Random Babbling

I'm going to have a daughter! :)

bronwen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:21:33 GMT

I have not been on tribe very much at all- life and other social networks seem to have taken over. I have gotten a few concerned messages from some of you (thank you for your thoughts) and I just wanted everyone to know that I'm kinda out of the loop due to the fact that I have been experiencing the new adventure of being pregnant! I'm 1/2 way there now (20 weeks)... due in early November and I just found out that we are having a little girl! Lou and I are so happy. There have been an amazing amount of changes in my life these past couple of years... a lot of pain and loss... guilt and hurt... but also intense amounts of growth and joy and love. It feels amazing to be so literally full of life. Sending love to everyone- thanks again for checking on me! :)

New Dance Afire Video Clip on You Tube!

bronwen — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:35:20 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzlPcpwZPwk

Monkey Do Workshop Weekend At Contradiction Dance!! April 10-12

bronwen — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:53:23 GMT

Full Workshop Descriptions and Detailed Schedule!!! It's time to sign up and lock down your space! Full workshop descriptions and schedule below... feel free to contact us with ANY questions. valloup@gmail.com FRIDAY, APRIL 10th: When: 7-10pm Who: Danny Vogle aka Ignytor What: Dart Making and Spinning Cost: $35 http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://monkeydo.eventbrite.com%2F "Learn to dance with a rope dart Danny Boy style, aka Ignytor who has amazed many a crowd with his dart dance. All you need is yourself and a desire to learn to dance with rope dart. Limited supplies will be available at cost to build your own practice rope dart so preregister now so there is enough supplies. We will go over the basic principles of Chinese rope dart and go into the art that it inspired. We will learn patterns, wraps, shots, kicks and most of all how to move, dance and perform with a rope dart." SATURDAY, APRIL 11th: When: 10-11:30am Who: Cheeky Monkeys What: Mental Warm-up Improv Class Cost: $15 ($20 @ door) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://mabjustmab.com%2Fconcessionstand%2F Have you ever wanted to be better at thinking on your feet? This class is a series of improve games designed to make you start thinking faster. There are no winners or losers in these games, it's not about the wittiest or funniest, it's all about warming up your brain for a full day of quick thinking By the end of the class you'll be on your and mentally warmed up, it's aerobics for your brain! When: 12-1pm Who: Cheeky Monkeys What: Showcraft - 20 Minuets in Vaudeville! Cost: $30 ($40 @ door) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://mabjustmab.com%2Fconcessionstand%2F While there is no shortage of classes on "How to...", it's time to take it to the next level! Take those skills you have painstakingly learned, and work them into a great show! This class covers how to build a "bit", and then how to take the bits and build a set and a show! We will also develop a toolbox of elements to get the most out of your audience, heckler handling techniques, and much much more. When: 3-4:30pm Who: Master Juggler Garbonzo!! What: Juggling! Beginner to Advanced Cost: $30($40 at the Door) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://mabjustmab.com%2Fconcessionstand%2F Garbonzo!!, this interracially renowned Jester of England, will advance your juggling skills no matter what level you are. Yes, even *your* absolute, afraid to throw them in the air, beginners understanding, or your masterful six club skull bounce can be improved upon. Paul will engage each of you individually and you will leave a much better juggler for his company. (beginner bean bags available for purchase $2each, $5 set of three) When: 5-6pm Who: Mr. Eon What: Mental Magic with Mr. Eon Cost: $30($40 at the Door) http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://mabjustmab.com%2Fconcessionstand%2F Lean the basics of "mentalism," and other tricks to make people think you can read their minds and predict the future! You need only bring yourself, a willingness to manipulate both friends and complete strangers and pencil & paper to better remember this cool stuff. When: 7-10pm (maybe all day depending on weather) Who: hosted by Tequila What: Steampunk Burner Bazaar!!! FREE for all! If you would like to bring a table of stuff to sell, trade, gift... we are asking a small fee. Tons of costumes, green products, handmade items, art, jewelry, bellydance stuff, hoops, fire tools!!! New and Loved...Reuse and Recycle!! Contact us for more info: sgee@dcaccess.net SUNDAY, APRILl 12: When: 12-3pm Who: Va Beach's DJ What: DJ's introduction to Double Staff Stylings Cost: $35 http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://monkeydo.eventbrite.com%2F While a fabulous art in it's own right it can't be stressed enough how valuable an understanding of double staff stylings can be for the practitioner you looks to move beyond the confines of their beginning tool. Be you a dedicated poi spinner who yearns for the simplicity and power of staff play. Or a burgeoning staff spinner who looks with admiration on the subtle complexity of poi. Double staff is the gateway tool that shows the way. This class is designed to engage the absolute beginner and the self taught intermediate alike. (if you need a set of practice double staves stay tuned for a cheap kit and meetup date and time to assemble them.) Class outline, A. The basics 1. One Beats a.parallel ( 5 hole theory) b. butterfly/opposite (5 hole theory) 2. Two beat butterfly opposite 3. Three beat B. Anti-spinning Introduction 1. wheel plane (side view) 2. Wall plane (front view) C. Finger Spinning Introduction 1. How to do 2. when it's used D. Other Staff movements 1. Long arm/extensions 2. Pistons/Chu Chu's/1.5's When: 3:30-6:30pm Who: Katie aka Surprise! What: Hoop Performance and Choreography Playshop with Surprise! Cost: $35 http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://monkeydo.eventbrite.com%2F How do you move from being a good hoop dancer to a dynamic hoop performance artist? Learn fun and original choreography combinations for kick ass solo, partner and group hoop dances. Explore various performance techniques to create attention grabbing improvisation, busking/ street, and staged routines. Participants will explore characterization and stage presence and gain experience crafting unique performances. You will have the maximum amount of fun if you choose to bring a song that you would like to perform to, character and performance ideas, costuming to wear and share, and your hoops! Topics covered: Performance- Stage presence, Characterization, costuming. Choreography - Linking movements together to create a unique show stopping dance Partner and Group Choreography - Fun combinations that can be done with partners and groups with single and multiple hoops When: 7-10pm Who: hosted by Loup de Lou and Dance Afire What: The last Pajama Jam of the season!!! Cost: $5 Come out and play with us at the last inside spin jam- play session of the season! After this we will be switching to outside gatherings. Take advantage of the mirrors and beautiful studio space... AND play with all of the amazing instructors who are in from far away!

