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11

Sep

I have and will not make any mistakes. I have and will only stumble upon paths that I didn’t know were intended for me. And every stumble and step will be great.
Yours Truly

8 months ago Short URL

16

Jun

What Happens When You Nag Apples & Snakes?: You Become an Intern (Update #2)

Do you remember when I told you I got dropped by that one place as an intern for unknown reasons? (If not, it’s cool. That’s what this blog is for.) Well, after nagging them for a few days, I got a short internship with them. Boss, right? (Maybe a little.) Well, it wasn’t easy. But here’s how it went down.

Apples and Snakes, England’s leading organization for performance poetry and spoken word, was my first assigned internship. Susanna, my internship coordinator, suggested that even though they had dropped me, I should still try to meet with them. After a few e-mails and a couple of phone calls, I finally got in touch with this guy Russell and arranged to have a meeting with him that Thursday.

During the meeting, I gave him copies of my resume, my artistic portfolio, and a letter describing what I wanted to do and why. (Take notes.) We first talked about what Apples and Snakes does in terms of programming. Then I told him what I have done and what I could do for them. But the future wasn’t looking like sunshine just yet.

Russell couldn’t think of what help he needed from me. So I told asked to meet the rest of the staff. I met a few more people and Russell chatted and sent an e-mail or two to folks after I left. For consistency’s sake, I volunteered to do some minimal filming for the event they held that Friday: Poetry Snapshots. The event was an opening of a photo exhibition made of portraits of big-named poets within the U.K. It featured performances by some of the photos’ subjects. It was chill. The portraits were beautiful. But I didn’t get overwhelmingly social. I just focused on getting to know some of the staff members, who turned out to be pretty cool people.

I got to talking to Nina. She was telling me how they were about to lose the other member of the marketing team and after her holiday (vacation), she would be left with brick loads of work. So I asked what type of things she needed done and the conversation moved on to how I could help her.

THEN BAM!!!! I got an internship.

It wasn’t exactly what I wanted. But it’s experience. And I never say ‘no’ to that. Because if you say ‘no’ enough, then eventually you’ll have nothing to say ‘yes’ to. Now, I won’t be starting until next month, so I still had to search for other work. But the Sun was shining even brighter on my future.

Click link above to see the Apples and Snakes website.

11 months ago Short URL

The Mystery That Is Coney Theatre: Internship Update #1

Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Remember that whole deal with me not having the internship I came all the way to England for? Well, at this point of the story, I thought I did but still, technically, didn’t have one. But I was told that I would be meeting with Coney theatre. I talked to Baba about it the weekend before and when he told me that these folks were crazy, I was excited. Because I deal well with crazy. On this day, I met with a guy named Tassos (first name? last name? I don’t know. And if you ask him, he has nothing to do with Coney. But…) the meeting was great. I was told about the work that the Coney agency (not theatre) did. Even the woman I first met with (Ellie?) had a hard time describing what they did. But what I did understand is they pride themselves in being an agency of adventure and play. Instead of being a regular theatre company,  they sell ideas and games. They even have a secret society that exists within the agency.

In short, I fell in love with something that I didn’t fully understand. And when I got to talking with Tassos, I told him about the work I’ve done with First Wave and organizations on campus, my skills, and so on. He liked my C.V. (resume), but he didn’t really have any work for me to do. So my new little love got crushed. But what Tassos did do for me is get me connected with the Battersea Arts Centre. And that’s another chapter we’ll have to get to soon.

Click link above to see Coney’s website, which is a mystery within itself.

11 months ago Short URL

Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2011

AIIIIIIIIIIIGHT. Back to real-world English. The night after I went to the Slum Village concert (if you couldn’t decode my last post), I was invited to this comedy show by Kelly, another friend from Contact, for the one-year anniversary of this spot called Cosy. Due to inconvenient circumstances, Kelly was unable to make it. But here’s the scoop on my lone adventure.

I felt fly just walking into this place. Cosy was the first place I encountered a swarm of black English folks, with a few more ethnic reps. But they weren’t just any crowd. They all (well, most of them) walked with the air of masters of swag. Fashionable, artistic, energetic, with the knowledge that what they were doing would eventually become classic. Then, in I rolled with my big ass backpack and my goo goo ga ga look at this new little world I found.

Now I wish I could say that I made hella friends and ended up partying with them til 5 in the morning. But shit, I was nervous, high school geek nervous. It was my first week in London. I came solo dolo. And I had to catch the train before midnight cause I didn’t know how to take the bus. BUT what I did do is exchange some info with folks after the show. And caught hella laughs beforehand. Even at the jokes about Americans, which were scheisty, but accurate.

