From Playbill.com:

Previews at the Broadway Theatre will begin on Sunday, March 28th, 2010, with an opening night slated for Sunday, April 25th, 2010.Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth and “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes will star in a new revival of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David-Neil Simon musical Promises, Promises, which will arrive in spring 2010.

Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford will also make his Broadway directorial debut and choreograph. More casting and creative team members will be announced in the near future.

Chenoweth will portray Fran Kubelik and Hayes will by ladder-climbing executive Chuck Baxter in an upcoming Broadway revival. Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Candy Spelling and The Weinstein Company will produce.

Promises, Promises is a musical adaptation of Billy Wilder’s popular film, “The Apartment”

This was a dance choreographed by Arnel Vasquez, to the song Maybe – Jay Sean. Whenever I watch a group perform a dance, it directly speaks deep into my soul. It is a feeling I cannot fully describe. Normally, when I listen to music, an instinct I get is to freestyle and dance to it. The dance does not have to be anything official, but it is instead movements that correspond to the feelings I get from the songs.

When pieces are choreographed, does creating moves come before the moves the song evokes? Or does the song help in putting together parts of poses? Why do slow sweeps make us think of sadness and quickness remind us of excitement? Is it true everyone can become a dancer? What is the definition of a dancer; qualities, characteristics and requirements? If one is not considered a beautiful dancer, does that mean he or she is simply awkward, or are they unable to interpret the backbone behind music?

GDI. I seriously fucking hate cramps. It stop me from dancing for three days. D:
And, I always feel like being a guy for that one week just to avoid cramps. Thats how bad my cramps can get. Argh!
I’m like nin Studio A watching all my other crew-mate  do isolations/warm-ups. And will be learning new choreography later and I can just sit here and watch them dance! Damn. ):
Maybe next time I shall invent a pad that can absorb everything and confirm nothing will leak out. No matter how vigorous that activity is. And invent something that can keep your tummy warm all the time without emitting radiation, so that your tummy will feel warmth all the time and henceforth not feel pain. :/
I should have study really hard uh. And not regret now. Argh!  Fml.

I seriously need a session with Sydc-mates to train for our upcoming performance. And, damn I’ve yet choreograph anything for our 2nd junior exam. Which is suppose to be the more important one. Argh! -.-
I can’t choreograph uh. Tsk! I can only learn. >:/ Hate myself manxz!

* Don’t forget to vote in the Slobber Contest if you haven’t yet!

A lot of you have been asking me for a long time now to show how I make up my dog dancing routines with Hsin-Yi, for Canine Freestyle – especially as some of you already know lots of tricks and moves and would like to put them together to some music but don’t know where to start!

Well, different doggies and their humans do it in different ways but here is how we make up our choreographies:

In the video, I have given a sample choreography for a simple routine – you can have a go at it if you like! The music is “Sweet Home Alabama” by LYNYRD SKYNYRD. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a breakdown of the tricks & moves involved & to download the music…

* If any of you doggies have a particular piece of music that you’d like help with the choreography for, just let me know!

1) Choose the music

“Music” is a special noise that humans like a lot, although they don’t all like the same kind.  Humans can be quite shy creatures sometimes and are very scared of what other humans might think about them, so they ‘freeze up’ like we doggies do sometimes at the dog park and don’t want to be noticed – and this is no good for dancing!

But every human has a really favourite type of music that makes them feel happy and want to jump around or even just tap their paws on the floor – something that they just can’t keep still when they hear it! – it could be any kind: Pop, Country, Hip Hop, Ballet, Rock, Jazz, etc…so it’s your job to help your human find their special music.

It’s also important to look for music which has a nice, strong beat and rhythm that you can hear easily – especially if you’re still new to doggie dancing and haven’t had much experience of making up routines yet. The strong boom-boom’s will make it easier for you and your human to follow the music and do your tricks at the right time. (My video above had some good examples…)

One thing to remember, though (especially if you’re a slow doggie like me! ) is to choose a rhythm which matches the natural pace of the dog.  All of us doggies have a natural rhythm and you can see this most easily when we are trotting - so one thing you can try is to trot around the room with your human while the music is on, and see which one matches your natural pace the best. (Of course, if you’re a big doggie like me, you may have to find someplace other than your living room to try this!)

