Hiya Everyone!
After my last Burning Man post I got a lot of questions about what Burning Man is, and it's so hard to answer that question. So, instead of trying to explain it myself, here are some links to some cool sight that will give you a good feel for what Burning Man is all about.
For access to stories, blogs, picture galaries, and audio clips go to: http://www.sfgate.com/burningman/
I loved the pictures on this site: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2006/09/03/MNburningmangallery03.DTL
A friend of mine just sent this link that has a lot of video clips. It's great! http://www.current.tv/burningman/
A friend of ours is working on a video that is gorgeous (that we were there for the shooting of). When I get access to it I will post that too.
Enjoy!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Some pictures from Sat. night
Hi there Everyone!
We have a few pictures from Sat. night. Most of the action shots didn't really come out, but at least you can see the costumes...after that whole costume fiasco!!!! Just click on this link. Hope you enjoy them.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=travelingnuts&aid=576460762314514462&pid=&wtok=BqeT2WxiRo.c4ov83S2WuA--&ts=1158821727&.src=ph
We have a few pictures from Sat. night. Most of the action shots didn't really come out, but at least you can see the costumes...after that whole costume fiasco!!!! Just click on this link. Hope you enjoy them.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=travelingnuts&aid=576460762314514462&pid=&wtok=BqeT2WxiRo.c4ov83S2WuA--&ts=1158821727&.src=ph
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Ashiana Unveiled!
Wow! What a weekend!!!! I have never experienced such an incredibly emotional rollercoaster ride in my life! Okay, maybe I have, but this was quite a ride.
On Sat. night the new troupe that I am a part of, called Ashiana, was suppose to do our debut performance at the Desert Dance Festival. We'd been working on our choreographies for about 2 months and had them pretty much nailed. But, our costumes were a completely different story. First, 3 or 4 months before the performace, we turned the costumes over to a costume designer who we really wanted to support. She is very creative and wanted to try to do the job. However, she was pregnant and all the things that come with pregnancy got it the way of making the costumes. Finally, a month before the perfomance she confessed that she wasn't going to be able to do it. OMG!!!! One month to go and we had to find someone to do the job. We called our preferred costume designer to see if she could do it and found out that just a few days earlier she had taken on another troupe's costumes, so she couldn't commit to doing ours in time. We were frustrated, but appreciated her honesty. So, we took a chance and called a costume designer who has and amazing talent for design and sewing, but always has time management problems. When we talked o her (Patrice), we were very clear that we needed the costumes a week before the perfomrance so we could practice in them. She said she could do it, so we turned the project over to her. It was going to be very expensive, but at least it would get done. But as we drew into our final stretch before the performance, Patrice still hadn't given us our costumes. We tried politely to remind her that she had commited to giving us our costumes a week before the performance, but she kept sending us curt e-mails saying she'd get them to us when she was done. On Thursday morning before the performance Jen sent her an e-mail stating very kindly that "we trusted that we could pick up our costumes tomorrow." The message we got back was that we could come get them after 4pm on Friday. I was so angry I could spit. She'd had a month to work on these costumes! Why were we getting them the night before a performance? There were only 3 of them to make and she said each one only took 6 hours to make. So, what was taking so long?!!! If she couldn't do the job, she should have just told us. Other costume designers had! And then we'd have had the time to work out another plan.
Anyways, we had to rent rehersal space on Friday so that we could do our final dress rehersal with mirrors and a wooden floor, and we had reserved the spot for 4:30 that afternoon. Because of the costume thing, we asked to push our reservation back by a half hour and Hala, who was renting us her space, was incredibly kind and changed the reservation for us at the last minute. So, Angie went to pick up our costumes, only to find that they actually weren't done and wouldn't be done until late that night (supposedly). What "was" done we took a look at and it looked aweful. The costumes she had made looked nothing like the prototype she had shown us. We went to her place to talk to her about it and she said this was a "rush" job and couldn't do anything to fix the costumes now. So...we asked for a refund. In the end, we ended up losing about $65 per person, but at least we didn't lose a couple hundred each.