The Kaihea Photo Project

bronwen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:23:03 GMT

Kaihea was an amazing woman who's life touched many of us in meaningful ways. I have seen some really beautiful photos and stories online in the past day. I think it helps us to remember the good times we spent with her.... and to share them with eachother in understanding and compassion. These stories, photos, memories may be things that her family does not know about or has never seen. Let's each print a photo or two and write something... a story... a memory... a thought, on the back and then bring them on Saturday to give to her family and Paul. We could put a board up so everyone can see the pictures... or just have them on a table.... or if that feels inappropriate, we can simply gather them in a box and let her family have them. When my father passed away, it was very important and comforting to us to gather memories... photos... stories. It helped to remember his vibrance in life and to hear from the people who loved him. Kaihea is at peace... but she lives on in our memories. Let's share some of that joy that she brought to us with her family in their time of sorrow. Love Bronwen

I'm Dancing at the HIPSXotic Benefit! November 6th at the Palace

bronwen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:11:13 GMT

I'm very excited to be a part of this! Don't miss out on the 3rd Annual HIPSXotic Carnivale Thursday, November 6th, 2008 Doors 6 pm Shows starting at 7pm..and throughout the night! An intense evening of spectacular performances benefiting HIPS With your returning host Anthony Nelson…… Sideshow by DC's own Sideshow girl Mab just Mab Classic Comedy & Thrills by Charon Henning & Alexander Kensington Daring Fire Performances by members of Dance Afire…. Belly Dance and Drag King Performance by Belladonna & Ken Vegas… Burlesque by Lily Stark White & SKYE Fabulous Door Prizes….. And more…… 100% of ticket sales and donations go to help HIPS meet and increased demand for our services, helping sex worker lead healthy lives, step by step. This show will SELL OUT! Limited VIP and general admission pre-sale tickets at www. HIPS. org. HIPS Education*Advocacy*Support P.O. Box 21394 Washington, D.C. 20009 202.232.8150 xt. 307 www. HIPS. org

Dance Afire Tonight!