I definitely plan on visiting this place again. But until that story comes, take a look at the video above. It aint the event I went to, but it’ll give you a slight clue as to what Cosy is like.

Deuces.

11 months ago Short URL

15

Jun

T’was a boring day of Mon on this great planet called London. The alien-robot whose name translates to human-English as Domifreak decided she wanted to go on this thing called an aventura (adventure). So she fished for things to do in London with a net that inter-sects between this world and others. In her net, she caught a fish named Hip-Hop. She didn’t want Hip-Hop to die, so she quickly placed her ear to the fish’s lips. Before throwing Hip-Hop back into the sea called Life, she listened as the fish’s lips whispered two words: Slum Village. Domifreak rushed back to Land, determined to find this village. She looked through maps and constellations before finally finding Slum Village in a part of London called Camden. Once she made it to Slum Village, she was told of a supadupa being named J-Dilla who had left for another world. She was taught by the villagers of Slum how to reconnect with the soul they had lost. Domifreak actually managed to make a connection with this supadupa being. And through this connection, she learned three lessons: 1. Don’t let the doorman rip you off.2. Home is where hip hop is.3. “Don’t sell yourself to fall in love.” Domifreak fell in love with this place and the lessons it had to offer her but the stars were setting. T’was getting late. And Camden was a Land that Domifreak didn’t know too well. So she had to dip on the public spaceship. But she held the lessons she learned close to her beating heart-chip. Click photo above to see the Land where Slum Village once rested.

T’was a boring day of Mon on this great planet called London. The alien-robot whose name translates to human-English as Domifreak decided she wanted to go on this thing called an aventura (adventure). So she fished for things to do in London with a net that inter-sects between this world and others. In her net, she caught a fish named Hip-Hop. She didn’t want Hip-Hop to die, so she quickly placed her ear to the fish’s lips. Before throwing Hip-Hop back into the sea called Life, she listened as the fish’s lips whispered two words: Slum Village. Domifreak rushed back to Land, determined to find this village. She looked through maps and constellations before finally finding Slum Village in a part of London called Camden. Once she made it to Slum Village, she was told of a supadupa being named J-Dilla who had left for another world. She was taught by the villagers of Slum how to reconnect with the soul they had lost. Domifreak actually managed to make a connection with this supadupa being. And through this connection, she learned three lessons:

1. Don’t let the doorman rip you off.
2. Home is where hip hop is.
3. “Don’t sell yourself to fall in love.”

Domifreak fell in love with this place and the lessons it had to offer her but the stars were setting. T’was getting late. And Camden was a Land that Domifreak didn’t know too well. So she had to dip on the public spaceship. But she held the lessons she learned close to her beating heart-chip.

Click photo above to see the Land where Slum Village once rested.

11 months ago Short URL

The Shockout Academy

I woke up the next day feeling sore as MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGG from all the dancing I did the day before. But I was feeling good, expecially because of the plans I had before getting back on the bus back to London.

During the festival the day before, I ran into Courtney, this guy I barely knew from the summer before. But what I did remember about him was that he was a beautiful soul, so I was excited to see him. After a refreshingly deep conversation, he invited me to see the studio he ran Studio 25, which housed his program The Shockout Performing Arts Academy. When I met him the summer before, he never even mentioned that he was up to such greatness, so I was looking forward to see what he had been hiding up his sleeve.

After breakfast, Dawn and I rushed to the studio to make it to the class she taught. When I got there, I was greeted by some smiles I bonded with the day before and the sound of children laughing. Courtney took me on a tour and man, this dude can dream. This place reminded me of all the homies I got who want to start schools and centers. And here he was, making it all happen, despite all the hurdles he has. And it made me hype for the things to come, from him, myself, and all the dreamers I know. (too deep? moving on.)

After the tour, I joined Dawn in her movement class for 3-5 year olds. Besides being absolutely adorable, I learned a few things from how she taught the class. As all situations with kids that young are, the class was challenging for the adults in the room. But Dawn handled it all, and I definitely took notes.

When we finished tying all the children’s shoes, I said my goodbyes to the Shockout crew, excited to see this place again.

BUT WAIT, IT AIN’T OVA.

