Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays everyone. I will check in back with you all at the beginning of 2009 baby!
Love and respect-
Micaya

SFHHDF Gear Still Available

Ive had some people contact me recently to see if there was any gear left over from the DanceFest . well good news-
I have one box of assorted stuff -hoodies mostly in size small (a few mediums) and shirts.
The box is in the trunk of my car. If you come by to any of my classes, i can sell you any of the remaining stuff that is in the box. Its pretty amazing that ANYTHING is left over, because usually it is all gone.
To find out when i teach , check my class schedule on my website www.micaya.com

love and respect
Micaya

Happy Holidays

So my company had a gig last week to perform at the Yelp Holiday Party. It was at a great location; the exploratorium. That led to many fun possibilities for all party goers. Im not sure if it the holidays or what, but people were kinda crazy and drunk at this thing. I am guessing that the opportunity to drink fee booze for a few hours really appeals to people. However they really take it past their limit so that by the end of it all, people were not very aware of their spatial awareness. They were bumping into us, spilling drinks and such. It didnt help that somehow, the stage that SoulForce was about to perform on was suddenly filled with party goers and their drinks. By the time the staff got all these people off the stage for SoulForce to perform, you an only imagine how WET the astroturf grass surface of the stage was. ..yuck.
This incident and other recent holiday tragedies that I have read about led me to think that perhaps the holiday time makes people absolutely panicked and not at peace and not filled with joy the way it is supposed to.
Dont you think we need to reclaim what the holidays mean to us all ?
Love and respect
Micaya

More DanceFest photos

Here are some more photos from the DanceFest.
Love and Respect-
Micaya

(from top to bottom)
1. SoulForce Dance Company( & friends)
2 Human Creature
3 My friend Sterling James and I
4 Onstage/Saturday night show/ presented with flowers and award from the board

Catching up

Well it really hasnt ended for me yet. I had family in town all last week. Besides hanging out with them, I have been writing checks for days, doing lots of paperwork, catching up on emails and connections and cleaning up my apartment. As soon as I get everyone paid, I am going to chill the rest of this month.

I am NOT teaching the last two weeks of December.

Starting the new year, It will be super busy with compiling info for the application of grants. Oh and there are taxes too!

Lots of work all year long for ONE fantastic weekend! It was a great one though -
Everything went well-- from the shows to the classes, vip party, and the documentary. I am very pleased with the outcome and will be ready to start again.

We got three major reviews from the top dance critics in the Bay.
here are the links if you havent seen them yet.
Love and respect
Micaya


http://www.voiceofdance.com/v1/features.cfm/1658/San-Francisco-Hip-Hop-DanceFest-2008-Merry-Milestone-658.html


http://www.sfbayguardian.com/entry.php?entry_id=7599&catid=85&volume_id=398&issue_id=407&volume_num=43&issue_num=09


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/24/DDS314ALAE.DTL

Photos from Dancefest

Memorable Moments- --More to come ....
Much Love and Respect-
Micaya

(From Top to Bottom)
1. Me and one of my students, Casey
2. Me , my dad and step mama
3. Me and my board- Navin , Jeremy, Abbey, Lindsey, Joy and Brandy
4. Me and my mama
5. Sexy t-shirt sellers- Daniel, Brian Nae-Nae, Brandy, Natalia, Jake and my son Yeshuah

No Class Tonight

Hey Guys Im not holding class at all tonight. Im tired! I will blog about dancefest later. It was great though wasnt it?
love and respect
Micaya

So Far, So So So Good

Well last night was the first night of tech rehearsals in the theatre. It went very well. Seeing the companies on stage got us all hyped up. We have more tech rehearsals tonight as well.
Tickets are almost sold out for all the shows, i think there are still some left for sunday shows. There is also tickets available still for the VIP party on Saturday night (Price of admission to Vip party includes food and drink!), And there are still tickets to the documentary screening of "Everything Remains Raw". I really am so happy to be able to share this film with you. It is really worth checking out, you dont want to miss this!
For tickets to shows , party or documentary , you can go to www.cityboxoffice.com

we also still have some room left in the master classes on saturday afternoon - for info on the master classes go to www.sfhiphopdancefest.com

love and respect
Micaya

Volunteers still needed

So I got info from my volunteer coordinator that she could use some more volunteers on Sunday and maybe Friday.
Anyone want to be part of this milestone event?
Yes?
Email us at info@sfhiphopdancefest.com

Love and Respect
Micaya

Its THIS Weekend!

