“When she she dances, she goes and goes…”

ダンスがメインの劇場、Sadler’s Wells Theatre（サドラーズ・ウェルズ劇場）で開催中のSvapnagata Festivalの演目、「Akram Khan & Nitin Sawhney: Confluence」を見た。友人が、一緒に見る予定だった人が突然来れなくなったというので、講演の前日に誘ってくれたのだ。前から数列目と言うとても良い席で、パフォーマンスを目の当たりにできた。

Svapnagata（サンスクリット語で「Dreaming（夢見ている）」の意） Festivalは、２週間に及ぶインド音楽とダンスのフェスティバル。Confluence（26〜28日）はそのトリを務める公演で、世界初演となる。Confluence（合流、群衆、集合）は、Zero Degrees（ゼロ度・2005年）やBahok（バホーク・2008年）でも共作した、バングラデシュ系イギリス人のダンサー／振付師であるAkram Khan（アクラム・カーン）とインド系イギリス人の作曲家・Nitin Sawhney（ニティン・ソーニー）がコラボ。彼らのルーツである南アジアの文化的・精神的影響を探る作品だ。

ゼロ度は、私たちの好きなイギリス人アーティスト・アントニー・ゴームリーが製作した人形を舞台で使っているというので、同じくサドラーズ・ウェルズで見たのだが、その時に、カーンのダンスに初めて出会った。Confluenceでも彼の魅力は充分生かされ、北インドの古典舞踊カタック（Kathak）の踊り手でもあるカーンの、しなやかで力強いダンス、流れるような手の動き、ぶれない高速旋回、そして足に鈴をつけて踊るカタックの見事なステップが、半透明のスクリーンに幽玄的にぼんやりと浮かび上がる、スクリーンの後ろで演奏するミュージシャンたちの奏でるソーニーの美しい音楽と見事にマッチしていて、観客を魅惑・熱狂させた。古典舞踊とコンテンポラリー・ダンス、そして伝統的音楽と現代音楽を融合させた、素晴らしいパフォーマンスだった。残念だったのは、1時間ちょっとという短い公演時間。もっと見たかった！

I went to see “Akram Khan & Nitin Sawhney: Confluence“, a part of Svapnagata (meaning ‘dreaming’ in Sanskrit) Festival, two-week festival of Indian music and dance, at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre which specialises in dance. My friend asked me to join her the day before, as she got a spare ticket because her friend couldn’t make it. She got great seats which were only few rows away from the stage and we could see the performance up close.

Confluence (Nov 26 to 28), which was the festival’s climaxes and its world premiere, is a joint creation by Bangladeshi-British dancer/choreographer Akram Khan and Indian British composer Nitin Sawhney, who also previously collaborated in Zero Degrees and Bahok. In Confluence, Khan and Sawhney explore their cultural and psychological mix of influences.

I went to see Zero Degrees at the Sadler’s Wells because British Artist Antony Gormley was also involved in the creation, and it was my first experience with Khan’s mesmerizing dance. Khan, also a dancer of Northern Indian classical dance Kathak, showed us his elastic but powerful dance, streaming hand movements, stable high-speed turns, and beautiful steps of Kathak and the sound of the bells worn around his ankles, and these perfectly matched with Sawhney’s beautiful music on its simple stage. The scenes that silhouettes of musicians who were playing behind the screen came to dimly appear through the thin screen was pretty mysterious. It was a stunning performance which mixed classical Indian dance / contemporary dance and traditional music / modern music, and excited the audiences. I wish the performance was a bit longer (it was only 1 hour and 15 min)!

photo: Morley von Sternburg

photo: Morley von Sternburg

I got featured on Inquirer today! <3

I’m sorry I can’t really write much about it now since I’m incredibly tired, not having had decent sleep in the past few days. So just a quick post update for now!

Check out PDI’s Super section for the feature on Music!

I’m so happy that they wrote down my blog<3 and they even plugged in WAGW!!! That’s actually my fault for never shutting up about it during the interview. (BY THE WAY READERS, check out WAGW in Robinson’s Galleria, 3f east wing! ITS THE MOST AWESOME STORE IN THE COUNTRY! hahaha) I didn’t expect the feature to be this huge! I didn’t even think all 7 girls would go past half a page, so this is really awesome! Just a few things about the article though. First off, I don’t listen to Britney and 50 cent on a daily basis, and I’m definitely not a fan! It’s just that they’re on my playlist for workout songs that I use for the CADs workshops and training sessions, and I showed off my playlist during the shoot! Also, just to clarify (since Martin keeps making fun of me!! GRR!!!) I don’t burst into dance when I feel happy or sad! I just dance better when I get those emotions, it helps me loosen up when I’m in touch with the song and myself. SIGHHHH.

