To Do Lists

I leave back to the "real world" tomorrow and i have a lot of pressing matters to attend to. So, yet again here is my "To Do list"

1.Get dance video branded and sent out to Ben by the 1st so that our game will be tight for the Jan 14th video showing that TAGsf will be part of.

2. Coordinate with my assistant about rehearsal schedules with my dancers for the Jan 17th showing.

3. Get back in contact with Dom and start plotting for a new shoot later on in the month and start to secure other dancers as well.(stoked on this one. It will rock your socks)


I think thats it?


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Web Sizzle......Theberrics.com

Im back home in the ol Queen City. Hope that everyone had a happy holiday doing whatever it is that you enjoying doing with the company that you enjoy doing it with.

I leave back for cali later on in the week where i have my home studio and various other rescources so until then i will be posting some cool websites and stores that i enjoy, starting with The Berrics.

If you have been following my blog you would know that i love skateboarding. Been doing it for over 13 years. Some people take a walk down the beach or read a book to relax, i hit the streets if i want to loose myself. TheBerrics is an amazing skate site because it works like a blog with new updates on a daily basis. The site is based out of a skatepark owned by Eric Koston, one of the all time best skaters in the world and Steve Berra who can hold his own. Berra is into the Holly Wood scence cause he is an actor, matter of fact he was married to Juliette Lewis. Anywho.....the site is amazing and mos def worth the time to go and check out. I would recommend that you start with Buttery Ass Mondays because that shit is funny.


Theberrics.com


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Holiday gift ideas

The economy is down. No need to go out there and spend a whole bunch of money that you dont have. Be smart about the purchases. Here is a great one. The Dark Knight, cant go wrong with this gift.

For serious though, Ledgers performance as the Joker really is that good. If he does not win the Oscar this year i would like to see the asshole that did.



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While on the Subject

I just finished watching the "Film" version of Cymbal Rush on the post below. I spoke in short about how we did a live version of the piece at NCSA. Today what i decided to do is elaborate on how i developed it for stage.

Once we (garen and I) decided that we were going to do Cymbal Rush for stage i had to start thinking about how to translate the movement on a much larger scale. Dancing for film is a lot different than stage because you are more or less confined to a certain frame that you need to be in at all times. Thus making it more intimate. Stage is different story. Stage you have so much more space to fill so that the movement does not seem flat. Garen made it a point to tell me that we have to go much bigger than before. The only thing that i really had to wrap my brain around for "stage" was the lighting which is KEY. The choreography remained the same with the exception of some transitions and new phrasing for Ben Wardell(Hubbard St)who filled in for an injured Quinn Wharton(SFB).

Lighting was so important for me that i flew my ass out to North Carolina so that i can be there to tech the lights. I had been in contact with the Lighting Director of the program who was still a student. Once i came in for the 1st tech i was so pleased about how well the LD was able to produce my lighting specifications. The lights were done so well that i had time to work on other ideas that i had. I wanted to make it more atmospheric. The reason why i am, and was so hell bent on the lighting is because good lighting sets the tone and atmosphere. The music for Cymbal Rush is so driving, pulse heavy with these rich classical piano undertones, lyrical phrasing that is talking against the music and then lifts you up into the clouds. It would be easy for the music to overpower the dance because its so heavy and full. My job was to translate the movement to the music but also have to be able to set the tone with the lights. I wanted to have the audience be transported into another place the entire 6min while my dance was being performed. Judging by the viewers reactions and my former teachers i can say "Mission accomplished".

here it is..

Inspirations/Listening to.....

Thome Yorke came out with a solo album last year titled The Eraser. Loved it so much that i choreographed to the last track Cymbal Rush. Something that is really special for me is that this piece marks our first collabo with film editor Dr.Bacon. Also the first time that we ever did dance for camera. A year later we got to do the piece live for the North Carolina School of The Arts Gala performance featuring artists from ABT, NYCB, Boston and a lot of others. Matter of fact this is my favorite joint to date.

If you want to amuse yourself read the comments that people had posted about the work. It used to piss me off cause it was for a choreographic competition wanting to find new contemporary choreographers. Clearly the use of the word "Contemporary" was exasperated because all i saw was the same ol shit, hence why i will never do a competition ever in my life again. The judging sucks. But i no longer care. Sometimes in life you will get hit with the Hater Spray



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Go Green

as a child growing up in North Carolina i always wanted to be a Herptologist. Some one who goes out into the fields and studies reptiles and amphibians. This new discovery of 1000 new species makes me wish i was there but you can read about it here.

