Opticalbreeze's Blog

Coyote’s Song- Video Short 1

opticalbreeze — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:27:37 +0000

Were are doing a documentary on the whole project. Check out this short video to learn more….

Coyote’s Song- Costume Development

opticalbreeze — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:25:07 +0000

Coyote’s Song- An Environmental Production

opticalbreeze — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:16:09 +0000

This semester I was offered the beautiful opportunity to put together a kids show to be performed at StoneLion Puppet Theatre’s Green Festivals happening in may. Since the beginning of the semester I have been working hard to organize and direct a combination of 15 artists, dancers, composers, costume designers and more. This production has snow balled into a huge 24 cast production with beautiful costumes, sets, choreography and more. Read more about the project bellow…

Who We Are

We are a community of dancers, artists, and musicians from University of Missouri Kansas City and Kansas City Art Institute, that have come together to participate in producing this environmental production. Students and other members from the community are recruited to participate in this special dance production for the spirit of art and our environment. Our goal is to reach out to the community to excite children and adults about taking action towards environmental change.

What We Do

Environmental Dance is a collaborative production that uses environmental issues as the subject for our dances to teach members of the community about these concerns in a fun and memorable way. We first write a children’s story based on a specific green theme and then read this story to a chosen group of children. In collaboration with ArtPlay we are currently working with children at Operation Breakthrough. From the story, children are encouraged to draw characters, act out scenes and create sets using nothing more then their individual creative inspiration that develops from the story. Our set design team, costume team, and choreography team then use the children’s feedback as a means to develop the essence of the production. After the choreography has been completed, the production is then taught to a new group of children who will have the opportunity to perform the dance in front of members of their community. This years final production will be performed at StoneLion Puppet Theatre’s Green Festivals held from February to May.

What We Believe

We believe in education through experience, and awareness by providing positive role models for the community. Through the power of dance, this production conveys to people of all ages and backgrounds the message of positive hope, positive change and positive community.

Our Collaboration With StoneLion Puppet Theatre

Brie Blakeman is an intern for StoneLion Puppet Theatre as the assistant to the Artist Director for their 2010 Green Festival series. She is assisting in the booking, organizing and production of these events and has been offered the opportunity to showcase the first Environmental Dance production at their Green Day festivals. Heather Nisbett-Loewenstein, the Artistic Director of StoneLion, has been an active member in the development of this project, offering informative feedback and evaluations of the collaborative process, concept development and project execution.

http://www.hoopcity.ca/friends/Breeze

opticalbreeze — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:48:53 +0000

http://www.hoopcity.ca/friends/Breeze.

Click this link to check out my page on Hoop City!

Hoop Dance and Digital Society

opticalbreeze — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:36:56 +0000

Eat Bass

So, I am currently taking a class on Digital Society and some questions were brought up that made me think of the hoop community…. What constitutes intellectual thought in the digital age? How do you think the computer has altered cognition? Why get a traditional education in the age of free information? These are all questions I find very stimulating and quite relevant to our community. The main reason I know how to do over half the tricks I do is because of youtube and other internet sources. Yes I have learned a lot from people in person, but most has been learned online, and this made me think about how quickly the hoop dance community has grown and how accessible everything we need to grow as dancers and individuals is for us. It’s pretty amazing! So with that said, I have decided that for my final project I would ask hoop dancers all over the world, including you, to write a post about how digital society has influenced hoop dance as a whole, as well as on an individual level. Feel free to go on a tangent! This will be a fun little experiment. Below are a few questions to get you started.

1)Let your mind travel back in time. Try to remember what the first hoop dance video you ever saw was. Find it and post a link of it here for us to watch!

2)How has the internet influenced the hoop dance community?

3)How has this wave of free information via online catalogs, blogs, video sites and search engines brought us closer to one another?

4) What are some ways we have used technology to make a difference in peoples lives via hoop dance?

5)How can we continue to make a difference?

6)How might our community be different if we weren’t able to connect online? Would we be as close or closer? Would we learn as fast? Would the community have grown so quickly?

7)Are there any disadvantages to how the internet affects hoop dance?

8)What is your personal connection or story about how the internet has impacted you as a hoop dancer?

Thanks lovelies! I’m looking forward to hearing your responses and watching your videos!

Sincerely,

Luna Breeze

This is it!

opticalbreeze — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:16:13 +0000

So here’s a quick update for you all.

Starting last Wednesday Eric and I began to set up in the 2030 Central space located in the crossroads art district down town KCMO. We had a lot of work to do. Basically the space is a huge warehouse with over 20 giant windows that needed to be blocked out so our performance could happen during the day as well as in the night. We spent 3 days covering the windows in black plastic from home depot. During this time we also hung a large white projection screen as well as a long black curtain that ran across half of the space. We need the curtain not only for projection mapping purposes, but we also needed it to cover up this giant eye ball that is permanently installed in the space. Don’t get me wrong, I love the eyeball, as it is really fun to crawl inside and look out on the space through, but it doesn’t really fit the theme of our project, so we covered it up. It is now officially my back stage changing area.

