BOTANICA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SJ4NLLbO8g&feature=related

Moses Pendleton's illusionist dance company Momix has unveiled a dazzling new show at the Joyce theatre in Manhattan. Botanica is billed as a 'herbal remedy and natural aphrodisiac for our current universal blues' and features colourful costumes and marvellous moves. Take a peek at five of the routines

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/gallery/2009/may/15/momix-botanica?picture=347409112

This show was amazing. I was sitting in the front row, which I thought I wouldn't like but it was fantastic. It ran through the four seasons with a mix of large puppets and fabrics and props and sensual dancing. There was a large projector that projected images onto the huge cyc and you could see the dancers and their costumes/props/puppets move through the image. The imagery was symbolic of seasons and difference species. Eagles on rollerskates turned into beautiful elaborate sunflowers into trees. The opening was a large white cloth stretched from one end of the stage to another with giant fans blowing underneath it. It looked so much like snow it was unbelievable. Dancers would pop up and fight against the fabric, their faces and bodies reaching out through the white like something you would see in a horror movie. Out of the white fabric arose a huge flower like, flexible skeleton, fabric structure that reached almost to the top of the theatre. Dancers emerged from underneath the snow to interact with the flowers hanging from the arms of the veined flower.
There were so many other dances, dances of angry bees and a cool black light number making shapes with just arms and legs glowing in the dark. At one point an almost naked woman did a dance of shapes on a raked stage with a mirrored bottom, which you can see in the youtube. The movements were sensual and it was almost as if she was making love to herself in some sense. Aka, Robert Keith would have been happy.

Here are some more pictures I found online... not even covering the best parts.
There was a naked woman riding in on a Lion King-esque puppet dinosaur. They had a weird sexual love dance then she saw the naked man lying on a pile of rocks that was actually another dancer, and the dinosaur got jealous and ate her. Then the man fought off the rocks (picking the dancer up and carrying her in the fetal position around his neck, with NO HANDS, and dancing around), and the humans were reunited.


Dance of the Marigolds. The costume progressed 4 or five times, dropping down each time. The style of dance changed with the costume, so when the orange cluster of tulle was in the middle like a tutu, it was ballet, and when it was down by their ankles, it was flamenco/salsa.


Large fabric with veins that spread out across the whole stage and came out over us. Beautiful pictures were projected onto the fabric as it soared through the theatre.


So I'm making a list of things that when put on stage will command attention, no matter what:

babies
animals
water
nakedness (I don't mind seeing people naked on stage but it does command attention, which draws away from what the dance might be trying to say because everyone in the audience is thinking.... are they naked? Why are they naked? what is that trying to say? maybe their wearing a dance thong? ok... nope, thats a butt.... )
moving, large pieces of fabric.

Anyway, it was truly a wonderful experience.
Love, Lisha

I'm so UNSURE about everything.

I LOVE PROSPECT PARK

Yesterday Greg and I had a memorial day picnic! Prospect Park is amazing, I can't believe it took me four years to get there. Its huge and fun, full of people playing games and enjoying the sunshine. Little bbqs and frisbees everywhere. Everything is so much more chill than Central Park. Love love love.

P.S - I can hula hoop and play frisbee at the same time. <3

Together we can do great things, like beat Wolves!

Yesterday was GREAT fun! Greg and I met up around 2:30 to begin our adventure. I synced up my watch and my ipod, put on a white shirt, chose yellow to go over it, hopped on my bike and met him on the corner. He chose yellow as well, a surprising coincidence since he had so many to choose from. We both thought yellow would be under-represented. Anyway, it was cool that we were both the same color. Then we began our ride up to 60th & 2nd. Along the way we ran into a huge Turkish Festival! There was dancing and food and tons and tons of Turks in red and white, laughing and talking and having a good time. We tried these little green fruits that were hard and sour, almost like little apples but was smaller. Also some good ol' sesame bread.
Then we took the tram over to Roosevelt Island. Neither of us had been before, it was a fun skyfari sailing over the buildings and the river. The island was nice, I really wish we had gone earlier and had a picnic and I had brought mah hoop. The weather was perfect and the grass was filled with colorful shirts. After exploring for a bit we decided on a spot to settle and made flower chains and headstands (respectively... I can't do headstands).