By the way, GUESS WHAT MY PANTS ARE CALLED…

trousers + leggings = TREGGINGS.

NO JOKE!

It’s real, and it’s from Topshop, so its pretty legit. hahahaha but CMON! Treggings??? Give me a break!

Anyway, here’s how the feature’s spread looks like. That’s me on the lower right corner

I wish I got the chance to shoot with these girls! They seem so interesting, and it would have been a great opportunity to meet and get to know them, but unfortunately, we had separate time slots during the shooting day. Oh well, maybe some other time, if I’m lucky!

ALSO, My article on MIQUE YAPCHING came out today!

Check out the 2bu section of the same newspaper. (I really love Inquirer now!) I’m so proud of this young designer, and I really think (and hope) he’ll make it big some day. I love love love love love his designs! They’re extremely edgy, subtly sexy and shockingly romantic. The navy blue dress featured above is one of my favorites! The sleeves are just amazingly intricate and deconstructed. I don’t even know if I’m making sense here, I’m no fashion maven. But one thing’s for sure, Mique is exceptionally talented. CEBU PRIDE <3

Okay that’s it.

Ugh, my brain is melting. I think its trying to tell me to lay low and rest for a second.My hands are trembling cold from the aircon and  I keep typing and deleting and not making sense and all i can think about rightnow is t  h  e   b e d. . . andME o n   it….

This post is actually a rather long reply to a question about flash photography in a heritage forum Midland Heritage, so it may read a little strangely.

Blimey now this is a big can of worms. Firstly I would really recommend the strobist blog as an excellent resource lighting 101 this will take you straight to the first page of their (rather long) lighting tutorial which will give you all the info you could possibly want.

One way to use these flashes  is  to fill shadows   when you are lighting a dark dingy room, I would suggest that a set of triggers is a good first purchase for this and will help immensely, especially if you havent got any of the shiny flashes that will trigger wirelessly.

I always find it easier to work from an example and I quite like this one as it is not immediately apparent that I have used a lot of flash.

I have just used the one unit which has been placed just behind the door on the left and bounced off a silver reflector (though the wall would also work).

The reason I needed to light this was that the difference between the sunlight streaming down the stairs and the door which was deep in shadow and rather gloomy, so I metered for the stairs and used a process of trial and error to find the correct fill.

With this shot there is some evidence that I may have used a flash, first the colour of the light is different, cool the side where I have used the flash and warm on the other where the sunlight is coming down the stairs. Secondly the light is concentrated at the bottom of the door which is a giveaway that a small light source has been used (firing two or more flashes through a diffuser or large bedsheet may have helped lessen this but it is not really the most practical or portable of solutions).

I will often use a flash to highlight a section of detail aswell, this shot is the usual long exposure on a tripod which people are used to 1.3 seconds at iso 100 and an aperture of f13. the flash here is lighting the foreground and bringing detail to the “thing” at the front.

In this shot the flash would have been firing at quite a high power despite the long exposure, this is due to the aperture being so small and the way that flash lights a picture.

Put simply the flash only cares about aperture as the burst of light is emitted for roughly 1/10000 sec, only one burst is emitted during a normal exposure so it doesnt matter what the shutter speed is to the flash.

Having said this the ambient light obviously cares about both so in a long exposure the flash may not appear as evident but this is only due to the natural light taking over as the dominant light source and stifling the light from the flash.

Going back to the picture the flash is very evident here because the area it is lighting is in shadow allowing the flash to be the dominant source of light, it needed the high power to allow enough light to hit the sensor through a small hole in a very short space of time.

This was the part of flash photography I always struggled with but the best way is really to experiment.

Another way I will often use flash like this is to kill all the ambient light in a room and allow the flash to light the scene on its own.

The geek info for this image is: 1/250 sec at f10.

It would make sense for me to increase the shutter speed further to something like 1/1000 as this would allow me to reduce the aperture and put less strain on the flash units, however the flash will not sync at this speed 1/250 being the maximum on my camera. So I am stuck with f10 which isnt so bad as it allows me to keep everything nice and sharp.

Without the flash the frame is black, the little detail you can see on the background is due to spill from the lights

To light the picture I used two lights, one on a stand right in front of where the model was jumping at around chest hight on the model. This flash was zoomed in towards the model as I wanted to concentrate the beam of light on her (this also reduces the power needed as more light goes where you want it) doing this makes the beam harder and narrower and is a great way to bring attention to a specific point in an image.