So we’ve got the space set up, dusted and prepped for our performance. We’ve got to do some much needed testing and practicing which has gone quite well. My main concern is my ability to dance with my eyes closed. Well, so my eyes aren’t actually closed but I am dancing in a white body suite that covers my face completely. The face is made of two layers of mesh which in any other circumstance I would have no trouble seeing out of but when I’m in our dark space with crazy psychedelic projections being projected on my body it makes it extremely difficult to see much of anything. It is seriously like dancing with my eyes closed. For some dancers I imagine that this wouldn’t be much of an issue but despite my desire to dance and move my body I still am not trained and I think that has something to do with the lack of comfort I feel dancing in that suite. I have taken a totally of 3 modern dance classes and performed a hoop-modern fusion dance routine with a professional modern dancer which definitely taught me a lot, but that is about the extent of my experience with any sort of dance training. The rest of my knowledge comes from watching videos. I am mostly self taught and have only just begun to learn how to dance without a hoop

You see the hoop for so long has been my comfort zone. The hoop is really who taught me how to dance at all. If it weren’t for hoop dance I doubt I even would have thought of becoming a dancer. But now dance is all I think about and despite my lack of training, as well as my lack of comfort replaced by irritating nerves, I am so excited to do this performance. I figure that if I fall and loose my balance, as I most likely will I’m only getting that much closer to learning how to dance without those mistakes. Plus I figure viewers will give me the benefit of the doubt sense I’m basically dancing blindfolded.

So that’s where I’m at. We will start practicing again Thursday around 2:00 and a 4:00 the photographer of our school at Kansas City Art Institute is coming buy for a 3-D photo shoot. Apparently they want to use our performance as the cover page for the schools magazine for next year, which is really exciting. Then on Friday we begin our performance at 7PM and everything will be over before I know it. Isn’t that how it always works? Well wish us luck…I’ll break a leg or something.

For the love of hoop dance

opticalbreeze — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:19:25 +0000

So as you all may have figured by reading the posts about my most recent project, The Extensions of the Body, I am a circus art performer specializing in the art of hoop dance. I haven’t had much time to dedicate to posting blogs about my love of hoop dance, despite the fact that it is pretty much the most important part of my life right now, so here is a start. This is a video of my most recent performance for a collaborative group called artsounds. This group strives to combine the art of music, dance and fine arts together. This is the end result of a collaboration between 2 UMKC composers, one UMKC dance major and myself as a hoop dancer and fine artist. I hope you enjoy the performance as much as I enjoyed bringing it into reality.

So, for the love of hoop dance, watch my video and let me know what you think!