bronwen — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:17:57 GMT

It's Dance Afire's biggest and most exciting week yet... please come out and support us! Haunted Voodoo Luau at the Piratz Tavern Thursday, October 30th- 9:00 PM 8402 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring MD http://www.piratztavern.com Nightmare on U Street at Exposure Thursday, October 30th- 11:45 PM Club Liv- 2001 11th Street NW DC DJs RIB, Steve Archer, Liebchen, K 18+ $10 http://www.exposure-dc.com/ DC Zombie Lurch Afterparty at the Piratz Tavern Saturday, November 1st- 8:00 PM 8402 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring MD Meet up with the zombies earlier in the day to bring decaying joy to the city. This is a fundraiser for the ASPCA- a small donation is requested. http://profile.myspace.com/dczombielurch Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeen!! :) pic by Andrea Noble

Music and Words

bronwen — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:15:30 GMT

I've been really delving into music therapy recently... getting back into the poetry that first brought me to a lot of the music I have loved for years, discovering new amazing artists and putting mixes together that reflect my emotions. This song is from one of my favorite albums of all times... but I hadn't listened to it in awhile until today. Reflective, resonant... I feel these words right now. "Joyful Girl" by Annie Difranco i do it for the joy it brings because i'm a joyful girl because the world owes me nothing and we owe each other the world i do it because it's the least i can do i do it because i learned it from you i do it just because i want to because I want to everything i do is judged and they mostly get it wrong but oh well 'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged and the woman who lives there can tell the truth from the stuff that they say and she looks me in the eye and says would you prefer the easy way? no, well o.k. then don't cry and i wonder if everything i do i do instead of something i want to do more the question fills my head i know that there's no grand plan here this is just the way it goes and when everything else seems unclear i guess at least i know i do it for the joy it brings...

An open heart

bronwen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:29:55 GMT

Life swirls and twists us in extreme ways... change and evolution... realization and expansion. Sorrow dances with pleasure... fear with excitement and all as one our emotions, thoughts and experiences weave together to create the beautiful pagentry of ourselves. The world is so lovely... so exquisite in it's imperfection. The dappled green leaves dancing with the golden summer light... the sky an impossible blue.... water, rocks and a child's laughter... the smell of salty skin. To be a creature that experiences soaring joys and crippling lows is both an amazingly special thing and an insignificant part of existence. To be human is to feel... to think... to act... to hurt... to heal... to love... to hold... to let go... to sing... to dance... and to hopefully survive the adventures of life with a heart that stays open. Beautiful Day by U2 The heart is a bloom Shoots up through the stony ground There's no room No space to rent in this town You're out of luck And the reason that you had to care The traffic is stuck And you're not moving anywhere You thought you'd found a friend To take you out of this place Someone you could lend a hand In return for grace It's a beautiful day Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away You're on the road But you've got no destination You're in the mud In the maze of her imagination You love this town Even if that doesn't ring true You've been all over And it's been all over you It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away It's a beautiful day Touch me Take me to that other place Teach me I know I'm not a hopeless case See the world in green and blue See China right in front of you See the canyons broken by cloud See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out See the Bedouin fires at night See the oil fields at first light And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth After the flood all the colors came out It was a beautiful day Don't let it get away Beautiful day Touch me Take me to that other place Reach me I know I'm not a hopeless case What you don't have you don't need it now What you don't know you can feel it somehow What you don't have you don't need it now Don't need it now Was a beautiful day

