Event Announcement - Inspiration: Renoir! La Promenade

I am insane. I am doing two back to back dance weeks, directly followed by a performance. Not a day of rest between these three things. On the bright side, I am only doing this because they are all really exciting events. So this post is to announce that I will be at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a Renoir inspired event organized by the lovely Shien Lee of Dances of Vice. The event is on August 6th at 5 PM, and admission is free with museum admission ($12-$16). There are going to be several performances, and I expect to have a super-amazing-exquisite new ballgown done by then (currently about 45% completed...), so if you are in the area it will be very worth seeing. Get more details from the Dances of Vice website here. See you there!

Enchanted Menagerie with Dances of Vice

As a rather last-minute plan (mother's car accident had me thinking we wouldn't be able to go, but she got a rental car - she is also fine), I went traipsing off to New York on Friday with mother and a friend. We had a delicious dinner with my aunt, and went to a Dances of Vice event.

The event was called "The Enchanted Menagerie," and we decided to go all out on the costuming. We both wore fantastic wigs made by Sweet Hayseed. We also went all out with the makeup, as you will see in a moment. She wore a dress (one of those "in progress" forever projects), which was delightfully spiffy with the addition of pretty butterfly fabric and rhinestones! The rhinestones don't show up well in photographs, but they looked really great, especially considering how much rhinstone-ing she did in the car. Very impressive.

I made new stuff! I threw together an 18th century underwear outfit with things I had, and then I made gold cage panniers. Bird cages! You know, "enchanted menagerie"... I am pretty proud of this last minute bit of construction. I was hitting them with spray paint up to the last minute... waiting for things to dry is such a pain. Now, to fully document the outfit!(Me, getting birds in their cages)(The back)(The front)(Friend from the front)(Us being cute)(Me, panicking! Oh no!)

The actual event was delightful. I had never gotten to see Shien Lee (the organizer of Dances of Vice) sing before, and she was really lovely. Wish her a happy birthday! Also, the band she was singing with was great. Check out Grandpa Mussleman and his Syncopators, and when they play with Shien they go by Shanghai Foxtrot. There were some other performances too, like a really impressive fashion show of animal-inspired fashions by Kristen Costa Designs, and a very strange performance piece by Sequinette involving glitter (my friend approves very much) and the most incredible violin costume. Wow. All the performers were really talented.I met a lot of nice people at the event, and drooled over some really incredible costumes (as usual), but one of the more fun moments was walking back to the car. We were photographed, we were questioned, we were repeatedly bowed and curtsied to. Keep in mind this is all at 3 in the morning on the Bowery. My friend was drukenly molested in a harmless kind of way (We frequently get questions about our clothes, so "Can I touch you," didn't seem so ridiculous at the time...). Some foreigners said something nice about Lady Gaga having a hard time out-doing us. I even met a girl who knew that I was wearing panniers, and knew how to pronounce that, and even had made some herself! Note to self: you meet the most suprisingly lovely people when you run around in crazy clothes at 3 in the morning.(Us in the street, walking to the car, hilariously juxtaposed with prolific graffiti)

All in all, an excellent adventure!

Tales from the Dances of Vice Swan Lake Ball

Stories of this weekend's adventures are coming a little late, since I've been too busy to post about them for a couple of days. Friday we drove out to New York (my mother obligingly signed on for this crazy adventure). We found miraculously good parking and got dressed in the street. I didn't actually teach dancing until one in the morning, so I guess that was Saturday technically. Then we drove back, to be home in time for the next event! What a busy schedule.

It was well worth doing, however. The event was lovely, and everyone was very nice. The Galapagos art space was fantastically fun to see - imagine a stage, and the seating for the audience suspended on platforms with walkways over water. There were some excellent performances - an ugly duckling themed ballet, some wonderfully dramatic opera (with a little Lady Gaga thrown in for good measure), and a fashion show with stunning wigs. After that, I got to teach a few easy contra dances, which went really well. In fact, people were so excited to dance that when I invited them to come to the stage and learn, I got more volunteers than would even fit on the stage! It was really wonderful. As is always the case, it took a little while to get people set up, but after that the dancing went very smoothly. I am still thrilled that it went so well.

(Talking to some nice people after the dancing)

The organizer, Shien Lee was a very courteous and generous hostess. She really did a great job with this event. There were also lots of really incredible outfits to look at - I think it is really wonderful that there is so much enthusiasm for dressing up. There is a Dances of Vice flickr group with lots of pictures of people all dressed up for events, if you want to go look. The high standard for costuming inspired me to throw together an outfit for myself, aiming for dramatic and over-the-top. I hope I got close, even though some of the construction ended up being incredibly last minute (meaning that Friday before jumping in the car...). It isn't clear from the pictures quite how cool the skirt was. It is made from a crispy organza with a life of its own. If I moved the skirt, it would sort of hold whatever shape I had put it in. I was also very worried about the floating candles on the water, because I could practically see my large ungainly skirt of highly synthetic and probably flammable material bursting into flames as I walked down a walkway and brushed over a candle. Eek! But there were no unintended flames the entire night.
This is a picture of me, with my reflection in the water. Isn't that incredibly cool? It was a lovely and enjoyable event, and I really look forward to going to more events by Dances of Vice in the future.

Also, there was one last funny moment. As I was finishing getting dressed in the street, before actually going to the event, a couple of (mildly tipsy? I think) girls were wandering by, and started congratulating me. It turns out they though I had just gotten married. Personally, that is not what I would wear for a wedding, but I guess I can see where they are coming from. Maybe.(Getting out of the car. Or getting married?)

Dances of Vice - Swan Lake Masquerade Ball

Good news. I recently heard from the lovely Shien Lee, who runs monthly events in New York. So far I have only managed to get to one of these "Dances of Vice" events, although I keep hoping to go to more of them. On the other hand, the internet is littered with gorgeous pictures of people in stunning clothes at these events, so if you enjoy beautiful and excessive clothing this would certainly be something to check out.

On April 30 Dances of Vice will be hosting a Swan Lake Masquerade Ball, and I am very excited to say that I will be teaching some dancing there. There are some other performers lined up for this event, and they all sound wonderful. And of course, I expect to see some incredible clothing. I know New York is a bit of a trek for me, but if I can manage it, you should consider going too! I look forward to seeing wonderful people there. The website is here, and it is very easy to find the page for this specific event.That weekend is going to be a busy one for me. I have a Steampunk event the next day in Boston (stay tuned for more information soon), and will probably be attending a ball that the Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan group will be having that evening. Oh my! It is good to be busy, though, and I am very excited about all these things. Now, time to sew an outfit for this...