The Event- May 1st (and 2nd) 7PM

opticalbreeze — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:16:06 +0000

Words from my Mid Term Critique

opticalbreeze — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:23:37 +0000

So this semester has been really great for me. I am entirely excited about the current project I have been working on and I think that it has really opened a lot of doors for me in terms of performance within my world. I have begun to realize the potential of performance art and it’s boundless possibilities due to this collaboration. This piece, although it is still in it’s early stages of development, is something I never could’ve imagined that I would be able to do, even just a semester ago. At the same time, ever sense I began dancing, I have always had a desire to combine video with performance yet felt restricted in terms of my knowledge and abilities as an individual with no video experience as well as very little knowledge of dance and performance itself. The power of collaboration is unfathomable to me and I am so happy to have found my place as an artist who thrives within collaboration with other talented artists.
Performance, dance in particular is something that you all know I have been extremely driven and inspired by. I may not be a classically trained dancer and although nothing makes me happier then to move my body in a manner that translates my inner emotions to others, dance is an art form in and of itself that I have hardly even begun to decode and master. This very fact itself has become a huge obstacle for me as an artist, as well as student here at the art institute. There is a huge chunk of my heart that wants to run off and join dance school, or circus school, or cirque itself for that matter. That could be the happiest moment of my life really. I want to be a great dancer and performer. I want to achieve a euphoric feeling of ultimate grace, power, and agility through weightless dance. My desire for perfection within my own dance keeps me stretching my limits. If I could I would dedicate 8 hours a day to crawling around on the floor, stretching, leaping through the air, and swinging my arms around taking up space and creating energy and movement. Something about slicing through the thin layers of air with poise and confidence that a dancer must find makes it really difficult to restrain myself from dedicating all of the time I have to dance and performance.
I don’t understand why performing something as ridiculous, simple and quite frankly literal as hoop performance or even gymnastics, which I would someday like to do, could make me feel so accomplished and complete but it does. Perhaps, thinking scientifically it is the endorphins running through my body as I physically exert myself that makes me feel so high but that can’t be the entire picture. Maybe it is the amazing way that my body can be transformed day by day through simple stretches and exercises that help me see my progression with excitement and enthusiasm.
What truly boggles my mind is how being able to hold a certain dance pose or being 5 centimeters closer to the splits then I was a week before can bring me such satisfaction and pure joy. The way my muscles burn and ache after hours of conditioning and stretching after the gym. Stretch by lunge; work out session by dance performance my body because more limber and my effort to move become more natural. Why do these things matter so much to me? Is it because I’ll eventually be able to wow an audience as I seamlessly slip down into the splits with a hoop rotating around my extended hand? Do I simply want to impress those around me with my soon to be super human (or not so super human) abilities to defy the human form? In all honesty I think that would truly be enjoyable but that’s not my motivation. Of course I would feel special and of course I would feel accomplished because there are not many people in the world that can stand their head on floor and touch their toes to their head all at the same time, which no I can not do at this moment in time, but for some reason I would happily commit 5 hours a day to stretching just so I could maybe make it happen. But would I really just be doing it to say I could? Of course not.
I get it; my goals in life are what some people might call “special”. Some have told me I’m downright crazy and I don’t argue with them, but one thing I do believe with all my heart is that it is an absolute art form to me. It is not just something I do to impress those around me, or something I do to make the crowed roar all though depending on what I’m doing a little applause never hurt. This passion I feel for circus arts, dance, and even entertainment goes beyond the “wow factor”. It extends past the audience, the applause; the fancy costumes (although I love them almost just as much) or the immediate gratification of performing something that isn’t particularly common or well known. And this is a little of subject but you guys, I feel crazy saying these things, and I know a lot of this comes from my own personal experience of the way dance has changed my entire life and purpose on this planet but I feel like I have the potential to change lives through dance and not just my own life. Is it selfish to think that people can live vicariously through me through their enjoyment of watching me make a simple movement that they may be unable to do themselves? I’ve seen it happen and It for those people that I do what I do.
But really, I could talk for hours and never truly be able to explain to you the real heart connection I feel for movement and the way it makes my heart cry crimson streams of vital blood through my veins. It is the juice that fuels my passion and makes this world the best place to exist in when I let those rivers flow freely. My point of all this is to spill my guts to you all. I need that right now. It has been crazy being away from the studio so much and I feel slightly disconnected and I want you all to know what is happening inside my head. I also need to let you know that because of this need for performance I will be running away to circus school after this semester is over. No I’m kidding. That certainly is always in the back of my mind being one to want to perfect my craft so to say, but seriously it hasn’t been until this year that I’ve finally started to understand why I am here at the art institute instead of studying dance, theater or circus arts. Honestly, being at a fine arts school when I’m so heavily influenced by performing arts has been a begrudging, disheartening, and downright frustrating aspect to my experience here. I truly believe that there is a lot I have missed out on by not being surrounded by other dancers and performers but at the same time I also believe I have gained even more then I’ve lost by being surrounded and challenged by all the awe-inspiring artists in this community. Beyond all the frustration and tears if it wasn’t for this school I may never have been able to push my art form into all these new realms. If I simply went to a performing arts school I would be learning traditional edicit, traditional showmanship, traditional and institutionalized entertainment for the masses and so on but here I have the freedom to create, explore, grow and evolve what I do into something more and despite all the stress I am damn excited about it.

Sunny Days and Circular Rays

opticalbreeze — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:20:12 +0000

Hey everyone,

I’m feeling particularly dazzled and electric today for no particular and I thought I would write about it to you. I have a ridiculous amount of energy and enthusiasm that I owe to the fabulous weather and vibrant sunshine of this wonderful Saturday afternoon. Let me just say that I am so excited about the current direction all my projects and dreams in life seem to be going. Yes, I often times feel extremely overwhelmed, worried, anxious and rushed but on sunny days such as this I am finally given the opportunity to sit back and reflect on what is actually going on in my life.

Recently I have had a really hard time appreciating everything that is happening for me right now. I am taking 18 credits in school while trying to pursue a carrier as a hoop dance instructor, performer, and artist. It’s a lot to take on. I’m still learning a few things about time management and multi-tasking. You see the thing is, I tend to like to think that no matter how busy I am, as long as the extra whatever I am committing myself to is something I really long for and enjoy I will be able to take on the responsibility. As am writing this to you I still believe that but I’m starting to realize that you really can’t do everything.

This is how my brain is working right now. I am currently working with two collaborative projects. One for my main studio class, which requires dance, testing, video, blogging, stretching, dancing, brainstorming, project presentations, and independent research studies. The second collaboration involves practices at least twice a week, costume design, choreography, stretching, dancing, brainstorming project presentations and a final performance. I am also teaching two hoop classes, trying to build a website for myself and learning, working hard to make deadlines for my inter-modulations class which focuses on Max MSP which is a ridiculous program that creates interactive video programming.

I could keep going but my point here is that I’m doing a lot of stuff, and this is my problem, I want to commit one hundred percent of myself to each of these things but I’m doing them all at the same time so I can’t really do that. If I were able to focus on each of these things individually I could learn and do so much about them. But these things take time and patients and I am beginning to understand this. I want to play, I want to have fun, I want to learn and I want to work hard. It’s not impossible and on a sunny day such as this I suddenly remember why I do what a do. It is all worth it and I am excited to be living this life.