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Posts Tagged ‘performance’

  1. Burlesque Audition – The Atomic Bombshell

    April 7, 2011 by Jo

    WHEN: Sunday, April 10 • 3:00pm – 6:00pm
    WHERE: Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts (Pioneer Square), 115 Prefontaine Pl. S., Seattle, WA

    The Atomic Bombshells are holding their FIRST EVER OPEN AUDITION for the newest addition to their internationally celebrated Burlesque supertroupe! Critically acclaimed in local, national, and international press, The Atomic Bombshells have become one of the most recognized and accomplished burlesque troupes around. In addition to consistently selling out venues such as The Triple Door in Seattle, the Bombshells have toured the U.S., Portugal, China, and have a yearly summer residency in Provincetown.

    Prerequisites:

    Girls, boys, everything in-between are welcome, but interested applicants MUST have some previous dance experience and be able to learn choreography. Previous burlesque experience welcomed but not necessary.

    *Kitten LaRue is the Artistic Director/Producer of The Atomic Bombshells, so if chosen as a troupe member, you must be comfortable with being directed and styled. Every troupe member’s input is welcome and valued, but final decisions about every detail come down to one director.

    *As being an Atomic Bombshell involves a certain amount of time, energy, and dedication, with definite rewards for said dedication, if chosen as the new member, we require that the Bombshells will be the only TROUPE that you are a member of. Solo and other show projects are fine.

    Audition:

    Please bring a headshot (doesn’t have to be professional, just something to recognize you with) and a performer bio. The audition will be composed of 2 parts:

    *In part one, everyone will learn a few 8 counts from the Bombshells rep, and be divided into groups to perform it.
    *In part two, those who have something to show us (a short dance, striptease, extra skill or talent, whatever you want!) will do that one at a time. This is not required but encouraged. Please bring music on CD.

    PLEASE RSVP TO THIS AUDITION by emailing atomicbombshellsburlesque@gmail.com

    Category Musings | Tags: ,,,,, | No Comments

  2. CSI 2011 – Friday Performances

    March 29, 2011 by Jo

    It was opening night and all the teachers had a little sum’im-sum’im to throw down. Heheh, we might have done the Friday and Saturday show differently had Sharon’s luggage arrived sooner. Regardless, it was a great show! Juan & Sharon opened the Friday night show with Ballin’ the Jack, which looked amazing! Unfortunately, I can’t find video from it. Anyone have it?

    Bear Mash Blues

    That floor was SO slippery in those shoes, my goodness! Otherwise…..booty!

    Hat Trick Tranky Doo

    I think this might be the first time Kevin performed this without his buddy Tops. Good on ‘im!

    Black Swan

    Isn’t she gorgeous! I talked Alice into doing some ridiculous makeup and I’m so pleased she followed through with it (picture on FB). Not that you can really see it here, but still, it’s there. And Tommy!! Omg, he played his part perfectly!
    I think Alice went about this routine perfectly. She was inspired by a costume, bought it, found a song, and choreographed something brilliant to it. Her points are gorgeous and lace-removal is stunning.

    Stud Muffins!

    Brittany and Dargoff being amazing. I love their movement and am totally inspired by it. Again, congratulations to both of you; you were fantastic all weekend. xoxo

    Later that night we had the student cabaret. I think I have a performance idea for all the girl instructors for next year. :D

    CABARET NIGHT


    Dance performance to popular K-Pop songs by “Orange Chocolate” during Cabaret night, Camp Swing It (CSI) 2011 / Korean Lindy Hop Championships (KLHC)

    Eeek, I can’t find the second cabaret number. I guess it’s not up yet OR it is and I just can’t read Korean. :D


    Korean traditional fan dance performed by Crystal Lee, at Cabaret night of Camp Swing It (CSI) 2011.