Hometown Evolution

bronwen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:24:33 GMT

It's so peaceful here. No one is in a hurry and there is a smile and a wave waiting with every neighbor. I'm sitting at the dining room table at my mom's place in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A small cozy house full of beautiful things on the top of a hill- surrounded by old trees. There is a kitty on my lap, one on the table and two looking at me from the kitchen counter. The air is so clean- the night sky so clear. Last night I sat outside my brother's new farmhouse- watching the stars and talking with him of books, politics and philosophy as the cows wandered by his fence. Water, air, earth and fire are so easy to feel here. I'm surrounded by love, family, animals and nature. It feels wonderful to breathe in peace. My hometown- Floyd, Virginia- home of the Buffalos, host of the Friday Night Jamboree, mother to hillbillies and hippies-old and new- an amazingly cute one stoplight town nestled in the heart of the Blue Ride Mountains. Home of Floyd Fest- a long weekend music and art festival with a multitude of bands ranging from hard core bluegrass to happy hippie jam- coveralls and tie dyes dancing together in harmony. I ran into so many old friends- so many memories- blasts from the past. The children I used to babysit for transformed into tall bearded hippies... the friends I used to ride horses with turned into beautiful mothers with daughters of their own. New love and families coming together- playing and having fun... generations. I'm here to spend time with my family- especially my mom who is turning 60 this weekend. I'm here to clear my head- think and rest and figure some stuff out. It is a time of huge changes- life is ever evolving. These past couple of years have been so intense- so full of huge life changes... I'm settling and reflecting... thinking about my feelings and needs.... figuring out my intents for the next step in life. At times I am full of sadness for the past- for things lost and things forgotten. I am processing through my guilt- trying to look inside and come to grips with some hard truths. At times I'm filled with peace and calm- feeling release and the quiet of being. At times I'm filled with joy and love and a burning excitement for the future. Life. Home- Family-Love- Evolution "Bones sinking like stones All that we've fought for All these places we've grown All of us are done for And we live in a beautiful world Yeah we do, yeah we do We live in a beautiful world Bones sinking like stones All that we've fought for All these places we've grown All of us are done for And we live in a beautiful world Yeah we do, yeah we do We live in a beautiful world And we live in a beautiful world Yeah we do, yeah we do We live in a beautiful world Oh all that I know There's nothing here to run from 'Cos yeah, everybody here's got somebody to lean on" -Coldplay

Tribal Fest Baby!

bronwen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:52:08 GMT

Catching up on life.... Our recent adventure to Tribal Fest in California was freakin awesome!!! Na'la and Hil headed out early in the week to teach two workshops and I arrived on Friday morning. I had one of those crazy travel days... waking up before dawn to catch a plane (Virgin America rules by the way)... then staying up into the wee hours of the morn after we danced. An incredibly full and exciting 24 hours... then I got to relax and chill and truly enjoy. Sebastopol is such a cute town and I loved getting to see some of the famous beauty of Northern Cali wine country. Our hotel was spacious, nice and packed full of other festival goers. There was even a little boutique/ restaurant/ coffee shop and a wine store across the street! Our performance felt really good. There were little things I messed up, but the energy was on between us! I love my Shakra gals! :) It really meant a lot to me on a personal level to be able to perform there. It felt healing and empowering in many ways. There were so many kick ass performances throughout the weekend.... I can't begin to explain how inspiring the festival is! Asharah freakin rocked it! Unmata was mind blowing live as was Verbatim- the energy!! Tabu brought tears to my eyes- I love what those gals are doing. Romka's new sword piece is so sexy and dynamic and Eugenia made an excellent creepy debut! The Sexy Scallywags had me busting out with laughter! There were so so so many others I know I am forgetting.... Sera and Solstice, Ariellah and her girls, Artemis, Superkate, Tempest, Sashi, the cool peeps we met from the UK... and of course the Indigo gals. Kajira and Chuck put so much heart into this festival... and it shows! The shopping was to die for... I got the most amazing things!! I even bought my first pair of Melodia pants. My favorite items came from Black Lotus (http://www.blacklotusclothing.com). Christina is a genius and a sweet heart and gives amazing hugs and understanding at needed moments! I managed to get myself somewhat under control by Sunday... and realized that I needed to buy gifts too! :) There were so many amazing moments... dancing at the afterparty to a live set by Maduro, picnicing in the hotel room with Na'la and Hil, catching up with good friends, meeting new amazing folks, sharing creative energy, drinking wine, eating pizza, sitting in the grass outside the fest and hugging my gals before and after our performance! I had a truly magical moment with a fellow burner. She commented on my Greenman pendant- saying that she had seen it last year at Burning Man and loved it. I only got 100 made... and there were over 40,000 people there. I explained the story behind it... that it was one of my dad's pieces of art and I made them to commemorate him and his life. It was good for me to talk about it because his sudden and unexpected death was the reason I had to miss Tribal Fest the previous year. She explained that she also had made a pendant for Burning Man for her father who had passed.... it was one of those moments of pure connection and understanding... an unexpected gift. I sent her a pendant as soon as I got home. Thanks to everyone who puts their time and energy into making Tribal Fest happen. Thanks to all of the amazing performers, volunteers, vendors and others who come together to create a venue with such a good vibe. Thanks to Michael for making us bad ass staves. Thanks to Bella, Mavi and Asharah for helping out with our performance. Thanks to Na'la and Hilary for being there for me... for being such amazing women... for sharing their art and passion! Thanks to my family of friends who put up with me through my crazy busy times! Here is our performance on You-Tube... be sure to watch all 3 parts! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKRS03zctY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioCcCUXrBG8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vgzn9HCqc&feature=related

