Despite & Considering...

 

Laughing onstage at Karnival with my dance partner Jexi because our flames are completely out.

Image courtesy of  Redlite Photos (view the rest of the set on Facebook here)

Because sometimes, no matter how prepared you are, how many times you practiced leading up to this night and even if you're just crossing your fingers that you won't make a mistake (and with what I do, can potentially involve burns and other hazardous incidents) ... you just have to laugh. You might as well smile up there, because despite all your preparedness, "technical difficulties" happen and it's not always how you wanted it to be.

No bashing necessary - I got that out of my system later that night. These things happen, and all I can say was that it was an excellent chance to have a dress rehearsal of our piece before PEX Summer Festival. The weather held out, it didn't pour down rain on us and even let up by the time anyone had to perform on stage. No one dropped their fans or forgot the choreography. Considering our fans went out with 1/3 song left (the music didn't quite get started when we wanted it to, leaving us standing there waiting for the cue, forced to wave our fans about just to get the heat off our hands...) we did pretty freaking good. I'm proud of my fellow Lux Arati ladies, love you all bunches and LOVE performing with you no matter what.

(Considering also, that the entire day leading up to that night was a royal headache - had to stay late at work, then my car wouldn't start, rushing to finish my bra for this costume and not even getting there on time... I'd say despite everything, somehow it was still a success?)

Another shot of our performance by Redlite Photos. Note the half burnt out wicks. :)

This makes me even more excited for the summer and beyond. (Just wait till you catch a glimpse of what The Penny Treats have up their sleeve.)

Dangerous & Exciting things: Fire, Karnival, and Russian Roulette

April is flying by, my friends. Feels like the First Friday show just happened, but the month is almost over.

I've been taking a break from fine art and general painting, for the most part -- my post-art-show decompression activities have included practices, rehearsals and/or meetings nearly every night of the week in preparation for upcoming performances and shows. By day I'm a brunch slinging, cappucino crafting barista... then I spend countless hours concocting and calculating the perfect balance of visual psychedelic geometric dreamscapes in oils and acrylics... by night I'm a fire twirling, feather teasing alter-ego of myself on stage and in my "spare time" (what's that, again?)  I'm customizing said alter-egos showstopping threads from old tired garments and thrift store scores... all while planning a 45 minute, prime night & time fire variety show for a festival of a few thousand attendees.

Scorch Fire Show, PEX Summer Festival 2010 - performing the opening number, "Shiva." 

Photo by Oscar P.

It's that time of year again and planning for the summer's festivities, including the now legendary PEX Summer Festival has begun. Though it started with a disorganized dream, four years later we find ourselves for the first time keeping the exact same show name and administrative team - the Russian Roulette Variety Show, featuring the hottest, most talented troupes and performers from Philadelphia (and beyond) showcasing their newest work every year at PEX Summer Fest in the coveted Friday night spot. I am proud to announce that The Russian Roulette Variety Show is now accepting submissions for performers as well, which you can do by filling out the form here.

 A shot from behind the "stage" - Scorch Fire Show,  PEX Summer Festival 2010. Jexime Icon performing her fire fan solo in front of the Shiva fire sculpture (built for the show by Vinny Gasper, funded by a grant from PEX.)

 Photo by Emily Watson.

 Scorch Fire Show, PEX Summer Festival 2010 - performing the opening number, "Shiva." 

Photo by Emily Watson.  

R.R.V.S., please be advised, is a variety show - meaning there is no performance genre too weird (or too normal either, I suppose) to be considered. But performers be advised - if you haven't already begun working on the piece you are thinking of submitting, you may be out of luck. Giving that the festival is only a few months away, we are looking for troupes and performers that already have their shit together, to put it bluntly. Along with filling out the application form, you are required to submit a video to us of your current progress for your specific performance for the show. (Even if it's rough, even if you don't have it 100% figured out, we need to see it. Apparently some folks don't understand this concept.) Chances are if you haven't started working on this already, it might not be "done" in time for PEX. If this is your situation, don't fret - this is not the first, nor the last show from Russian Roulette. If you really want to put in the effort, chances are you will be able to be part of this magnificent and magnanimous show.



