Wednesday, February 24, 2010

random

To try to get back into updating, I decided to totally copy Jess and do a ten things post. Well, we'll see how many things I end up with.

1. I went to prom. It was a fundraiser for the local dance studio's performing troupe, and it was pretty fun. Some girlfriends and I took advantage of the opportunity to get dressed up, drink champagne, and dance our asses off. As you can see, we mostly stuck to regular, cute dresses and left the 80s period costumes to others.
promnight

2. The weather has been really cold, work has been crazy busy, and I've had a cold, so I've been slacking on exercise. This means that every time I do go to yoga class, my muscles ache a ton afterward. In a good way. Then I think I should go every day to get in better shape, but days go by before I do. Lather, rinse, repeat.

3. On Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year, my friend Nina had a really awesome brunch. We ate quiche and drank mimosas and coffee, and it was totally fun. Then I had to bail out a little early to pick up Rick and drive down to Denver to the conference we presented at. We talked about finding a Chinese restaurant for dinner, but then lamed out and just got food downtown where we were staying. The elk burger was good but not great, so I had minor regrets. The conference went well, though.

4. The Olympics are wearing me out. Part of the problem is that I like all the winter sports and therefore will watch any and all of it, even the dorky athlete profiles and pandering interviews. The winter games has more value added elements than summer. By that I mean crazy Russian ice dancing costumes (faces painted all over, ropes, and random bits of tulle!) and hot Norwegian curlers in plaid pants.

5. For the first time ever, I did the Poker Run out at Centennial. It was a long slog though snow, dodging five hundred drunk people on skis, snowshoes, and various other modes of transport. Here I am with Nina and Kerry, excited to get started.
Poker Run 2010
As you can see, the "shuttles" that took us up the mountain were totally offical and safe.
Poker Run 2010
After the event, we hiked up to our friend Laura's mom's place outside of town, where we spent the night. It was gorgeous.
cabin
icicles
After a hearty breakfast and some coffee in my gnome jammies...
kaijsaam
...we hiked back out and went back to real life.
hikeout

And...I'm out.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

dance dance dance

photo by Jurvetson (flickr)

Last week Pilobolus Dance Theater came to campus. I had beard of them, but hadn't seen them live before. I had a vague notion of them as a modern dance company, but they actually don't use established dance vocabularies--at least not that I could recognize. The program said they use a lot of improvisation in their choreography, which made sense based on what I saw. I particularly liked the way they partner dance, supporting one another's weight in really unusual and beautiful ways. Less interesting to me were the extended sequences on the floor. I like seeing people dance, and it's kind of boring to watch them writhe on the floor, although I was impressed that one of the most floor-centric pieces incorporated music by Primus.

I found their YouTube channel, but they don't allow embedding. I think that's lame, personally, but what are you going to do? For an idea of some of what I saw, check out Lanterna Magica. The other pieces I saw weren't there. I always wish photos were allowed at dance performances because some of the poses the dancers strike would make amazing stills. Luckily, I found some creative commons licensed stuff on flickr.

I'd recommend going to see Pilobolus, even if you aren't as crazy into dance as I am. It's kind of a spectacle that anybody can enjoy. There were tons of kids at the show, and during one piece called Walkelyn (which I didn't really care for), all you could hear were the full belly laughs of children. how much better than that can you get?