Another important thing to look for is music that keeps changing - not one which sounds the same all the way through. The more ‘drama’ and different speeds and sounds there is, the better! Because this makes it much easier when you are making up the choreography to see where to do different moves and connect them together – and where to put certain tricks. It also makes it much more interesting to watch for your audience, than if it’s just the same sounds repeating themselves.

Lastly, because doggie dancing is a “spectator-sport”, it is good to find music with a catchy tune that most people will know and like, because your human will feel the crowd’s happy reaction and this gives them a buzzy feeling which makes them dance better and look more confident.

Length of music for routine: for beginners, 1 min 30s is plenty – it may not sound a lot but that’s a long time to keep us doggies focused and performing trick after trick! I have been doing this for over 2yrs now and have only got to 2min, 20 s on my routines!

2) Listen to your music…A LOT!! “Map out” the music

Once you have picked a piece of music, you should get your human to walk around the living room (without you!) and just listen to it many, many times. Try to pick out all the places the music changes and especially any special points in the music, like loud drums or pauses or sudden differences in speed or tune.  

Walking around with the music also helps your human start to get a ‘feel’ for the rhythm and how to move with the music – like maybe swaying or bobbing or shuffling or quick steps or whatever…even if your human has never done any dancing before, it doesn’t matter: they don’t have to do fancy dance steps – they can just bend their knees a bit or shift their weight from foot to foot or sway their bums left and right – so that they are moving WITH the music. This is a very important part of the final routine looking good and flowing, and not just like you are doing stiff Obedience with music in the background.

 For some humans, it can be easier if they count along to the music – usually in groups of 4 or 8 beats, (eg. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8…1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8…)

3) Make a list of all the tricks & moves you can do

Don’t worry – you don’t need to have a huge repertoire before you can make a routine. Some of the best routines are the simple ones! You just need to have a few moves that you can do well. Here are some basic tricks & moves you can use to start a simple dance routine (you don’t have to know all of them – just some):

• Sit
• Down
• Spin
• Come or Follow
• Through the Legs
• “Touch” – Hand Targetting (following the human’s hand)
• Circle/Round (walk around your human)
• Shake Paws
• Walking next to your human, eg. Heeling or Hand Targetting (when you walk next to your human, following their hand with your nose – it’s a useful alternative to Heeling, if you have never learnt to Heel)

…and here are some more advanced moves:

• Weave through legs (both standing and walking)
• Beg
• Rollover
• Marching (both sitting and standing)
• Reverse
• Bow
• ‘Pole’ – circle a stick or your human’s leg
• Turn & Reverse through legs
• Stand up on hind legs
• Front (crab-walk sideways in front of your human)
• Jump (over your human’s arm, leg or a stick or through your human’s arms)
• Trot (lifting your paws up)

Remember, some dogs cannot do some moves, because of their size and mobility – for example, I cannot do the Turn & Reverse through legs move because I am just too big and my human is too small! I also cannot stand up on my hind legs or do a Rollover very well. But that is OK because you can always choose other moves that you CAN do (moves that you like and do well naturally) and you can even make up your own moves & tricks! For example, I invented the ‘shimmy‘ move which means I shake my head when my human wriggles her shoulders! It’s good to be a bit creative and original, rather than just doing all the same things as everyone else.

Practise your individual moves with your human until you know them really well and will do them as soon as your human gives you the verbal command or hand/leg cue.

4) Pick the tricks & moves which suit different parts of the music. Put the highlights in first and ‘join the dots’ later

We don’t believe that you have to make up a routine in chronological order, from beginning to end. This can make things a lot harder. Once we find the places where the music changes and any special points in the music, we think about what tricks & moves would suit them and put them in first.

For example, a dip in the music might suit a Bow or a Down; a clash of drums might suit a Jump; a flowing section in the middle might suit some Weaving and a series of sudden swells in the music might suit Spins…don’t worry if there are blanks in between where you don’t know what to do – you can fill them in later!

We have often worked out an intro to a routine, a few moves at special points in the middle, and how the routine ends…but no idea what else happens in between! But we just start practising those bits first until we think of other moves to put in the routine. You will find that it’s easier to “fill in the blanks” if you have put in some highlights already – rather than if you’re just staring at 1min 30s of blank space, trying to make up a choreography chronologically!

