Winds of the Sahara Cabaret Dance Show

Sunday night I found myself with a little bit of free time, so I headed over to Winds of the Sahara to see their weekly cabaret show.

The show opened with Jilley, Paul, and Wiz doing a techno number.

I liked the costumes for this act.

Ariel was up next with a hot little number to ‘Fever’ by Peggy Lee.

There was a fair bit of skin in the act, and I missed getting a pic before most of the costume was gone.

The next act seemed to go a bit haywire.

Devlin had a terrific tribal headhunter costume, but ended up dancing through a couple of walls and was offstage for a fair bit of the routine.

I wasn’t having any lag issues, but SL has been behaving oddly all week.

Things settled down for the next number, a trio of Lotta, Chrissy, and Ariel (I think).

I forgot to write down the name of the song for this one, darn it.

After Lotta and the girls, Queenie was up, channeling her inner Katy Perry.

The candy set for this one was adorable, complete with gummy bears and spinning lollipops.

The last act of the night was Chrissy, dancing to ‘Dear Ophelia’ by Abney Park, one of my favorite songs by them.

I think the lag monster reared its ugly head again during this act, because the sync of the dancers was off and I wasn’t able to get a pic while the ghostly pair was still onstage.

I did manage to get a snap of Chrissy and Amen, though. 😀

Winds does a show every Sunday at 5pm SLT.

You can join their VIP group to stay updated on the latest news.

Recording a Dance Sequence

Did you know you can record a dance sequence?

I’ve been doing this for years, and it can really save you time when you are working on choreography.

I first discovered recording sequences in 2012, when Nottoo Wise was doing a comparison of dance HUDs.

I was introduced to the Fleursoft HUD, which had a feature that let you record your sequence as you danced it manually (pushing the button to play each dance in the order you want).

I fell in love with the feature and would often pull out the Fleur HUD just to record sequences with it.

Later, when the Group version of the Barre was released, it too had a recording feature.

However, recording was kind of a pain for me.

With over 700 dances loaded into the HUD, I had to click through pages and pages of dances to get to the ones I wanted, and do it quickly enough that my sequence worked.

A short time later, an update was released that changed the recording feature.

I could now put the dances I wanted to use on a notecard, load that notecard, and then only the dances I needed would be available to click.

Yay!

For years, that was how I would do my rough choreography – I would pick out the dances I thought I might use, and then load them up on a notecard.

I would load that notecard, play my music, and figure out which dances I wanted to use, and where my transitions needed to be.

Then, I would record the sequence and voilá – the Barre spits out a link that gives you a sequence, complete with timings and dance names, that you can copy into a sequence notecard.

After I had that rough sequence, I could go back and make any adjustments as needed.

There is a Barre HUD video with information about how to use the record button:

If you can’t see the embedded video, click here for a link.

The information about the record button is in the first couple of minutes of the video.

When SpotOn came out with their Performance Director HUD, I stopped recording sequences as much, because I choreograph differently with it.

Given that many times I am including walks, poses, and sits, in addition to just dance animations, recording a sequence for use with the PD HUD just didn’t make much sense, as it would take more time than it saved.

When SpotOn released their club dance HUD, the Smooth Dancer, I saw that it too had a recording feature.

However, it was like the original Barre – you had to page through everything loaded in order to record.

So, I continued to use the Barre when I needed to record a sequence.

SpotOn has recently updated the Smooth Dancer, and you can now load your animations onto a notecard so you can easily record sequences just like you can with the Barre and Fleursoft.

If you want to use the recording feature and you already own the Barre, the Smooth Dancer, or the Fleursoft, you’re all set!!

Moulin Rouge – Harem of the Nile Show

Saturday night I found myself with some unexpected free time on my hands, so I headed over to catch the latest Moulin Rouge show.

Xanthia Lisle is the Theatre Director at Moulin Rouge, and has been doing dance shows since I’ve been in SL.

Saturday night the show was the ‘Harem of the Nile’ show, and it was chock-full of gorgeous ladies!

A group dance started off the show, with a bevy of beauties dancing for the pharoah.

It was a very slow and sensual dance.

I’m sure that many in the audience were wishing for their own palm frond fans after the number!

After the group dance, Deyna did an entrancing solo belly dance.

I don’t remember the name of the song (I probably would have mangled it horribly anyway, but it was a beautiful number.

I’ve always loved belly dancing and there was plenty of it.

After Deyna’s number, Xan took to the stage with her belly dance.

The song was by a group I really enjoy – Beats Antique.

Appropriately titled ‘Egyptic,’ Xan left the audience wanting more.

She always has such amazing costumes!

Next up on the playlist was Xan and Siren as the Goddesses of Fire.