Yeah, im into science man.

(CNN) -- A rat believed to be extinct for 11 million years, a spider with a foot-long legspan, and a hot pink cyanide-producing "dragon millipede" are among the thousand newly discovered species in the largely unexplored Mekong Delta region.
The "dragon millipede" is among the 1,068 new species discovered in the Mekong Delta region.

The "dragon millipede" is among the 1,068 new species discovered in the Mekong Delta region.
more photos »

The region, including parts of Vietnam and five other countries, is home to 1,068 species found between 1997 and 2007, according to a World Wildlife Fund report released this week.

Some of the creatures were not lurking in fertile floodplains or tropical foliage.

A scientist visiting an outdoor restaurant was startled to see a Laotian rock rat among the nearby wildlife. The hairy, nocturnal, thick-tailed rat, which resembles a squirrel, had been thought for centuries to be extinct.

"There is a certain amount of shock because our scientists will sometimes see something that doesn't fit anything they know," said Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Fund's Mekong Program. "They run through a catalogue of wildlife in their brain, asking themselves, 'Have I seen this?'"

Perhaps a more startling discovery than the rat was a bright green pit viper scientists spotted slithering through the rafters of a restaurant in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.

The Fund dubbed the Mekong a "biological treasure trove." The organization's report "First Contact in the Greater Mekong" says 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad were found.

Scientists are still trying to determine if they have uncovered thousands of new invertebrate species.

Scientists are discovering new species at a rate of two per week, said Chungyalpa, who said the reason for publishing the report now was twofold.
Don't Miss

* Read the WWF's report

"We realized that we should highlight these discoveries in part because of the legacy of war and conflict in the region," she said. "There's an urgency with the threat of development in the Mekong countries."

A horned bovine found in 1991 living in the evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam has not been found in recent years, she said.

Timber development and mining industries are encroaching. There are 150 large hydropower dams that have been constructed along the Mekong river, and another 150 are slated to be built, according to the Fund. Dams that can trap and kill fish are at different stages of planning in the Greater Mekong.

High variation in geography and climate zones that enabled species to flourish are now jeopardized by climate change, said Chungyalpa.

War is always a threat in countries touched by the Mekong River, particularly Burma. Also known as Myanmar, the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia has been ravaged over the years by conflict, political instability and natural disaster.

This summer, for example, the United Nations reported that as many as 100,000 people were killed by a cyclone that hit Myanmar. The country's ruling military junta blocked the outside world for weeks before allowing aid to flow into the region.

There are cultural obstacles to protecting rare species, too. Many restaurants serve them as food. Restaurants often have rickety bamboo floors that one can look through to see cages filled with exotic animals, Chungyalpa says. The more exotic the animal, the more status it often bestows on the person who consumes it.

"Reports [like the WWF's] are important because these regions can be educated," said Maureen Aung-Thwin, the director of The Burma Project, which is funded by the George Soros Foundation and supports local Indonesian organizations working toward an open society.
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"People are taking climate change more seriously and even the ruling junta have a forestry NGO. There are glimpses of hope," said Aung-Thwin. "But it's also a situation where someone could step forward and say 'We don't need this' and cut it all down."

WWF said it is working with governments and industry to plan the conservation of more than 231,000 square miles of forest and freshwater habitats that cross borders with all countries in the Greater Mekong.
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All About Wildlife • Thailand • Myanmar • Wildlife

Inspirations

Think that its a cool idea to talk about other artitsts that inspire me.

Starting with Marc Jacobs

Venture

Tuesday i started working on some new joints by bringing in dancers individually. I like working like this as of the moment so that i can really get into the meat of the bone(movement). Working with the dancers one at a time i can really get to see how they work and how i should best use them instead of them both trying to please me by doing the same exact thing. That will happen later once i get everyone in the studio together.

here are a couple pics of day 2 with girl 2....Alex




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Dont Get Hit

Some people hate for a living. Here at TAGsf we want to make it a little easier for you.

If you have ever been hated on by someone simply send them a can of "Hater Spray!"



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Listening to.......

David Bowies Station to Station.

old school like an old fool. Whoop there it is.