5) Mix travelling moves with stationary moves

One good way of ‘filling in the blanks’ is to mix in travelling moves (eg. Heeling, Weaving, Reversing, Hand Targeting, Recalls) with stationary moves (eg. Bow, Jump, Rollover, Beg, Spin, Paw Marches, Sit, Down) – so for example – if you have a point in the music which suits a Bow and another point a bit further on which suits a Rollover, you can think about filling the bit in between:

…Bow…………………………………………………………………………………………Rollover…

…Bow…………….Hand Targetting+ Walking………….Sit…Down…Rollover…

 It’s a little bit like the Lego game that human pups like and you have to build things using the differently-coloured and -shaped pieces you’ve got!

6) Practise the choreograhy first without the dog

Get your human to practise doing the whole routine to music, without you, while you just watch them first. This is ’coz if you try to both do it together to start with, things can get really messy! And humans are very easily confused, remember! So give them some time to learn the routine themselves first, so they know it really well, before you join them in the dancing. 

7) Start to string some tricks & moves together

Now, get your human to divide the choreography up into sections and start to practise 2 or 3 tricks in a row together with you. Start by rewarding you after every trick – then only after 2 tricks done together – then only after 3 tricks done together… etc

Like in the example (5)  above, practise doing Sit, Down, Rollover together - before you get your treat…until you’re doing it smoothly and quickly.

For example, a very short routine might be:

Walk – Spin – Walk – Spin…Walk – Sit…Walk – Bow

So you would practise the 3 sequences:

[Walk - Spin- Walk - Spin] and [Walk-Sit] and [Walk-Bow] separately first, until you’re doing them really well…

Do this until you have covered the whole routine, even if you only know it in sections. Don’t worry if you can’t put all the sections together yet.

 8 ) Practise the routine with the dog,  without music first

Now try to put the sections together, WITHOUT music. Don’t worry if it does not flow smoothly – just work on joining all the tricks together.

Remember – your human should still reward you after every couple of tricks, to keep your attention and focus and motivation! And praise you lots and talk to you all the time. It is very hard for us doggies to concentrate for a length of time and keep doing trick after trick and following our human’s cues, so don’t lose heart if you keep getting distracted…just be patient and practise!

It can take weeks before you’re doing all the sections together smoothly. But it does get easier the more you do it and get used to following your human’s cues. It took me 6 months to learn my very first routine – whereas now, I can learn a simple routine very quickly in a few weeks or even a few days (although I might still not do it perfectly)

9) Finally, try doing your routine to music!

This is the hardest part and it can be a big leap but don’t worry, you can do it if you just be patient and practise lots.

Sorry for such a long post and I hope I haven’t scared you off! I wanted to make sure that I gave you all the details but it’s really not that complicated.

As you can see in my video above, I have given a sample choreography for a simple routine - you can have a go at it if you like!

The music is “Sweet Home Alabama” by LYNYRD SKYNYRD and you can download it here – we are just using the ‘instrumental intro’ in the beginning, before the singing starts…

The moves are:

• Walk (4 steps) 1-2-3-4
• Dog circle around legs 1-2-3-4
• Walk (4 steps) 1-2-3-4
• Dog circle around legs 1-2-3-4
• Run backwards with dog following 1-2-3-4
• Dog run through legs 1-2-3-4
• Skip sideways with dog following 1-2-3-4
• Dog Sits 1-2
• Dog Shakes Paw 3-4

- you can also exchange the last 4 beats (Dog Sits & Shakes Paw) with a Spin instead

 Of course, you can also substitute other moves yourself or choose a different piece of music but this is just to give you an idea and get you started. If any of you DO learn this routine, please, please do post a video on your blog and let me know, as I’d love to see you!!

I hope this post was interesting and useful for those of you who are thinking of putting together a dance routine…

Happy Dancing!

Show starts off with the top 8 performing Mia Michaels routine to the song “One”. It was really cool (though one contestant who I couldn’t identify who had a slightly overly happy smile.

