Romantic Couples Dance a Success with Swoon

And tonight my dream came true - I danced couples in sync. Five couples, to be sure, but it is a start. Everyone was dressed to the teeth and the music was awesome, of course, because Tina did it! I am tired and wishing I had access to more dances of the quality I like. There are tons more couple dances in SL but they make the dancers look awkward because they are so fast and jerky. Doing an hour with only 23 dances (that was all that I could find acceptable) was a bit daunting, but I had a lot of fun. It is very different to choreo couples dances than singles dances. The intan "list" is a blue box menu with pages that need to be recalled after every choice - but it is still more relaxing for me because i could let the dances cycle a bit longer and didn't need to change them out every 15-30 seconds. I could hear chuckles when a few dancers recognized the cuddles I threw in toward the end (a kiss and the beginning of Moments.) But if everyone had fun, I am pleased. And Lil wants it to be a regular event every week, so I guess she liked it too!

Of choreography ( what else did you expect?)

When I first started to choreograph dance back in January 2008, I had no idea how much fun I would have with it. I can remember back in July 2007 when I first met the Funky Feats and fell in love with Nan's leading. I decided that I had to learn how to do it too. After all, how hard could it be? It wasn't until 5 months later that I finally figured out how to use a HUD to choreograph dances. And I cringe now when I think of how I danced my friends with only a handful of dances available. They didn't seem to mind - and I didn't know better. Now I have nearly 200 dances in the HUD. I have cards that list dances appropriate for different genres or different races (fae/mer/bipeds/tinies). And I think that is the best part of choreographing: dancing differently for each genre or race. I have done broadway, celtic, swing, blues, disco, jazz and fae! And what a blast I have had finding dances to fit each genre.

As difficult as splitting from Allan was for me, it has been good. I am not as busy with gigs as I was before, but with a RL job now I could never handle more than one booking a night anyway. I have met so many great DJs and done so many different sets that I have expanded and grown. Ot challenges me all the time; her music is eclectic and allows me to use nearly all my dances on swing/rock/whatever else nights. I am not so bored as I was (with Allan) because her music is always changing - different genres and styles. His sets were fairly easy, good for relaxing and only used about 65% of the dances. But he DID spoil me - I knew which songs were coming up so I could be prepared for them. Now I never know what will be next so choreographing is a real challenge. But fun! I love a challenge.

Thursday night I will be doing something very different: choreographing couples dance. Practice has been particularly hard for me. It takes two to properly activate the dances and I am only one av. Tori has been wonderful by allowing me to whirl him around the dance floor and make him look as silly as I feel when I miss a cue. (I have had help from my friends Chester and Moon too.) But Thursday is looming and I do not have a date! I will ask my group again, but I think all the men are either already partnered or from Europe (which has a 6 hour time difference.) Tulsa, faithful friend that he is, said if I was really stuck he would agree to help me out, but as much as I love him, I really don't want to dance with my brother. How ironic that the choreographer can't find a dancing partner!

Relationships

I went to a wedding yesterday with Tori. He didn't log on until the ceremony was over, but we arrived at the reception in time for the traditional newlyweds' first dance and all the subsequent activities. It was Rollem's wedding and all of the old gang was there. We didn't stay long; we left to explore a wine cellar and ended up talking about everything and nothing like we always do while we enjoyed a glass of very common red. Then we went to Zoundz to look for a whistle gesture and discovered it was really a wolf whistle! There were many, many natural and bird sounds so I will probably go back and pick up a few for my garden. And we had fun trying all the silly female gestures.

I was feeling pretty confident about how I had handled seeing all the friends who no longer come to my dances, so we decided to go to Allan's gig. I miss his music (it was always pretty good) and he is definitely entertaining. When we got there, Tori didn't want to dance on Salena's hud (probably being loyal to me) so we pair danced on the intan, changing dances as best I could with the limited variety. I was really feeling good about the fact that I could actually exist in the same area as Allan and not get upset. Then Allan did what Allan does - he dedicated a song to Tori and me! I am not sure what prompted it, but it really upset me that he would do something like that without even asking the "couple" involved! He just made the wrong assumption! And Allan made me uncomfortable so I told Tori I had to leave - that things had been fine up to that point, but I couldn't stay any longer. I thought I had forgiven Allan, but apparently I haven't, even though it has been nearly 4 months. Poor Tori had to deal with my upset and calm me down (which he did by making me laugh.) But I don't think I will be going to any of Allan's sets for a long time. He embarrassed me and I felt like a laughing stock!


Tori and I are friends; very, very good friends. There is no one I would rather spend time with or dance with, but we have spent so much time together over the last few months that everyone thinks we are a couple. And I guess we are, just not in the traditional bf/gf sense. I am not sure if this bothers me. Perhaps I just have a few regrets. There are twists and turns in any relationships and I didn't want to follow the usual progression. I have too much respect for Tori.