Why are we implementing such specific guidelines and demanding requirements for Russian Roulette? It's very simple - for one, of course, we want our show to be the best it can be. Keeping the acts interesting, different... the choreography polished, the music varied, making sure the entire show flows in a way that will keep our audience eagerly awaiting the next act. No awkward pauses between acts, no boring 7 minute solo acts with the same prop, NO intermission (people just get up and leave) and of course, no one catching on fire. (Very important.) Most of us involved on the administrative team have been doing a similar show for the past few years, and we've made the mistakes we needed to make to learn from them... this "disorganized dream" that wasn't even my own, when it began, has come a long way. (When I first got involved and the summer festival was in it's infancy - I was very very new to fire, to performing, to PEX, to everything - but, felt drawn to do it still, knowing that I had a very different but useful range of experience under my belt and in my heart I could make these shows better than they would otherwise be.)

Here is a great video by Hedy Sirico from 2010's PEX Summer Fest 

performance of Scorch Fire Show.

Anyway, myself and the rest of the R.R.V.S. admin team are busting our asses right now (we don't get paid for this, remember) to put on another fabulous show this summer. I absolutely consider this another part of my "art", it just happens to be within a different genre.

  

Lux Arati performing at PEX Summer Festival in 2011 as part of The Russian Roulette Variety Show. 

Lux Arati performing at PEX Summer Festival in 2011 as part of The Russian Roulette Variety Show. (Not sure who took these photos - apologies for not giving due credit. If this is yours please contact me ASAP and I will get on that.)

This weekend - Saturday night - I will be performing with both of my groups, Lux Arati and The Penny Treats at Karnival. The Penny Treats are performing an old number that we've reworked (think- red feather fans...) and Lux Arati is debuting something brand new, totally mind-blowing and maybe still in-progress. I like to think of this show as a dress rehearsal for PEX Summer Fest and R.R.V.S. -- although I hope it will still be as kick-ass as it should be. For once, I picked the track we're performing to - "All Alone" by Gorillaz. It happened to be on a mix CD in my car, one of the only CD's it felt like playing for awhile, and I must have listened to it on repeat for a week before playing it for my girls. It's a little electronic, a little hip hop, and a little booty shakin' action, little bit of BOUNCE-WIGGLE-BOUNCE... all that... plus bellydancing with fire fans? Holy shitballs. This is gonna be quite a spectacle. Watch out... literally, because some of the moves are pretty complicated and if we drop our flaming fans on you, it may burn a little. Might sting a bit.

 Lux Arati fire montage - poster for Karnival, April 28th at the Arts Garage in Philly.

On that note, I REALLY have to work on my costume for tomorrow. Click on this link to get to the Facebook event for Karnival. Here are some of the bangin' posters for the event featuring yours truly. I will post relevant media when I have it available.

(Oooh la la!)

Balancing Acts

How typical am I right now? A new cafe opened down the street from my house two weekends ago, so this morning I dragged myself here with my computer and notebook to enjoy a cup of coffee and free wi-fi in the hopes I would be less distracted and get more done. So far, it's going well. I feel comfortable here, probably because not only do I know the guy who opened Buzz Cafe, my co-worker Rachel is now employed here as well as Cafe La Maude. So far - excellent coffee, great looking menu, tasty treats, and a nice atmosphere. And this neighborhood desperately needs businesses like this, so if you live around here please come and support it.

I'm happy to report that I will be performing once again this year at PEX's annual Valentines Day bash, Heartburn 6. ("Dr. Carlos Allende's Lost Caravan of Love" - the rest of the official title.) The party is going to be once again at an ultra-secret location somewhere in Center City in Philadelphia, on Friday February 10th. I am also one of the few lucky artists asked to display work in the official gallery space at the party. I'll be spinning fire as part of my bellydance brigade, Lux Arati, as well as performing inside. I'm still working on what I'll be doing for the inside portion - it will likely include my fabulous red feather fans. This also means that I will be planning for at least three costume changes - outdoor fire performance, indoor burlesque/bellydance performance, and just something else to wear for the rest of the night.

I will also be performing again at this years Addy Awards here in Philadelphia! That was the best paying gig of my performance career, so I am definitely psyched to be part of the show again. Hopefully this year it will not be pouring down rain and we can really show off what we do for these folks.

I feel like I just started working on real art again (meaning paintings) after spending the month before and 2 weeks after the holidays working on gifts for my family. (Not to mention friends... you guys are going to have to wait.) It's been a slow process, unfortunately, and I'm thankful to be busy enough that my time for all of my activities is limited. What with work, rehearsals, my art and god forbid I relax once in awhile... it's no wonder I only manage to post in my blog once or twice a month. Happiness is often a delicate balancing act, I suppose, where we try and survive with some kind of job while still trying to focus on and dedicate time to the things we love until we can find a way for them to sustain us.

Luckily, there are some interesting projects in the works right now, and now that I've finally recovered from terrible cubicle depression and moved on to a happier place I think I can work on adjusting my jobs so I spend more time making art and performing and less time behind a counter (and running up and down stairs a million times a day and serving food.)