It’s episode 100 be prepared to be crazy. (No Ellen on the panel though sadly.) Mary loves to bring up her Botox. Trust me Mary, we can all tell, you don’t have to remind us. After the judges each tell us what a big deal the show has been for them, we get a montage of (mostly the best and some of the worst–including Sex) the show’s performances. It goes on for a very long time but it’s so well edited you can’t help but feel good watching it.

As we start reading the results, Melissa is up first and you can see that she expects to be in the bottom. Is she in danger? No. She looks shocked. But after the cancer dance, I’m not surprised. Kayla is next and despite being the epitome of a girl, Kayla is performing a solo. With Jeanine and Jeanette left…Jeanette has never been in the bottom, is she there tonight? Yes. (Shocked gasps from the crowd.) I haven’t even got a clue about who will go between the two of them. I think I like Kayla a little better even though she kind of reminds me of Paris Hilton.

Special performance- Hok and Jayme perform Wade Robson’s the Hummingbird and the Flower. This is definitely one of my favorite dances on the show, it’s nominated for an Emmy. (The music reminds me that violins are really cool sounding.) I don’t know that they performed it as well as when they were on the show, but Hok definitely makes the routine for me. He just hits that bird persona so well.

As for the guys’ bottom two. Ade vs Jason I’m guessing Jason is in danger, once again because of the cancer dance and sure enough he is, to the sad sighs of the girls. I thought he really stepped it up this week though. Evan vs Brandon, I can’t imagine Brandon in the bottom. Oh, but I am wrong, Brandon is in the bottom two–I feel shock and lack of trust in America. I think it will probably be Jason going home.

Mia Michael’s bench routine performed by Travis and Heidi- also an Emmy nominated routine, they are really strong with this performance.

Kayla’s solo- once again, not such a fan of her solo, it’s like she can’t quite decide how to do it well

Jason’s solo- pretty good (Cat says she loves seeing his solos because they’re brilliant)

Jeanette’s solo- I still think she’s at a disadvantage here

Brandon’s solo- again he pulls out some really big moves, though he occasionally looks oddly feminine

Ramalama performed by a group of old SYTYCD dancers and the choreographer Wade Robson. Somehow I missed this routine when it originally aired (I think I was out of the country), but I’m glad I get to see it now. It reminds me of Pirates (captain sparrow and the immortal pirates).

Katie Holmes sings and dances in her special appearance. I’m not sure how I feel about this. In part I think it’s seeing her in sexy clothes when I still think of her as Joey from Dawson’s Creek. The problem is also that she’s just not as good a fancer as the contestants and the steps are pretty simple. I also wonder about the singing and whether it’s live. Supposedly it is, but I’m just not sure. When she bows at the end she wears an arrogant version of the one sided “Joey smile.” (They are promoting the Dizzy Feet Foundation, meant to expose kids to music and dance and give talented kids scholarships.)

With the show winding down it’s time to do eliminations.

Starting with the girls…the girl leaving us tonight is Jeanette. There is an obviously shocked and disappointed silence in the room as though everyone was unsure of how to react. Nigel says she was his favorite and he wanted her to win (and its ruined the celebration for him, he thinks America has got it wrong).

And now to the boys…the boy leaving us tonight is Jason, as expected, though I really liked him.

So the reason this week’s episode is so important is we’re down to the final 8 and the competition is stiff. While I predict Melissa will be in the bottom two girls (and likely going home) I don’t know who will join her and on the guys’ side, I would put Evan in the bottom and send him home, but I have no idea who America will choose or who the second person should be. And I don’t think I am the only one who is unsure of who to choose, so I think the performances and the judges’ comments will play a large part in tonight’s show.

The guest judge is Mia Michaels, 3 time Emmy nominated choreographer. As an added bonus Ellen Degeneres has also joined the judges’ panel though more as comic relief than critic. Nigel is back (after being absent while receiving an honorary diploma) as Dr. Nigel Lythgoe. Nigel also reveals that he originally thought the show would never work. Clearly he was wrong.

When Cat asks Ellen if she’s had any formal training Ellen responds: “If by formal training you mean training formally…I learned everything I know on the streets and by streets I mean gated community and only one street…and this guy and I used to dance, well not necessarily dance…so no.”

Once again the partners are reshuffled, this time the boys picking the names out of a hat as well as which two dance styles they will be assigned.