Travels- Barcelona, Paris and Beyond

bronwen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:08:05 GMT

Wow... what a whirlwind time it's been.... traveling, dance, traveling, family, traveling, friends, dance, festivals, emotions, projects, traveling..... LIFE! Whew. So much has happened in the past couple of months.... where do I start. Our travels to Barcelona and Paris were amazing in many ways, frustrating in some... and a very good learning and growing experience over all. Cael and I started with an intensely long day of traveling.... DC metro to the airport.... flight to NYC... flight to Paris... Paris metro to the train station... train to Barcelona.... cab to hotel. I think we were traveling for over 24 hours with all of the waiting.... it was intense. It felt so amazing to crash out! Our hotel was beautiful- modern and super fancy... but a ways out of the city. The biggest challenge we faced in Barcelona was the transportation to and back from our hotel... it was a bit of a nightmare at times. The second challenge was communication. Cael speaks some Spanish... but in Barcelona they speak Catalonian... which is different and presented us with some frustrating situations. The city itself is simply beautiful... my favorite days were those we spent climbing around the parks and gardens that spread across the hills overlooking the city from the old Palace. Bright blue skies and golden days.... the Mediterranean Sea stretching out from the city into the distance..... The gothic section of the city is fantastic as well- tight twisting streets with plants and clothes hanging in colorful patterns of life from every balcony....people eating and drinking in the street- performers, mopeds and skateboards and everywhere beautiful graffiti. I was blown away by the quality of the prolific gorilla art form. It seemed every old block wall... every train car... every retaining wall was covered in vibrant skillful art. We played in Gaudi's magical masterpieces... feeling the natural forms in the architecture. We drank sangria and ate bad tapas and paella and spent waaaaaaay too much money at little coffee shops on espresso. We had a silly night drinking absynthe, eating room service and watching a Cindi Lauper marathon on Spanish tv. We met up with a friend of a friend who has lived in Barcelona for 2 years and had a wonderful night being filled in on the ins and outs of Spanish politics and the fact that even though there is no word in Catelonian for "mullet" they seemed to be the most popular haircut. Keith was friendly and hilarious and gave us such good advice. We had our fights and emotional ups and downs, but also found the time to really talk to each other for the first time in a long time. Cael's foot is still healing and gave him some issues and we have a lot that we are working out together right now... so it wasn't all happy times.... but it was all good stuff to be finally getting out. The time away gave us the space to talk about some really hard things we have been avoiding in our relationship. Things aren't fixed... but the honest openness has started. We had a travel issue from Barcelona to Paris... a strike by the French train workers left us stranded in Barcelona for a few hours... until they figured out how to re-route us to get us to Paris... so in the pattern of our tiring travel disasters... what was supposed to be a 6 1/2 hour train ride turned into a 12 hour train ride with 2 transfers! We did get to see some beautiful country side out the windows. We finally got to Paris and had Cael's parents welcome us with dinner and drinks at our gorgeous hotel on the Champs Elysee. Paris is truly a capital city. She wears her crown with a beautiful and ancient grace that DC lacks in it's youth. I had been there 11 years ago... and it felt good to be coming back. Our trip shifted somewhat. We spent a lot of time doing touristy things with Cael's folks and shared in their experiences. We didn't have the trip we would have planned, but we got to do all sorts of things that we would never be able to afford on our own. We were again graced by perfect springtime weather... blue skies... sunshine and warmth. We ate the best meal of my lfe at the Eiffel Tower restaurant. The view is to die for... and the food was just as beautiful as it was delicious. A lot of our time in Paris was about eating, drinking, relaxing and feeling on vacation. We went on a dinner cruise on the Seine and saw the new Moulin Rouge. The show was one of the worst, over the top, hilarious, ridiculous, terrifying things I have ever seen in my life. I can't even begin to describe the horror of pink feathers and sparkly boobs.... but we survived somehow. :) One of my favorite places we happened upon was the Rodin gardens. Rodin sculpts emotion. His figures are twisting- turning-writhing in joy or agony and they were so powerful against the lush green trees. The museum is in the middle of the city, but feels like a safe haven- a quiet escape from the bustle. We drank wine, shared stories, talked of life, fought about emotions, cried about losses and took the time to breathe. I got to see an old and dear friend who happened to be in Paris at the same time! My best pal from early college- Mel who I hadn't gotten to see in 3 years! We had a day overlap in our trips and got to have a wonderful dinner together. I took the time to think... write and vent a lot during my travels. I am still processing through many of those thoughts and putting together the experiences. I am so grateful to have been able to take the time to travel. It reminded me that the world is vast and beautiful and full of adventure.

