gazebo, the audience is drawn into the tales of this family and fully immersed by the use of the Oberlander camera system which captures one's camera and brings one close to the dancers, following them from different angles and giving everyone the same view.

The setting is a garden party at the old Mayfair mansion on First Avenue in the Garden District of New Orleans. The notorious are-they-or-aren't-they family has always drawn it's fair share of speculation, with wild tales of a purse full of coins that never runs out, and a mysterious man whom only some can see.   

                                                                        - GB publicity notice for Mayfair

Angelique Mayfair - Sho Kyong - with Lasher

But the Mayfair witches have endured shattering tragedies along with their immense power. What does the comely Lasher want from them? And is any witch strong enough to control him?

                                                                                                           - GB publicity notice for Mayfair

Marguerite Mayfair - Maeve Branner - in her laboratory

 I haven't read The Witching Hour but each dance is preceded by a storyboard so it's easy to follow along.  We did not see all of the dances last evening including that of chryblnd Scribe, the thirteenth witch, the one who transforms Lasher into human form.  She told us she was keeping it as a surprise as well as hinting that it wasn't quite finished yet.

Deirdre Mayfair - BabypeaVonPhoenix - with Lasher

With Idle Rogue's usual consummate professionalism this story is brought to life in dance by thirteen very talented performers.  The music is powerful and moving and the sets are perfect backdrops to each story, with the imaginative use of fading scenes and particles that we have come to expect these days from dance performance.  Excellent technical and production support is provided by many people and the full cast and crew is listed at the end of this post. 

Details of performances and how to reserve the few remaining places can be found on the Idle Rogue website.

Kat Feldragonne, an SL dancer and performer, wrote a very detailed post, Mayfair Sneak Peek, giving her impressions of the rehearsal along with some excellent photos. 

 CAST AND CREW

Soloists

Chewie Quixote - Soloist - Suzanne Mayfair

Zahra Ethaniel - Production Design

                         Soloist - Deborah Mayfair

Meegan Danitz - Soloist - Charlotte Mayfair

Deb Heron - Soloist - Jeanne Louise Mayfair

                 - Production Design Assistant 

                 - Assistant to chryblnd Scribe

Sho Kyong - Soloist - Angelique Mayfair

Shadow Tarber  - Production Design

                         - Soloist - Marie Claudette Mayfair

Maeve Branner - Soloist - Marguerite Mayfair

Azabella Alamar - Soloist - Katherine Mayfair

Blaze deVivre - Soloist - Mary Beth Mayfair

Anashara Dubois - Soloist - Stella Mayfair

Aubreya Joszpe - Soloist - Antha Mayfair

                           Production Assistant - Public Relations

BabyPea von Phoenix - Soloist - Deirdre Mayfair

chryblnd Scribe -  Producer, Director, Art Director

                             Soloist - Rowan Mayfair

Tray Porthos - Production Design - Camera

                      Soloist - Lasher

                      

                      

Extras

Cee Edman - Petyr van Abel

AveBee - Peter Mayfair (alt of Deb Heron)

Franny - Charlotte's Maid 1

               Production Assistant - Membership Liaison

Subversive Vavoom - Charlotte's Maid 2

Imrhien Fargas - Darcy Monahan

March Antiesse as Julien's Lover

Barney Helendale - Julien Mayfair

Spinned - Stella's Lover (alt)

Rogue Fretwerk as Michael Curry (alt of chryblnd Scribe)

Stella's party: Gloriana, Arrehn, Adam3 Magic, Imrhien Fargis

Crew:

Arrehn Oberlander - Production Design Technical

Martin Yeats - Production Design Technical

Gloriana Maertens - Production Design Builder

The Success of The Euphoria Group on LEA12

Post I wrote for the Linden Endowment of the Arts Blog

While I know those involved have thanked the LEA committee themselves, as one who is involved peripherally in dance performance, as well as LEA, I would like to thank the Committee for “taking a chance” on Babypea VonPhoenix Bikergrrl’s grant application for a sim. I don’t know if anything similar has taken place on the LEA grant sims previously, so perhaps they were not taking a chance after all! But this group made full use of the opportunity given to them by the Committee!