The second light was low down right below the camera and bounced off a silver reflector, this light was as wide as I could make it and lower power than the first as I wanted a soft light just to fill the shadows left by the main beam (it is also this light that caused the spill).

The only problem with lighting this way is you are forced to blend the light, filling any unexpected shadows and keeping the light from becoming a distraction.

You are not restricted to darkness for these techniques either and they can be a viable and interesting alternative to a HDR image. This shot was exposed for the sky on a bright day with the sun at my 5 o’clock. This caused the top of the Helicopter to be exposed, but left the detail at the bottom dark and in the shadow. To counter this I used two lights one either side of the helicopter (my 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock), these lights were used to give the bottom of the helicopter a little more exposure than the light hitting the top, bringing your focus to the front of the helicopter and giving the picture more impact than a normal exposre could allow.

I hope this has been somewhat useful to some people, and sorry about the length, this is a technique I use in most of my images at work and while it may take some getting used to, once you have an idea about what the light will do it becomes a very powerful tool that can be set up quickly and easily

A note on my kit: All the above were taken with a Fuji S5 Pro, a Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens and one or two nikon speedlights. I use an old Sb26 connected to a trigger and an sb800 which fires wirelessly when it detects the light from the first flash (or any other flash for that matter) my bag also contains a silver/gold reflector and a cheepo Jessops tripod which I use as a stand. All fairly cheap and most importantly very portable

I regularly put images using this technique on my Flickr page and include a brief description of the lighting used.

I have a folder called Beautiful People where I keep some of my favorite photos of people I admire. Tonight I added Teyana Taylor to that folder cuz she is just too cool. I was first struck by her unique face, and then fell in love with her song “Google Me”. A crazy talented dancer, singer and totally hot… I can’t wait to hear more of her stuff! check her out. oh yea… she also does modeling on the side… whatta life. i’m officially in love with her.

“Dancers are the messengers of the gods. ” 
(Martha Graham – American dancer and choreographer, 1894-1991)

This series of pictures was shot last afternoon in my street in Varanasi (Benaras).
Men were emptying plaster bags from a truck.
I was in rush but I sopped and took several pictures, my enchanted mind decided that the truck would become a theatre stage while those workers happened to be “butoh” dancers performing.

Must see:  Michael Jacksons’ This is it!

To watch the movie trailer click on image:

So I had a conversation with a friend of mine and he overhead me tell my room mate, “hey let’s go to more networking events, like the one we just attended” and

he responds ‘ugggh… I hate networking events’

me: ‘what do you mean? That’s how you make it to the top in any industry”

him: ‘yeah, well the people who are at the top don’t network”

me: ‘that’s how they got there to begin with….”

The conversation went on and on…But anyone who wants to be success should understand the importance of networking.

I’m currently auditioning to become a member of an amazing dance company here in LA called, Contra-Tiempo: http://www.contra-tiempo.org/  Its a unique audition in that the artistic director is really taking the time to get the know the dancers, having them come to rehearsals, classes, and salsa events with different company members. Well yesterday, (after a few weeks of hard-core dancing), she pulls me aside and ask if I’d be interested in working a major charity event they do with the LA Kings, hosted by Magic Johnson!! (no hesitation) YES!! and though she made it clear that I’m still auditioning, she also let me know that this is a paying gig and a networking gig!

How does any of this tie in with networking?? Lets start from the beginning…

-A woman who owns a youth performance organization needed some 21 & up perfromers that looked 18 or younger to perform at her opening gala..I was referred by a past director I worked with.

The woman who owns the youth company also has a daughter who’s in a recording group. Their choreographer was out of town, I was called in to assist for that day. I met one of the Board of directors for Contra-tiempo that night.

She then referred me to the artisitc director

The artistic director invited me to class, her salsa classes and her company technique class and to night-life salsa clubs (to practice!!) which brings us to the gig offered for the charity event.

Even further back than the manifestation of current events I said numerous times: I’m great at Salsa but I want to master salsa, I want to be in a salsa dance company…and the universe responded: “your wish is my command!” and gave me even more because not only does this company specialize in Salsa, they do Afro-cuban, modern, jazz, contemporary ballet and hip hop dance!

The point: Don’t be a great artist and never get out there and network! Its so important. And make sure that your network is the right network as well!! If the people in your circle aren’t doing much of anything…well that’s a great way to guage your own progress!! So watch the company you keep and get Linked-In

Ash

The Madame speaks of the Maestro (codename: Miškinis), the Music (origin: Lithuanian) and the Mystery (what will Jen do on concert day?!). This is the 4th segment of a 4-part interview.