Then as 4pm rolled around, on the dot, we pressed play. The adventure began. We stretched and high fived and square danced and followed unsuspecting strangers around. Of course the random Naptimes! As we all congregated in the big field, after listening to the story of Peter and the Wolf, we danced like we were from the 2020s and hit blue and green shirts with blow up bats. Of course in the end, we discarded our colors and joined forces to defeat the wolf. The culminating slow motion celebration should also be noted. I adore doing things for Improv Everywhere, I was so glad we made it. We chilled around the island, exploring and eating candy on the riverbank. I re-discovered the joy and delicacy of making a whistle through a piece of grass.

After the bike home I took a nap. It was the kind of nap that felt so familar and wonderful. Akin to the feeling of all the times growing up in San Diego, taking spas. I would take a spa at dusk, soaking up the warmth and the water on my skin, seeping in, warming my soul and making me pruney. As it would be time to get out, my parents would go inside to make dinner and I would gingerly step out, shaking the beads of water from my limbs. I would wrap up tight in my warm, clean worn towel and tiptoe across the concrete. The french doors would squeak as I sneak inside and almost every time, lay down on the carpet inside the door. The living room would be lit in such a way, the warmth of the water still hugging me inside and out, the comfort of the towel on my skin would lull me into a gentle and safe relaxation. By the time my mom was finished cooking dinner, I would be ready to eat, still in bikini and towel at the dinner table. That warm, safe comfortable feeling happened yesterday after being outside in the sun all day, coming home to my perfect apartment and being so calm and a peace to fall asleep without a care in the world.

And then Greg came over and we watched Mary Poppins with brownie sundaes. I haven't seen that movie in soooo many years, it was good times. What is Burt and Mary's relationship? "Lovers" right? But how does he know all her tricks? What if she never ages and she was his nanny? Weird. Oh boy. Everyone's laughing and floating on the ceiling. Summer has begun!!!

Pomp and Circumstance

Ok so here it goes! I'm going to try and attempt to recap the last week or so - the craziest week ever. Boy, when the shit hits the fan, the shit really hits the fan.

So last Sunday my Mom and her boyfriend Bill arrived in town. We hung out for a while but I had been exhausted from the previous week of finals and hanging out with friends and generally not getting any sleep. My final paper I turned in for college however, I received back with beyond excellent reviews. I am so proud and honored to have recieved such comments from someone I admire so highly. So after trying to take a quick nap/clean up/clear my head (to no avail), I met my Dad at his hotel. He was two hours late cause of traffic and we had tickets to.... FUERZA BRUTA! So we rushed over there in time for the show.


FUERZA BRUTA. I have been trying to see that show for a good two years now and I was so excited to finally get the chance. My family and I went in with high expectations and left with our minds blown. I love going to the theatre and seeing something I have never seen before, and this was it. The whole idea, the power, the aw factors, the dancing the smashing the water. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Any job, where you can run around and flip through the air and scream and dance, is the best job in the world. How do I get into this? I need to find an aerialist school :-). I LOVED THIS EXPERIENCE. And I saw Blake and his mommy there :-). After the show we went across the park to The Heartland Brewery for hamburgers and Grateful Red Lager!!! I bought my Dad and I matching Grateful Red Glass sets :-)

Monday was the Steinhardt Baccalaureate Ceremony at Radio City Music Hall. Of course the L train wasn't working so I scrambled around frantically for a cab for a good 30 minutes before getting uptown. Right out from was Annaleigh and Dean, and then we were joined by Lauren Lydiard, Marissa Schwartz and Ashleigh Hill, then Kyla McCracken, and Caroline and LPB and Jessica and Erin and Ali and the entire Senior Class of Educational Theatre - minus of course the most loved Kyle and Rachel. We missed you guys a lot a lot. We were always thinking about you. The ceremony was nice, we all got to gather and hang out in the "lobby" with the other MPAP kids. It was so great to see everyone like Darrell and Richard and Andy and Chelsea. It was just us having a good time, taking pictures, eating tassels...you know. The ceremony was nice and we were sitting in the second row! The student speaker was amazing, along with the jokes about the "outfits." But the best part was having Nan front and center making the lion face while a speech was going on. Its about our time to go on when I realize I have dropped my name card, what you give them so they say your name and you can walk! I feel around the floor for a good 2 minutes, trying to be discreet, not hitting people with my cap or gown, getting into the tight quarters behind the seat in front of me! My precariously attached cap comes off, and its a mad scramble to find my name. Thanks to Richard and Dean who helped me eventually find it. So, now we're ready. You can imagine our surprise and excitement when we were getting ready for MPAP's walk across the stage and Nan gets to be the professor to come up and give us all a handshake! So we line up and our names are called and we walk across the stage. Of course, I trip on an electrical cord and my hat comes flying off just as I am about to shake hands with the Dean. :-) Oh well, it made me smile. Gotta Love em.
Afterwards was a plethora of hugging and seeing people and organizing. Oh! Bob Saget was there. Yup.