Shakra... Adventures, Projects, Youtube clip and Pre-order!!

bronwen — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:10:22 GMT

Whew! It has been a super duper busy time for dance projects recently! Na'la and Hil are already out in Cali at Tribal Fest- teaching workshops... recruiting for the Shakra army and generally being fabulous... I fly out tomorrow morning. I can't wait to meet everyone and get to see all of the amazing dancers perform! It's such an honor to be closing the show Friday night with our brand spankin new dances!! We just finished the final editing of our Industrial Strength Dance Workout dvd! Pre-order is up and running on the "Gear" section on our webpage- we should have the dvds in hand and ready to ship in about 4 weeks! There is also a preview clip up on Youtube! We had a blast filming it up in NYC with the fantastic folks of World Dance New York... a big huge thank you to Neon and Scott! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2UjbV_2qJ0 http://www.worlddancenewyork.com/ We have workshops and shows in the works for the Summer and Fall... check out our tribe page for updates!!

Off to Barcelona and Paris!! :)

bronwen — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:07:38 GMT

We fly out today! I can hardly believe it. It seemed so crazy to be traveling at this time... with everything else being so busy and this time of year being so full, but it was the only time that worked.... and now it feels perfect. Cael and I are flying to Paris... then training to Barcelona... chillin... then back to Paris... more chillin... then home. I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to travel to these amazing places. I was in Paris for a few days about 11 years ago and can still feel the magic of that city... and I have never been to Spain- so there will be a nice mix of totally new.... and bizarrely familiar. We will be home in early May and will hopefully bring back with us many silly stories and adventures and hopefully some new perspective. It's time to take a pause.... take a breath..... and open our eyes to the beauty of the old world... to let ourselves experience each moment and take the time to appreciate this gift. Love to all of my family of friends! See you in a couple of weeks! :)

A Weekend with the Pixie

bronwen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:57:42 GMT

Wow... life is moving so fast right now! I'm barely catching up from last week.... The weekend before last, we had an amazing visit from the vibrant Pixie - in town from LA. We adventured, played, laughed, created, shared, talked, drank chocolate martinis, danced in the sun, rain and fire.... were attacked by zombie squirrels, people from other planets and boy-lesque! Our living room and backyard were transformed into a magical land of beautiful dancers being captured by Pixie's camera! There were many photos (new Shakra ones to come soon!) and many many exquisite moments. A huge hug and thank you to Pixie for being so wonderful and sharing her art and energy with us.... a super shakra squeeeeeze to Scott for letting us drag him out in the rain to find cool places for pics and for letting us dress him up and generally horrify him all weekend.... a big ol kiss to Lou for bringing over the fire gear and fuel and talent that facilitated our magical Friday night fire shoot.... and lots of love to Na'la and Hil (my girls!) for coming together to make another kick ass Shakra photo adventure! http://www.pixievisionproductions.com

Shakra Secret Springtime Adventures and Projects!!!

bronwen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:01:15 GMT

Well it's been a winter full of creative energy and projects... and now that it's Spring everything is starting to come to fruition! We have been busy busy little Shakra bees... putting together all sorts of new and exciting things. First of all, we have just announced that World Dance New York will be releasing an all SHAKRA dvd this summer!!! http://shakra.tribe.net/thread/4329941f-c1ab-4d8d-8a89-1e212fc84143 Second, we will be bringing a whole new performance to Tribal Fest... closing the show Friday night!!! AND we are teaching two workshops there: http://shakra.tribe.net/thread/145cd946-feb4-4043-ad44-451c3cab8c99 We are also putting together an entirely Shakra... entirely new... entirely STOMPY workshop format!! It's almost finished and will be ready to scare the world with after Tribal Fest! We already have a workshop scheduled in Richmond in the fall and a few more in the works.... Finally... Our friend Pixie is traveling out from LA will be setting up a studio in our house and doing shoots April 11, 12 and 13. She is simply amazing. We did a shoot with her in the PEX warehouse last fall and fell in love with her! Here is her website for examples of her work~ www.PixieVisionProductions.com Her rate for shooting is $250 per hour. Please email pixie@pixievisionproductions.com for more info~ :) Check out our website for all of the photos she took of Shakra last year! She is an amazing artist and so much fun to work with! shakra.tribalgrove.com/ Happy Springtime to everyone!!

