Friday, August 29, 2008

New members of SoulForce!

Well last night was the SoulForce auditions. We all had a very good time. A lot of great people showed up. We taught a choreography to them and they danced their hearts out. Afterward we talked some more and that was that.

Then all the auditioners left and SoulForce and I deliberated for a very short time and came up with 7 new members! 5 guys and 2 girls! Tiffany, Carly , Stephen ,Brendan, Danyol, Jerry and Ryan are the newest members of SoulForce. Welcome and Congratulations.
Now its time to work!!!!
love and respect-
Micaya

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

SoulForce Auditions Tomorrow!

SoulForce is holding auditions tomorrow night - thursday August 28th
9:15-11:30pm at ODC Dance Commons 351 Shotwell St , San Francisco
Rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 to midnight

Come by tomorrow and we will tell you all you need to know about our company and we will teach a choreography.
See you there!
Love and respect
Micaya

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

no more gettro pcs for me

I got the new IPhone!
For a not too tech savvy person, this was a big step for me.
I guess now I can get your emails wherever I am.
Im gonna have to get used to this...
Love and Respect-
Micaya

Monday, August 25, 2008

Check this out!


RoCo Dance Studio is in Mill Valley- 237 Shoreline Hwy.
Phone 415 388-6786.
Love and Respect-
Micaya

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Review!

The review is in from the opening night for SoulForce at the West Wave Dance Festival at the Yerba Buena Theatre. I have included the review of the entire show, not just SoulForces' blurb.
Love and Respect-
Micaya


Beggars’ Banquet

WestWave Dance Festival 2008, Program 2

August 21, 2008

By
ALLAN ULRICH
allan@voiceofdance.com
© VoiceofDance.com 2008



The great San Francisco tapas banquet of dance continued Wednesday (Aug. 20) at the Novellus Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where the producers of this year’s annual WestWave Dance Festival unveiled the second and third programs (DanceWave 2 and DanceWave 3) of the summer. Because of the five-minute time limitation on these commissioned premieres, the ones you don’t favor, much like the curried oysters on the tapas platter, pass out of your reach in an instant. Again, the menu was comprehensive, so, herewith a check list with notes of the 12 dances (in order of presentation) that comprise the second program, which repeats on Friday.

Alayna Stroud’s My Shoes was the almost obligatory aerial number. The performer removes her shoes before climbing a dangling, vertical steel bar. Stroud’s routine aloft is less exciting than watching firemen shinny down a pole on their way to a conflagration. Local aerial specialist Jo Kreiter has nothing to fear.

Robert Sund’s Our steps will always rhyme is the evening’s bow to ballet. The choreographer, a former dancer at the San Francisco Ballet, fashions a male solo, a female duet and a perfunctory trio, all to recorded songs by Leonard Cohen. The vocabulary is academic, the dancing by Ryan Camou, Robin Cornwell and Olivia Ramsay is superior. But the tension you should get with this mix of genders in a ballet is almost completely absent, and the mirror unisons wear out their welcome in record time.

Vakratunda Mahakaya by Guru Raitkant Mohapatra is a short essay in the Odissi style of classical Indian dance, set to music by the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasia and arranged for seven women. The orange skirts and headdresses overwhelm with opulence, the clasped hands and lovely symmetries fascinate, although the lead dancer’s balances are a mite shaky.

Wan-Chao Chang’s There traces a trio for three women in flowing white as they invade a shadowy landscape, mostly in unison. Too opaque in intention and too brief to make much of an effect.

Cocktail Hour by Cynthia Adams and Ken James (of Fellow Travelers Performance Group) is dominated by an enormous wheel, which, fastened to a dancer’s back, revolves like a mill and, alas, suggests Jerome Robbins’ Watermill. The remaining five performers stage a cocktail party around the wheel, constantly ducking to avoid the axle’s revolutions. A one-gag number well dispatched; physical comedy lives.

Christy Funsch’s Dapper Indiscretion Blues finds this excellent Bay Area dancer sidling and shrugging her way through a quirky solo that signifies a distinctive sensibility. One suspects the piece is too introspective for its own good.

Deborah Slater’s Gone in 5 offers three women of big hair and of a certain age cavorting around pieces of ordinary furniture, while a recording wails about somebody’s demise. The number features more choreography than many of this artist’s “dance” pieces, but the sell-date of these knockabout shenanigans has long past. A segment of the audience audibly disagreed with my assessment.