That night, after a quick 16 Handles trip with Greg, we all met up again at Mariss'a apartment for a nice Champagne toast. It was cool to see everyone's parents and figure out why they are the way they are, why they look the way they look :-P. My dad got me a BEAUTIFUL brand spankin' new Canon Digital Rebel T1i. It's gorgeous and the reason why I have so many pictures of graduation. He commandeered it though and took pictures non-stop :-P Joe and Nan and Christina were there. I thought that was so nice that that happened. That everyone came and it was such a supportive, fun community party. I'm certain our class has trailblazed a lot of new traditions and sense of community.
Bye Ashleigh!! I miss you! Till June!

Tuesday's main event was GRAD ALLEY! But before I went I ran into a couple freshmen in the park. I am going to take this moment to talk about the Freshmen class of Ed. Theatre. I love them. They are so great. They have so much compassion and friendship and they are so creative. You know who I'm talking about. Joyce is cool, Lianne is a sweetheart (with a crazy side :-)), Cait has been so much fun to hang out with and we have big eating plans, Pablo is just Pablo, Robert Keith no one could ever replace you, and Tyler, well, you're the boss. I am seriously looking forward to seeing what ya'll make of the program and I hope we can be friends and keep in touch.


I was lucky enough to go to Grad Alley last year with my besties Erin and Julia (Erin and I pictured left, last year). It was the best time ever, so I had high expectations :-). This year was a good time but not as extravagant. Annaleigh and I were on the same pace so we did a lot together and would meet back up with Dean and Lauren and Erin and Emily.
There was cotton candy and cracker jacks, hot dog, tattoos, face painting, dunk the clown, redbull, and friends. I don't know if there ended up being a dance party and fireworks, we' didn't stay. But we DID go on the hay ride! When we saw Pablo walking by Pless and begged him to join us. He did. I gave him a wrist band and he disappeared. I found him an hour later drunk and full of free food, wandering around looking for a place to sleep in the park :-). We dined at BBar that evening, one of my favorite places to eat in the city. I love the outside patio and the lights and trees :-). It was cool to see the purple Empire State Building as well!

FINALLY! GRADUATION!!!! Annaleigh and family met up with Dead and I at Astor and we all rode the train up together. We got to the stadium and there were just tons of people so we made our way onto the line, we were pretty close to the front. I ran up to see just how close and ran into Vera at the front gate!!! We all got a picture with her. As we filtered in we realized we were the first ones from Steinhardt and we got our pick of seats. So we picked the front row, closest to the center! From then our fate was sealed. Picture after picture after picture. We appeared, the four of us, Lauren, Dean, Annaleigh and I, on the Jumbotron 12 times! It would be a close up on us dancing or cheering or what have you, then a wide shot then back to us, over and over. We commandeered the entire opening ceremonies. It was a looooot of fun.

When it was finally time for us to receive our commencement, all the photographers lined up in front of us. I looked to Annaleigh and I said, hold me hand! and then told Dean to hold her hand too! They ATE IT UP. Because of that we are in every picture related to NYU Commencement 2009 ANYWHERE on the Internet, AND on the front page of AM NY!!! WOOT.

After was a nice lunch and then break and dinner at Les Halles. After some home made cake, I said goodbye and my Mom and Bill took the train back to Philadelphia. That night I hung out with a friend and we stayed up watching movies, like Waynes World. We stayed up all night, talking and painting our nails and giggling, like little girls. Just kidding. It was a good night, although a little dreary.