I love the costumes for this act as well.

And who doesn’t love fire effects?

Once the fire was out, there was a change of pace.

The next act was a lovely lyric number with beautiful ladies dancing on the rocks amid the ocean waves.

Then it was back to the temples for a gorgeous sabre dance done by Siren and Kitty.

(I wish I’d gotten some pictures I could share, but I couldn’t find an angle that wasn’t showing a LOT of skin.)

Following the sabre dancers, Xan delighted the audience with a snake dance.

I managed to snap a pic where the snake was covering her up!

After the solos, a group of belly dancers took the stage.

And then Cleopatra made an appearance – she’s quite the dancer, apparently. 😛

At this point I was interrupted by that pesky RL, and I missed the next number.

I know it involved a shipwreck, and a siren, but I didn’t get any pictures of it. 😦

Not only was the audience visited by Cleopatra and the Fire Goddesses, Aphrodite put in an appearance.

Dancing in her clam shell, she was the picture of loveliness.

After her graceful gyrations, Xan and Deyna hit the stage again, this time to ‘Beautiful Liar.’

Sadly, I didn’t get to stay to the end of the show, so I probably missed some other fabulous acts.

The Moulin  Rouge has a regular show on Saturdays at 7pm SLT, so join their group to stay up-to-date on happenings.

Announcing The Kat & Mouse School of Performing Arts!

That’s right – I’ve finally taken the leap and started the Kat & Mouse School of Performing Arts (SOPA).  😀

I have long wanted to help other dancers acquire skills to allow them to advance in their performance dance careers.  Dance in SL can be extremely intimidating to new performers and often even experienced performers have difficulty finding the time or place to learn advanced skills.

Because I know that time is a precious commodity (in RL and SL), I have purposely designed my curriculum with that in mind.  Most of the courses are only one session and should last approximately one hour.  My intention is that students can come to a class, learn a skill, and then immediately apply that skill to their dancing.

I am starting out by offering some basic courses, but I will be adding intermediate and advanced courses, including some classes on using the Artiste Suite.  Initial course offerings include Basic Choreography, Basic Movers (requires the SpotOn Choreography Designer), Basic Set Building, Basic Costuming, and Basic Lighting/FX.

Classes begin on October 4, 2015.  Classes will be held at the Kat & Mouse Theater on Sundays at 2pm SLT.  You can join the Kat & Mouse group or hit up the subscriber at the theater to stay informed.  Click here to visit the Course Listings page and sign up for classes.

A little background on me:

I am an educator in RL, and I have been teaching since 2004.  I have taught at both the high school and university level, so I am familiar with learners of varying abilities.  I suppose my RL occupation has led to my interest in teaching in SL. 🙂

I have been dancing in SL since 2009 and have danced in many different troupes during that time.  I started out as a ball-warmer, then moved to chorus girl, and then solo performer.  I have done solo routines, routines with 20+ dancers, and everything in between. I am familiar with many different dance tools, including the SpotOn suite of products, the Barre, the HUDDLES, and the Artiste Suite.

I hope you join me on my new adventure!  I would love to help you learn the skills you need to take your performance dance to the next level.  😀

If you have any questions, just ask.  I look forward to seeing you in class!

Sinners Burlesque

Yesterday, while I was busy on working on other projects, I got a ping.

Sinners Burlesque was having a show.

Never having seen one of their shows, I hustled on over and grabbed a seat right before show time.

The show started with a lovely Japanese-themed number.

The trio of dancers was surrounded by cherries and cherry blossom trees.

I didn’t catch the name of the song, unfortunately.

I did have some issues with the dance animations not appearing smooth for me, but that was most likely due to my late arrival at the venue.

After the Japanese dancers, there was a routine involving a naughty nun.

I’m pretty sure nuns aren’t supposed to have tattoos or dance around a pentagram inside a church.

She was so naughty I had to dig out the censor bar again!

I was having some technical issues at this point, as were the dancers.

There was a false start and after they got everything settled, it appeared the main dancer’s HUD was frozen or something.

However, he did a great job of freestyling his dance and the number was very cute.

I’ve always wanted to visit FunkyTown. 😀

You can’t really tell in the photo, but both his suit and the back up dancers’ costumes were animated, adding a cool effect to the number.

The next number was another new-to-me Madonna song.

That makes two in two weeks!

It was called ‘Graveyard,’ I think – I’ll have to add it to my ‘buy’ list as well.

I managed to catch a snap of the number before I was booted from SL.

By the time I was able to log back in, I had missed the rest of the show. 😦

The little I did see was very well done, so look them up, join their group, and stay updated on their happenings.