This Weekend, Nov 21-23 2008
The 10 Year Anniversary San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest

4 Shows- 2 Programs
2 master Classes
Vip/Performer Party
Documentary Screening

For all info go to www.sfhiphopdancefest.com

see you this weekend!
love and respect
Micaya

The Official SFHHDF Show Line up

Here is the line up for the 10th anniversary San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest. Its almost here you all. Tickets are going very fast, so if you dont have yours yet, do not wait!
Love and Respect-
Micaya

PROGRAM A
Mop Tops (New York)
UFO Movement (Oakland)
Sunset (San Francisco)
SoulSector (San Francisco)
Mind Over Matter (San Francisco)
SoulForce (San Francisco)
Flawless (UK)
Neopolitan (Oakland)
Formality (San Diego)
Popin Pete (Of the Electric Boogaloos)
Breaksk8 (Indiana)



Program B
Shadow Optix (Santa Rosa)
Diamond (Oakland)
Human Creature (San Francisco)
Mop Tops (New York)
Breaksk8 (Indiana)
Human Toy (Santa Rosa)
Funkanometry SF (San Francisco)
OTI (Vancouver)
Loose Change (San Francisco)
DS Players (San Jose)
Plague (UK)

MAJOR UPDATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, I must announce that TOP 9 will NOT be performing this year. We just couldn't get them their visas in time from Russia. We are all so super disappointed about it.
However, we still got to move on and I got an excellent company booked in their place. Anyone heard of BreakSk8? Yes thats right, the fabulous dancers on skates will be at the 10th anniversary SF Hip Hop DanceFest!! They are performing BOTH programs so everyone will get a chance to see them.
More updates to come..
Love and respect-
Micaya

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

You guys- I can not even tell you the stuff we have been going through over here at the SFHHDF headquarters. There have been a lot of challenges. People coming from other countries are having major visa problems. People get sick, get hurt, get confused.... oh my ......Hopefully by tomorrow I will have a big new update on the line ups for the shows. stay tuned ok?
love and respect-
Micaya

Yes we can and Yes we did!

Good and Bad News

Well here goes -
I will give you the bad news first ok-
Kenichi is NOT going to be performing this year. He fractured his foot and is in a cast. We will all miss him so so much
however...
Good news, The Human Toy will be performing in Kenichis place. A few years ago The Human Toy injured his knee and Kenichi had to take his place! How Fateful!

Well the show goes on...
Its going to be fabulous!

Love and Respect-
Micaya

A little advice

So folks, heres the deal. Its regarding using volunteers for your projects. It seems like a great idea and usually the people who offer to volunteer their services mean well.
HOWEVER... you just can not depend on them as if they were paid for their services. Its just the way it is. So if you want to be sure that shit is going to get done and that the people working are going to be more responsible for what they are doing, ... pay them!
Love and Respect-
Micaya

SFHHDF Master Classes!!!!!!

This year for the 10th anniversary San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest, we are proud to offer two amazing master classes taught by some of the visiting artists!
The first class is taught by Flawless Dance Company from London and the second class is taught by Popin Pete of the Electric Boogaloos. Here is the info-

SF Hip Hop DanceFest Master Classes
Saturday Nov 22nd
1-4pm (Flawless class starts at 1pm/Popin Petes class starts at 2:30pm)
City Dance Studios 10 colton street, San Francisco, CA
$20 for 1 class / $28 for both

To register-
ADVANCE-send check made out to "SF Hip Hop DanceFest" and mail to PO Box 411492 San Francisco, CA 94141
OR
Register the day of the classes at the door

Love and Respect
Micaya

its past time for a change

im not really into telling folks what to do on this blog,however im gonna have to do it just this once.
if you live in california, please vote no on prop 8!
for real though- i cant believe that this is still an issue, lets let gay people get married and strait people get married (and everything else that falls in between as well ).
sorry- i will get back to dance related things next time- i promise

love and respect
Micaya

ANGELS NEEDED!

