It is Thursday morning and I woke up to a rerun of the 70's TV game show "The Newlyweds". I wonder if the couples on the show are still together? My body is a bit sore from an extensive bike ride yesterday morning, I rode down to the ocean at 7am and watched the waves beat against the rocks near the cliff house. Sometimes the body screams to release the mind from active duty and my good ole bicycle was in the right place to trip upon in the morning! Rather than scream at my pain, I had a big "AHA" this is how the day will begin!
Yesterday I called Hiromi our filmaker and told her not to come in. Gregangelo and I planned to leave early to take a break from the pace and drive to Marin for dinner and then a Doug Motel's one man show at a barn in Cotati. Wednesday's we try to relax a little and breathe deep. So much for plans, the phones began to ring, our electrican shows up to rewire the hallway for a new art instillation, Karen arrives, and before you know it it is 4:30pm. The previous day we were exhibiting at a MPI conference, which was a success and met a great group of planners and caught up with acquaintainces in the industry. Bettina Devin my associate in development was quite the attraction as you can see in the photo, and given the nature of the conference we thought we would brighten up our corner with the color orange.

Today is a promising day, there is a lot of inquiry coming in from the Arizona markets and a potential event where we can have our aritist scale off of a new building opening. It seems the Napa-Sonoma market is starting to move forward as well.

CUE Showcase Recap~
Yesterday was dedicated to raising funds for CUE and its programming.
It began on a windy and blustery Sunday morning at 7am preparing for an 8 person tour of our home. It was a lovely group of people from Berkeley who heard about the Gregangelo Museum through a recent meeting we had about a future event we will be doing with the Berkeley Museum. We open our home to tours and charge a fee of which 100% goes to fund CUESPACE and its Programming. They were a lovely group of people and it was very refreshing to meet a bright young group of people and have stimulating conversations on Sunday morning, rather than my usual cup of coffee and the New York Times.

As soon as we finished the tour Gregangelo and I drove with Milan (see previous post) to Glen Park to grab lunch for the artists showcasing and headed over the Bay Bridge to West Oakland. Henry (V-Troupe member) was finishing up organizing the seating and Cecilia Palmtag our assistant Technical Director was humming along setting up the film projector, audio and lights. After setting up the green room, I began my favorite task of popping Popcorn! It is a mindless task for me and it a great way to relax after the week of high-energy and business stimulants.

Our line-up was great and some incredible stories from the artists. Cassie (see attached image) a 7 year old aerialist her second time in front of an audience wowed the crowd with her finesse and presentation of static trapeze to the song "Somewhere Out There" from the movie "American Tale". What was very moving about her story is that she was adopted from a orphanage in China and is now living in the Bay Area and training in Circus Arts. She is a very special child and through her loving parents is now on a path of self-esteem building, confidence,discipline and rewards that will enable her to succeed in what ever her life path will bring. This is what circus arts brings to youth and is a great catalyst for social change in the community.

We had a great supportive audience and Francis and Scott Wocicki from the tour of our home came to the show and brought friends. This particular showcase was a great success from all the collaborative elements, audiece and volunteers that came together to see, create and support the arts!




Here is the line-up of the show~
Trapeze Arts/Janene- Youth Aerial Troupe

Audrey Rosales- she's doing an aerial net act

Paula Kidwell- Paula is the newest member of V-Troupe. She joins us after a lifetime of training in acrobatics, dance, and stunt work. She trained with Cirque du Soleil in Montreal before braving the circus and performing arts world on her own. Today she is here to present an original acrobatic dance piece.

**Alex Ramon Gonzalez/ magic show (if he shows--I'm lead to believe that he will be there)- Alex is a Bay Area native from Richmond, CA whose talents have won him several awards of national acclaim. He has just returned from a world tour as a Principal Illusionist with Disney, and is best known for his Dove Act.