    Here are some of my favorite pictures I’ve found on the web from the weekend:

    Thanks for having us Korea!!! xoxo

    Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  3. CSI 2011 – Saturday Performances

    March 28, 2011 by Jo

    What an amazing show this turned out to be! Even though this was thrown together, it couldn’t have worked out any better. The best part: the audience.

    You might not know this, but those fans are significantly heavier than they look and Shaz makes them look effortless. I’ve seen this number a few times and it just gets better and better. Not only does she worked the crowd, but she did a great job of keeping her straps from falling off!


    How amazing was that?! It was even better live, if you can believe it. I love Alice’s knee socks, I love the swing outs, I love the rhythms and syncopation, I love their dynamic together, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the audience watch this dance.


    I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to perform after seeing Tommy & Alice do their thing; how could we top that? As Kevin and I stood in our “ready position”, I could feel the energy of the crowd. When the music began, the audience got louder, and every time I swished my skirt, the audience cheered! This has made the list of Favorite Performance Moments for myself, and it was all because of the crowd. I’ve danced the routine better before, but the roar of the crowd was sensational!


    Nailed it!


    G-dang it! They are bloody fantastic. I find their movement to be super-inspiring and their shapes and lines make me want to wiggle (that’s a good thing)! Well done you two; you totally earned your stripes! It was a pleasure to perform along along side of you.


    Sharon choreographed this piece for Rock That Swing (which I’m dying to see but hasn’t been posted yet) and I think it’s a fab little piece. We all were super-sucking in rehearsal, but managed to pull it together for the show. Yeah us!!

    Category Events | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  4. Crazy Rhythm Challenge 2011

    March 7, 2011 by Jo

    Last year I was in France around the end of February and I was incredibly sick. I had just picked up bronchitis and walking pneumonia and I was dying. OMgoodness, it was awful. This year, however, I had the luxury of being alive and had a fabulous time dancing with the French. In case you don’t travel internationally and/or haven’t made your way out to France yet, there are some incredibly great dancers there. It’s impressive. Sharon and I judged the leaders in the J&J that weekend and I think everyone of them were great dancers. There were….26 of them. Rad. Needless to say I had an incredible time social dancing!

    Kevin and taught 6 partnered class (2 for each level) and then 2 solo classes. We did leading and following rock steps, triple steps, and weight changes in open position and close position for the beginners. With the intermediates, we did our “Touch Me” class which is a progression of 7 moves. In the top level we showed the difference between walking, triple steps, syncopated rock steps, and bouncing and then built on that by adding in turns. Kevin also taught solo jazz and a hat trick class and I taught solo jazz and a burlesque class. More on that later.

    Not that these videos will actually do the event justice, but here are some snippets from the weekend. And a big Thank You to Anne-Helen and Bernard. Thanks for taking such great care of us and congratulations on finishing the studio 20 minutes before the event started! :D

    The winning team routine:

    Nicolas Deniau & Mikaela Hellsten winning showcase:

    The Charleston final at CRC 2011 with Mikaela Hellsten, Oliv Wan, Fabien Vrillon, Tatiana and Julien Stoehr

    Blues Finals with Julien Stoehr, Gigi, and Pauline:

    It was audience judged and they couldn’t decide who was the winner so they needed one more song.

    Gigi won. Well done missy!

    A fun Hat Trick performance by Bernard and Charly, his son.

    Another showing of Communication:

    I really like performing Communication in that dress. I recently put those tights in my regular rotation and I like them. They aren’t super flashy, but they are subtle and have a little bit of flare.

    Something that made performing in that space kinda fun was that the lights were behind us. While performing, I could see the faces in the audience really, really well. However, when I was judging, I could clearly see the outline of the dancers, but not really their facial expressions. If we are invited back to perform next year, I’m hoping to choreograph something that would utilize the lighting better. The smoke machine and lighting set a very magical, almost mystical atmosphere. Love it!

    Otherwise, I can’t find the J&J footage or the strictly. Does anyone have that?