So, deep breath. The performance was in less than 24 hours and we had no costume. We decided at that point to wear a costume we had all worn with another troupe 2 years ago. It wasn't the perfect solution, but it would do. We had cleared that option with the person who had lead the troupe at the time we were dancing with them, and she said it was fine. She was of the opinion that we had paid for the costumes ($400/costume) and we should enjoy them. However, she wasn't still leading that troupe and the new leader of the troupe got wind of what we were planning (She's a personal friend of Patrice and we got a call from her 2 hours after our conversation with Patrice. Any ideas on how she heard about our troubles?). Honestly, we didn't even suspect that we were doing anything wrong. The troupe hadn't worn those costumes for 2 years! But the new troupe leader told us bluntly that we could not use their troupe costumes. Now, just as a point of reference, I am a new dancer and I don't have much costume stuff. So at this point all I wanted to do was cry. (I have to say here, I really hope that our old troupe leader never actually reads this blog. I think it would hurt her alot, because I don't think she would like to know how her old troupe is treating other dancers. But I want to tell the whole story, so the whole world gets the picture. This sucked!)
At that point, I have to admit, I wasn't sure at all that we were actually going to perform the next day. All of our spirits were so low, and I felt desperate. And who knew what my other 2 troupe members, Jen and Angie, were feeling. At that point if anyone had said they didn't want to do the show, we'd all have given in. So, on Friday late at night, I uninvited most of my friends to the performance. I wanted to make sure that the ones that were coming strickly to see me dance, didn't pay to get in and then find out I wasn't dancing.
The next morning, Jen, Angie and I met very early in the morning to talk about costumes. We went through a lot of ideas before we settled on something that seemed okay. We even came up with a new idea that was so exciting we were practically beside ourselves.
At 4 in the afternoon, Jen and Angie came to my place to get ready for the show and reherse one last time, in costume. The rehersal was fabulous. The costume idea was fabulous, and now I was really excited. So much had gone wrong, I didn't think we were ever going to make it. But there we were, ready to go. Our troupe name Ashiana means "Glorious" in Urdu. And there we were looking Glorious. After all of that, it felt like magic.
We got to the Desert Dance Festival practically just in time to perform. Our whole set was veil work. We started with a double veil piece in which we all came out in masks. The piece went better than it had ever gone before, and they masks added a great touch of mystery and play. Our big move in that dance was that we alll switched veils in the middle of the piece and went into Airplanes. It was very cool!
The second piece started with an "unveiling." We had removed our masks and came out hiding our faces with black veils. After several teasing spins and stops, we finally "revealed our faces." Okay, so is that old world or what? But it was sooooooooo much fun! The whole dance through we couldn't stop giggling. We were like girls just playing with veils. Then we sauntered off the stage to some burlesque style music. We got back-stage and couldn't stop laughing. OMG! That's what dance should be like. That's what if feels like to be glorious.
When we came out from back-stage complete strangers came to us congratulating us on the set. And, to a person, they all said they were sad to see the set end. They wanted more. Just the way we like it! Leave 'em wanting more. And Dave (my hubby) caught other dancers trying to imitate our moves. Now that is the best compliment of all!
But the very best part of the evening was when our old dance teacher came to us and told us that we were fabulous. She has no idea how much we look up to her and how much we yearned for her approval. We wanted to make her proud, and....well....we I feel like we did.
Through all the set-backs we had had to endure we had made it and done a good performance. Dave kept telling me how gorgeous I was that night. And as we sat at dinner after the performance the thing that we kept coming back to most often was "Alyne said we were fabulous." Need I say anymore?