Fou Fou Ha!- is a Bay Area performance ensemble "Combining buffoonery, intricate dance choreography, drag queens, slapstick, and cheap bourbon, the Fou Fou HA! Dancing girls are a band of mayhem-makers like no other. Their performances always cause laughter and excitement (and at times a bit of brain damage)". Today, Fou Fou Ha brings us a Slapstick Dance number.

Hiromi Yoshida create and edit of our Heliopolis show and previewed it as well.

Here is a video created by HGTV for the show "Offbeat America" about our home.





Sincerely,
Jeffrey

Well it has been quite a week. Lots of movement in the air and the Earth, yesterday there was a lunar eclipse and today a 6.3 earthquake near Elko Nevada. Gregangelo and I pulled a 16 hour day yesterday, no regrets, it was full of art, artists, laughter and magical moments, we interviewed Milan who is interested in a summer internship, she is currently attending Cincinatti U, in fashion design and was up on the roof with us last night trying to catch the eclipse. I turned to this courageous young artist and welcomed her to San Francisco as we stood on the roof under the stars, looking for the moon. She has something quite special about her, I know her path will be full of adventure and success. As is the norm after an eclipse and earthquake the phones were wringing off the hook, so I saged the house, said a few prayers and listened closely to the calls and questions coming in. I have been following the primaries closely and have decided to back off, as it is getting ugly and the disappointment in human behavior is too much to add to my plate. I did find time to bake a pumpkin pie and a savory pide in between contracts and phone calls. When I bake, I can think about what is on my plate and desk carefully, the baking allows me to step away and contemplate the business and moving it forward. The previous evening I attending a reception hosted by the San Francisco Symphony for the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco. His name is Luis R. Cancel. There were quite a few Arts Task Force members present. Public Policy and the Arts can bring together an interesting collection of people. Hiromi is in high creative and her eye is right on the mark as she edits the footage from our recent Heliopolis show. The image attached to this blog is from the death scene of Heliopolis. This video is an edit that Hiromi created from the show.


Until later, keep creative and never forget~ art and social change are congruous!
Jeffrey

Oh boy....there's a pasty-type thing baking in the oven and filling the house with a good smell. There's miso boiling on the stove top. Jeffrey is next to me and it sounds like he is (calmly) dealing with a very irritated caller, who just found out that the person planning her event changed her request from a few acts to a thirty-minute show, without asking the producer first. Oh my. A timer on his desk is tick-tick-ticking (to let him know when to pull his food out of the oven, I imagine). Tension....
But it has come after a somewhat relaxing week. We are taking care of details, preparing for the oncoming storm of business in the next few months.
Gregangelo and Henry Holloway (our master stilt-jumper and stuntman of V Troupe) have been out on the city streets all week in blue, shiny body suits and masks on roller skates, shouting at the monkey-suited public, for a guerilla-advertising job that a new company hired us for.
VTroupe is preparing to fly to Cincinnatti for a performance in early March.
We are hosting our monthly showcase next Sunday, the 24th, which will feature slapstick dance, acrobatic dance, aerial performance, film, and very likely some magic and opera as well!
For me (and I think for many artists), this time of year is ideal for holing up on rainy days and dreaming up the next creative ventures. There's little or no temptation to go outside when it's rainy and cold, so one has the opportunity to look within and dream up the future. I'm dreaming up performance pieces about ancient celtic tales. The circus is dreaming up new shows, and big business for all of our artists.
The picture above is of Gregangelo (blue) and Henry (green). The jesus guy has nothing to do with the circus.