Dawn and I left Shockout to eat lunch with Baba, Tuheen, and John. Tuheen is this panda of a man who I vibed with last summer and ran into at the Green Room the night before, JUST before leaving (funny how that happens). He’s an explosion of energy and so is his boyfriend, John. We talked about how we’ve been for the past year and the work I would be doing in London. Even though the meal was only 30-40 mins. long, I had a blast being part of the loudest table in the chill restaurant. Afterwards, the whole crew rushed to the bus station with me and I said my goodbyes/see.you.latas. feeling alive and refreshed before my 5.5 hour bus ride.

Click title for Shockout’s website. See following posts for my next adventures back in London.

11 months ago Short URL

shockout academy/

The Green Room Theatre: The Introduction/Goodbye

Sweaty and excited from dancing all day, I joined Baba and Dawn to go to the goodbye party at The Green Room, a theatre that, due to cuts in British arts funding, was forced to close. Immediately after jumping out the cab, I was introduced to the artistic director, Garfield. He was an excitingly lovely and blunt man who made me laugh instantly. After a few jokes, I was introduced to a few more people and ran into a familiar face before heading off to dance. The air of everything was blissful but with an undertone of sadness. Everyone knew that this was the last time they would join in this place again. But despite the new wound that everyone was dealing with, I could see that they were all dealing with it together. Before leaving, Garfield told me he had a gift for me. It was a button with the Green Room logo and the years in which it existed, 1983-2011. I put it on my shirt feeling blessed to have such a beautiful introduction, even though it was also a goodbye.

Click title above to see the theatre’s website. View next post to see what I did the following day.

11 months ago Short URL

Mixed Movement: The Festival (detailed version)

Date: Friday June 3rd-Satuday, June 4th

After I got off the bus, I took a taxi to Contact and caught the second half of Mixed Movement (the event). It felt so surreal to see artists – new and familiar – making connections in a place I thought I’d never get the chance to come back to. Some folks even had a rough time recognizing me (which always comes with continuously changing, fresh, new swag.) After the event, Baba, Dawn, and I went to have dinner with this cool, funny, and challengingly intellectual DJ dude whose name I can’t even begin to spell correctly (please forgive me). After a good convo over falafels and salad, we all headed home and rested for the next day.

The first workshop I took was an Afro-Caribbean masterclass with this forever-smiling Jamaican-English womyn named Imani. And let me tell you, she worked our asses OUT. I thought I could dance but she had us jirating our hips, doing footwork, and making music with sticks AT THE SAME TIME. My coordination obviously needs work, but I was still getting it though. And I got a few new steps along the way.

The second workshop was Capoiera with this Brazilian dude name Carlo (pronounced car-lao -  least I got that one right). I had been waiting for years to learn capoiera, so I was hype, a bit too hype. Folks had to help me concentrate in order to get some steps right. At the end of the workshop, there was a sparring cipher in which I played some instrument with a name I can’t remember. After losing horribly in my mock fight, I showed a few breaking moves to make up for it. That ish didn’t work tho. Five months without practice ain’t no joke. But the workshop was definitely an eye-opener.

The last workshop was Dawn’s improv masterclass. Thank God it was at a slower pace because I was half-dead at that point. After playing around with a few ideas she gave us, she threw some choreography at us, then asked who wanted to perform that night. And you KNOW I grabbed the opportunity with a QUICKNESS.

After a Brazilian dinner, courtesy of the capoiera folks, we headed to the first show: Kith Kin by Company Chameleon, a dance duo from Manchester. These dudes WENT IN. The show explored the challenges of a friendship between two men. It was captivating, emotional, and the best part was it told a story.

As soon as the show ended, me and the rest of the improve dancers headed downstairs to prepare to perform our piece during intermission. We were all kinds of nervous, but with a few quick reminders and pure tenacity we KILLED it. So it was all good.

The second show was called Digital Duets. Now this ish was beast and here’s why: it involved solo and duo performances between dancers in Manchester AND New York City and California via telepresence technology. I thought the show was just gon be aight. But when the duos between Manny and NYC dancers went on, the chemistry between the performers BLEW UP. Yeah, there were a few technological difficulties but folks “kept their composure” (words of phenomenal jazz dancer, Blu) and made the damn thang work out. Performers included Dawn, Blu, Imani, Tony Adigan, Future, and a few more.

Once we were blown away by all that, the cool, intellectual DJ (Irfram? Again, please forgive me) blessed us with House, yes, House music. And I got DOOOOOOOOOWN. (I was reppin the Chi, so you know I had to do the DO.) The night was blended with conversations of beautiful souls and the sweaty freshness of spazzed out moves. I connected with so many people on various levels throughout this one day. And it was all thanks to the loveliness that is Dawn Crandell.

