Fireworks!

I just want to say, I saw what I believe to be the best fireworks show that I have seen, potentially ever. I spent the 4th of July weekend in downtown Norfolk experiencing the annual Harbor Festival. The festival itself was pretty cool to begin with. They had tall ships from other states along the Eastern coast and even one from Rio de Janeiro! The tall ships offered free tours of their decks and some even let you go into the such areas as the lower decks... It was very cool to see since I've never been on a sailing ship before. The Baltimore II was even offering to take on guest crew members for a 4 day trip to Boston! If only I had $600 to spend...it would be pretty cool to learn how to sail in general, but especially how to sail a tall ship. I also got to geek out a bit because naturally the rigging for these ships is very similar, if not the same, to the rigging that we use in the theater that I am currently working for! (I found out that there are VERY few hemp houses still in operation in the U.S.!)

Anyway, the rest of the festival was your typical festival fare... fried food, face painting, balloon animals, circus-like acts, live music and free shows!

Getting back to the topic of my post, the fireworks were wonderful. Friday and Sunday's shows were your average shows, but since the 4th fell on the Saturday along with Harbor Fest, they made it really special! All the shows were choreographed to music, naturally Saturday's was to patriotic music, and are shot of a barge on the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Chesapeake. For Saturday, the had not one barge, but TWO barges shooting off fireworks to the music! It was awesome! I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been impressed with a fireworks show. Having the double barges along with a wonderful soundtrack and new beautiful fireworks that I've not seen before and the choreographers successful attempt at suspense and awe with the grand finale were a real treat. I don't know if I can put into words well enought, but it was just a fun and enjoying sight to see!

NYC

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to New York City last week! I was able to attend the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival; 5 wholes days of dancing with at least 2 live bands each night, not to mention classes, workshops, panel discussions, performances from dancers all over the world and over 2,000 participants in the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan! I was able to meet a lot of great people from literally all over the world whose dancing skills were unbelievable! I have to admit that when I watched everyone dancing that first night I began to feel severely insecure about my level of dancing; since I've been in Norfolk I've gone dancing maybe 3 times. I had a wonderful time and definitely did not want the weekend to end, but a part of me kept thinking that while I've been dancing for many years, I don't quite fit in with this group of people who literally make dancing their lives. I only wish I could afford to go to tons of exchanges and go every day of the week.

This weekend reawakened in me the desire to go dancing as much as possible; it made me remember just how much I enjoyed it. I think I can honestly say that I was able to let go of everything this weekend when I was dancing. I was able to dance without caring about the steps, about my ability, about who was watching, about how ridiculous I might look, about what anyone watching or even my partner might think of me, it was the best feeling! It was the kind of thing that I've been trying to get back to, ever since college I've become so preoccupied about what I'm doing right and wrong and how that reflects on me and whomever else I may represent at the time, but it felt so good to just loose and have a great time. Here's hoping that this can infiltrate into my everyday life!

Last Minute Creativity

We had a show on Friday night, on Halloween. The EAE (emerging artistic ensemble) or acting interns decided to throw a party at their house in honor of the holiday. Some fellow co-workers and I decide to go, even if we didn't have costumes, just to socialize. Well, while the other two were waiting on me to get to the house, they devised some last minute costumes based on the items found in Dawn's car. The original costumes were:

Dawn with a map, sunglasses and pen = a tourist
Steph with handkerchief, sunglasses, and show blacks = gangster
Me with a stack of parking stubs from the Scope = meter maid

We then decided to see if I had anything of worth to add in the trunk of my car. The following costumes ensued:

Dawn with a map, sunglasses, pen, and emergency poncho = tourist (we almost got her to carry around a beach chair as well)
Steph with squeegee, gray blanket, tattered jeans, and bag of used cell phones = homeless person
Me with a stack of parking stubs from the Scope, orange safety vest, and multi-purpose flashlight, including flashing yellow and red lights = meter maid

Needles to say, there was much comment on our last minute creativity and the randomness of items we carry in our cars. It was a good end to the evening.

Christmas!

Ok, so I know that Christmas is still 2 and a half months away, but I just bought my plane ticket home! I will be flying home on Christmas Eve day, and then I'll be flying back here on the 29th, so unfortunately, I won't be home for New Year's, but it's ok, since I'll get about 4 and a half days at home. I'm hoping to be able to see a lot of people in those few days, so...keep your calendars open!

Withdrawal

So...I'm having a swing dancing withdraw. I have been in VA for 2 full months now and have heard about some pretty decent swing events. The problem is the fact that due to shows I cannot attend, or no one wants to go with me...Well, it's not that they don't want to go dancing, it's just that the only time we can go is on our one day off and not everyone wants to spend their day off going dancing.

I have actually gotten to go dancing once at this place called the Rumba Bistro in Virginia Beach. They allow the local group to bring their own music and use the restaurant space for dancing. Apparently it was slow night for the local crowd due to the fact that I went the day after the Dirt Cheap Blues Exchange. All in all, it was a pretty cool night. I had some good food, and danced a little bit. I must admit though that it made me feel really good when a couple of the leads there were shocked at my ability, especially since I am from IN. I met another Hoosier though and he was born and raised in Westfield of all places!

Anyway, that was about 3 weeks ago, and due to new roommates moving in, or getting free furniture delivered, and with working most evenings...I don't get to go often. A small group of us are planning a trip back to the Rumba Bistro on Mon. so hopefully that'll hold my urge to dance off until we get through tech for the next show which is coming up in a couple of weeks. I think when I was in Daytona, I didn't have this strong desire to go dancing because there wasn't really anthing close by where I could go, but here, there is something every Mon., Thurs., and Sat. here in Norfolk/Virginia Beach and more in Williamsburg and Richmond...also, it probably doesn't help that I actually have some free time with not a lot to do...anyway, that's my swing life here. I have only been once in 2 months, but I can't wait to go again with some of the company members. It should make for a good time :)

Free Concert

It's Labor Day and unfortunately I'm working today...oh well. My parents got into town yesterday, so it'll be good to see them for a few days this week, even if I am working nights now. We got to go to dinner yesterday in Virginia Beach. It was a seafood buffet and was alright as far as food goes. After that we headed to the beach front.

The American Music Festival was in town this weekend and had I got my tickets early, and wasn't working, I could've seen Billy Idol or the B-52's! Alas, I was not able to make it. However, they had free concerts along the beach, and last night I got to see the Cherry Poppin' Daddies! For free! It was a fun concert, though not a whole lot of dancing. There were a few couples, but they were a ways away and I didn't want to desert Dawn and my parents...but no worries, I'll get to go dancing eventually! Perhaps when the blues exchange comes around I'll make an appearance...

My Fair Lady

So it's been almost an entire month since I've been here and the time has flown by, I can't really believe it actually. I've been able to settle into work very smoothly thus far, granted we still have only been cleaning, bench focusing and hanging an electric a week. We've also been assembling our new PAR 64's! This means I get to hone my soldering skills, which were pretty dismal to begin with, but it's not been too terrible now that I've gotten some practice!

Oh! I'll be getting my 5th Red Cross certification card! I had 4 already from being certified for Disaster Relief, but now I'm trained in CPR and First Aid. The best thing about that was the company paid for the class! The instructor was kind of creepy, but you'll have that I guess.

We open our first show soon, and by soon I mean in a few weeks. We've discovered that almost, if not all of the running crew are women! We actually counted the number of males that we have on the production side of the staff...right now we're at 6 and soon to be 7 out of 21. This does not include Admin, but still, it's very odd to have that many women in one place in production...

Anyway, it's back to work for me!