Ok y'all, the SFHHDF has a program called the angel program. every year we are asked for comp or discounted tickets by countless youth groups and organizations. We can only give so much,of course, which is why we started the angel program. We match angels with youth organizations who have requested comp tickets. Right now there are several groups on the waiting list hoping that and angel will come thru and give them an opportunity to see this amazing international event.

Any angels out there?

If so , please respond to info@sfhiphopdancefest.com
love and respect-
Micaya

10th Anniversary SFHHDF Gear

Well here are the t-shirts that will be sold in the lobby of the SFHHDF shows. We will also have long sleeve t-shirts, hoodies , girl ts and bags! The silver does not look good in this photo but it looks real good on the shirt with the blue. Super cute huh?
Love em!
Love and Respect-
Micaya

FYI

Urgent: Oakland Arts Funding To Be Axed!



Arts funding for the city of Oakland's entire Cultural Arts and Marketing Department is on the chopping block, pending a vote on Tuesday, October 21 by the Oakland City Council. This is a grave and urgent situation.

Oakland City Council is proposing to cut all Cultural Funding and Public Art staff positions, as well as the entire Oakland Cultural Funding Program's grants budget, to close the budget gap. This would essentially close down the Cultural Arts Programs, as there would be no staff, even if public art dollars are generated by new construction. All staff and teachers in the already-fragile arts sector will also lose their jobs. This is a serious threat to a thriving but already under-funded community. While the City's finances are in a dire situation, the cultural arts department has historically borne more than its share of cuts and now represents only 0.4% (4/10 of 1%)of the overall city budget, yet serves 6,273 children and youth through the art in the schools program, and another 957,650 people through performances, events, etc. Most of these children would not have access to arts without these programs.

The arts are not a luxury. Children and youth who participate in arts programs and learn positive ways to express themselves are less likely to engage in unsafe or criminal activities. Neighborhoods with visual and performing arts venues bring in revenue to the local economy, help prevent crime and violence by "keeping the lights on," and add to the overall quality of life in our city.

What you can do to save arts funding in Oakland:

1) Come to the Oakland City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 6pm. This topic is currently Item 19 on the Agenda, so it may be a long meeting. To view the evite for this meeting, visit evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?event=ACFFSJPPTIYVQCGKBKXY.

2) Contact your council member and let them know that cutting arts funding is unacceptable to you - a voting member of their district.

There are currently three council members who are opposed to cutting arts funding: Nancy Nadel, Jane Brunner, and Desley Brooks. All other council members have indicated that they will vote to cut the program. Contact your council member to let them know you object to cutting funding for the arts, and let the three council members that support the arts know how much you appreciate their support. Below is contact info for each of the district council members:

District 1, Jane Brunner, jbrunner@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7001
District 2, Pat Kernighan,pkernighan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7002
District 3, Nancy Nadel, nnadel@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-700
District 4, Jean Quan, jquan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7004
District 5, Ignacio de la Fuente, idelafuente@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7005
District 6, Desley Brooks, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7006
District 7, Larry Reid, lreid@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7007
At-Large, Henry Chang, Jr., cityochang@aol.com

3) Sign the Oakland Art Gallery's online petition at ipetitions.com/petition/Oakland_Arts_Funding/index.html.

4) Forward this to people you know including artists, educators, and those work for arts organizations, enjoy arts events, or have a child in an arts program in one of Oakland's schools or community centers.

just for the 10 year anniversary

This year , before the 10th anniversary SFHHDF shows begin, a video screen will appear and a short film montage will be shown with footage of the past 10 years and shout outs made by the long standing Bay Area hip hop dance community. Sweet!
Love and Respect-
Micaya

Here ya go

Love and Respect-
Micaya

night of 1000 fliers!