On Sat. night the new troupe that I am a part of, called Ashiana, was suppose to do our debut performance at the Desert Dance Festival. We'd been working on our choreographies for about 2 months and had them pretty much nailed. But, our costumes were a completely different story. First, 3 or 4 months before the performace, we turned the costumes over to a costume designer who we really wanted to support. She is very creative and wanted to try to do the job. However, she was pregnant and all the things that come with pregnancy got it the way of making the costumes. Finally, a month before the perfomance she confessed that she wasn't going to be able to do it. OMG!!!! One month to go and we had to find someone to do the job. We called our preferred costume designer to see if she could do it and found out that just a few days earlier she had taken on another troupe's costumes, so she couldn't commit to doing ours in time. We were frustrated, but appreciated her honesty. So, we took a chance and called a costume designer who has and amazing talent for design and sewing, but always has time management problems. When we talked o her (Patrice), we were very clear that we needed the costumes a week before the perfomrance so we could practice in them. She said she could do it, so we turned the project over to her. It was going to be very expensive, but at least it would get done. But as we drew into our final stretch before the performance, Patrice still hadn't given us our costumes. We tried politely to remind her that she had commited to giving us our costumes a week before the performance, but she kept sending us curt e-mails saying she'd get them to us when she was done. On Thursday morning before the performance Jen sent her an e-mail stating very kindly that "we trusted that we could pick up our costumes tomorrow." The message we got back was that we could come get them after 4pm on Friday. I was so angry I could spit. She'd had a month to work on these costumes! Why were we getting them the night before a performance? There were only 3 of them to make and she said each one only took 6 hours to make. So, what was taking so long?!!! If she couldn't do the job, she should have just told us. Other costume designers had! And then we'd have had the time to work out another plan.
Anyways, we had to rent rehersal space on Friday so that we could do our final dress rehersal with mirrors and a wooden floor, and we had reserved the spot for 4:30 that afternoon. Because of the costume thing, we asked to push our reservation back by a half hour and Hala, who was renting us her space, was incredibly kind and changed the reservation for us at the last minute. So, Angie went to pick up our costumes, only to find that they actually weren't done and wouldn't be done until late that night (supposedly). What "was" done we took a look at and it looked aweful. The costumes she had made looked nothing like the prototype she had shown us. We went to her place to talk to her about it and she said this was a "rush" job and couldn't do anything to fix the costumes now. So...we asked for a refund. In the end, we ended up losing about $65 per person, but at least we didn't lose a couple hundred each.
So, deep breath. The performance was in less than 24 hours and we had no costume. We decided at that point to wear a costume we had all worn with another troupe 2 years ago. It wasn't the perfect solution, but it would do. We had cleared that option with the person who had lead the troupe at the time we were dancing with them, and she said it was fine. She was of the opinion that we had paid for the costumes ($400/costume) and we should enjoy them. However, she wasn't still leading that troupe and the new leader of the troupe got wind of what we were planning (She's a personal friend of Patrice and we got a call from her 2 hours after our conversation with Patrice. Any ideas on how she heard about our troubles?). Honestly, we didn't even suspect that we were doing anything wrong. The troupe hadn't worn those costumes for 2 years! But the new troupe leader told us bluntly that we could not use their troupe costumes. Now, just as a point of reference, I am a new dancer and I don't have much costume stuff. So at this point all I wanted to do was cry. (I have to say here, I really hope that our old troupe leader never actually reads this blog. I think it would hurt her alot, because I don't think she would like to know how her old troupe is treating other dancers. But I want to tell the whole story, so the whole world gets the picture. This sucked!)
At that point, I have to admit, I wasn't sure at all that we were actually going to perform the next day. All of our spirits were so low, and I felt desperate. And who knew what my other 2 troupe members, Jen and Angie, were feeling. At that point if anyone had said they didn't want to do the show, we'd all have given in. So, on Friday late at night, I uninvited most of my friends to the performance. I wanted to make sure that the ones that were coming strickly to see me dance, didn't pay to get in and then find out I wasn't dancing.
The next morning, Jen, Angie and I met very early in the morning to talk about costumes. We went through a lot of ideas before we settled on something that seemed okay. We even came up with a new idea that was so exciting we were practically beside ourselves.
At 4 in the afternoon, Jen and Angie came to my place to get ready for the show and reherse one last time, in costume. The rehersal was fabulous. The costume idea was fabulous, and now I was really excited. So much had gone wrong, I didn't think we were ever going to make it. But there we were, ready to go. Our troupe name Ashiana means "Glorious" in Urdu. And there we were looking Glorious. After all of that, it felt like magic.
We got to the Desert Dance Festival practically just in time to perform. Our whole set was veil work. We started with a double veil piece in which we all came out in masks. The piece went better than it had ever gone before, and they masks added a great touch of mystery and play. Our big move in that dance was that we alll switched veils in the middle of the piece and went into Airplanes. It was very cool!