Not only did the Euphoria group create two very different but amazing sim wide builds during their tenure there, but they filled the sim to capacity on every occasion for their numerous events held there during the months of October, November and December.

The SuperMetropolis Train - photo by BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl

The urban cityscape which hosted the SuperMetropolis show for 5 performances in October was designed and built by one of the very talented dancers in the group, Chrissy Rhiano. The audience travelled the sim in a specially designed train which stopped at various points where each of the dancers performed using a set they had built.

BabypeavonPhoenix Bikergrrl’s Silver Surfer set at SuperMetropolis - photo by BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl

During one weekend in November the Dance Galaxy Festival was held with 14 different dance troupes performing, as well as the debut “recital” from students of Babypea’s Dawn of Dance classes.

Ronda Saunders danced her first solo performance at Dawn of Dance - photo by Ronda Saunders

For the Christmas ExtravaDanza performances in December the sim was designed and built by Restlesssoul Blackheart. This time the audience travelled by sleigh around the sim to the different dance performance sets.

LEA12 decorated for the Christmas !* ExtravaDanza*! - photo by BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl

Dance performance in Second Life is a truly artistic venture, with many talented people in that field. Not only does their love of music, and their skill at choreographing dance routines, shine through in their performances, but the beauty of their sets as well as their creative use of particles and special effects is truly amazing. 

SL scripters, particle makers, special lighting and dance animation creators are all heavily involved in making the tools to improve dance performance within the limits of SL, and it has come a long way in the last few years.

Setsuna Hirano danced in a globe set for the Christmas !*Extravadanza*! - photo by ToySoldier Thor

I hope many new people were introduced to this form of art by Euphoria's presence at LEA12. In addition, many people from the dance community heard about LEA for the first time and hopefully they will explore the other sims too and learn more about the different forms of art in the LEA world. 

Over and over I heard Babypea explain how the LEA program worked to people who asked but had never heard of it. I think two very different groups of people benefited greatly by the Committee’s granting of LEA12 to BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikerrgirl and the Euphoria group.

Babypea danced to Oiche Chiun (Silent Night) by Enya - photo by Gunner VonPhoenix

Fortunately for everyone’s enjoyment Gunner VonPhoenix videoed his wife’s performance and posted it on YouTube.

JMB (Jo) Balogh

Advisor to the LEA Committee

The Dawn of Dance Recital -- Wherein the Students demonstrate to Babypea what they have learned!

It took a while to come down off the ceiling after the amazing weekend of the Dance Galaxy at LEA12 in which the Dawn of Dance students strutted their stuff for 70 people who filled the sim  to capacity.

But now I can look back and share a few highlights of the experience.   24 students started in the class, 17 stayed the course and 13 danced in the Dawn of Dance recital.  While not everyone felt ready to perform a solo, 4 of us did while 2 others danced a duet and 2 more danced in a group dance with some of their friends and all 14 (including Baby) danced in an energetic group dance choreographed by Babypea von Phoenix, our wonderful teacher and coach.

Roni at the Dawn of Dance recital - photo by (Roni) Ronda Saunders

Roni performed a lively electro-swing dance to The Swing Phenomenon by Bart&Baker, featuring Nicolle Rochelle, with a very minimalist black and white high tech set which she built.

Jo (JMB) Balogh at the Dawn of Dance recital - photo by JMB Balogh

I knew from the start that I wanted to perform a flamenco dance and I found Gipsy by Jesse Cook, some wonderful dances from A&M, poses from oOo studios and put them all together, with a outdoor courtyard set I built.

Anashra Dubois at the Dawn of Dance - photo by Aubreya Joszpe

Anashra Dubois danced to Fireflies by Owl City and she built one of the prettiest sets seen that weekend, with her lovely costume completing the effect.

Snow Mistwood at the Dawn of Dance  - photo by Babypea von Phoenix

Snow put our hearts in our mouths as she danced to Come fly with me - Frank Sinatra, along the length of an airplane in the sky and down along the wings!

Maia and Aytia at the Dawn of Dance  - photo by Babypea von Phoenix

After a musical introduction from Swan lake, Maia and Aytia, in their black and white tutus, changed pace and danced to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.  Their set of moving islands was very innovative.