So what will today bring? I don't know and I don't care. I will just let (second) life happen...

Week of February 15

Sunday was a red letter day. Two weeks of planning, a week of dance shopping and three days of landscaping finally ended in the long awaited fae/angel dance. I am not sure how many in total came out to the event, but my circle was full most of the two hours. TinaMarie Beck had meticulously picked out each piece of music for the dance and I can honestly say that not one song was out of place. Tina is a fabulous DJ who takes pride in her work and is a joy to work with. She hand picks the music to match themed events and always knows exactly what will work. I had a ball choreographing with my newly acquired "air" and "fly" dances. We all soared over the meadow whenever the music called for it. And I was disappointed when the two hours were over. :-(

Monday I had the opportunity to do a private party with another new DJ (for me). He loves disco and is building a club. I will certanly go back and visit when it is open. I really enjoyed the music.

Tuesday it was TinaMarie again, but this time at Swoon. I just love the Swoon people: pleasant and happy all the time! The theme was 20'3 - 30's, so I got to buy a new flapper dress. This coming week the theme is 70's so I guess that means disco. Uggh - another trip to sine wave, the place I love to hate when I shop there.

Wednesday Ot sent me 11 new celtic songs, all of which had drums and varying rhythms. So that meant shopping for dances again! (And people wonder what I do with my tips: I never have money left over for clothes!) But the dances were a success. I went to 3FX again and wished I had an unlimited budget. I bought 8 dances before I realized I needed to save enough for rent. Oh! their dances are so much fun!

And last night, Friday, I got to use the dances with Ot's new music. The dances work very very well. If I had more of the same, I could stage Riverfest! Once again the time flew so fast that I forgot to remind my group to come dance. (I usually send a reminder half way through the show).

Today the only pending item is the 007 hour at La Scala: the music from Bond movies and lots of beautiful dresses and handsome government agents! Always a lot of fun. The dance with DJ Andromeda has been canceled because he has a RL commitment (darn that old RL). So I am free to play nearly all day.

Fae/Angel/Mer Dance

This has been a project to pull together! This event was planned by a Mermaid who used to be Fae. She had a vision of fae & angel swooping over trees in Aglarond. She also had a vision of Merfolk "dancing" in the same fashion (but under water). After explaining that mer dances are very different from those for bipeds, AND that I could not work two dance huds at once, we came to a compromise. I will choreograph dances for the bipeds and include as many "air" dances as I can. I will also provide a "chim" full of mer dances. So tonight I bought the cutest little seahorse for a chim and added 25 mer dances to it, for a total of 27 dances. While the mer chim will not be as much fun as a choreographed dance, there is still plenty of variety so the mer won't be bored (I hope).

We are holding this event in Elvendale on a piece of land owned by Klara, the mer I was speaking of. She has built a pond to accommodate the merfolk. And I have begun to landscape the "meadow" with trees and mushrooms. I am pleased with the result so far, but I am nowhere near finished; I want to add lots of flowers and bushes and more trees so it looks like a clearing in a forest, but still maintain the ability to cam around.

I will be working with DJ TinaMarie Beck, one of only two I know who could handle the music assignment. And she has decided to dress as a drow. I only hope she doesn't scare off most of the fae!

Weekend Plans

There is just not enough time to do all I want to do anymore. First of all, I have 3 bookings for dance: 6-8 tonight at Ot's Celtic set, 1-2 tomorrow at La Scala for 007 Hour and 2.30 - 4.30 at Rick's (not sure of theme yet). On Saturdays I usually go to Celtic Sunrise (9-11) at the Drunken Drow. Then I go to story hour at the SS Galaxy; Shandon Loring is an expert story teller and I love his Irish accent! And of course from 7-9, I need to visit the Pink Rose to listen to DJ Winston who does awesome blues. I always feel so mellow after listening to him.

Treasure Quest has it's monthly Challenge Hunt this weekend and I know it will take me forever, so I will probably TP all over SL in search of goodies both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I need to search for some "air" dances suitable for fae, angels and merfolk. Hehe - I hope tips are good this weekend. And I need to catch up on freebie shopping. I have a butterfly av I want to play with (where do butterflies go anyway?) and I want to fly my dragon again. It has been a couple of months since she was out and about. Whew! what a great weekend it will be if I can do it all.

Grandparents

I just had to share this charming picture! Grandfather Tori is very dour (does he know how to smile?) but Grandmother Emy loves him anyway.
I am wearing Tea Time from M'Lady. Don't ask where the kilt is from - I really don't know. The Picture was taken on the grounds of La Scala which is truly worth visiting. Walk hand in hand along the sea and find many lovely places to hide from the world!