The second piece started with an "unveiling." We had removed our masks and came out hiding our faces with black veils. After several teasing spins and stops, we finally "revealed our faces." Okay, so is that old world or what? But it was sooooooooo much fun! The whole dance through we couldn't stop giggling. We were like girls just playing with veils. Then we sauntered off the stage to some burlesque style music. We got back-stage and couldn't stop laughing. OMG! That's what dance should be like. That's what if feels like to be glorious.
When we came out from back-stage complete strangers came to us congratulating us on the set. And, to a person, they all said they were sad to see the set end. They wanted more. Just the way we like it! Leave 'em wanting more. And Dave (my hubby) caught other dancers trying to imitate our moves. Now that is the best compliment of all!
But the very best part of the evening was when our old dance teacher came to us and told us that we were fabulous. She has no idea how much we look up to her and how much we yearned for her approval. We wanted to make her proud, and....well....we I feel like we did.
Through all the set-backs we had had to endure we had made it and done a good performance. Dave kept telling me how gorgeous I was that night. And as we sat at dinner after the performance the thing that we kept coming back to most often was "Alyne said we were fabulous." Need I say anymore?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
House for Rent
I can't believe I'm about to post this blog! But it's time. I just wanted to let you know that I am putting my house up for rent. Dave and I are moving to France in January and will be returning late December of 2007. Our house will be available to rent as of Nov. 1st, but Dec. or Jan. 1st would be preferred. For a Jan. 1st start date, we will move out on Dec. 24th so that whomever wants to move in can have the week between Christmas and New Year to move. We would like the renters to sign a 12 month lease, since we will be out of the country during the year. The house is in the San Jose, Cambell area. We are very close to Hwys 17, 85, and 280. Here are the details of the rental:
Single family home in a beautiful walled community
2400 square feet
4 bedrooms/2.5 baths
attached garage
12 month lease
gardener included
$3000/month
Prefer no pets
Please let me know if you or anyone you know might be interested in this opportunity.
Single family home in a beautiful walled community
2400 square feet
4 bedrooms/2.5 baths
attached garage
12 month lease
gardener included
$3000/month
Prefer no pets
Please let me know if you or anyone you know might be interested in this opportunity.
Monday, September 11, 2006
My last public performance in the USA!
Hi there Everyone!
I wanted to invite you to my last public performance in the US before I leave for France. In truth, this will be a very short performance, we will only be on stage for about 7 minutes, but there will be lots of other dancers before and after us that will also be worth seeing. So, if you are in the mood to see some cool belly dancing, please come to the Desert Dance Festival in downtown San Jose on this Saturday. The event will be at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, 135 West San Carlos St., San Jose, CA. Tickets for adults are $15, for children from 6-12 are $5.00, and children under age 6 are free. My troupe name is Ashiana and we will be performing sometime between 6 and 7pm. Our scheduled time is 6:24, but they are never that exact :-) The festival is a great place to see some terrific dancing, and also to do lots of shopping. There are lots of vendors selling clothes, jewelery, music, everything related to belly dance. It really is a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!
I wanted to invite you to my last public performance in the US before I leave for France. In truth, this will be a very short performance, we will only be on stage for about 7 minutes, but there will be lots of other dancers before and after us that will also be worth seeing. So, if you are in the mood to see some cool belly dancing, please come to the Desert Dance Festival in downtown San Jose on this Saturday. The event will be at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, 135 West San Carlos St., San Jose, CA. Tickets for adults are $15, for children from 6-12 are $5.00, and children under age 6 are free. My troupe name is Ashiana and we will be performing sometime between 6 and 7pm. Our scheduled time is 6:24, but they are never that exact :-) The festival is a great place to see some terrific dancing, and also to do lots of shopping. There are lots of vendors selling clothes, jewelery, music, everything related to belly dance. It really is a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!
We Burned!
It's been a week since we got home from Burning Man, and I am still at a loss of what to say. A friend of mine sent me an e-mail last Tuesday asking how it was and my e-mail back to her said "All I can say is OH MY GAWD!!! That's all I have to say!" And I feel like I am still in that state. If you've been to Burning Man (BM), you know what I mean. If you haven't.....well.....I think I can try to write something.
