Q&A: Workshops don't "do it" for me.

"I have tried some workshops. They don't really work for me. Reason being there is too much being thrown at me in a short space of time. Now, I am not young, not old, but this older brain needs to have the lessons pounded over and over."


You are not by any stretch meant to absorb everything in a workshop, and what you do absorb, you should not expect to get into your muscle memory or master at any level.

It is like a big delicious buffet. You are overwhelmed with choices, and will taste a lot of things you maybe never tried before. You will like some things, and not others, and you never walk away with a recipe list of the things you like. Just a rough idea of what foods, ingredients, and spices you enjoyed most. Then you can take that information home and apply it to your overall diet in some other way, by experimenting with the bits and pieces of culinary details you gathered from your experience.

If you go in hoping to walk out with a complete set of ideas and concepts, wholly in your body and ready to go, you will be disappointed every time. But employing patience with yourself, looking out for what really resonates with you, taking some decent notes, and being willing to let go of what isn't really turning your crank, you can come away with some really valuable new information and a gateway to new skills and ideas that will generate within you as a result of attending.

And remember that workshop teachers vary widely, and their topics do as well. Some workshops are about cramming as much data into one two hour time-slot as possible. Others are about more subtle techniques that you will get to drill with over and over in different ways to explore possibilities. You end up kissing frogs in the process, but even the ones you don't appreciate fully give you some scope to your preferences, and helps guide your personal style.

So even if a workshop seems like it will be a difficult stretch, try it!  See a workshop with a great teacher but with basic techniques you think you have already "mastered"? Take it--it will invariably give you new insights and considerations to help you grow.  See a workshop in a style you're not sure you want to do? Try it anyway. Even if you don't make a shift to that school of movement, details of the work might inform your style in a new way you never expected.  Workshops are a smorgasbord of possibilities. So FEAST and fill that creative tummy with new fabulous inspirations!

Recipes for A Farewell to Summer

Last night I treat myself to a little farewell to summer indulgence. I thought I would share the recipes I made: Mini Apple Tarts and Ginger Basil Lemonade.

Mini Apple Tarts

Ingredients:
- 1 package pre-made pie crust (comes with 2 crusts)
- 4-5 small-medium apples of your choice (I used Fuji)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 tsp (or to taste) apple pie spice or cinnamon
- a dash of vanilla extract (1/4 tsp maybe?)

My interview on YIP Podcast

Did y'all hear my interview on YIP Poadcast? I realize I didn't post a link, as it aired during a time I wasn't posting very often. The YIP gals, Mary and Tammy, are so wonderful, and I had fun talking to them. Hope you enjoy the interview! (I think it starts after 20 minutes in? I don't recall just now...)
http://www.yippodcast.com/2010/06/episode-33-seattle-and-shay.html

And click around for other great interviews. I of course adore the one with Carolena and Megha (they even got to be interviewed in the evening, and with WINE! I had earlier in the morning with TEA. WHIIIIINE!), but there are tons of great interviews with people throughout the dance community. Mary and Tammy are very conversational, and you can tell they have a fun time doing their show. Enjoy!

Jane of all trades?

Trying to be everything to everyone can be exhausting. I know! I've tried!

Looking back on the evolution of my dance, I can see a sort of wave-like motion. That is, like a wave pushing forward which swells and swells and swells....and finally breaks and crashes and eases upon the shore... Yep, I kinda feel that is what my dance has done.

I started out so simply--much like we all do. Just an image of dance that felt natural and came naturally from my combination of instincts plus research into many different styles which appealed to me. My roots were in cabaret/folkloric, because really that's all there was around here at the time. "Tribal" was not yet a household word, and though I knew of group improv and had the videos, that wasn't what I was trying to do, per se. I just liked dancing, especially with other like-minded women, and I enjoyed exploring all the bits and pieces of theory and aesthetics that my teachers and friends brought into my field of vision.



As I learned more, and added new ideas to my bag of tricks, I wanted to bring them all together somehow. I liked that I was a fusion dancer working among other fusion dancers, and had that freedom. My teachers and friends encouraged me to blend and follow my bliss, and I was not shy about doing so. Of course it was all with an eye toward what would be most effective and appropriate on a given stage, but even with those "soft limits" on my creative output (maybe even partly because of), things began to fracture a bit. That is to say, I understood that doing a dark, moody sword piece at a sunny afternoon faire wasn't really going to be effective, and nor was my folky costumes and music going to have the intended impact at the goth club. So naturally, I felt the need to divide these diverse portions of my dance into some kind of categories. There was costuming for this venue, and music for that venue. And even a vocabulary of movement and treatment which rocked over here, but wouldn't really work over there. So every time we staged a piece, we would pick and choose from these many different components to piece together the ideal setlist for the show we were intending to do. And taken at face value, that sounds idyllic, doesn't it? Being able to adapt and adjust in such a way that we could present several really different bodies of work based on the venue and the audience is a valuable skill.

But the result wasn't quite so simple or ideal.

Your 2010 Wish List: how's it going?

At the beginning of the year, I created a 2010 Wishlist, which you can see HERE. It was an anti-resolutions way of listing goals for myself for the coming year, and I challenged you to do the same. Did you make a list? If so, how is your list going? We're a bit over the 6 month mark for 2010, so it's a good time to see what progress we have made.

For my list, my weight is down about 11lbs. I was down as much as 15, but gained some back over the summer with all the stress. I am back on the wagon and working toward the goal of better health once again.

Re-evaluating dance in my life is one I have had no choice but to stare straight in the face. And to be truthful, I don't have any answers there, yet. But I am on a continuing journey right now that is taking steps toward greater understanding of this question.

I am definitely more organized, but have a loooong way to go with regard to that. Case and point: my desk as I type this message. Ugh. But in other areas of my life, home and business, I have been cleaning up and taking stock, which is good.

So how about you?