Travis Wall (all grown up and sitting with the choreographers) choreographs an awesome group dance to Let It Rock. You knew it had to be on the show eventually since as it’s been featured on America’s Got Talent, Make It Or Break It, and other shows and movies. The dance would not be complete without the glow in the dark costumes and glow sticks. Very Lady Gaga look. Nigel feels like a proud father watching Travis’s dance. Ellen’s comment “well, first of all I can do that…” Mary says she wants to pick on some people…no no one in particular. I think the judges have gotten funnier, but maybe that’s just having Ellen in their mix. Maybe she should be a permanent judge.

A promo for the next night–it’s SYTYCD’s 100th episode so they are recreating our favorite dances and bringing in special acts such as Katie Holmes. She can dance?

First pair- Evan and Jeanette (yay height match!), choreographed by Sonya. The theme- SHUT UP!  Quote from Sonya “I want it to be awkward.” I love Sonya, her choreography is so interesting and outside of the box. Evan really showed up this week and looked great and Jeanette was excellent as always. Ellen can do this dance too. Mary thinks he should have been gutsier and rougher at the end but he did a good job. Mia said he did good but it wasn’t her favorite. Jeanette on the other hand is Mia’s favorite of the season.

Kayla’s solo is firstwhere normally her solos are jampacked with crazy moves it seems she held back and only began to hit her stride at the end of the music. What did we say about solos!!! Rule number one!

Second pair- Jeanine and Brandon doing the waltz with Hunter Johnson. (boo waltz!) Actually, I’m a little glad because this is the first time I’ve seen Jeanine look really elegant and long. She cleans up well. But it’s still a little slow and hard for me to concentrate on. Nigel says it was a very tough routine, especially with the slow music, but he is a little disappointed (cue the booing crowd). They are two of his favorites though, which I agree because they are my favorites also, I think I want Jeanine to win. Ellen disagrees (applause! “I had no idea you’d react that way”) Mary says it was respectable. Mia expected better.

Jason’s solo- sort of repetitive, leap spin, leap spin, leap spin…you’d think he’s be better at solos, what with all the practice. I really liked him last week so I hope he’s good again this week.

Third pair- Ade and Melissa (it’s like the good old days!) doing Cha Cha with Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin (also not a style I love). They seem very out of their comfort zone on the practice. Nigel thinks they did pretty good but he had some critique. (Don’t purse your lips to be sexy because you already are. Ade be sexier.) Ellen asks if they are carpenters because they NAILED IT! Mary thought they executed well but Ade’s bum was too high and their feet were sliding around too much. Mia tells Ade it was his worst performance so far, too all over the place, and for Melissa coming from a ballet background she did a good job.

Jeanette’s solo- solos done by people who are used to dancing in a couple are always weird so she is at a disadvantage but I think she did a pretty good job considering.

Final pair- Jason and Kayla performing Tyce Diorio’s Broadway routine (he is nominated for an Emmy). The storyline is a temptress trying to take a man’s attention away from the music. Who couldn’t be distracted by Kayla? (Which judge will say that I wonder?) Jason’s toes were terrific according to Nigel and Kayla’s lines continue to be beautiful. Best routine to show off the dancer so fat this evening. Ellen says they’re both good nailers. Mary thinks “it flowed effortless.” Mary brought a train whistle this week to blow for Kayla, who is riding first class on the Hot Tamale Train. Mia loved the piece, the fusion of style. She wants Jason to stop hunching because it ruins his line, but he still id a great job. She also thinks Kayla would take Broadway by storm if she decided to sing and act too. Kayla is the epitome of a girl.

Ade’s solo- the dance didn’t fit with the music so that was weird and the first half was slow and repetitive, but he had some nice moves.

At the halfway point of the show, I would say the contest looks pretty even so the next half will be very intersting.

Jeanette and Evan, round 2- Tony and Melanie choreograph a rumba (sigh, another slow dance). Jeanette obviously has the sexy latin thing down pat. Evan…well, we’ll see. What did the judges think? Nigel says the choreography  is great but a tough style to earn votes through. He didn’t think Evan’s face showed the passion but Jeanette was great. It was lacking a little. Ellen loves Evan’s eyes. Mary thought it was really good. Mia agrees that she likes Evan face too. Evan brings something unique to the stage. He did it with a Zoolander face, blue steel.