    Category Events | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  5. Leaping Lindy 2011

    February 17, 2011 by Jo

    I’m so grateful that it was warmer this year at Leaping Lindy than it was last year! I was able to run around in dresses and tights without issue. :D

    Here’s the scoop. I left LAX on Thursday, arrived in Zurich on Friday, met up with Skye and Kevin at the airport and trained out to Bern. The Hotel National was 3 minutes walk from the station and was just as cozy as I remember it. This year Kev and I stayed on the second floor and had a darling little room with a great big window. The sunlight that poured into our room was really lovely to have in the mornings. Yes, there were curtains, and yes, they were drawn, but they were rather thin. Ah…the point I was originally heading towards; even with a direct flight from LAX -ZUR, I spend a total of 21 hours in transit. My goodness is right!

    Highlights of the weekend:

    - Getting to see Kev after such a long break. It was great to get to reconnect with him after not seeing him for a month. We gabbed like girls! It was awesome.
    - Goodie bags waiting for us on our bed. There were these cute little madeleine that were in the shape of bears!
    - Classes were walking distance from the hotel.
    - The evening dances were held at the Casino which had a stunning ballroom and a sparkly chandelier.
    - The amazing staff – thanks for helping with the sound system, transportation, and all the other small details that make an event run so beautifully.
    - Being able to sleep through dinner and not have it be an issue.
    - Gordon Webster on Saturday night! Man, he and his band were jammin’. I had such a great time just listening! Naomi Uyama also sang with them and she was lovely, as always.
    - Social dancing on Sunday. I was finally tired enough that I wasn’t anticipating and just let myself be moved. Every dance I had was outstanding. Skye, Peter, and Kevin: thanks for leading my ass around in that teeny tiny space and for keeping me safe from getting stepped on.
    - Naomi djing from her iphone on Sunday night. The music was awesome solely because of her. Thank Naomi!!
    - Peter Lerch for letting Kevin and I crash at his house on Monday night and getting us to the train Tuesday morning.

    VIDEOS FROM THE WEEKEND:

    There are other angles of these performances, but I really enjoyed watching the dances from this angle because I rarely see them from here.

    What we taught:

    Tricks & Lifts: climbing exercise. flying baby doll.

    Turning: turn drills and moves that used the technique.

    Advance Basics: leading and following rock steps, weight changes, pauses, and triple steps. We did this in open position and touched on it in closed position and built on the yo-yo.

    Touch Me: a 7 part variation/technique class. The moves built on one another and progressively got more complex. Each variation were similar enough to the last that the leaders had to have a clear idea what they were going to lead and the follows had to wait until the very end of the move for all the information. In other words, we used moves that looked the same at the beginning so that the follow couldn’t recognize the move because all of them were so similar.

    Category Dancers, Events | Tags: ,,,,,, | No Comments

  6. Vote for Dax & Sarah

    January 19, 2011 by Jo

    Two of my loveliest, gorgeous, talented friends are currently competing on CBS Live To Dance. Dax Hock and Sarah Breck are doing a fantastic job representing Lindy Hop to the mainstream media and is bring such much needed recognition to a dance form that is under appreciated.

    Please take a minute to VOTE FOR THEM. There are 3 ways to vote for your favorite acts on Live To Dance:

    1) Call  1-855-live-to-5  10 times
    2) text the number 5 to 97979 10 times
    3) Voting online: go here to the website to become a registered user of cbs.com in order to vote. Do this 25 times!

    Voting via toll-free and text message will remain open for 2 hours after the show broadcast in each region. Online voting will remain open until 9:00 am PT/ 12 noon ET each Thursday.

    Here’s a snippet from the show before they made it to semi-finals.