Lifting the Mist of Illusion by FatChanceBellyDance, performed by six members of the company (including director Carolena Nericcio) proved diverting for those who delight in literal navel gazing. Undulations galore.

Then came How many presents/balls/chips/scarves/books/hearts/circles can you wrap/catch/win/throw/read/cut out/make in four minutes thirty-two seconds? Faced with a severe time limit, Amy Lewis proposes a tableau vivant, adorned with 32 souls in various states of game-playing and love-making, all quite disarming. A woman reads fractured fairy tales. The number resembled one of those “How many wrong details can you spot in this picture?” feature that used to run in newspapers. I could have lived without the performers’ cheesy descents into the audience, dispensing dolls and candy, a theatrical ploy much older than Ms. Lewis.

Micaya’s To the Rear…March, performed by SoulForce Dance Company, was five minutes of pure hip-hop delight. The energy, musicality and high spirits displayed by these 10 young dancers should shame their elders. Even Nutcracker gets teased a bit. The highlight: the human bowling alley Micaya conjures from thin air. Wow! Encore! This one you gotta see!

In One Tuesday Afternoon, Kara Davis provides a sketch of what, if expanded, may emerge a memorable dance. It starts and concludes with a physical demonstration of the domino effect and moves on to a potent duet, alas delivered by dancers in socks (hideous) and ordinary costumes. The piece deserves better trappings; no complaints about the dancing by the 11 participants.

Hi’iakaikapoli’opele (A Goddess) choreographed by Kumu Hula Kawika Alfiche ends the program on a buoyant note. A hula spectacular without a grass skirt in sight, this narrative fragment from the life of the deity Pele suffers a bit from being torn from context. But this excerpt is both imposing and charming and it extended this viewer’s perception of what traditional Hawaiian dance is all about.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

What A Surprise!


So last Friday I was walking around the grounds of the Yerba Buena with my friend Marie-Jeanne. We decide to walk over the bridge that goes over the freeway and I notice that there are huge photos all along the side of the bridge. The very first photo I notice is of SoulForce! I scream, "Thats my company!" WTF? Apparently their photo was taken when they performed outside at Yerba Buena a few years ago for another dance festival. Its a beautiful photo and as I continued walking I noticed that it was up several more places. Wow!

So yesterday, after SoulForce tech rehearsal at the theatre at Yerba Buena , I took them over to the bridge to see the photo. We took pics of the photo and of them re-enacting the photo. (Only a few of the original dancers in the photo are still in SoulForce) .

By the way, the show last night was GREAT. SoulForce kicked ass! They were concerned that the modern dance audience would not appreciate hip hop. I was in the audience and felt the love.
There is till one more chance to see SoulForce in the West Wave Dance festival on Friday night at 7pm.

Love and Respect-
Micaya

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Tonight!

Im going tonight to the Yerba Buena Theatre to see SoulForce perform at the West Wave Dance Festival. This is SoulForces first time performing at this theatre. The show starts at 7pm and they are also performing Friday at 7pm as well. See you there!
Love and respect-
Micaya

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

No More!


So- As I mentioned before, the deadline for the submissions due to be booked for this years SF Hip Hop DanceFest are right upon us. Of course that means EVERYONE is sending in their last minute footage. (why do they wait so late? ) grrrrr-

Anyway, I have been receiving footage from all over the world , South Africa, England, Phillipines, Brasil, Costa Rica, Russia, Miami, Philadelphia, New York.. so many places!
I gotta tell ya tho- so many companies look alike! ESPECIALLY form the US! Listen up- if you think that you are really doing something original and special- ---check again, maybe you are not. Maybe you are doing what everyone else is doing.
oh my god. the cloning of dance has invaded hip hop!
scary and sad-
enough said.
with love and respect
Micaya

Monday, August 18, 2008

Another show dedicated to Gary!


If you knew Gary Kendall, you knew that he was loved by many people. Check out this show produced by the people he worked with in Santa Cruz.
Love and Respect
Micaya




GARYFEST: A CELEBRATION OF A HIP HOP SUPERSTAR


GaryFest, a celebration of the life of Gary Kendell and fundraiser for the Santa Cruz AIDS Project (SCAP), will take place on Saturday, September 13th at the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts (250 East Beach Street, Watsonville). The pre-show festivities, involving free-style dancing on stage, will begin at 6:30 p.m. with performances starting at 7:00 p.m. An admission donation of $10 or more is requested.