SYC closes the year with a special concert at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 13 December, with special musicians on stage.  We have Vytautas Miškinis (from Lithuania, land of choral giants) to direct the SYC Ensemble Singers in an evening of music from the Baltic states, and also local jazz musicians  Tamagoh and Tony Makarome to premiere a work for choir, jazz trio and additional piano, the “Light Mass” (by Miškinis himself).  We are privileged to have such luminaries as our friends, on stage with us. 

Come share this extraordinary celebration with us!

Tickets from SISTIC at:

$20, $25, $30, $35 (inc. SISTIC fee)

Promotions:

Keppel Nights 50% subsidy $11 (excl. SISTIC fee, conditions apply)

Visit www.keppelnights.com to obtain a valid Keppel Nights password.

I have always been drawn to the Native American culture. To me they possess this unique beauty, passion, spirituality, and oneness with each other and nature. Several years ago I attended my first Pow wow. It was mesmerizing, it was like being in the past and present at the same time. I admired the dancers passion, devotion, and spirituality. They were regal and serene and even haunting.  The haunting part has always stayed with me and my dream has been to capture this beautifully haunting spirituality of a people trying to maintain their culture in a modern world.

This portfolio is striving to capture this essence. Recently I attended the AIA Pow wow, below are some of the portraits taken there.

JLo falls onstage...then pops up and keeps it moving

Last night,Dick Clark and ABC television hosted the annual American Music Awards, where all kind of crazy and cool happenings went on,and Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert still stood out.

I like it how every year some new act feels the need to shock and push the limits of the public morals to the breaking point, and this year the winner for that category is Adam Lambert.

Adam,the runner-up for last seasons American Idol competition,decided to out do Katy Perry who kissed a girl, or at least had a hit record about it, by kissing a guy on stage.

And, as if that was not enough to get his point across, he then grabbed a male dancer, and had him kiss,…or do something like that, to his crotch. Many guys have done this on stage before,except with women.

I think the best one was that awards show on Spike TV hosted by Jamie Foxx,when he grabbed Halle Berry’s nice behind and laid a good kiss on her…remember that.

Jamee and Halle...very hotJamee hugs Halle...

Halle hugs Jamee,who hugs her back...

I know that was kind of different, but I think many will get my point. I became a bigger Jamie Foxx supporter after that one.

http://www.ballerstatus.com/2009/06/01/jamie-foxx-and-halle-berry-make-out-fondle-each-other-on-tv/

If you missed Adam’s act…we have the pictures here…

He showed up looking like this…

Edgy…or just another way to market his album…who knows.He is from San Diego, so good luck with that Adam…

Anyhow, here is a selection of the beautiful people who were there, and of course my favorites,Rhianna,Alicia Keyes, and all the other cute sexy and talented musical superstars….and oh yes, JLo fell,see image above article,watch video below before it gets deleted,and read the story in the link provided under the video…

http://www.examiner.com/x-6788-TV-Trends-Examiner~y2009m11d23-Jennifer-Lopez-falls-at-American-Music-Awards-with-video

…Oh yeah…as usual,like clockwork…Lady Gaga got down!…she is the most interesting performer out there currently, and whenever she performs…I simply can not take my eyes off of her,because of her performances.

She has way more concept than the rest of her fellow performers,and I can tell she is having a big influence on others stage shows. Good going Gaga….

Follow the JLo story here,their video may not be deleted very quickly because they got more pull…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/22/jlo-falls-video-amas_n_367094.html

Copyright 2005, Catherine L. Tully

If you have never heard of an Arangetram, get ready to be amazed…

(I am going to break it down here into only the very basics, but there are many layers that I won’t cover, so know that there is a good deal more to this than meets the eye.)

Basically an Arangetram is a sort of “graduation” performance that is undertaken by a student of Bharata Natyam. This classical Indian dance form is a combination of complex movements that are expressive, along with a spiritual component. Dancers prepare for this for a long time, and the final performance is typically a large-scale event. Some families even have musicians flown in from India to play for the dancer. Many times an auditorium or stage is rented out for the performance, and friends and family attend to watch the graduation dance.

I have attended several Arangetram performances, and they are actually quite an emotional experience. The dancers (and their family) put their entire soul into this one day, and it is a very long series of demanding movements that they must undertake. Most Arangetram will last between two and three hours, and it is almost continuous dancing. The teacher is called the “Guru” and they are also present for the performance. If you ever have the chance to experience an Arangetram, I would highly recommend it. You will get to see something truly unique.