    Now go vote 45 times! xoxo

    Dearest Dax, I hope you back gets better. I know this darn injury has been chasing you for a while. Darling Sarah, keep doing what you’re doing. I wish you both the best of luck. Thank you for representing lindy hop. We all love you. xoxo

    UPDATED: Here’s there performance from tonight

    Category Competition, Dancers | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  7. Lone Star Championship 2011 – Performances

    January 16, 2011 by Jo

    Hot Club Stomp put some a great show this weekend at Lone Star Championships. Here are the performances from Friday night!

    Mikey and Nikki – Georgia Swing Shift

    Jeremy, Shesha, and Nick – Hat Trick Tranky Doo

    Maple Leaf Rag

    Team Routine

    Nick Williams

    Michael Darigol (Dargoff) & Brittany Johnson

    Category Dancers, Events | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  8. My performances at Lindy Focus IX

    January 4, 2011 by Jo

    I am planning on posting a slue of videos and pictures from Lindy Focus in the next few days, but for now, here are some videos of my work from this past weekend!

    NYE Performance – Bellboy – starring Sharon Davis, Evita Arce, and Jo Hoffberg

    Sharon did a fantastic job choreographing this and Evita did an awesome job (re)learning this earlier that afternoon. Can we say “stud”?!! Always a pleasure to perform with these two terribly talented dames.

    NYE Performance – Roustabout – starring Nina, Kelly, Carla, Maryse, Annie, Claudia, Natasha, Laura, Sharon, Evita, Nikki, Vanessa, Karen, Casey and Jo

    What a madhouse of hottness?!! OMG, this was such a blast to get to do; between the costumes, ladies and the boys, there was plenty to oogle over. Nina did a fantastic job choreographing this and I must say, it’s one of the most interesting songs I’ve ever performed to. Props for Nina getting this together for us all and kudos to the ladies and their costume choices!

    NYE Performance – Man from Mars – starring Joshua, Casey, Shesha, Laura, Jeremy, and Jo

    Haha, the funny thing about this is that Shesha and I talked about him wearing the hat and since he needed it for the next number, we decided to keep it. Not surprisingly, it fell off, but not where either of us expected! Hehe, one lesson I am constantly reminded of: always rehearse in your costume! xoxo

    Shesha, thank you for all the rehearsal time you put in with me and for chucking my ass!

    AND NOW onto the fastest quick change in Lindy Hop history (well, next to this one)! The numbers were back to back and so I had to hustle! Thank goodness I made it in time; Shesha might have killed Nathan!!

    NYE Performance – Charleston – starring Nathan Bugh, Evita Arce, Sharon Davis, Juan Villafane, Kevin St. Laurent, and Jo Hoffberg

    Choreographed by Nathan & Evita

    Invitational J&J – Michael Jagger and Jo Hoffberg

    Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  9. Lindy Hop in Genova, Italy

    November 9, 2010 by Jo

    This event was a tribute to how amazing Silvia Palazzolo truly is. The Friday a week before the event was to start, the Sheraton Hotel reneged on their contract and yet Silvia was still able to pull strings to make her event happen. Amazing!

    Some more of the details: The Sheraton Hotel in Genova should have been the perfect for this event. Everyone would fly into Genova, cross the street to get to the hotel, stay in the gorgeous rooms (they were really, really nice), and then wander downstairs to take class and go to the dances at night. What made it not ideal was that the Sheraton didn’t have a dance floor, so Silvia bought one. The Sheraton also didn’t have a proper sound system, so Silvia got one lined up. Now, I know what you’re say, “That’s an organizer’s job; they need to make sure there is a dance floor, sound system, transportation, a place to stay, rah rah rah.” Silvia accounted for that, like a great organizer should, but what makes Silvia one of the great organizers is that a week before the event, almost everything she had planned fell apart.

    I have no idea how she did it, but she was able to pull some strings and got 4 couples (Juan & Sharon, Nathan & Evita, Kevin & myself, and Mindaugas & Gierdre) a new place to teach classes and found a new night venue on 4 days notice. That’s freaking impressive!! Unfortunately, I don’t know how many of the students who attended knew that this happened, so I am assuming parts of the event just seemed poorly run when actually, it incredibly well run.

