To busy Spring, laid back Summer

Hello everyone! My my, I've done it again, it's been more than two months... To my defense, I had a LOT going on in May/June. 

First, I performed my solo show for the first time at the end of May during the EAT New Work Series, and then two more times at The Hive in Brooklyn. It was a wonderful experience, and I felt so blessed with all the support and feedback I got! I now feel confident that I have a good piece and that it speaks to people despite its personnal nature. It still needs some tweaking, but I'm excited at the prospect of traveling with it, provided the department of Immigration grants me my visa... Here are some pictures of my Hive performances, courtesy of my Dad who was here for the occasion.

This experience has been an eye opener on what I really enjoyed doing as an artist, and that is to embody my own message. The more I do things, the clearer it becomes that I'm never going to be satisfied with playing other people's words or characters. The truth is, I don't want to be other people. Doing this show is one of the rare times where I truly felt empowered onstage, not only because people were listening to what I was saying, but because everything I was doing or saying belonged to me. It was exhilarating and terrifying and I'm so grateful that I had the chance to do it.

I then started performing the Tempest at The Hive as Stephano, the Drunken Butler. That was an awesome opportunity to do some comedy, which I've always wanted to do, and a great ensemble piece. My friend Kate, who also directed my solo, was amazing and we sold out for almost the whole run. Here are some more pictures below :)

And finally, three days after taking the last bow, I appeared in Tabula Rasa, an experimental dance show by Ran Xia exploring the relationships between creators, in which I played Georges Sand opposite Frederick Chopin. Below is the video, the Sand/Chopin part starts at 11.16. Keep in mind it's mostly improv, even though we'd been working together for a few months. It was fun and a great way to practice listening and being in the moment. Ran is an amazing girl, a writer, director and visual artist who is super knowledgeable on theater and twenty thousand other things :). If you can't see the video, follow that link:  https://youtu.be/yfTyAXq2yEU

And after that we finally moved out of our apartment, and all I have to do now is wait for my visa and enjoy life in New York! My friend and yogi extraordinaire Mathieu Boldron visited for a month and he has managed to convert me to Yoga after I discovered the benefits of seeing the world upside down while hanging out with him and his sister Maeva (a gorgeous dancer who recently graduated from Ailey's dance school). Below are some pictures of the last few weeks (some of them are from the awesome rooftop I'm enjoying for the month of July): 

And now, the professionals in action. Pro pics by David Tufino.

That's all folks! I'll get back to you before long to talk about Summer in NYC and the Sound Accord/Acutonics workshop I'm doing in Madison at the end of the month. Until then, down dog on :)