MJ’s Burlesque Review

MJ’s Burlesque Review is a venue near and dear to my heart.

I danced there for a while, and I absolutely adore the 3 ladies who are the heart of it – MJ, Nancy, and Zed.

MJ’s is on an adult sim and the shows are geared toward adult audiences, which may keep some people from attending.

While understandable, it’s a shame, because they have some of the best shows I’ve ever seen on the grid.

If you missed the show on Friday, mark your calendars and be sure to attend the encore performance on Sunday – 2pm SLT at MJ’s Burlesque.

MJ’s has recently started having guest performers, and this week the guest is Shadow Tarber, director of Shadows Silhouettes.

The show started out with a performance by MJ herself, a sort of ‘behind the scenes’ look at burlesque.

One of the things I like about MJ’s is that they emote during their routines.

While the acts are able to stand alone, I always appreciate emotes, especially when they add to the story of the performance.

I also appreciate the little touches they add to make their routines seem more realistic.

Using the Artiste system, for example, MJ made it appear as if the trap door in the floor lifted and she was raised to the stage from below.

And I love the fabulous over-the-top headpiece in this routine. 😀

After MJ was Nancy, also known as Naughty Martini.

Nancy is my hands-down favorite performer and I make it a point to attend her shows if at all possible.

I would love to be able to pick her brain apart and understand how her creative spark works. 😛

This set was to Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin,’ but it was a slow, ballad-like rendition of the song (which I loved and will be buying as soon as I’m done writing this!).

As you can see, her sets are always visually stunning.

The starry night, the smoke, the clouds – and nestled among them, a fragile angel.

The angel is blindfolded, and having been released from her cage, exploring the unknown and unseen world around her.

The set and costumes matched the tone of the song perfectly.

I also love how Nancy takes pieces – of costumes, of songs, of sets, whatever – that I have seen, and then uses them in different and creative ways.

The color palette of this routine is an example of how Nancy sees her routine as a whole, in addition to the all the little details.

A true performance artist.

After Nancy was this week’s guest artist, Shadow Tarber.

Shadow did a cute routine dressed as Smurfette.

I love the little Smurf pasties she’s sporting in this pic.

Unfortunately for me, my computer was giving me fits and some of the pieces of her set didn’t rez for me. 😦

I’m told that there were cute little moving smurfs perched on top of the mushrooms.

After trying to kick my computer and SL into submission, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to continue taking photos at the performance.

Following Shadow, MJ was up again, with a smoking hot performance as a demoness from hell.

The set was amazing (though definitely adult), but due to my computer issues, I didn’t manage to catch a snap of it. 😦

MJ’s hot performance must have melted whatever gremlins were plaguing me, because I was able to snap a few pics of the last routine, another fantastic set from Nancy.

This picture is yet another example of why Nancy is one of the best performers in SL.

This is the opening scene of her last routine, where she is a female bounty hunter searching for her prey.

I love all the details – the western font of the text, the saguaro cactus, the skeleton, the dust blowing as she enters.

And, of course, her costume is fabulous – the epitome of a sexy bounty hunter.

I love the sign above the undertaker’s door – it’s the little details like this which make Nancy’s performances a must-see.

If you can go see the show on Sunday – do!

My pictures don’t do any of the performers justice – you need to see all this fabulousness for yourself. 😀

If you can’t make the show on Sunday, be sure to join their group or hit up their subscriber so you can stay updated on their latest performances.

You’ll thank me!! 😀

Impressions by Inara Pey

I’ve been a busy bee in SL lately, and I made it to Inara Pey’s current LEA exhibit, called ‘Impressions.’

What is ‘Impressions’?

According to Inara, it’s a combination of three things:  “The first is a display of my more recent images and videos of places I’ve visited around Second Life – the impressions they’ve given me, if you will.  The second is the setting itself, an interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous “Fallingwater,” the house he built for Edgar J. Kaufmann and his family – a house that has made an enormous impression on me over the years.  The third is the 2D and (particularly) 3D work of a talented Italian student, CioTToLiNa Xue – work that made quiet an impression on me when I happened across it in July, and have wanted to share with a wider audience.”

After having a bit of time to wander around the sim, I can tell you that it definitely makes an impression.  The build of the house (one of my favorite FLW buildings), is fabulous.  And the surrounding setting is just lovely.  Interspersed around the house you’ll find Inara’s photography displayed, as well as the works of CioTToLiNa Xue.  Though I love Fallingwater, I found myself taking more pictures of the surrounding areas, as it is just incredibly picturesque.

Take a few moments out of your busy SL, and visit ‘Impressions.’

Let the beauty of the area, the build, and the art feed your soul.