Empressdyme and Nasiyah with friends at the Dawn of Dance  - photo by Babypea von Phoenix

Empressdyme and Nasiyah invited some friends along to dance with them to  Shake it off. Their wonderful set even had rain with puddles!

Finale dance at the Dawn of Dance - photo by Babypea von Phoenix

Dancers:  Babypea, Cherri, Ruby, Barb, Jewel, Maarah, Anashara,

  Nasiyah, Jo, Roni, Empressdyme
Snow, Maia, Aytia

With her great generosity of spirit,  Babypea wanted every one of her students to experience performing at the Dawn of Dance recital, so she put together a group finale for 14 of us, which of course included her!  It wasn't easy on such a small stage but she managed it brilliantly with a high energy dance which had us popping up on the stage in groups at various times.   She even included the shadow dancer effect which everyone loves.    

Roni and I had to find our movers by camming under the stage and sitting on them.  This was rather daunting and due to lag Roni's didn't rez for quite a while and she was in panic mode for a brief period.   But eventually 14 dancers were shaking their booties to Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox's Sisters are Doin' for Themselves, which Baby had kept as a surprise for us till the day.

Dance performances are but fleeting moments in time but they live on in our memories and can be captured not only in photographs but also in videos.   Fortunately Renaissance woman Roni has mastered that art too and she made videos of her performance and mine on our dance platforms before the day.

Miss Ronda Saunders electroswinging to The Swing Phenomenon 

by Bart&Baker feat. Michelle Rochelle

Miss JMB Balogh dances Flamenco to Gipsy by Jesse Cook

Thanks to everyone who made that day so special for me:  to Roni, my dearest friend, who shared the whole experience of learning to create and perform a dance with me, to my fellow classmates and dancers, and to our inimitable DJ Gunner von Phoenix.   But most of all thanks go to Babypea von Phoenix who created the whole idea of the classes and the recital and showed endless patience with her scatty students as they floundered their way through a priceless learning experience, culminating in a truly enjoyable performance which was a triumph for everyone!

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;

No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet

To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.

~George Gordon, Lord Byron

The Dawn of Dance - Wherein the Queen of Dance shares her secrets with the Dance Noobies

One of the things I love about Second Life is that even after seven years plus,  I can learn something new every day I am inworld.

So when BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl, one of the acknowledged Queens of Dance in Second Life, announced she was giving a 6-week series of classes, The Dawn of Dance, on creating SL dance performances Roni and I signed up immediately.   What a golden opportunity for a couple of dance groupies!  Not only would we learn to put together a complete dance performance but we would actually have the opportunity to show what we learned in a "dance recital" at the end of it all.

BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl in front of her class of dance students at Dance Queens Centre

It turns out that Baby is one of the most organized people you could wish to meet in Second Life, which of course one has to be, to create and perform as often as she does with her own company of Elysium Cabaret Dancers as well as Guerilla Burlesque and a myriad of other companies and troupes around the grid.  So she was very well prepared indeed when she met with her initial 24 students in the classroom at the Dance Queens Centre.   

Baby spoke in voice but followed her very detailed and comprehensive notecards which she later gave to everyone.   However there was plenty of opportunity for the students to ask questions in local chat at any time along the way.  The Dawn of Dance classes were for people who were brand new to dance performance and designed to provide a solid foundation to help them get started in the wonderfully creative, artistic world of Second Life dance.  Not only would Baby share what she had learned over the past few years but she had arranged for others whom she considered experts in costuming, particles and stage effects to share their expertise with her dance noobies.   As she said in her first notecard:

 A candle loses no light by lighting another candle, thus we are happy to share what we know with others.  However, we are not teachers and are not all-knowing.  The adventure of SL dance is that the learning never stops.  We are also still learning.  Thus the information we share is not all there is to know.

The first class provided an introduction to choosing music and dance animations and the intricacies of the various dance huds which make life easier for the dance performer as well as the amazing Spot on choreography system.  Next class covered building and decorating sets with everything that entails.   Baby said she had no notion about building until she began to dance and learned all she knows about it now, which is not inconsiderable I might add, by initially taking apart ready made sets and props and she learned by doing!