Gary Ray Kendell was a local hip hop teacher, choreographer and performer who served for almost two decades as an ambassador of Hip Hop culture to the Santa Cruz area. Born and raised in Seaside, Gary took his dancing from the streets into the studio as an instructor at All The Right Moves in Santa Cruz in 1990. He later went on to teach regularly at Motion Pacific and Scotts Valley Dance Center, led workshops at Dancenter and DanceSynergy, and taught at local public schools and in various after-school recreation programs between 1992 and 2007. Gary also taught at studios and performed at events all over the United States and the world. Most recently, he taught hip hop dance to hundreds of students in the country of Estonia in November 2007. During his career, he was a member/director of numerous professional dance groups including Jughead, Jedi, MindTricks and the reigning champions of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, the Jabbawockeez. Gary also spent much of the last ten years producing, directing and traveling around the United States with Monster Shop Bumpin’ and BreakShop, dance productions designed for County and State Fairs. These productions also toured China. Locally, Gary founded the Boom Squad, Boom Boys, City Heat, and the Flava Unit. As a performer, Gary participated in dozens of benefit performances and teaching activities in the Santa Cruz community such as various County Parks & Recreation after-school programs, First Night in Santa Cruz, A Gay Evening in May, Moving Mountains Benefit for Women with Breast Cancer, National Dance Week, AIDS Walk Kick-Off Event, Free Mumia rallies at UCSC, Kwanzaa celebrations, and the Monte Foundation Fireworks Show. In 2001, Gary was a recipient of the esteemed Calabash Award for Excellent in the Ethnic Arts from SCEAN and the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County for his outstanding contributions to the community through hip hop dance. Gary lost his fight to pneumonia and meningitis on December 14, 2007 in Denver, Colorado but he lived an expressive life as a dancer, teacher, director, producer, and entertainer.


Dancers from his local troupes and others who have been touched by Gary’s teachings are reuniting to present a tribute show in his honor with proceeds benefiting the Santa Cruz AIDS Project. Performances include hip hop by Boom Squad and Flava Unit; street jazz by Santa Cruz Dance Company; bellydance-hip hop fusion with Holi Choli; lyrical by Makayna Charter; aerial dance by The Gravity Girls; Capoeira by Roots of Brazil; breakdancing by Total Chaos; bellydance by Sahar; hip hop by Motion Pacific; and more! The evening kicks off with pre-show onstage free-style dance at 6:30 p.m. followed by performances beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Admission donation of $10 and up is requested. Soon, tickets will be selling in advance, by cash or check, at Dance Odyssey (831-462-4590) and Santa Cruz Dance Company (831-479-4700). For more information about the show, please visit www.dance-odyssey.com (keep checking back if you don't yet see the link to GaryFest, it's coming soon!) or contact GaryMemorial@gmail.com. Checks for tickets/donations can be made payable to Carmela Woll and mailed to: GaryFest, c/o Dance Odyssey Studio, P.O. Box 1462, Soquel, CA 95073.



“To the lives you touched, to the rhythms you followed, to the footsteps you left behind, and to the talent that will never be forgotten. Here’s to a beautiful life lived. We love you, Gee. We will miss you. Dance for us in Heaven.”

Friday, August 15, 2008

Check this out!



Love and Respect-
Micaya

Thursday, August 14, 2008

DEADLINE AUG 30th!!!!!!!!





WORLDWIDE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS & AUDITIONS


10th Annual San Francisco
Hip Hop DanceFest
(Micaya, Founder and Artistic Director)

The San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest is now booking for their legendary 10th year anniversary show, presented at the prestigious Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, November 21st-23rd 2008!



What we look for:
· Professional Dance Companies from all over the Globe (Any size, from solo to group)
· All styles of Hip Hop and Hip Hop Fusion
· Use of Hip Hop styles in unique and interesting ways
· Use of Hip Hop Dance to tell a story
· Social Content/Commentary
· Artistic Quality
· Extraordinary Technical Skill and Ability
· Representation of all ages, sexes, races, and sexual orientation

IF Hired :
· SFHHDF will provide travel expenses and/or performance fees
· Companies must provide to SFHHDF a URL, BIO and PHOTO
· Companies must submit/audition the same piece that they intend to perform
· Pieces must be between 6-9 minutes long
· Companies will be invited to attend VIP events hosted by the SFHHDF


TO SUBMIT or AUDITION:


SUBMIT- California, National, and International Companies :
Upload footage of the exact piece (6-9 minutes) you intend to perform (full cast and costume) to Youtube.com and send the link to info@sfhiphopdancefest.com
OR
Send DVD or Video footage of the exact piece (6-9 minutes) you intend to perform (full cast and costume) to:

SF Hip Hop DanceFest
PO Box 411492
San Francisco, Ca 94141-1492

*DEADLINE: August 30, 2008 (It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you submit as soon as possible as the show may be booked before the deadline date.)