See next post to see what I did after the festival.

11 months ago Short URL

So why did I head aaaaaaaaaall the way to Manchester after being in London for only three days? Pure dopeness. After hitting up a few of my English contacts from last summer about my whereabouts, my friend, Dawn, hit me back about this movement festival called Mixed Movement that she was organizing for the first time. (Hence the video above.) Now before I get into the festival, let me tell you more about Dawn and the festival’s history.

Dawn is this beautifully chill dancer from upstate New York who moved to Manchester when her husband, Baba (aka hip hop theatre extraordinaire), got offered the position as Contact theatre’s new artisitic director. In her luggage, she packed this event called Mixed Movement, which is an open mic, but with a twist: instead of folks spitting whatever onto a communal mic, each participant must do improvisational dance, accompanied by improvisational music. First in solos, then random duos. Aside from being the most liberating experience of my life, it was the first event I took part of at Contact theatre. Which is why it made perfect sense that it was the first event that I took part of when visiting Contact for a second time.

The festival itself is a series of movement workshops, shows, and discussions, all aimed towards bettering oneself as a dancer and exploring - as well as pushing -  the boundaries of the movement community. I may have only caught the last day of the festival’s first year. But Dawn and the Contact crew killed that ish, so I got a lot to tell.

See next post for a more detailed description of my weekend.

11 months ago Short URL

08

Jun

On the Third (full) Day

After all the boring orientation stuff, all of us (the Arcadia students) got to meet up and eat lunch with our Academic and Internship Supervisors. I got supa-dupa blessed with my academic supervisor. He’s this chill, freelance filmmaking cat named Douglas. And I got galactically blessed with my internship supervisor, Susanna, who works in theatre all over London and is currently developing her one-woman show. They are both some heavy-duty connected but heavenly-grounded people. But there’s only one thing missing: I have no internship.

I was supposed to be with this group called Apples and Snakes who put together shows based on performance poetry and give career training to spoken word artists. Perfect for a First Waver, right? But they dropped me for unknown reasons. So instead I got a meeting with this mysterious theatre company named Coney, which I’ll tell you bout later. 

But after meeting with Douglas and Susanna, who were hella feelin my resume and cover letter (whew), they got my trust in them. And I left with a determination to make magic happen, and a big ass piece of cheese on my face.

See next post to see how my trip to Manchester went.

11 months ago Short URL

First Couple Days in England

The flight was an experience within itself. I sat between these two English womyn, Issy and Cathy, both of whom were, like me, very talkative (but in a good way). Cathy lives in the States with her American husband. And Issy goes back and forth between London and her dream home in the U.S. (which she found through taking a solo dolo spontaneous trip during some rough times. in short, she’s boss.). The three of us talked through most of the 7.5 hour trip about the various ups, downs, and in betweens of our lives. The bond between us was oddly quick, but hella strong. We exchanged info and plan to have lunch. Looking forward to contacting them when I got more story on my back.

When I finally got to London, it took me a minute to find the folks taking me to the residence, even pulled a stupid move or two. I won’t give you the tranquilizer that is the story of our orientation. But I will tell you that I felt hella treated when I finally got a glance at all the kids in my program. Why? I’M THE ONLY PERSON OF COLOR IN THE WHOLE DAMN PROGRAM…out of like 80-100 folks!!!! But lemme stop frontin. I wasn’t surprised. The program is hella expensive. And the only reason why my broke ass here now is because of a few government checks.

On to slightly more thrillin shit.

The folks here dress FLY AS HELL. I thought I had swag, but damn I got a few things to learn. But shawties say “excuse me” and “sorry” a lot less here. I guess it’s because the city is as dense as an unwaxed bikini area. Thank God I’m not claustrophobic. Of course, the accents are dope. But don’t expect them to all be British. Diversity took a vacay here and decided to stay her brown ass over here. There’s hella East Asians, Africans, Indians, Bangladeshians, Latinos and every shade of the Earth right here in the city. And you mos def do not see me protestin. Shit. Try bein black in Wisconsin.

ANYWAAAAYS. The first day of exploration was just goin to stores for crap I needed like a phone, sheets, and mess like that. The area they got us stayin in is Notting Hill (yes, the hood from that one movie.) But it aint no type of hood. This ish is bourgeois (boogie) as a MUUUUUUUUUUG. (Which is why I’m livin off of cereal and milk wit cheap greasy meals in between. But fuck it. I’m in London.) 