For our third class on costuming SexyS Quintessa came to share her vast knowledge on the subject.   SexyS has been creating burlesque, comedy and art performance dance acts in SL since 2009.  She is an award-winning dancer in both lives, and an active member of Dance Queens. She dances in Guerilla Burlesque, Lady Garden Cabaret, Elysium Cabaret, and is Director of A&M MOCAP Maniacs.

SexyS in all her costume glory!   

Baby gave our fourth class on the topic of emoting which is one of the foundations of Gor dancing although it is used to set the mood or further the story line in other types of dance.  I can't say that I am a big fan of emoting since I tend to watch the dance rather than local chat, but recently Lat "Yummy" Lovenkraft wrote a post on the Dance Queen's blog called the Return of the Emote? which showed another point of view.

Misse Tigerpaw, who dances with Club Image and is a specialist in particles gave a very comprehensive lecture on the making and using of particles in dance performance.  Misse also shares her knowledge on her particle website which is both in Japanese and English.  She uses particles quite subtly here in the Raven on youTube.

For our last instructional class Baby had arranged for Klark Harvy of the Spirit Light Dance Company to demonstrate the use of stage effects.  He took us to a special demonstration area at the Spirit Light Dance Academy where the group give classes in all aspects of dance performance in Second Life.  We watched a video of the Company's performance of Tron which Klark had choreographed and which illustrated some of the stage effects for which the Company is renowned. He then proceeded to give us the details of how they were created.  While the amount of information was rather overwhelming for dance noobies, Klark introduced us to many of the "possibilities" in this area and when and when not to use them.

I have to say that taking these Dawn of Dance classes and creating a dance and set for the "graduation" dance recital has been one of the most fun things I have ever done in Second Life and I think Roni would agree with me.

This Saturday, November 15th, at 3pm SL time, some of Baby's students get to strut their stuff on stage as part of the Dance Galaxy festival on LEA12 here.  Yes Roni and I will be taking part.


Thank you Babypea for the opportunity you gave to the lucky students who signed up for the Dawn of Dance classes and for all the information you so generously shared with us.   In Baby's own words and which she uses to sign all her communications :

Dance with Passion!

Euphoria presents! Superheroes!!! The Supermetropolis!!

Some of you know of my involvement with the Linden Endowment for the Arts, firstly as a volunteer and now an advisor to the LEA Committee.

Imagine my delight when I discovered that Babypea vonPhoenix, acknowledged as one of the Queens of Dance in Second Life, had been granted one of the LEA sims for 5 months.   A group of Second Life's most talented dancers, who call themselves Euphoria, built a sim sized urban metropolis set for a very different kind of dance performance which they will present in the coming weeks.   

The audience for these performances will board the Supermetropolis Train which will make stops on its journey around the sim where they will 

"arrive just in time to witness justice being served to a dark villain!!  Or perhaps, you'll watch in shocked amazement as the villain gets the best of the superhero!!  NO!!  Say it isn't so!!!  You'll have to see for yourselves, ladies and gentlemen!! " 

Each choreographer/Superhero built her own set while Chrissy Rhiano, one of the most amazing set designers and builders in Second Life, built the city around each set and in this manner, blended it all together into one uniform, continuous build.

BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl - Silver Surfer

SexyS Quintessa - Superwoman

Chewie Quixote - Dark Phoenix

Madison Pinelli - Wonder Woman

Chrissy Rhiano - Black Widow

Mytholus - Storm

Jilley - Iron Man

Diiar - Hitgirl

Producer: Chrissy Rhiano

Asst Producer: BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl

DJ: Gunner VonPhoenix (Masterperry)

The Riddler (Train Conductor/Host): Lat Lovenkraft

Your taxi:   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA12/50/207/22

Showtimes and Dates below!!  Holy Superhero Show Batman!!

Seating is limited so don't be late!!

Saturday October 18th      

3pm SLT - Sneak Peek

5pm SLT

Wednesday, October 22nd

5pm SLT

Saturday, October 25th

3pm SLT

5pm SLT

Again your taxi:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA12/50/207/22

I always conclude my posts on this blog with a famous dance quote and today's comes from Babypea herself.

Dance with passion!!!

--Babypea Von Phoenix