The next couple of days were filled with my Dad and his girlfriend Mary doing things like going to Central Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. That was nice. We got pizza at John's on Bleecker and gelato next door. AND we saw STAR TREK! It was awesome. Totally awesome. Except for the large group of people sitting behind me making really bad, unfunny, and inappropriate comments - loudly. I was so stressed and tired and just on edge that I started crying. It just reminded me too much of teaching and I just wonder why so many people feel they have the right to say whatever they want whenever they want. I did not pay 13 bucks to hear you say stupid shit. This is my time, shut up. Teaching was the same way. They felt they could say whatever they wanted whenever. With me looking right at them, they would see me and deliberately have a conversation about perfume or lunch or whatever. I just can't stand so much disrespect in life. Sigh. Anyway, I loved the movie. It reminded me of so many things. But yes, freshmen year living next to Garrett who taught me basically everything I know about it. Garrell and Darrett. I will always be your Dax. Thursday night after the movie I really lost it. All the sleepless nights and busy days and stress of entertaining among other things really got to me. I haven't cried that much of felt so.... empty in a long time. I had nothing left in me to give to anything. So I tried to regain composure slowly but surely each day. I'm still not there yet. Saturday I was supposed to go to my Dad's girlfriend's neice's graduation dinner. On the way to meet them I totally lost it again and bailed. I didn't realize that my dad having a girlfriend would entail a whole other family. I just met her 2 days before - not ready. My dad was SUPER understanding though, gotta love him. Oh and some time in there we went to Bohemia which is this HUGE outdoor beer garden in Queens. It had great Czech beers and food! De-liscious!
Erin and I went to a play reading in Brooklyn called "the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island or My View From the Gershwin Hotel." It was nice, small audience of just friends + us. About a playwright writing his first play and all these characters' experiences around Coney Island.... from what I can remember. Then Erin and I went out to BBQ for steak,chicken,ribs,margaritas and ended up in Harlem at Julia's re-enacting Les Miserables in her living room like I did when I was 10. I also went to the Botanical Garden with Greg and had Jamaican patties which were delicious then hung around and watched Ace of Cakes and really just did nothing. It was nice.
Also somewhere earlier in there Caldwell and I broke up for real. It's really complicated and I don't really want to talk about it but I'm doing ok. More than ok, and that's the sad part. These last couple days have been great cause I've had them to myself for the first time. Still not even close to getting my shit together or everything I need to get done, done. Just not enough hours in the day. I NEED TIME. My whole world is changing. School, the institution and the rules and the plan that has been in place for me for as long as I can remember is over. My whole concept of family is changing. The task of finding and having and keeping a job that pays rent lies in front of me. Friends are moving or are not around and those relationships are changing from now on. Everything is new and terrifying, and I'm trying to breathe and walk toward the stage and go Bogart on the world's ass but I need time to figure that out. To figure myself out. This is a really, really, unique time in a persons life. I hope I make it through. ....the Degrassi theme song seems appropriate right about now:

WHATEVER IT TAKES
I KNOW I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH
IF I HOLD OUT (IF I DO)
I KNOW I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH
BE THE BEST
THE BEST THAT I CAN BE
HEAR WHAT I SAY TO YOU
WHAT EVER IT TAKES
I CAN SEE YA
I KNOW
I KNOW
AHHHHH
I KNOW I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH

Ehn. Some people turn to God or to loved ones in times like this. I turn to Degrassi :-). FML. Anyway, thanks for listening!

Beam me up, Scotty

I can walk good...

I'm really good at walking. Here's proof:







So I was walking down the street and this coked out midget came and attacked me with his coke nails.
Ok... You called my bluff.
I was finally doing laundry. Just took everything out of the dryer, folded it all nice and neat, when it started to pour. And I mean pour. It had been lightly off and on all day but this was RAIN. So I put everything in my old bag lady push cart and started running. Running down the street getting drenched with my grocery push cart when it got caught on a drift in the sidewalk and BAM! Slow motion topple of both me and the cart. I flew over the cart and ended up, all cut up, on my back on the wet sidewalk with my laundry on top of me. I managed to get home with my laundry safe, despite being covered in blood and dirt.
A cut is a weird thing. It hurts like hell. You don't think it should, but it does. It an interesting kind of hurt, sharp and painful but memorable. Like an old memory from childhood. Cause I mean really, the last time I fell and got a cut like this i was young.