The Honeycomb Merkaba on my easel in my "studio space",
aka the corner of the kitchen.

This is the latest masterpiece, a still-in-progress (but nearing a finished state!) commission which I'm calling "The Honeycomb Merkaba." So, so many colored triangles. I've added things, taken them away, adjusted colors of teeny little parts ever so slightly over and over again... it's been a year now, and my thankfully patient patrons will be receiving their finished original Xtina painting in the near future. This, actually, is one of my "jobs", considering I need to finish this to get paid. I've already devoted so much time to working on this - it is definitely my "baby" and it may be hard to see it go. (Though it is going to friends and I will probably be able to see it whenever I want.) If I sold this to anyone else, I would probably charge 3 times the amount I'm doing it for, and that was actually a conscious decision. We still need to get paid for what we do, but friends get discounts (especially these friends.) Hey, at least I'm not giving away my art all the time anymore. I should have at least tried to take decent photos of everything first. :)

Gotta love a blurry self-portrait every now and again.

Speaking of self-portraits, it's probably about that time again. Every year or so I try and paint one, so in 20 years maybe, I can put them all on the same wall next to one another and examine how I aged, how I perceived my own self image over time, how I reflected what was going on in my life through my work... a retrospective. I should probably worry about that later, but it is time to investigate some new images for this years painting.

Hello please. Attempting to channel some cheesy pop gestures,
all I get is bellydance hands and a creepy stare.

The photo above is from when I was messing around trying to photograph myself with this awesome vintage feather hat (that belonged to my grandmother), that my mom sent me for Christmas this year. Don't ask me what my hand is doing. I'm not sure what effect, exactly, I was going for but obviously it didn't work.

Puerto Rico, #1 (working title)
oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

The first painting in a series inspired by my "honeymoon" trip to Puerto Rico a few years ago. I took many pictures. It's not quite finished yet, but getting there. It's oil and only about 18"x 24", and this one in particular got started one of the days I needed to take a break from the Honeycomb piece. Similar colors, as you may notice - and the exact opposite style of painting. I needed something freeing and loose to paint to recover after making myself insane with fine lines and near perfect symmetry.

Tree of Life
acrylic on wood, 19" x 11.5"

And speaking of perfect symmetry, this is a newer acrylic painting on wood that I created in the same color harmonies as the sought-after "A Night in Wyman Park (Bamboo)" painting. Much smaller, much more affordable. Love it? Want it? Make me an offer.

Until I get some better photos of new work and get through this week (and weekend - Heartburn is almost here!) this post will have to do. Springtime is coming, and that means more fire, more festivals, and hopefully another art show, if I can manage to find a good space that wants to hang my work. ( Please, send any my way if you have a tip. ) In the meantime, we will work on our balancing acts and ultimate goal of making art, our home, our life that much better.

PEX Summer Festival, The Summer Dragon, and the Russian Roulette Variety Show!

Took a little break from painting this past month to focus on some other projects, including helping my husband create a 21+ foot long performance "Chinese" inspired dragon, which I am in the middle of working on as I type. (I'm the textile manager, design consultant, and slave labor.)

His psychedelic beast will debut tomorrow evening at the opening ceremony at PEX Summer Festival 2011.

I'll also be performing with The Russian Roulette Variety Show with The Penny Treats and Lux Arati, my bellydance and fire troupe. Here are some photos from our dress rehearsal, courtesy of the fabulous Will Connelly.

A shot of Lux Arati from the first dress rehearsal of Russian Roulette Variety Show.
Photo by Will Connelly.

Anyway, we are closing in on 24 hours away from our debut performance at PEX Summer Fest, and I've spent the past two weeks crafting costumes, rehearsing & practicing my butt off, helping Alex develop his dragon and a whole slew of other related crap. Lux Arati is also hosting 2 bellydance related workshops, one on how to craft your own bellydance bra, and the other an Intro to Bellydance class. I proposed the workshop idea - specifically the bellydance bra crafting one, because I have no qualifications to teach a dance class, but I sure can make costumes.

This is my third year (and the third year of) PEX Summer Fest, and I'm always blown away by the art, music, installations and performances - it's a shit ton of creative minds coming together to make a really amazing event. (Changed some of my friends lives - for real!)

I'll leave you with a stellar video of PEX Summer Festival from 2010 that my dear friend Bill Kennedy put together from camera stills. I'm in it, near the end, you'll see me crawling all over the HoneyTrap sculpture. Enjoy!