Sobotę spędziliśmy bardzo pracowicie- na treningu w naszej szkole Fire i Dancer naskakali się za wszystkie czasy, powoli Dancer zaczyna skakać zerówkowe tory, Fajerkowi podnieśliśmy jeszcze poprzeczkę, niech się stara

Oprócz naszej całej grupy, był oczywiście też Diselek- idzie mu naprawdę świetnie, jest skupionym, bardzo chętnym do pracy psiakiem- jesteśmy z niego ogromnie dumni!

This article originally from chinesegirl

Tang Jia Li (汤加丽) is a chinese dancer and model, and now is being number 1 chinese girl top search in Chinese Search engine. Tang Jia Li may be got this famous after sell her first art dance and photographs of herself.

As of 2005, her name (in Chinese characters) is one of the top searches in Chinese search engines. Tang Jia Li defeats China new rising star Crystal Liu Yi Fei, and another top body art top models in China, “Zhang Xiao Yu”.

According to magazine Asian Wave she has a calm “Mona Lisa” smile and a tranquil expression. Her agile body and delicate limbs befit her poise as a performer. After her art photo collection was published in China, it sparked so much negative scrutiny from the media and the internet that she almost committed suicide.

Name ：汤加丽
English Name：Tang Jia Li
Birth Place ：Hefei, Anhui, China
Birthdate : 13 July 1976
Height : 165 cm

Photos of Tang Jia Li, a sexy art dancer from China :

NATÜRLICH ist das nicht ironisch gemeint!
die zwei gefickten hühner und von der tarantel gestochenen kröten sind vieeeeel besser als alle timberlakes dieser welt. so! gesagt!

I Love Electru

Xian has recently become world famous for a great archeological find, the Terra Cotta Army.  Some call this the Eighth Wonder of the World.  The Terra Cotta Army goes back to the time of China’s first true emperor, Qin Shi Huang (ruled 259-210BC).  The Q is pronounced “ch” so Qin sounds like “chin” and China takes its name from him.  Emperor Qin made it his mission to conquer the neighboring states and eventully became the emperor of the large unified area we know as China. 

A Terra Cotta Warrior

Qin was a relatively brutal man and believed he could be in for trouble in the after-life.  So, he had a terra cotta army built to protect him in the next world.  This army was found 30 some years ago but the full scale of the find has emerged only after years of digging.  Today, they have found 8,000+ warriors standing over 6 feet tall as well as hundreds of horses, chariots.  The scale of these digs is staggering! 

The Terra Cotta Army

After all the hiking around the Terra Cotta Army site, we enjoyed a wonderful evening meal, a special Tang dumpling dinner with entertainment from the Tang Dynasty period.  They served 18 different kinds of dumplings (many shaped like animals) and they were all excellent.  The show had gorgeous costumes, graceful dancers and pleasant music. 

The Dumpling Dinner

Tang Dynasty Performers

Xian was first settled around 5,000 BC and was the capital from around 1,000BC – 1,000AD.  It served as a major link on the Great Silk Road, linking many of the great cities of China to the Middle East and Europe.  While we were there it was undergoing a major transformation.  Construction was all around us and the streets were filled with bicycles, cars and people.  Bicycles haul everything in Xian… office furniture, people, produce for the local markets, etc.  We stayed in a beautiful, new hotel in the old part of town, inside the old wall.  The original town had a great wall and moat surrounding it.  

The Streets of Xian

Bicycles Haul Everything in Xian

I started watching the new season of So You Think You Can Dance on tv today.
It is one of my favorite shows, because the talents are so incredible and the girls are quite as incredible too.
My favorite season however is season 3 from a while back, where my all time favorite Lacey Schwimmer compeeted.

Wow, seriously this girls talents are mindblowing, but also her looks and charms are so sweeet.
Plus she had a little thing going with one of my favorite male dancers; Hokuto Konishi from the b-boy team Quest.

Check this extremely cool choreography she dances, I cant believe the range of talent she has, she completely OWNED every dance style on that competition…such a shame she didnt win though.

I mentioned shes hot right?
As I have mentioned before in an earlier post, to me it would be perfection to find such a girl with such a passion for something like dance, but also with such spirit, charm, glow and not to forget extreme looks.
Kinda like her I guess, yeah she sorta scores jackpots all round…but here I am sitting as a lonely fool dreaming away, but one can always hope right?
Maybe not her, but somebody just like that, would be perfect

Here are some pics to tribute this wonder of a woman ^^

This campaign by the Dancer, Fitzgerald and Sample Ad Agency generated the biggest catch phrase of the 80’s. “Where’s the beef” appeared on bumper stickers and t-shirts across the United States.