Eros, Thanatos, and the Avant-Garde

[shanmonster]

My performance in Toronto went over ok, although I think my last one was better. This time around, I experienced a technical difficulty. Toward the end of "Dragonfly," one of my poi went awry. I have strands of sequins attached to them to make them look afire under stage lights, and during one swing, a strand of sequins somehow became attached to my updo. I kept the other poi swinging, and I kept on dancing, and after a couple of tugs, the poi came free along with half of my updo. Oops. Props have a way of fouling things up from time to time, don't they? Still, I am happy with other parts of the performance, like my floorwork and my standing backbend down to the floor while doing an overhead butterfly.

The next cabaret in the Eros, Thanatos, and the Avant-Garde series takes place in June. If I do that one, I think I'll do a straight-up AmCab performance, complete with flirting with the audience. I haven't done that sort of show in a couple of years. It's time to get back to my roots!

I'm very pleased with my new costume. Hopefully, I'll have pictures of it before too long. The corset belt fits well, but I don't have complete range of motion in it. If I do bold movements with my legs (like dragons or other wide-legged stances), the belt rides up. So it's all ladylike moves with my legs close together in that belt, I guess. The top, with its new straps, stays in place no matter what I do, though. And I think it looks really sharp.

More costuming is to take place on Sunday, when snowy_kathryn and I have planned a stitch-n'-bitch. I'm not sure what my next project will be. Maybe I'll do something really simple, like a couple of panels to wear over pants.

And I have to thank you again, faustian_wish, for that little mp3 player. It has made preparing for performances so much easier! Now I can listen to my music to death on the bus rides to Toronto, and can practice poi without worrying about CDs skipping. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Today I teach my last dance classes in Waterloo. The gym has gone out of business. This is a bit of a merrygosorrow. You see, I hate having to bus all the way there and back again. Although it's only a 10-minute drive, I don't have a car and almost always have to bus it. I invest about 90 minutes transportation to get there, and another 90 getting back. It's brutal. I was able to bike last week, but that won't be an option today because it's pretty darned wet out. I will not miss the commute. That being said, I will miss the classes. The students have been a real pleasure to work with, and I'm disappointed they will not be following me. Although the travel distance didn't scare me off, it is stopping them.

In the meantime, I continue to teach at Impact Movement Studios on King St. in Kitchener. Classes are on Mondays at 6pm, and starting on May 7, also at 12:10pm. Classes are on a drop-in basis, and are $10 each. Classes are very small, so there is plenty of one-on-one. Come and play!

Comments

[meddevi.livejournal.com]

if you need a lot of stretch in your belt, try using stretchy materials for both parts...such as stretch denim for the bottom and something lycra-based for the top, and shoot for going a little smaller (say if a 5 panel small makes for close lacing, a 4 panel would be better, cause it will have more cause to stretch.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! I also made it rather wider (taller?) than your pattern, so it would better match the top.

The next one I make shall be leather. It's been in the planning for over a year, now....