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Song by Steely Dan 

So I almost did not post this one since when the act was performed it was a fail.  But you know that is part of the biz.  This was a group act and I felt extra bad since 6 other people gave their time and energy to making it happen.

I am not going to say much more about it at this time, because I have every intention of doing a redemption performance where I fix a glitch that made the whole thing go sideways.

At that point I will update it with all the pics and details.  But for now, just know that not every act goes off without a hitch or 6 at show time.

That's The Way

Song by Led Zeppelin (here or vid down below)

"I don't know how I am gonna tell you,
I can't play with you no more,
I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me,
My friend, the boy next door."

On a mini-vacation...those being all I get of late. Trying to catch up with some blogging late on a Friday night, only my tablet...wishing I was at GB right now. But the trip is more than worth it, good friends good food, laughs all around.  It is a long way away from this act that is for sure.

 

This was one of those songs that reached out of a funk and said "Do Me!"  So I did. The song knew what I needed. Catharsis through beauty. I had never done ballet in any of my acts before. I had to go out and buy the dances, but it is what the song needed. 

In struggled for quite a while over the set, creating the background textures was easy but what to do with them was less so. I had them scroll up and down on movers, giving a more arty effect than my usual.  I did not want to distract too much from the dance, cause the dance and the song was what it was all about.

This act was for someone who I was missing desperately but knew I had to let go of...

...and it really helped get me where I needed to be mentally.

National Anthem

Song by Lana Del Rey (here or vid down below)

"Money is the reason
We exist
Everybody knows it, it's a fact
Kiss, kiss"

For our International Show on the Fourth of July, I had wanted to celebrate my bioregion, Cascadia, which should secede from the U.S., Ecotopia style, because it is a world all its own.  I searched long and hard for a song, which is not how I like to create, I want the dance to come from the song. I did not find any anthem that would be appropriate and palatable to the GB audience, knowing that even my favorites were just too local to be of interest. Flippin' bunch of hippie anarchist folk singers.

But I did come across a song in my search that evoked the opposite imagery, and decided to run with that instead.  I like the heavy layer of cynicism that I feel in the song itself, though I am not really sure if that is just my bias or Lana's intent.

In all honesty this was THE hardest act to conceptualize I have ever done.  I had to do research on mansions, imagery of wealth, etc. etc.  I even watched the video for the song which I never do for fear of contaminating my process, but I was desperate for a direction.  Why was it so hard? Because I do not idealize wealth or the 1%. I do not visualize it or my place in it.  I might like fine things in my life, my mom always said I have "champagne tastes and a beer pocketbook."  But lifestyles of the rich and famous...I am completely out of touch.

Limos, champagne, luxury pool, and a whole lot of cash, well that is answer isn't it?  I do love the way the act turned out.  Challenging myself to see the world differently even if I do not covet that life, was good.  

For very good reasons I was an absolute nervous wreck while performing it, not only was it the first performance after our break, but there was a special man in the audience who (for reasons that will remain out of here) was "meeting" me for the first time and I really wanted to impress him.  I think I did. *winks*

The Promise Room

Song by Dive Index here or vid down below

"Cause it's a dangerous game

But I'm protected by the arms of this embrace

For now 

I see, right through the rain

Like I can taste the sun and hold it again

Hold it again."

So now it is official, there is no such thing as a concept crisis anymore. It is just the inevitable side effect of my own limitations and collaboration that makes me jump horses mid race. I now accept this as the reality of creation.  

This week's offering was the pinnacle of this realization. I had something planned and it was not the right timing. I spent all my L$ on it and was in prep mode when I got the word it would be a no go. Totally the right call for the right reasons, but I was stuck on where to go, with no money and a week to make it happen.

With a few freebies and cheapies, a song I recently fell in love with, and the vast black hole that is my 94k inventory I pulled out an act that is probably my new favorite. And next to Peel Me a Grape, I feel is one of my best.

The song so perfectly matched my emotional state at the time it was uncanny, the act wrote itself and was truly cathartic to work on. 

I used two outfits that I had worn for a magazine photoshoot, and had no intention of using for an act, but they were perfect on many levels, linking back to the song again.

This is another one that I hope to perform again and eventually film, once I learn how to make machinima. I even still love the song desparately, even after listening to it non stop for a week plus.

Deep Dish

Song by Ani DiFranco here or vid down below

"If you want to dance with me

I'll tell you how its gonna be

Cause I can't wait for the dance floor to fill..."

