Mission in the Mix was a total success!

Mission in the Mix was so much fun. I loved every minute of it. It was a great show every night!
SoulForce, my students and the special guests all kicked ass!

Much Love and respect-
Micaya

(pictured-
8 Count Dance Ministry (and me)-
Elemental Remix (and me)-
Cindy, Laura and me-
Carmina, Samantha, Serafina and me-
Imanis Dream (and me)

2nd weekend of Mission in the Mix starts today!

I am looking forward to doing it again this weekend! 3 more shows to enjoy!

Love and respect-
Micaya

(pictured:
Alexis-
Mitchell, Danyol, Abbey, Clyde, Clarissa and Me-
Raphy and Natalia-
Donna)

Dancers- "BE OPEN"

I often say that the biggest blessing I was given as a dancer, choreographer and teacher is that I studied many different styles of dance. Being able to access the many different dance forms that I have learned has made my ability to express myself much richer and diverse. Its like I have more chapters in my reference library.
When I teach a class, I try to give my students many different styles so that they can have an advantage of being versatile. I hope that they understand and appreciate what I am trying to do for them. Sometime I wonder if they do...
Much Love and Respect
Micaya

"I look toward heaven with my arms open wide"

I got this email today about one of my pieces. This person came to see Mission in the Mix this past weekend and was moved enough to write me an email. The piece is called "I look toward heaven with my arms open wide'. I felt so thankful that someone really appreciated this piece because it means so much to me. I omitted the persons name because I was not sure if they wanted this email to be public. I also wrote my response to the sender. ...read on....
with love and respect
Micaya


Dear Micaya,

I attended Mission in the Mix this past Sunday to see my friend perform and I am so happy that I did! The energy was wonderful, the happiness contagious, the music uplifting and the passion... infinite!

For me, the piece that touched me the deepest to have me in tears during the performance was "I look towards heaven with my arms open wide". As you introduced the piece, I opened my heart and as I watched I felt you must have experienced a big loss at some point in your life, you lost, you grieved, you were numb... and then life returned.

I, myself experienced a lost in the last month that crumbled the ground underneath me, dropped the sky from above me, abandoned me a in a doldrum and stripped me of anything and everything I could hold onto for security and stability... all I had was myself and that too, in ruins. I closed up and have remained in a fetal position since then... in pain and grieving and out of breath. Getting to the dance performance was like dragging feet filled with lead and a heart that was closed.

As I watched the performance, I could feel my heart in pain but also slowly opening up out of curiosity, I was able to relate to every move, every expression, every musical note and song and it truly touched me. The deepest was when your central character sat up and looked at the last pair of shoes that were hers...

... that's where I am right now... I am still getting up, I fall, I get up, I fall, I want to feel safe... but I have now begun to see that last pair of shoes and one day I will put them back on and live and love with an open heart.

And I hope they will bring me to your dance classes for I want to find expression through dance!

So, just wanted to say thank you for a performance that moved me. Sorry for the long note, but it has been on my heart and mind to let you know that that was my favorite piece.

Thank you.
________



Dear ----
Thank you so much for this email. It made me so emotional to know that you could relate to it and that you understood and appreciated it so much. I have been blessed to see my darkest time come full circle and now I am at the other side shining and beaming. I dont think I could have ever imagined that this day would be as beautiful as it is and I cherish it with all my heart. Im glad that you got some strength and hope (even if just a glimmer) from the piece.
I hope to see you in class very soon too!
Much love and respect-
Micaya

Mission in the Mix has been a HIT!

Opening weekend of Mission in the Mix was beautiful! Performances were great, friends were made and everyone had a real good time. We are all looking forward to doing it again next weekend!

Love and respect,
Micaya

(pictured:
Cristina, Sandy and Natalia-
Sam, David and Dave-
Kali and Jenny V.-
Daniel and Abbey-
Star, Brandy and Stephanie -
Ryan)

need to listen to my own advice

On my class schedule it says .. "leave your ego at the door and dance!".
I need to keep those words in my heart tonight when the audience sees my choreographys for the first time. I have had the feeling that people HAVE to get a particular thing out of every piece I choreograph or it is all lost. I realized yesterday.."how dare I expect such thing from people" and to allow them to get whatever they want from what they see and experience. People come to every experience from very different places and they all get different things out of every experience.
I can not be offended if they do not appreciate parts that I dove deep in my soul for.
I can not be offended if they love the parts that took no particular creative element on my part.
Thanks for reading
Love and respect
Micaya

students gettin ready

My students are excited to perform this weekend, we are all really looking forward to a great show.
Pictured : Jenny, Jenelle, Kani ,Ji Hae and Eddie

Love and Respect
Micaya

Mission in the Mix Gear!

Here are the t-shirts and sweatshirts for Mission in the Mix. Cute huh? They will be on sale at Mission in the Mix, $10 for t-shirts and $20 for the hoodies. 100% of the proceeds go to SoulForce Dance Company... please support!