The other night I invited my dance company SoulForce over to hand out SFHHDF fliers as people were leaving from the Americas Best Dance Crew show. I live close to the Paramount Theatre , so they came over to my place first where we ordered pizza and had some drinks. At about 9pm we all got a stack of fliers in our hands (there were 1000 total) and walked to the Paramount. I told them to put fliers on parked cars too. We handed out every single flier before everyone had even left the theatre.

Big thank you to SoulForce for ALWAYS doing whatever it takes to support the SFHHDF AND for being so fun and creative with everything you do. Somehow they all decided to wear SFHHDF gear for this endeavor and as you can see, the photos are way too cute.

love and respect-
Micaya

Mighty 4

check it out
love and respect-
Micaya

more insider info on the sfhhdf

Here are the updates-
-looks like Elements of Motion will NOT be performing this year at the 10th anniversary SFHHDF due to an illness- boo-hoo!
-I am however, trying to book some b-boys from Scotland in their place- the issue of course is... money$$
-speaking of money- that seems to be THE issue with many people. It is soo hard paying each and every company and their travel expenses- can you imagine what that is like?
-Popin Pete is definitely performing this year at the SFHHDF AND he will be teaching a master class as well! for more info go to www.sfhiphopdancefest.com
-is anyone going to the MTV americas best dance crew show this saturday? Did anyone notice that their tickets are more expensive than mine? (SFHHDF has more companies than this show and international companies to boot!)

until next time-
Love and Respect
Micaya

audition

I got this email today from Dahrio from Neopolitan Dance Company
Love and Respect-
Micaya


hey micaya..
can u please let your dancers know of this small audition call...
if they're interested, they can email me
dahriohutton@excite.com

Audition Call
A san jose independent pop artist is looking for Female dancers for a gig on oct.17 in san francisco.
its a club gig, and its paying

the dancers will be performing to one song, maybe...2

u have to be 21 and up or have an id....
there will probably be only one rehearsal..

im conducting an audition for the artist this thursday night at new Style Motherlode dance studio in oakland...time 9:15pm

all they wanna see is a free style to basically check out your sex appeal, and style.and get a picture, so they can make a decision from there.. it will be a very low key easy audition.

let me know if any of your dancers are interested and able to come...

thanks,
dahrio
NEOPOLITAN

Updates for the SFHHDF

So I have refrained from keeping you in the loop of all the SFHHDF stuff Im dealing with all the time cause Im not sure that you are interested. But then I started thinking that it is a learning experience to see what it is like to produce and curate a festival such as this.
so here goes-
-I have been sending around a videographer to tape short shout outs from the long standing Bay Area hip hop dance community leaders. There will be a short video montage played before every show with these shout outs in them. They are real good!
-We are getting more food for the VIP party this year. Last year there wasnt too much, but this year we will have much more! And of course, plenty of booze!
-I am still getting the final file from the guy who is doing the art work for the gear. We are doing black shirts etc with different color graphic on them in foil. Foil is very shiny stuff. I cant wait to see this done. Its gonna be very nice!
-Im getting posters and fliers soon, if you want to be part of the SFHHDF street team , please contact us at info@sfhiphopdancefest.com and
-If you want to volunteer during the weekend of the show, email us at the same email address above and I will forward your email to the volunteer coordinator
-The filmmaker of the documentary just alerted me last week that he is not going to make it to the DanceFest! However he is sending a very knowledgeable replacement to answer questions for the Q & A after his film. crazy huh?
-I just got an email from an out of town company that might not make it at all this year due to an illness. I will update you as soon as I confirm this for sure .dont worry, i have alternate companies that are fab!


OK Thats enough for now y'all. I will keep you updated on this journey. Thanks for reading!

love and respect-
Micaya