AUDITION - Bay Area Companies :
Live auditions will be held in September 2008. Please audition the exact piece (6-9 minutes) you intend to perform (full cast and costume).

To schedule an audition, email: auditions@sfhiphopdancefest.com


For more information: email info@sfhiphopdancefest.com OR go to

sfhiphopdancefest.com

ABOUT THE DANCEFEST:
Established in 1999 by Founder and Artistic Director Micaya, the San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest celebrates both the extraordinary artistry and the growing legacy of Hip Hop dance and culture. Acknowledged as the FIRST festival devoted specifically to Hip Hop dance, the DanceFest is a ground breaking event, hosting companies from all over the globe. The San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest remains unique for its dedication to presenting the highest quality professional Hip Hop dance companies and for its forward-thinking curatorial focus.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Bang the Drum



Come out and celebrate as we Bang The Drum, and celebrate the anniversary of the longest-running Hip-Hop show in the world: The Drum, at KZSU Stanford, 90.1FM!!!

Check it out --It's Free!
Love and Respect-
Micaya

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bay Area Tap Festival






Hey people check this out-
Love and Respect,
Micaya


2008 Bay Area Tap Festival (www.stepology.com)
August 10 - 17, 2008

Aug. 10th - 17th:
Workshop Classes, Panel Discussion, Tap Jam, and Community Showcase Performance at San Francisco Dance Center

Aug. 15th - 16th:
2 Concert Performances at Herbst Theatre

Featured Artists
Channing Cook-Holmes
John Kloss
Deborah Mitchell
Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards
Sam Weber
and more TBA...
More Information:
Workshop Schedule & Registration Form


Bay Area Tap Festival
Founded in 2003, the Bay Area Tap Festival celebrates the uniquely American art form of tap dance, and features Festival artists in a week of instructional workshop classes and a free panel discussion hosted by San Francisco Dance Center. Festival programming also includes a Tap Jam, Community Showcase performance, and Scholarship Program. The Festival culminates with the Bay Area Rhythm Exchange – a production which features Festival artists in a concert performance with live musical accompaniment at San Francisco’s historic Herbst Theatre.

“...an unrivaled and dazzling array of tap talent that invoked an appreciation of tap's history while inspiring an excitement for tap's present and future.”
-- Linda Ayres-Frederick, San Francisco Bay Times, 8/23/2007

“...the place for dedicated tap dancers to see the greats... Young tappers and old jam together... tappers who click across the stage like butterflies alighting on flowers, and tappers who slam into the beat like a big rig hitting a brick wall. Together they proved there are as many exciting styles in tap as there are rhythmic possibilities in a bar of music...it was also good to see that showmanship never goes out of style.”
“Top Ten Dance Performances of 2006 (Festival Artist Robert L. Reed)”
“Top Ten Dance Performances of 2005”
— Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle

Nominated, Outstanding Individual Performance 2004-2005 (Festival Artist Sam Weber)
— Isadora Duncan Awards
“Although San Francisco is a great dance town, few would think it one of the hot spots of tap dance in the world today. Nevertheless, the 2005 Bay Area Rhythm Exchange Concert, hosted by STEPOLOGY and showcasing our tap virtuosi at the Herbst Theatre August 20th, made us see that tap is looking pretty good around here.”
— Paul Parish, IN DANCE, October 2005

“What was most unforgettable about this subtly structured, non-structured event was the momentary moments between the artists – timing, gesture, the warmth, affection, and genuine respect with which they embraced each other and their art form which splits apart rules and hammers new ones before one’s delighted eyes. STEPOLOGY…, let’s see more of this!”
— Renee Renouf Hall, Ballet.co.uk, 8/23/2005

“What astonished Saturday was the variety of attack and the caliber of musicianship... I haven't seen anything more exciting in a local dance this year.”
— Allan Ulrich, Voice of Dance, 8/22/2005

Monday, August 11, 2008

in memory



Hi Everyone-
Im back ! and dont plan going anywhere anytime soon. I got lots of work to do to get the DanceFest rockin by November.
Todays blog is dedicated to two very talented legends that we lost this past weekend. Isaac hayes and Bernie Mac.

Much Love and Respect
Micaya