adventure: inspiration weekend 2017

This year's Inspiration Weekend was so wonderful.   Between spending time with friends, dancing to amazing live music with some of my favorite lindy hoppers, competing, growing, and getting stoked on Lindy Hop, here are couple of the most inspiring moments of the weekend for me: 

#1 - Anthony Chen, Irina Amzashvili, and Natalia Eristavi - 30 second showcase

This routine was AWESOME. So clean, and so original.  Plus I love these guys so much - as dancers, they are incredibly inspiring, and as people, they are some of the nicest I know.  Anthony is seriously one of my favorite leaders ever -  a special thanks to him for all the amazing social dances this weekend - they were so fun!

#2 - 2nd place with Juan Cuadra - Amateur Lindy Hop Battle Finals

Although it is obviously an honor to take 2nd place, to be perfectly honest, I was not completely happy with my performance in this comp... but that is exactly the reason it is on my list.  Doing this with such a wonderful partner and really reflecting on where we both want to improve, has inspired me with more motivation to work harder, focus on more specific goals, and continue to grow and compete!  I am incredibly grateful to Juan for his talent, (annoyingly unending) humility, and support of me.  Dancing with him is such a privilege and joy, and he always inspires me to want to work harder in this dance, so yay Juan!

#3 - the amazing music and social dancing! 

So this is actually a video from 2 years ago, but you can catch a glimpse at one of my most inspiring moments of any Inspiration Weekend - the first time I ever swung out fast to Jonathan Stout and His Orchestra playing "Jumpin' At The Woodside".  At this point in my dancing, I had not yet figured out the art of swing dancing fast, and for the very last song of the weekend, Shesha Marvin (an amazing lead and one of the event organizers) asked me to dance.  I was a little bit nervous, but for the first time ever, the music, my partner, and my own dancing all connected, and everything clicked.  I was swinging out fast, and it was effortless.  It was also f*cking awesome.  Shesha has always been a support in my dancing (and for so many others as well), and I will always remember that moment as a breakthrough for me in my journey as a Lindy Hopper. 

This year, the music was just as awesome as ever, between Falty and the Defects and Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, as well as his Orchestra.  I had amazing social dances with so many people - Andrew Jose (especially swinging out to Jammin The Blues surrounded by our friends and feeling so happy!), Matt Richey (one of the most awesome, genuinely nice people I know, and so much fun to dance with!), Mike Faltesek (so lovely to get to know him this weekend and the cutest dog ever!), Augie Freeman (this guy is seriously one of my favorite people in the history of people, and how lucky am I to get to know!) and Keegan Mullin (my best friend on the planet!) just to name a few. 

Also, a shout out to a few of the ladies of lindy hop who I am so lucky to be friends with and be inspired by - Kelly Young, Leslie Greene, Morgan Bates, Natalia Eristavi, Irina Amzashvili, Monchette Gonda, and Renata DePersis. 

Final thoughts: Inspiration Weekend continues to be one of my favorite events of the year.  A huge shout out to Shesha, Nikki, Mikey, and James who work so tirelessly to make it possible.  To end this post, please enjoy the amazing Lindy Hop Tournament finals from this year. 

adventure: a week of theater

Last week, I had the unique privilege of seeing four nights in a row of superb theater.  Plays and musicals may not be your thing, but for me, live theatre is a transcendent experience and can speak to the human experience in a way that no other art form can.

I saw Finding Neverland at the Pantages Theatre, Fun Home at the Ahmanson, the August Wilson Monologue Competition Regional Finals at the Mark Taper Forum, and finally Rent in Concert at Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts, which was an especially meaningful show as my sister was in it. Here are a few of my (honest) thoughts on each.

Finding Neverland (Hollywood Pantages Theatre) 

Based on the Academy Award-winning film of the same name (one of my top ten films ever, btw), the show follows playwright J.M. Barrie as he meets the widow Sylvia and her four young sons Jack, George, Michael, and Peter and finds his inspiration to write his most famous work Peter Pan. This is the first touring company of this show straight from Broadway.

My honest thoughts: it is a wonderful musical with very mediocre music. I am not a big fan of most of the songs in this show, and ideally, a good musical should have good music.  However, I will say the price of the ticket is worth it just to see the incredible direction by Diane Paulus, and most importantly, the spectacular choreography by Mia Michaels.  I am already such a big fan of Mia's choreography, and I had no idea she did this show.  The choreography and staging was so clean, fluid, and creative.  All of the performances were wonderful, especially the ensemble overall, and the story is lovely.  Despite the problematic score, I highly recommend catching this musical before it leaves town!

Fun Home (Ahmanson Theatre)

Winner of five Tony Awards including best musical, this show based on Alison Bechdel's best-selling graphic memoir introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family as she struggles to come to terms with the death of her father.  This is the first national tour of this show straight from Broadway.

My honest thoughts: the performances in this show are incredible, especially the role of Small Alison played by Alessandra Baldacchino. That little girl is so freaking amazing - acting and singing on POINT.  The music is great, and the sets are unexpected.  I thought that the structure of the story was a little strange - Alison looks back on her life, coming to terms with coming out of the closet and the discovery that her father was gay and killed himself four months after she comes out.  However they give away the shock of his death right at the beginning of the show.  For me, it took away some of the emotional impact of the end of the play.  However, the cast of this show is phenomenal in technique and depth, and I highly recommend it!

August Wilson Monologue Competition (Mark Taper Forum)

The August Wilson Monologue Competition enables high school students from all walks of life to discover August Wilson's profound works of art, study the craft of acting and explore their own creative voices.  More than a contest, the AWMC is an educational journey for its students that includes workshops with teaching artists, auditions where theatre professionals offer feedback, and an introduction to August Wilson and The American Century Cycle. 

This is my second time attending this amazing night of theatre with my mom.  Both years, we have been amazed by the high quality of work from the twelve young men and women who make it to the regional finals.  Despite their youth, these high school students find an amazing depth of understanding in bringing to life the characters of August Wilson.  This year, while every student was great, there was a clear winner - a woman who understood the rhythm and music of Wilson's words in a way that exceeded all expectations.

This event shows the power of theater to change lives - exposing young people to something that goes beyond their phone screens, portraying characters and telling stories, both comic and tragic, with  compelling themes.

Rent in Concert (Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts)

This was the most special of all of them for me.  Honestly Rent isn't my favorite musical on the planet (although I do have a nostalgic soft spot for the movie as all of us drama geeks in high school loved it).  However this small little staged concert production, produced as a conservatory project,  was actually incredibly well done, entertaining, and moving.  And most importantly, it featured my sister Chloe in the (gender-bending) role of Benny (changed to Jenny). To see her (and my former student and honorary brother Tiago) performing with such talent made me so proud.  I am blessed to be in a family of artists, and it has been exciting to watch my little sis grow so much over the past 2 years as an actress.  She has such presence on stage.

In addition every performance was great, and the ensemble was so focused.  I wish this could move to their mainstage because it was one of the strongest shows I have seen at PCPA.