when the soul soars... along with the body

Tuesday night, I felt sad.

Until I saw this...

I sobbed. Tears of release and joy, not sadness. To me, the precious gift Mia Michaels gave the world was a celebration of Women, of Life, of Peace... faeries, cherry blossoms, nymphs. The soft power that comes from the Sisterhood.



And when it was over, I was at Peace.

I've been talking of Peace now for a while, and I still am...

I'm reminded of the grace and comfort that women bring in times of war and strife, sorrow and struggle.

The skillful hands of the wartime nurse...

The care worker that comforts an AIDS orphan...

The Breast Cancer survivor walking for a cure...

A grandmother's hands as it sows a memory quilt...


A UNICEF worker helping mothers feed their children...

My friend Mimi...

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
- Harriet Tubman

For remarkable women everywhere...

Join the Blogblast for Peace...

Be the change...

November 5, 2009

The Peace Globe Gallery

Because it's too awesome not to share

I like to piggyback review SYTYCD and DWTS over at my bro, Travis' awesome blog. Dance geeks like myself can't help it. I don't review them here because, well... I prefer being the colour commentary rather than the actual reviewer and he rocks at it, so...

But we, in Canada, have reached our Top 10 on SYTYCD. I have a weakness for ballroom and tap, I do. And this season, Vincent Desjardins, an absolutely marvelous and charming ballroom dancer is competing for the title of Canada's favourite dancer. We also have the absolutely adorable Everett Smith, a take no prisoners, multi-talented tapper. SQUEEEE!!!

This week, we were treated to two grin enducing routines...

This Paso Doble (choreographed by two of last season's competitors Francis Lafrenière and Natalli Reznick) was hot, quick paced, passionate, made use of the entire stage and showcased both dancers wonderfully. Melanie and Vincent truly embraced the routine and delivered the goods. When you're coupled with a dancer with Vincent's partnering skills, it's easier to trust and fling yourself. He's there at every crucial moment, ready and waiting. He knows that his best strategy is to give the best of himself and still make his partner look good. Class act.

And then, a jazz fusion number crafted by Sean Cheesman that defies description. Everett and Kim blew me away. They committed to the characters and turned in a most memorable performance! Woooooo for the tapper and the hip-hopper... The partnering work was exquisite. These two dancers show us how professional they are, week after week.

Interestingly enough, both routines were choreographed to music by The White Stripes, and I like it. It's wonderful when choreographers use music so well.

Last week, tap dancing was featured for what is believed to be the first time on a SYTYCD stage in a musical theater. I still squeal every time I watch it. Sean Cheesman rocks my world with his choreographies. Tara Jean is a firecracker and Everett is a gem and a gentleman. My favourite moment of the season:

Ok, so with those three routines, I've shown you my top 5 dancers.

Yup... we know we can dance!

Canada's favourite dancer...

Last night on SYTYCD Canada (we know we can, we KNOW!!!), Canada's Favourite dancer was crowned... and all I have to say is:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I give you a moment with Canada's top 2 dancers, Allie Bertram and Nicolas Archambault, choreographed by Stacey Tooke, to "Permanent" by David Cook (YAY! How happy can a SYTYCD & AI fan be!!!)

The storyline:
A man and a woman are truly in love... but he's going to war and ultimately, there's something she hasn't told him.

A man torn between love and duty. The most moving piece I've seen of all the performances from SYTYCD.

This happens every day, folks... every day... May we find Peace, if only to avoid this kind of painful goodbye from happening ever again.

If you want to see the video that includes judges comments, click HERE.


This is what dance is all about. It's not: "were the extensions good?" , "how were the lines", "did she point her toes properly"... it's about bringing a piece to life and making you feel the emotion behind it. It's life set to music.

Félicitations Nico! Not bad for a dancer who is deaf in one ear.

They got me...

Disclaimer: if this post makes no sense I blame the confused red germ.

Ugh! I hope the purple one got me because that blue one looks just plain mean and prickly. The red one looks so confused it might get lost and end up somewhere germs aren't supposed to go and stick around, like my big toe. And the green one.... well, it's green and that's cruel. Nuff said.

On the positive side, Sharkdog does not have tuna butt and Chicklet is well on her way to being healthy.
Oh.. and there's jello in the fridge... except that the fridge is downstairs and I'M not.

Right, so Dumdum seems to be getting his own health issue as well. He's been shaking that big empty head of his a lot and I suspect something's amiss with his ear. So last night, I decided to put a little doggie ear cleaner in there. He comes easily enough until he notices the bottle in my hand, doggie instinct kicks in and he runs off in the other direction (he can't get far, the house isn't that big). Well... all my years of schooling in psychology are put to the test. How easy is it to fool this dog? I just squeal and run in the opposite direction. It was a lot like grammar school when you'd either run away and play coy or smack the boy you liked on the head. Mission accomplished. He was as confused as the red germ.

It's the little victories that make life meaningful, you know? HOOOOOOOORAH!



Last night we watched the elimination show for SYTYCD Canada and I think Canada got this one wrong. We had to say goodbye to Kaitlin and Danny. Although I haven't been a fan of Kaitlin's throughout the season so far, I've never had a bad thing to say about her dancing (she did fall a bit flat this week mind you). I just think she was a victim of youth and inexperience. What really has my underwear in a twist (I, unlike Jeremy - Jen's hubby from Steenky Bee- who likes to go commando and came out of the closet, was wearing underwear yesterday) is that Danny was "voted off" in favour of lesser dancers (IMHO).
This guy has some of the best partnering abilities I've seen on a dance show and I just hope Chicklet and I will be able to get tickets to see him during the SYTYCD Canada tour.