Melissa’s solo- actually I think this was one of my favorite solos so far. it had a few long pauses but she changed things up a bit, had nice lines, and though I don’t usually like ballet, I thought it was pretty interesting.

Brandon and Jeanine, round 2- Laurie Ann Gibson gives them pop hip hop routine to Battlefield by Jordin Sparks, she is a well known tough choreographer from Making the Band (in one episode she and P. Diddy got in such a big fight that it nearly destroyed their freidnship). Jeanine looks more like an Amazon than a soldier, but that’s okay. Nigel says they’ve just started the show for him (the show has been flat until now). Ellen says they make it appealing to join the armed forces. Mary starts screaming and toots the hot tamale horn, then deciding it’s not loud enough she starts screaming. She predicts that both dancers will make it to the finale. Mia says Laurie Ann only dances if she’s moved and that’s why she and Laurie Ann are sisters (Laurie Ann actually starts crying here, something I never thougth I would see her do). She says WOW. Just WOW.

Evan’s solo- one thing Evan definitely knows how to do is dance a solo, best of the night so far in my opinion.

Jeanine’s solo- also a good solo full of big moves without overdoing it, also a different routine than usual for her.

Melissa and Ade, round 2- Tyce Diorio does contemporary dance about a woman with breast cancer and the support of her best friend. If they hit it, this could be huge. Sure enough they do. Nigel tears up, the piece reminded him what he loves about dance. He can’t think of a better couple to have danced it. (You can see some of the audience tearing up as well.) Tyce is so cute crying in the stands. Ellen feels privileged to have gotten to see it live. It was the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. Mary is also crying because they danced it so beautifully. The full trust in the partnership is what made it so strong. Mia’s crying so hard she can’t speak, which makes everyone start crying. Her father died of cancer and she wishes she had the strength they had  to support him.

Brandon’s solo- also hitting the big moves and always keeping himself moving (I find I like him better when dancing in a couple but that’s because his style tends to get this girlie posture that contrasts oddly with his body)

Kayla and Jason, round 2- Shayne Sparks hip hop routine about zombies. Jason hopes he gets people to cry and run away frmo the tv set. It was so intersting to see Kayla do a dance that wasn’t about her lines and legs. Nigel says he’s finally redeemed the season’s hip hop, which I agree. It was fantastic! Ellen says they can get their own talk show if they keep dancing that way. Ellen was trying to do that exact thing during the break. No one helped her though. Mary said they hit it hard. Mia said it’s her favorite routine that Shayne has ever done.

Now that I’ve seen the show, I’m even less certain about who will be in the bottom. Nearly everyone got a negative and a positive review and some of the bottom dancers really stepped it up (bottom being a very relative term at this point). Can’t wait for tomorrow night.

Check out the results here.

for kibum fans everywhere. so the new video, ‘it’s you’. 

is just for the bummie fans, like me. everyone has been complaining of his absence and whatnot, so the first shot is him and there are several other good shots of him. and to me, yes, it was the highlight of the video.

but the video is not why i’m blogging. as you MIGHT know, i’ve got a fat biochemistry test tomorrow and i’m wasting my time on this shizzle here. but today, we started soran bushi. wow. i suck at choreographed dancing. hahaha

it was really fun but we should have STRETCHED before we started!!! 

anyways, time for facebook then studying for that chemchem and do some math homework!

Vettaikaran, the Vijay starrer is moving ahead with rapid momentum. Following the canning of a stunt sequence a couple of days back in Alwarpet and adjacent areas, the unit has moved to AVM studios where an action scene involving Ilaya Thalapathy was picturised today along with stunt artists. Kanal Kannan, the renowned stunt master is choreographing fight sequences in Vettaikaran and if industry sources are to be believed, he has worked over time to plan to sequences in a unique and different way.

Film buffs may already be aware that Vettaikaran is Vijay’s 49th film which is being directed by Babu Sivan, a former associate of director Dharani. Arundhathee Anushka will be scorching the screens with Vijay this time in this AVM banner film. Stay tuned to this site for updates on Vettaikaran and other industry news.