After the second day of orientation (and 12 hrs of sleep to make up for the jetlag), the Arcadia university crew gave us a sheet of paper with the names of places all over the city and a map. Then told us to pull an Indiana Jones (scavenger hunt). Along with the random folks I teamed up with, I visited some beautiful places like Covent Garden, Big Ben, the South Bank, and the National Gallery.

I gotta admit homies, this place is boss. And I only got a sample of the business.

See next post to hear about the third day.

11 months ago Short URL

07

Jun

So how the hell did I end up London???? Well, long story short: One month after I moved back to the States from Panama (sad, I know, but we’ll get back to that), I went to Manchester, England to perform a show with my First Wave FWam for this HUGE international festival called Contacting the World at Contact Theatre (click dope photo for the theatre’s website). To wrap up an explosion of flyness in one sentence: It changed my life and I decided that I had to go back to England.  A couple months after getting back from England, I found an internship program through Arcadia university and worked throughout the school year to find a way to get here. AND BAM!!!! I’m here. Thanks to God, the support of fam and friends, and the hustle. See next post to see how my first few days went.

So how the hell did I end up London???? Well, long story short: One month after I moved back to the States from Panama (sad, I know, but we’ll get back to that), I went to Manchester, England to perform a show with my First Wave FWam for this HUGE international festival called Contacting the World at Contact Theatre (click dope photo for the theatre’s website). To wrap up an explosion of flyness in one sentence: It changed my life and I decided that I had to go back to England. 

A couple months after getting back from England, I found an internship program through Arcadia university and worked throughout the school year to find a way to get here. AND BAM!!!! I’m here. Thanks to God, the support of fam and friends, and the hustle.

See next post to see how my first few days went.

11 months ago Short URL

IN LONDON!!!!

Yes. I know that I have been abandoning this page for quite some time now. (Over a year ago.) But shit. That’s what happens when shawties get busy being adventurous. My bad. But guess what homies: I got a new aventura on my hands. I’m in London!!!! Been here for about a week now and I’ve already done a lil somethin somethin. So look up at the next posts to check out what’s been going on. Aint got no photos because my camera broke down piece by piece. But I’m getting one soon. So until then, I’ll stick to the wordplay.

11 months ago Short URL

30

Jul

My 3-month Absence

So this is the part where I say I’m horrible again. Because HELLA stuff has happened in the past 3 months. I finished my stay in Panama and moved back to the States. I worked an intense ass job that tested me in so many ways while getting used to being back in the States. Then I went off to England and met some beautiful people from all over the world. And now I’m back at square one: the Chi.

Despite the fact that I won’t be able to give you every detail of the past three months, I’ll give what stuck out to me the most, which, in essence, is what a blog should be. So before I give you what’s to come, here’s the ups and downs of the last 90 days.

1 year ago Short URL

30

Apr

My Tio Pollo

Tomorrow I’m competing in my first battle EVER!!!! The battle was yet another one of Tito’s bright ideas, in which the entire nation is battling against the capital, Panama City. Just to let you know how influential that fool is, he started talking about the competition three weeks ago, ain’t make no flyers, no facebook event, all his ass did was call some folks and post a foto with the info up on facebook with two people tagged, TWO!!!! (The homeboy David made a facebook event last minute to help keep that ish moving.) And folks STILL coming from all over the country just to confront him on his challenge to the nation.

ALRIGHT!!!! To my point. Today, Pollo came over to make a routine with me for the battle tomorrow. While going through some things with him, I realized how much of a beginner I still am after dancing for a year and a half. I’ve got hella things that I’m still not able to do, which is not horrible, considering that most folks gotta dance for almost ten years before their moves are even worth mentioning. I just gotta keep busting my ass past my heart’s content. But I felt a lot more insecurities about my dancing than I did before especially because I kept messing up on the simplest ish. But through all that, Pollo kept going through the really simple routine with me, for hours. After I went upstairs to wash up and change, I realized that no bboy I’ve ever met in the States would do that for me. I basically have to beg for someone to take 30 seconds of their time to show me something. Damn shame. Fact is, I really appreciate what Pollo did for me today because there aren’t many who would even consider what he did worth their time.

Pollo, mi maestro, mi hermano, mi tio, gracias por todo. Voy a extrañarte.

2 years ago Short URL 1 note

hip hop/