Ah crap! It just dawned on me... Kaitlin was WEARING THE RED GERM! Yup... confused. My point exactly.

I feel lightheaded now... back to bed.

Need I say more?

Dancing, dancing, dancing!

I've been struggling with a very long week and looking forward to the weekend. My week is just a continuation of last week as I worked over the weekend. But the dancing I saw last night will allow me to finish my week without throttling anyone.

My challenge in presenting these clips of my favourite couples is the following.

I could expound profound and talk about the dances, but a) I don't have time and b) that's not how I experience dance. Basically, dance is, with all it's technique, all about the expression of emotion. It's about reaching a part within you and bringing it out to the surface. Sometimes it reaches deep within, in places you've buried and hadn't planned on ever letting out again. And other times it just makes you happy.

I've chosen one word for each of these dances. It was like a therapy exercise.

First up, I wanted to share with you the darling Allie and Gene Kelly-like Danny (for some reason, I associate her with pink) and their Quickstep, as engineered by Pierre Allaire (félicitations Pierre, quelle belle chorégraphie!):

The word is: CLASSIC

Second, this dance crafted by Sean Cheesman... an Afro-Jazz as interpreted by Lisa and Vincent-Olivier (my other favourite couple)

The word is: JOY

The cool thing is the dancers felt JOY and so did the judges... and my heart sings. Ok, and maybe a tear to my eye. The music was so very uplifting.

Now, on to Natalli and Francis (my other other favourite couple)and .... the RUMBA! mmmmmmmmm! The dance of Love. Gustavo Vargas gives us yet another beautiful story.

My word is: DESIRE (the other word is LEGS LEGS LEGS!)

Oh.. Congratulations to Francis Lafrenière and his real-life partner, Claudia Primeau... good luck representing Canada at the World Championships! (Did I mention he lives IN MY CITY????? THUD!!! Now I know why he looked familiar, I probably saw him at the supermarket while I was picking out my produce... THUD!)

And now.. a very powerful and beautiful dance as choreographed by Blake McGrath (you were right Blake, tears!) and danced by my absolute favourites, Arassay and Nico.

My word is: SOULFUL

This dance found my heart made it swell with emotion.

This dance was the expression of an emotion so many have experienced... the struggle with ending a relationship that just doesn't work. And the symbiosis between choreographer and dancers was powerful.

The smile on Chicklet's face when she watched this dance was too adorable, Lara and Miles have a wonderful connection and entertain in this Krump by Lil' C.

Chicklet's word: COOOOOOOOOL! (and BUCK! LOL)

Oh.. and I just have to say, I love Jean-Marc Généreux... Having Kenny Ortega and Pau Becker as guest judges this week was wonderful.

I'll catch up when the insanity of work allows.

Miss visiting you guys.

Smooches and hugs!

Oh... my...

I wish my buddy Trav could watch this show on TV.

But since he can't...

I found this HAWT Paso Doble from this week's SYTYCD Canada - dudes, we KNOW we can dance.

Get your THUMP mat ready... LEGS LEGS LEGS!

Oh... he's from my backyard too. :) And yes, I voted.

This was also a favourite dance of mine... I absolutely adore this pair.


Allie and Danny and their mambo...

And my favourite couple... Arassay and Nico doing a fabulous theatrical number.

Now that's my kind of angel! WOW!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Oh.. and since Travis is my Andy... Here's Lisa and Vincent-Olivier as Raggedy Ann and Andy *giggle*

Lyrical dancers hitting a hip-hop number! FIERCE!

Lightness of being...

Too much turmoil and not enough smiling isn't good for a girl...

This week, Chicklet and I sat down to watch SYTYCD Canada's first competition show. We'd been watching the auditions and a few dancers had already caught our attention. We picked the performances that made us go SQUEEEEEEEEE and WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The judges are:

Luther Brown who has choreographed for the likes of Shawn Desmon and Keshia Shante;


Blake McGrath - a canadian dancer from season 1 of SYTYCD USA and a fierce choreographer;


Tré Armstrong who starred in "How She Move" and has worked with Missy Elliott and Sean Combs;


and last but not least, Jean-Marc Généreux (choreographer extraordinaire for SYTYCD USA) and a possible distant cousin of mine as he and my maternal grandmother share a last name!

So far, we've enjoyed watching just how talented the Canadian dancers are who are vying for the priviledge of becoming Canada's favourite dancer.

Now, I'll be frank. Nico Archambault... Oh My WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and swoooooooon!
Montreal boys...mmmmmmmmmm! Yup... he comes from MY backyard! Nico is a lyrical dancer... but he HIT this first number!

Arassay Reyes is a hot thang... and Travis, she's got LEGS LEGS LEGS!!! and baby, HIPS HIPS HIPS!

HAWT!

And this dance started off the season.. a salsa by Gustavo Vargas! MUY Caliente!!!

So you know who I voted for...

The next couple I wanted to share with you is Lisa and Vincent-Olivier (another sweet thang from my backyard)...

They're both contemporary dancers and this routine was breathtaking... it was magic. Stacey Tookey did an outstanding job with this choreography... wow!

I voted for them too...

This couple... Allie and Danny (another Montreal boy *sigh*)!!

They are the CUTEST thang! Here they are doing a great rockabilly 50s jive choreographed by the UBER talented Melissa Williams.

And Jean-Marc is right: CHEMISTRY!!!

I voted and voted and voted!

There are some outstanding dancers in this competition. We're quite pleased... yup!