Hi everyone! My name is Katie and I am a VISTA worker with the Lighthouse Community Church. My boss, Michael, is the pastor/executive director. We are igniting the Lighthouse Services as of, well, now. The Lighthouse Services works to empower individuals. We are looking to help someone with a hand up, rather than a hand out. We are a group of like minded people who are sharing life together in order to end poverty and share the love of Christ. We search and build authentic relationships all people. We feel when we are a friend to someone that shine Christ’s light. We are a light in a dark world. We are focused on encouraging people to make a better life for themselves. Our main focus is the Inner City of Fort Worth, TX. There are many ministries/shelters/organizations in this area, however, we feel there is a small, but important gap in those services. If someone is on the street, homeless, and they need a job or a place to stay, what is the one thing that they NEED? It’s an ID or drivers license. That is one of the most important documents to have to live in this country right now. Imagine the opportunities someone will have with their ID!? They can get a job, save money, provide for their family….the list is endless. It seems like such a little thing, but it is actually huge. We have a program called the ID project. We work hand in hand with the East side Workforce Solutions Center on East Lancaster Ave. They allow Michael to go in on Tuesday mornings and give a 20 minute presentation on who Lighthouse is and why we do what we do. It’s piggybacked to their regular workshop, so the clients are already there. During that presentation, Michael has the opportunity to share his story and the things in his life that escalated to where he is right now. I have seen the presentations and it is really great to hear him share Christ’s love with the group. Michael is fully educated on what you need to do to get each type of ID or Drivers License. From out-of-state to local to replacement ID’s, he’s got the answer. The same week as the presentation, on Thursday, the group of individuals who need assistance meet at the Day Resource Center (in the same community) to go to the Department of Public Safety. As each person applies for the ID or Driver’s License, Lighthouse Services writes a check to take care of them. It has been a great service to those in need who want the help! But it goes further than just an ID or Driver’s License. Without the proper documents like a “NUMI” (which is given out to individuals who need a new social security number) or re-entry papers it becomes an obstacle. To get an ID or Driver’s License you need a Birth Certificate! Yea, we take care of that too! On Thursdays after we go to the DPS, we take those in need of a Birth Certificate to the Health Department. This week was a bit difficult because the Health Department is undergoing construction so they were closed. We allow individuals to get one of the three documents as a free service for them. We believe that one document will allow them to take the steps needed to get the other(s). We also take care of out-of-state Birth Certificates via online. We print out the application form and mail it out for the individual with a check to cover the expenses. This whole ID project is a great service to those in need. It only takes about $23 dollars to take care of someones important documents, so as a team we are planning some events to raise awareness and funds to help support our ministry. We have been watching God work through us and through some of our own passions too. I am a dancer/choreographer and Michael loves Christian hip hop so together we are planning an AWESOME program! I know we have shared with some of you about our plans, but we are still in the midst of getting blueprints drawn up so we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves! We have a meeting today at 4 with a potential dancer/choreographer and I am so excited he might come on board with us! We hope that you stay tuned to what God is doing in our ministry and in our lives! SAVE THE DATE!! Monday, March 16th is our first event of the year! More details to come!

So, I wake up early today coz the AoIT heads wanted to go to state and play SFIV, plus Ian came back from Berkeley, Kenneth came back from Cal Poly SLO and Mack came back from FUCKING MONTANA! haha so I wake up early I go to my bus stop at Geary and Warren tells me he could pick me up from the house right when the bus is right in front of me, so I jut get on it and told him to pick me up over at Park Presidio and Geary. So i get to Geary and Park Presidio and I remember i forgot to get money for SFIV, so when Warren picked me up, we stopped by my house and i get about $5 in quarters and I had another $5, so i was prepared for SFIV. So we finally get to the student center and Mack tells us its closed… now Mack checked online last night and it said they were supposed to be open, but someone didnt show up or something and the workers there had no idea if they were gonna be open, because to them it was a “mystery”. So we walk around the student center just asking about it but still nothing so we just stopped by the Arcade machine and cried haha nah but we were pretty upset as you can see from these pictures how close and sad we were.