And what did the circus freaks do for Valentine's Day? Well, at my recommendation, Gregangelo and Jeffrey went to a screening of Franco Zeferelli's Romeo & Juliet featuring a live appearance from Olivia Hussey. Sadly, Jeffrey wasn't into it like I thought he would be. "I don't like Shakespeare--I know, I know--and I just can't get into suicide. Love for death? It just doesn't do anything for me." The radio blasts Elton John next door in the costume workshop. "See THAT'S what I need! Lots of sappy torch songs!"
Et moi? For Valentine's Day I joined my long-time director and friend, Joyce Henderson, for some bubby and King Lear. Insane, you say? Yes, but how could I resist? I love champagne and I love Shakespeare and this film of Lear was done by Masterpiece Theatre with Ian Holm as Lear! Of course it was GENIUS, and segued into a stimulating and insightful discussion about aging, illness, death, love, and gender disparities between Joyce and I. Just a bit of light-hearted fun. Who needs romance when you're intelligent AND glamorous? Well...
Today, we are preparing costumes for a client-branding event, where we have performers advertising for a company as they roller-skate in costume. Gregangelo walks into the office with a stocking over his head. I jump back a bit. "What do I look like?" he asks. "Like you're gonna rob us," I laugh. "See, I can't do this! Can you imagine me in costume on rollerskates with this? I don't want to scare people!"
This after watching the video of our Heliopolis show, and remarking on our snake charmer with the ten snakes covering his entire head and face.
You know, just another day in the office!
Then Greg and Jeffrey, mentioned "Ken", a man who called us and is interested in putting us in his TV show "America's Got Talent." So when Jeffrey asked me to call the fellow for this new show, you can imagine my pouty response: "Do I have to?" He laughs and says "I just want you to feel him out. See what he has to say.""Oh, and it'll be good," I say." Anything for the circus! I'll do it for the blog!" So, I'm waiting to hear back from him. Gulp.

I was going to blog about our "Heliopolis" show at the Marin Theater this week, and all the chaotic tension leading up to it, but I think this email thread between Jeffrey and Donald (a producer who is trying to get a reality TV show about us in the works) says it better:

Hi Donald,

Show was exceptional! Received a standing ovation, the crowd average age was 60+ and very discriminating in regards to theater so the producer was on edge up until the performance because of all the elements ie: snake, fire, contortion, lots of skin and belly dancing, the crowd loved all the components, especially when in the snake act the snake charmer had 8 very large snakes wrapped around his head covering his face and there were 5 other large snakes being manipulated by the dancers.

There was a lot of drama leading up to it, we ended up producing the show, because of union issues around using the existing lighting plot, house sold out and there was a waiting list for seats.

Overall it was a beautiful show and yes, we can’t wait to do it again, this time without the drama.
Cheers!
jeffrey

-Wonderful!
But for the TV show, keep the drama. Or at least be able to "connect" to it again. Or, there will always be drama of some kind.
d

-There is always drama; such is the nature of circus and life! J You would have had to bleep, bleep, Greg screaming at the producer to “produce the &*%^&% show and don’t give me any nicey, nicey bull…!" Of course at hearing him screaming on the phone, I decided to sage the house to expunge the bad energy, the doorbell rings, the front living room is full of smoke, I have a sage urn burning in my hand as I answer the door, Greg is screaming in the background and a new costumer arrives for the first time and day of work. She a little perplexed! I offer her tea, tell her to never mind the cussing and screaming, she laughs, made it through the day and was at the show last night. -J
* * * * *