This was my first time at BM, and my husband's too. And we went with two other friends who had never been before. I don't think any of us had any idea what we were in for! By the time Dave and I got there on Friday afternoon our friends Jen and Angie had already been there for a day, so they had sort-of eased into the atmosphere. And they were ready to start doing things, so Dave and I got pulled into excitement of it all right away. That night we went to the Silicon Valley burn group's party and met up with some friends. And we met some other cool people too. Then we headed out into the Playa (that's what they call the desert out there) to look at all the artwork lit up and see what was going on. We ended up riding, actually more like lumbering, around on the top of a 2 layer bus artcar and getting a great view of all the other artcars and all the going's on around us.
But, we didn't get to bed until 5 in the morning, and we were dead the next morning and slept in. So, we missed our morning yoga which I really wanted to try. That day was a very mellow one. We visited some of the big camps, and basically lazed around all day, trying to recover from the night before. That night was the burning of the man. Dave met up with a friend and went right up close to where the burn was going to be, but Jen and I took our lawn chairs and set-up by the bike racks and lamps. So, while Dave got a great close up view of the Burn, we got an great view of all the thousands of people parading towards the burn site, in their very best BM finery. It was a fabulous spectacle of color, creativity, and pure wildness. There were wigs, hats, furs, capes, boots, bodypaint, sparkle, wings, and costumes. It was just fabulous. We also got to see all the artcars come in. They were incredible. There was a full stage car that looked like a harem with bellydancers, a big pussycat filled with cats of both genders, several driving sofas, and a canopy bed full of a crowd in their PJ's having a "slumber party" to name a few. Jen's personal favorite was...a guy riding a tandem bike. He was on the front seat and on the back seat was a metal man pedalling along with him. But the metal man was completely on fire, from head to toe. It was really incredible to see. And the burning of the man was quite a site to see. And we also could litterally see the energy of the crowd rising as the man burned and finally fell. It was like a wave of passion flowing through the group.
That night we went to bed early, and the next day was our best day. We decided that we wanted to go see all the artwork in the desert before they all got burned down that night. So we hopped onto our bikes, and headed into the playa. However, there was a dust storm happening in the playa, that we had been protected from in the camp. So as we rode out there, we were assaulted by the wind and sand and we could barely see anything. Our group stayed very close together as we rode out blindly into the dust. We were prepared enough that we had goggles with us, and we covered our mouths with fabric so we could breathe. But I have to say, it really was amazing to ride out into the dust, not able to see anything, and not knowing where we were really going, and then to have a huge gorgeous structure suddenly appear in front of us out of the dust. I think that is exactly how someone should see desert art. It was absolutely magical. And then we would walk into the art and it was like a safe haven from the harsh conditions outside. And we would stay and just really enjoy how beautiful it was and watch the dust swirling around outside. We spent most of our day doing that, and then came back to center camp and collapsed with some cold drinks. We were all so covered in dust that Jen was teasing Dave and me that we were finally the same color! That's never happened before.
Dave spent the rest of the afternoon at the book tent and Jen and I went to the Necklace Factory tent and I made myself a gorgeous garnet necklace. We needed some quiet time to focus on something other than struggling for survival so this was exactly what we all needed. Another woman in the Necklace tent said she always makes a new necklace each time she comes to BM. That necklace sort-of represents who she was at that particular BM, and she is always so surprised at how each necklace is so different from any of the other ones. I think that sounds like a terrific idea and I am going to do that too if I ever go back.
Which brings me to the question you are probably dying to know the answer to. Are we going to go back? For me the answer is "I don't know yet." It was an amazing experience, and I'd love to do it again. But, there are so many adventures for Dave and me to have still, I'm not sure we'll repeat this one. We'll have to see how we feel each year as Labor Day weekend approaches. I think each year it will be a new decision, and that's how I like to run my life. Keep it an adventure. Keep it spontaneous. But I will say this. I've never experienced anything like this in my life. So, if you have the constitution to handle the desert and camping for a few days, I would highly reccommend that you experience Burning Man at least once in your life. And then you can say "All I have to say is OH MY GAWD!!!!!"