Ah once again, concept crisis. I was planning one act that is extremely complicated and modestly epic and I really want to do the song justice. RL health problems left me working on my craptop most of the time I was to be working on my act.

While I was DJ'ing my own private pity party, I came across a song that induced everything but pity.  It brought my spirits up and told me to put it on my list for later.  So when this concept crisis hit I brought out this good ole Ani tune, full of funk and fun.

It is set in a Chicago pizza joint, but I turned it into a lesbian bar circa late 90's- early 00's.  I also imagined my costuming from the same time, leather jacket, jeans, shaved head/ponytail.  Of course if I were to walk into a lesbian bar tomorrow someone would be rockin' this same look, but with a white tank instead of an awesome leopard corset.

Definitely a fun act, the energy of it still brings me up.  Bought some new Studio4D dances that allowed me to own the dance floor, like the song says I should do.  Also bought a lot of mesh people for props, and enough instruments to get my own band going someday.  In the end this one was about the dance, and with limited mobility, it is a wonderful thing to use my avi to help heal my RL self even if it was just mental, that is 50% of the healing process.

Runaway Train

Song by Kasey Chambers (here) or vid below

"I'm gonna take ya down to the railway line
I'm a gonna take ya where your heart won't break ya
And the water tastes like wine..."

Anyone who hangs with me for the least bit of time learns I am a Train Junkie. I love traveling by Amtrak and have done many multi-day trips, in coach, all over the country. And what no one knew, until now, is that both my grandfather and uncle were engineers on freight trains.  Even though I grew up a long way away from them, the love of the rails runs deep in my family.

A train act was always in the side of my mind and I had many visions of how it would play out, but when it came time to buy set parts and pick a song I had to go with what was available and this sexy mesh freight train was just the right thing.

Back in my zine writing/publishing days I put out one "Rockin' the Rails" with all kinds of moments I collected on an epic-ly long trip cross country, that involved two layovers in big cities, where Amtrak foot the bill.  By the time I made to my parent's house, my mom said, "You would have got here faster by dogsled." And she was kind of right.  But I loved the trip, I had lots of time to write and listen to music.  I made an accompanying mixed CD to go with the 'zine.  So when it was time to do my train act, I went to it for the perfect song. 

Out of 14 songs, I found the right one.  I have other strong contenders that are on my song list and may appear in the future as a totally different act.  I am not much of a modern country fan, but I came across Kasey Chambers via the womyn's music scene and really loved the CD. This song in particular always just got me, where it counts. *wink*

Somehow I managed to move all 352 mesh prims of of a 60m train with a spot on mover a distance of over 50m. A feat which is not supposed to be possible, but I will tell my secrets to anyone who needs to know.  The rest of the set was inspired by 70's TV Westerns, I needed to cover most of the stage and the new windows on the theater to hide my train.  So I made a big TV not too unlike one my parents had when I was a kid.  As for the dancing, I wanted to do to complicated jumping between the cars and such, but in the end the continuity of the dance and sheer sexiness of the moves was more important to me.

The night of the show, I also managed to do something that should be impossible, I was wearing two copies of my shape.  I did not see it, nor did most other folks, but it gave me the most burly biceps EVER, and I had to spend the rest of the night cleaning up Jess's drool trail that followed me. *giggles*

Long Snake Moan

Song by PJ Harvey (here) or vid down below

"You wanna hear my long snake...moan!
You oughta see me crawl my...roar!
It's my voodoo working..."

Three acts into this run and I have done three holidays. This time it is St. Patrick's Day.  I will save the rant about the persecution of the Pagans that this holiday represents, since I had it here last year at this time when I did "Union of the Snake".  

Immediately after I was committed to doing the Duran Duran tune last year, I stumbled back across this PJ Harvey song, and knew I must do it next year.

Changed the set around, got all new costumes, and instead of riding off into the rainbow on a huge snake, I became one instead.  It was a little challenging to find the right movements for the Land Naga that I became.  So many of my dances had the snake tail doing all sorts of improbable motions.

This one was really fun, and damn sexy, at least it was goood for me, hope it was for the audience too. *wink wink*

My next act will not be attached to any holiday, I promise.  I do not even get all caught up in them in real life, so this was kind of weird for me, but I feel the acts can stand on their own so I know I have not gone completely overboard.