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hey, hello, hi.

today i start working on some new material for an upcoming performance this Jan. This new project is going to be a challenge for me because i will be working with an all female cast with the exception of Jeezy. Hence why i posted a pic of Natalie Portman. Hey man, she inspires me so get off my back:)

The music that i have selected is free form jazz so that is a challenge within itself. Most of the instrumentation sounds like improv or dissonant chords. Theres really not any melody. The only problem that i find with the music is that it might be too much. I wonder if i were watching a show with the same music would it be too distracting? As long as the movement is able to aide the music intelligently, i dont think that i would mind.

Tonight i work with a dancer in Studio G so that i have a body to work on. You know, workshop.

If i figure out that the music does not work than on to something else. Musical Director Jeezy has all kinds of good stuff.



hola!


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I would like to say "Thank You" to Mr. Levi for inviting me to be part of such an amazing event last night.

Misnomer Dance Theatre did an incredible job with launching a live webcast. An online event that viewers at home could watch in real time. It was trippy to see some of my work go up during the intermission. Right before the show started i was on the phone with my friend Jason who is in the NY based dance company Cedar Lake. We stayed on the phone together for most of the 1st half. I was laughing about how im in San Francisco while watching a dance performance in NY.

I did not want to watch my own work during the intermission so he was reading to me the comments that the viewers were leaving for my joint "Triam". To my surprise they were all good!

Thanks again for a spectacular evening and i look forward to seeing what you guys will do next.



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webCast

live webcast tonight

8pm EST
5pm PST


http://www.misnomer.org/live

Misnomer Dance company is doing a live online show. Super cool idea and great use of technology.

We are going to be showing one of our joints during the intermission.

If you are around DO check it out.


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why am i not in bed?

"oh yeah, im at xmas party # 3 running away to the computer.

Super stoked on meeting an new artists today who bought up the idea of a new collabo. Sounds cool and im down.

lets do it.


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Finally

Last night i could not believe my eyes. My friend finally took the time to sit down and start blogging. How long has it been now? The whole set up for this is blog is to have real time up to date info on what the T.A.G collaboraters are up to. You know....what makes them "tick". I've noticed the more i write the more i piss people off. Never do i intend to do it, just always works out that way for me. All this blogging stuff is new terrain. I learn as i go. I will say that its not cool getting people mad over posts.`We had a laugh last night dubbing me the "Great Ruinner of all things", or something to that affect. I mean my birthday does fall at the end of the Myan calender, supposedly the end of civilization. It makes perfect sense that my nickname in school was Btroubles.


And i digress.


here are some pics of Jeezy doing his 1st blog in my home studio.

The site gave me butterflys:P


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love below

Sorry about the lack of posts. I have been out sick for the past 3 days and decided it best for me to just chill/ hydrate.

I will be posting DVD's and music that i have been listening to while sicky poo. The holiday season is here so maybe i will inspire some gift giving ideas.


hope all is well with everyone



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DIY in No Man's Land

This week has been a good one for me. My focus/clarity is better then it has ever been and im taking everything one step at a time.

Right now im working on a new edit of Balloons. Im really stoked on it because i have never taken on anything like it before and the editing process is is taking me into un familiar territories. Insomnia helps me out a lot too. Working late into the night with lucid thoughts is very interesting if i would say so myself.

The material that i am working with is shot from a live show that i choreographed last year. The show was inspired by the dance video edit with the sam title. Dr.Bacon shot and edited it a couple years back with my art direction/choreography. Sitting at my desk splicing making "in's and out's" and chopping the material i have to remind myself that its not going to be anything like the live joint. The fun comes in playing around, trying new things out and re- arranging the material.

Thinking about other things that inspires me i can see that this will evolve itself into something that i have yet to make out in my head. The only thing that is bothering me is that i have no reference points of other films to watch. Im literally going into "no mans land". Is that a weird thing, or have i always been there?

Only time will tell.


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Balloons

here is yet another clip.

What you thought i was playing when i said that i had a whole bunch of untouched material?

Now i am doing things right.

thank the heavens, or whatever you look up to.

its late and i am tired. Of course i cant sleep.

Oh well.


Balloons from T.A.G.San Francisco on Vimeo.

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Listening to who?

Darker My Love
album: 2


its good

back from the future

while away on vacation my uncle Wendel came over for the holidays with a whole bunch of items that he got in China. My favorite being the home movie theatre goggles.

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FridaY

Back by popular demand i will be releasing a video so groundbreaking and riddled with controversy that we had to take it down.

Everything that you see and hear in the interview are all true stories. Real facts. No bullshit.

This video is my best idea ever.

Be sure to tune in this Friday for the JP interview!