    Long of the short of it, classes went really well, the students were great, the facilities were wonderful, the dances were fun, The Killer Diller performances went well, and the hotel rooms were lovely.

    PUTTING ON THE SHOW

    Putting on a show to a live band is fun and slightly stressful. We’ve worked with Roberto, the leader of the Nine Pennies Big Band, before and he’s an absolute pleasure. He’s put together some beautiful arrangements for us and his band has gotten stronger and tighter over the past 3 years.

    That being said, regardless of what band you’re working with, you’re adding another layer of uncertainty. For example, our rehearsal time with the band ran later than expected and people were stressing about that (I was one of them). Even though I dig the version we performed to, it’s inevitably different than the one we as a group have been rehearsing to (more of something to take note of…no judgment, just another layer to account for). There are “sound” issue to have to deal with – the sound guy, the sound system, the microphones, etc – and that’s something else that needs to be addressed. Finally, something every performer deals with (unless at the same venue every night), is the floor. Slippery or sticky? Is there anything sticking out that we can trip on? Where’s the lighting set on the floor? Where will the audience be on the floor? And so on…

    Regardless of the challenges, having the band is awesome. The most important thing the band does for us is pump out sound and energy that is energizing to both performers and audience members. The music was spot on for us, the tempos were great, the sound was full, and the energy was up. The Nine Pennies Big Band nailed it and I think (*toot toot) so did the Killer Dillers!

    Here’s Our Set List:

    1. LIVE MUSIC (2:35) Serenade to a Savage – Kevin, Jo, Juan, Sharon, Nathan & Evita
    2. LIVE MUSIC Band Segway (with a singer 3 choruses)
    3. LIVE MUSIC (2:45) Lucky Numbers – Nathan & Evita
    4. RECORDED or LIVE MUSIC (3:22) I ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jellyroll – Juan and Sharon
    5. LIVE MUSIC (4:15) Taking a Chance on Love – Nathan, Evita and Juan
    6. RECORDED MUSIC (2:30) Communication – Kevin and Jo
    7. RECORDED MUSIC (2:41) Shimmy Like my Sister Kate – Bellboy Routine – Sharon, Jo & Evita
    8. LIVE MUSIC (4:20) Living in a Great Big Way into Fascinating Rhythm – Kevin
    9. LIVE MUSIC (2:43) Eight, Nine, Ten – Nathan & Kevin – dueling ukes

    Here are some photos taken at the night dances: Enjoy!!!

    To see some of my (crappy cell phone) pictures from the weekend, click here!

    Again, Silvia, you are wonderful, marvelous, amazing, and inspiring. Thank you for hanging in there and pushing to make sure the event went off and for making our jobs as easy as they were. XOXOX

    Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  10. Lindy 500

    September 10, 2010 by Jo

    Hey Gang,

    Here is a link to the video break down of the cupcake (I know it’s not on the DVD that we had for sale).

    Ok, what else?

    Here’s a link to a quick write-up about the weekend.

    BIG, HUGE thanks to Sommer & Dorry and their crew. They take such amazing care of Kevin and me and they are a pleasure to work for. Nina & Michael, thanks for being our “local instructors”. And to the DC Crowd: Thanks for coming out to Baltimore to dance to The Cangelosi Cards and hang out!

    Oh, ahahah, let’s see if I can remember some of the skits Kevin and I referenced while teaching. If you haven’t seen these clips, please watch them now. Very quotable.

    MAD tv – Bon Qui Qui at King Burger “…but don’t get crazy.”  “I will cut you!!”
    Blades of Glory

    Spaceballs

    Eep, it’s been so long that I don’t remember what other movies Kevin and I pulled quotes from. If you remember one, please let me know and I’ll update the post!

    xo

    Category Events, Musings | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

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