This was my first time at BM, and my husband's too. And we went with two other friends who had never been before. I don't think any of us had any idea what we were in for! By the time Dave and I got there on Friday afternoon our friends Jen and Angie had already been there for a day, so they had sort-of eased into the atmosphere. And they were ready to start doing things, so Dave and I got pulled into excitement of it all right away. That night we went to the Silicon Valley burn group's party and met up with some friends. And we met some other cool people too. Then we headed out into the Playa (that's what they call the desert out there) to look at all the artwork lit up and see what was going on. We ended up riding, actually more like lumbering, around on the top of a 2 layer bus artcar and getting a great view of all the other artcars and all the going's on around us.
But, we didn't get to bed until 5 in the morning, and we were dead the next morning and slept in. So, we missed our morning yoga which I really wanted to try. That day was a very mellow one. We visited some of the big camps, and basically lazed around all day, trying to recover from the night before. That night was the burning of the man. Dave met up with a friend and went right up close to where the burn was going to be, but Jen and I took our lawn chairs and set-up by the bike racks and lamps. So, while Dave got a great close up view of the Burn, we got an great view of all the thousands of people parading towards the burn site, in their very best BM finery. It was a fabulous spectacle of color, creativity, and pure wildness. There were wigs, hats, furs, capes, boots, bodypaint, sparkle, wings, and costumes. It was just fabulous. We also got to see all the artcars come in. They were incredible. There was a full stage car that looked like a harem with bellydancers, a big pussycat filled with cats of both genders, several driving sofas, and a canopy bed full of a crowd in their PJ's having a "slumber party" to name a few. Jen's personal favorite was...a guy riding a tandem bike. He was on the front seat and on the back seat was a metal man pedalling along with him. But the metal man was completely on fire, from head to toe. It was really incredible to see. And the burning of the man was quite a site to see. And we also could litterally see the energy of the crowd rising as the man burned and finally fell. It was like a wave of passion flowing through the group.
That night we went to bed early, and the next day was our best day. We decided that we wanted to go see all the artwork in the desert before they all got burned down that night. So we hopped onto our bikes, and headed into the playa. However, there was a dust storm happening in the playa, that we had been protected from in the camp. So as we rode out there, we were assaulted by the wind and sand and we could barely see anything. Our group stayed very close together as we rode out blindly into the dust. We were prepared enough that we had goggles with us, and we covered our mouths with fabric so we could breathe. But I have to say, it really was amazing to ride out into the dust, not able to see anything, and not knowing where we were really going, and then to have a huge gorgeous structure suddenly appear in front of us out of the dust. I think that is exactly how someone should see desert art. It was absolutely magical. And then we would walk into the art and it was like a safe haven from the harsh conditions outside. And we would stay and just really enjoy how beautiful it was and watch the dust swirling around outside. We spent most of our day doing that, and then came back to center camp and collapsed with some cold drinks. We were all so covered in dust that Jen was teasing Dave and me that we were finally the same color! That's never happened before.
Dave spent the rest of the afternoon at the book tent and Jen and I went to the Necklace Factory tent and I made myself a gorgeous garnet necklace. We needed some quiet time to focus on something other than struggling for survival so this was exactly what we all needed. Another woman in the Necklace tent said she always makes a new necklace each time she comes to BM. That necklace sort-of represents who she was at that particular BM, and she is always so surprised at how each necklace is so different from any of the other ones. I think that sounds like a terrific idea and I am going to do that too if I ever go back.
Which brings me to the question you are probably dying to know the answer to. Are we going to go back? For me the answer is "I don't know yet." It was an amazing experience, and I'd love to do it again. But, there are so many adventures for Dave and me to have still, I'm not sure we'll repeat this one. We'll have to see how we feel each year as Labor Day weekend approaches. I think each year it will be a new decision, and that's how I like to run my life. Keep it an adventure. Keep it spontaneous. But I will say this. I've never experienced anything like this in my life. So, if you have the constitution to handle the desert and camping for a few days, I would highly reccommend that you experience Burning Man at least once in your life. And then you can say "All I have to say is OH MY GAWD!!!!!"
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