So..."Heliopolis" was a miraculous success. We sold out the show and got a partial standing from our dazzled audience, albeit, after a lot of stress and strife. We had our very first and only cue-to-cue (that's the part where we run through everyone's entrances and exits in order of the show w/ lights and sound, for all you non-theatre folks) just a couple of hours before the show. Everyone had to multi-task like crazy: each of the dancers was in almost every act, many of us were balancing technical/production positions while preparing to perform, etc. For example, yours truly got to open the show with her taksim (middle eastern improvisational music/dance), then run backstage to change costume, then re-enter to play duf (mid-eastern frame drum), and then run backstage again and stage manage the rest of the show! Oh- AND I get to operate a few light cues from backstage while I'm at it. Oh boy! And what FUN it was to step in as stage manager just before the show and call all the cues with a herd of artists glaring at me because they don't want me telling them what to do! Meanwhile poor Gregg Hood, Cecilia Palmtag, and Hiromi Yoshida, are losing their minds and sweating bullets while trying to operate our tech cues from outdated lighting equipment.
When the show is finally about to begin at 7:30 (after a full day of working in the theater for the first time), I relax before taking the stage with my dance. I immediately feel myself again, knowing that my body will finally have a chance to release the day and breathe the evening. I feel completely free and blissful as I dance, and the audience is grateful. Heliopolis begins with a riveting and powerful drum ensemble and dance piece, and from that moment on, they love us. Everything is a success. On the clearcom headset backstage, I hear Cecilia cooing and laughing with delight at each act, until....about midway through the show I hear her say with forced calm, "Okay, I think we may have set off the A-track." That sounds bad. "What does that mean?" I ask, with equal calm. "The fire alarm is going to go off."
"S***! Okay. What can I do to stop that?"
"Nothing."
silence
"Gregg Hood is on the phone trying to work it out."
"Okay, so in the event that this happens, what do we do?"
"Calmly escort everyone out of the building."
"Okay. Naja will take care of the artists. I will make the announcement to the audience. And then how do we turn off the fire alarm?"
"We don't know."
"And the people who work here at the theater?"
"They don't know either."
"Great."
"Puffy white clouds. Just imagine puffy white clouds."
"Yes, puffy white clouds--NOT from smoke."
"Um, uh, blue skies? Daisies?"
"Puppies and kittens."
"Puppies and kittens."
Well, amazingly the fire alarm DIDN'T go off. The whole show was a success, and we all slept very, very well that night! (I'm still recovering.)

In the past couple of weeks there has been a sense, both here in the company and in all aspects of my life, that makes me feel as though everything is evolving,quickly and dramatically changing for the better. Evidence of this may not be immediately apparent, but there have been small and punctuated clues leading me to feel this way. And it seems that I'm not the only one who does.
To be more specific, with Velocity everything is growing in the sense that communication is becoming clearer, people are fulfilling their intentions, our business is growing rapidly, and we are rising to the challenge. All of Gregangelo and Jeffrey's generosity and giving is really coming back to them and to the artists who have been on that journey with them.
We have been cramming in our last rehearsals for "Heliopolis: City of the Sun", our upcoming arabesque show in Marin which shows next week. As is expected in this business, the initial merging of all our various acts which have been in the works independently, ran rough the first time through. We have about twelve acts including belly dancing, sword dancing, drumming, a snake charmer, fire dancers, our very own Whirling Dervish (that's Gregangelo, the founder and artistic director--I love telling people that one of my bosses is a Whirling Dervish!), and a lot more. This is all narrated by Kelsy Custard, who plays the role of a woman of Heliopolis, reading the poetry written in hieroglyphs on the walls of Egyptian tombs. (No, really, that's where we got the poetry. We have a book of it that Jeffrey and I borrowed parts of for our script. I actually posted some of it on this blog.) Well, to make a long story short, the script has been through many changes, and we've had a rough go of rehearsals, but last night I was finally able to hear Kelsy speak the poetry while moving across the stage..with the accompaniment of Jim, our world cultures/arts/music genius specialist, who is playing wooden flutes and Egyptian percussive instruments with the poetry. Jeffrey said he had chills up and down his spine as he listened to Kelsy's voice with the music, and saw her powerful energy. We all know how talented she is (she's also a V-Troupe member and a clown with her clown troupe...they all live together!), and last night we got another dose that talent. Not to mention, Jim is a truly connected, magical human being with great understanding and intuition. Very easy to work with.
My role in this part was very easy. I just gave stage directions, worked with the script, and listened, but I now finally feel that this piece has become what we had dreamed it would: a captivating, deep, and powerful journey of the spirit and a celebration of cultural arts.
I am very proud of all of our artists and everyone who works in this company. What a beautiful group of people, and what a great job to have.
I'm feeling profoundly blessed.