We were upset specially coz we’ve talked about SFIV for the longest time plus were back to talk about what to do. So we call up Ian, and ask him if we can kick it over at his house, and he said only if we rented “Rock Band 2″ at Blockbuster. We agree and go on a hunt, while on the hunt Mack told us about Montana. Like how theres only 1 club there, they think 3 our of 4 San Franciscans are gay, they really are rednecks, and they still have Lil Jon’s “Get Low” in their Top 3 “MOST POPPIN PLAYLIST”. After venturing to 3 different Blockbusters in a wet ass day, we finally gave up and just bought the game at the Geary Blockbuster, luckily it was on sale, so it was like $45. Only thing was Mack only had $35 with him so i had to bust out with my $10 and half of it was quarters haha, but we were still a bit short so Warren ended up using his card to make up the difference. Next on the list was to pick up Ugo, on the way to pick him up, I noticed we were heading towards CCSF. At 1st i was plannin to go to my dance class because i expected to learn something new, but then i got lazy so I just said fuck it, but my friend Aldrin asked if he could borrow my black tie, so i felt like i had to bring it over there somehow. So we stop by CCSF and dropped off my tie and then got back on the way to Kenneth’s from then on it was like the old days, just going over to someones house and just playing video games. Nothing much happened over at Ian’s house…atleast not when i was there, besides making a band with afros named Mr. Stabwounds…but yea after thinking about it I felt like i had to go to dance, because i didnt want to be left behind, because were constantly learning something new. So now Im going to the bus stop and its so wet outside and I felt like taking a picture of the very foggy and wet SF weather:

Now fast forward over to class, I go there just to find out we aint learnin anything knew, but atleast i got some practice…although i did blank out in alot of the parts in the class dance. After class, I just kicked it with Drinn, Rizz, and her BF. They were singin and Drinn was practicing his choreo for the cotillion. Here is most of his Choreos:

This dude is nice with his choreos, i keep telling dude to tryout for the funks or atleast take workshops, but he’s hella unsure about them. After kickin it we went over to the APASS office to ask about P.E.A.C.E the filipino club in CCSF, and possibly starting up a Modern, which is a dance group practically, with them. Plus I thought they were gonna have a Parol making workshop:

The star things are Parols…but yea they didnt and they were close, so we went there for nothing lol after that just went home. And now Im here, I was plannin to go clubbin too but I’m kinda tired. Ill prolly just go if my Mack and Ugo wants go and give me a ride haha.

Oh yea my sister came back yesterday and brought me back a pnoy apparel shirt …GO MANNY PAQUAIO!:

And dont forget TonicLive’s Pre-Thanksgiving Club Event @ Whisper Ultra Lounge

Also This Saturday, Come to Sinners and Saints III @ Space 550

 For our break out session this week, Katie and I decided to dedicate a portion of our regularly scheduled rehearsal (for a piece we will be adjudicating for the Winter Concert) to exploring improvisation as a mean of generating movement, particularly contact material.  Basically, we set a few guidelines and just went with it.  We knew we wanted to get from point A to point B in the space.  That was really our only limitation.  The goal was to not over-think/talk/analyze, and just see what would happen.  I was very surprised at how successful our results were! We discovered movement that probably would not have ever been thought of, if we went with our more comfortable way of choreographing, one of planning and deliberation.  We found that some of our most successful moments were when I initiated something in Katie’s body, and she very openly went with it.  This idea of initiation was something we decided to then revisit and more concretely explore.  We would videotape parts of our improvisations, find appealing moments, and then attempt to recreate them.  It was a unique experience in our rehearsals, which are usually more predicable, but I was very pleased with the results.   I feel our documentation for this exploration can be seen in our piece when we adjudicate.  These interactions that resulted from our improvisations are especially present in the third section of our piece.  (so if you get to see it, be on the look out! : ))   

Usher: Hey Deak, how can corporate worship be anything but performance?

Deacon: Usher, it’s about the attitude of the heart – one cannot judge one’s heart – only God can

Usher: Yeah, but only the musicians and leaders participate – the congregation simply mouth the words and follow the leader

Deacon: Again Usher, you cannot judge

Usher: Let’s do an experiment Deak, I’ll sing and see if anyone shows up?

Deacon: Usher, you can’t there’d be noone left!

Usher: Proves my point Deak – corporate choreographed worship is performance!