Love and Respect
Micaya

Besides Mission in the Mix

If you already have your tickets to Mission in the Mix but not sure what else to do this weekend, please check this out. Very talented man!
Love and Respect
Micaya


MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH
the break/s: a mixtape for stage
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

“…sharp, elegant, and always urgent verse that harnesses the grit and boogie-down power of hip-hop as well as the singular beauty and sophistication of contemporary dance.” —SF Bay Guardian

YBCA has long been committed to supporting the work of electrifying storyteller Marc Bamuthi Joseph. For our season finale, we’re proud to present the break/s, Joseph’s multimedia journey through verse, contemporary dance and video that interweaves his personal story with the history of hip-hop. Inspired by Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang, the critically acclaimed book about hip-hop music history, Joseph explores trans-nationalism and globalization in relation to hip-hop culture, and digs into the politics surrounding the creation myth of this provocative music form. With a spoken word virtuoso, live music by DJ Excess and Tommy Shepherd aka Soulati, and choreography by Stacy Printz, the break/s is one gigantic live mix.

Happy Fathers Day!

This is my Dad Fred. There is no way that I could love him more. I am such a blessed person because my parents are fantastic. My dad taught me that that people are all basically the same no matter what race they are and to do good things just because. He exposed me to all types of music from a very early age and never forced religious beliefs on me. He showed me by example how to be a good, honest and loving person.
Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Love and Respect
Micaya

Almost Showtime!

OK so Mission in the Mix is about one week away now and everything is doing just fine. All my pieces are done now and I only have ONE more rehearsal for everything to be performance ready. Tonight is the last SoulForce rehearsal (oh my god!). They will be "performing" however on Tuesday in a special private show just for the workshop students. Saturday is the last rehearsal for the workshop students.
Next Thursday is the tech rehearsal for everyone. Its gonna be a long day. By the way, I am canceling my 6pm class on Thursday June 19 so I can run my tech rehearsal. My 8pm class will have a sub at ODC. I will be teaching all my other classes after that.
Costumes are going ok. I assume that by next week everything will be right (right?)
Music is finally mixed , well... 99% finished. Adam has worked many hours to get my music just the way I wanted. yay!
Looks like there is a Mission in the Mix after party on Sunday night June 29th after the show. Not sure where it is but anyone is invited. I think it costs a small fee to get in to cover costs. I will get info and let yall know kay? That is gonna be fun! Last year the party was a blast!
The guest performers are all set . If you want to know who is performing and what night, go to SoulForce myspace page. It is posted on there. We have everything from hip hop to salsa, to poi dancers to indian dance to flamenco to singers, honey!
Ok thats enough update for now... more lata!

Love and Respect
Micaya

mitchell

This very gorgeous man is Mitchell. He is a member of SoulForce Dance Company..no for real...he is. The thing is, well, Mitchells' form of transportation is a bicycle. Not sure why but Mitchell has very bad luck on bicycles. In the past three months this man has had THREE bike accidents! Bless his heart huh? The first time he was not wearing a helmet, but the other times he was (thank god!) . It is very dangerous to ride a bike in San Francisco. Cars keep hitting him,.. scary!
Anyway Mitchell can not dance until his body heals a bit more from the last accident. Therefore he will not be performing next weekend at Mission in the Mix. He is not in the hospital or anything, but his head is not feeling right and his doctors advised that he should not dance until they know what is going on with him. He will probably be at Mission in the Mix just to help out and see the show. We all miss him and ask that anyone who has love in their heart to send Mitchell healing energy so he can dance again soon.

With Love and Respect
Micaya

the costume hunt

Grrrr.
Well Mission in the Mix opens next weekend and we are all doing lots of last minute things. This past weekend the project that was of upmost importance was to purchase shoes for SoulForce to wear in a few of the pieces that they will be performing in. Several of us jumped on BART and went downtown on the search for these particular Adidas shoes. Oh my, I had no idea the drama that would follow such a simple quest. 10 pair of shoes in varying sizes.... seems harmless right?
Well the problem is that we were trying to do it as cheap as possible. So we found the shoes that we wanted were at Champs , 2 for $89. Ok that was NOT worth the trouble even trying. The staff at Champs was not helpful and sent us on a wild goose chase to find nothing. They promised us discounts and then didnt give them to us.
At this point I am SO over Champs. I am totally breaking up with them!
I guess I will just order the damn shoes at Zappos and pay a bit more. However they will have ALL the sizes we need AND the shoes will be here in a day after we order them. ...heavy sigh... lesson learned

Love and Respect
Micaya

Check It Out!

im soo young and your so not!

Yesterday and today I taught a special workshop to some students from Life Academy High School in Oakland. I brought one of my dancers, Daniel, with me so that the guys in class would have someone to relate to. We had a great time yesterday. I taught them a pretty hard choreography which they picked up rather well.
Well today when I walked in all I heard from EVERYBODY was "I'm so sore!", " I cant walk!", "I'm in pain!"...hee hee. Big smile on my face. Poor little high school students cant keep up with me can you?
All was good though and we ended up having a fabulous time together. This is a picture of them all (so beautiful!)
Love and Respect
Micaya

more students

These gorgeous people take my class whenever they can all get in the car together and drive from Monterey. I am always happy to see them and find it touching that they come from such a long way.
love and respect
Micaya

hey i got this email about this festival in september. i dont know anything about it as of yet, but i am just spreadin tha word-
love and respect,
micaya

I love my students

These are some of my workshop students. They are rehearsing and getting their costumes ready for Mission in the Mix later this month. I think they are beautiful! I adore them ( yes I happen to be hard on them and get grouchy with them sometimes , but I truly hope that they know that it all comes completely from support and love for them as dancers)
The folks in these pictures are Kani, Jake, Yeshuah, Sam, Cindy and Brian--
(more to come later)

love and respect
Micaya