Also on a previous walk home from the laundromat today, a black homeless guy stopped me and asked how I was doing. I looked at him and smiled and then he started following me and going on a rant about how much he respected me for looking at him. Even though he is from the ghetto and went to jail because he killed his mother, he really respected that I wasn't scared of him. Then he gave me a hug (oh... oh... ok...) and asked for a dollar to get some pizza. After teaching inner city high school kids... I'm not afraid of anyone. I love what the city has done for me.

So as of yesterday at 5pm, I have finished all my work for college. It was an amazing feeling. Thanks Marissa for pushing me till the end and finishing at almost the exact time. Then Annaleigh, Lauren, Ashleigh, LPB, Marissa and I went out to the beer garden for celebratory drinks. Guest appearances by Kyle, Chris and Tyler. I love beer and I hope this week while my dad's here I can keep learning more! I feel bad that I haven't always taken away the lessons he has tried to teach me, because knowing what he knows makes me cooler, but sometimes because he's my dad, they just don't stick. Maybe now that I'm older and conscious of trying to learn... oh who am I kidding. Just a couple years ago my parents gave me the break down on really learning wines, but that didn't stick either.

So yeah. My family comes this weekend. My mom and her boyfriend, my dad and his girlfriend (we've never met...) all four of them and me together for a week or so. Should be interesting! I'm excited though. I bought graduation shoes :-).

Today I went over to Cait O'Connell and Levkoff's for easy mac and boy was it delicious. Cait, lets be friends. We are? Awesome. Then to Wendy's with Pablo and Tyler for morrrrrre foood. I hadn't eaten at Wendy's since like 4th grade and it was the Wendy's in Poway that burned down later. I've always been suspicious of square hamburgers, and today did not change my mind. I got chicken. You boy are a bad influence. No more fast food for me!

It's really amazing how the time flies in a day. I swear sometimes I just don't know where the hours go. Sometimes its nice, but I really wish time would just pause for me for a little bit.


Tonight I also remembered the song, "Don't Stop Me Now." How much that song has rocked my life in so many different places and so many different occasions. Seamus, Peter and I in France in high school, Andy Kao and others getting drunk in his room and dancing/singing our brains out to that song... It was lost but not gone forever oh my darling, clementine. I remember it with fondness, and hope it will make another guest appearance in my life like it did tonight.

You're dead kid.

Over and Out,
Lisha

On An AirMattress With You

This is my first blog post. Perfectly coinciding with my last work of my college. One door closes, the other open? The metaphorical door of blog writing. Anyway. I have been postponing writing my final paper for Joe's Styles class by creating this blog. It's hard to force a blog post, but its not as hard as writing 2,000 words on what I learned about what queer is and what style is. I think I have the format for the paper, but I just do not work well if I'm not under pressure :-). Necessity is the mother of invention. COW.

So yeah. Tomorrow I will finish college. It feels really weird and scary, and no I do not know what I'm doing or what my plans are. I've always liked going to school and I think it will be weird not having so much responsibility. I hope to keep doing art and keep having friends. That's important. Yup.

Today was my "last" day student teaching. I say last day with hesitance and quotes because it was supposed to be on Thursday but my CT was sick so I had totally mentally checked out already. So I just came by to say hi during lunch and Drama Club. At lunch my CT was starting a new Freshmen Student Council and it was great! They had so many idea about how to change the school and what they wanted out of their next three years, it was really powerful to hear such energy and excitement for action. It was funny though because I hadn't been there for a week so everyone (even students who have called me a bitch to my face) were shouting Lisha! and excited to see me. Really? Really. Then at drama club (my best students and the ones that I could just talk to and have fun with) they all bust out into a huge rendition of FI FA VISTA as a goodbye for me. We played some games and hugged goodbye and that was it! Simply out of their lives as quickly as I came in.

So yeah, out of college as quickly as I came in.

This past month has been really crazy. I really hope more than anything that I can keep my friends. I know I'm not that great in keeping in touch but I really will try. I want to try. I know its hard to keep people on radar when you don't see them all the time. I really am scared that I'm going to do a shit job, but I don't want to do a shit job.
Time to sit down and write some lists. Some goals. You know, everyone says to follow your dreams, but what happens when your dreams change or disappear all together. Maybe if I get some sleep, I'll have some more dreams.

Goodnight.