Gratitude and Love

bronwen — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:21:54 GMT

First of all thank you to everyone for your wonderful birthday emails, texts, calls and messages. I feel so incredibly loved. I'm so blessed to have all of you wonderful people in my life... our community rocks! This is going to be a good year, I can feel it. I'm off to spend time with my family in the early morn. It will be a hard holiday in many ways, but hopefully it will also be a new start. I want to go into it with a clear head and a heart open to establishing new traditions. My brother, his family and my little sis are in their new house and I can't wait to see it. Everyone seems to be coming out of their sorrow and feeling the renewal of the coming new year. It will be an whirlwind of relatives, cats, dogs, babies and Cael with his crutches... hopefully we will survive ;). Lots of love and light to everyone in this time of feasting and celebration. Thank you for being in my life.

Santarchy in DC

bronwen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:20:09 GMT

Santarchy in our Nation's capital was last Saturday and once again we took to the streets with two goals.... to scare the pants off of the tourists and to bring naughty burner style holiday joy to all. This year's event was even bigger and better than the last with a literal sea of red, white and jolly surging from one monument to the next. Swimming among the santas we had Jack Frost and the Ice Queen, Joseph, Mary and baby J, a sad Christmas gnome, a gorilla santa, santa's monkey helpers, a bunch of us as angry elves and many more creative twists on the theme. As "disgruntled youth elves" we shouted about elf rights and the mistreatment of the reindeer to anyone who would listen. "JOIN THE ELF REVOLUTION!", I yelled as I proudly wore my "Che Elf" shirt Cael made for me ;). Even Cael's broken foot came in as a handy prop... for he was an elf injured in Santa's evil unsafe workshop. We wheeled him around all day with a Santa hat on his cast and a hot chick on his lap! There was singing of "Police Navidad" to the police in front of the monuments, making out under the mistletoe in front of the white house, spankings with a Bush headed paddle and much drinking, dancing, laughter and general making merry. The day was a crazy and wild release and so much fun! Check out the link below for Santarchy in the Washington Post! You have to wait for the add to play, but then the pics will come up. Page through them and you might see some familiar faces! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2007/12/10/GA2007121000945.html?hpid=artslot I will be posting more pics soon! :) Happy Holidays!!

Pixie Pics of Shakra

bronwen — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:46:51 GMT

We finally got all of our Shakra pictures from our photo shoot with Pixie up on our website! Yay! Check them out: http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ The website will have more and more info added to it within the next couple of weeks- so be sure to check it out from time to time. Please let me know if anything isn't functioning- we are still working out some bugs. Pixie will be coming to our city to do shoots next year!! Be sure to book your time with her now, it will fill up fast! She is an amazing artist and so much fun to work with! http://www.pixievisionproductions.com/ Here is a post from Pixie with information about her upcoming shoots: My traveling studio is coming from Los Angeles to these cities soon…. February 9th & 10th - Fullerton, CA - GOTHLA - www.gothla.com February 17th, 18th & 19th - Minneapolis February 20th, 21st & 22nd - Austin, Texas March 14th, 15th & 16th – Chicago March 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st – Albuquerque, New Mexico April 4th & 5th - Freehold, NJ April 7th & 8th - New York City April 10th, 11th & 12th - Washington, DC April 26th - Newbury Park, CA - Tribal Caravan - www.tribalcaravan.com I specialize in musicians, fire performance and belly dance photography but I also love to shoot families, hoopers, all forms of dance, performance, fashion, weddings and all kinds of events. Examples of belly dance shoots are at this link… tribes.tribe.net/pixievisi...46b25ef0cb See my website for other examples of my work~ www.PixieVisionProductions.com My rate for shooting is $200 per hour. Please email pixie@pixievisionproductions.com for more info~ :) ~Pixie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pixie@pixievisionproductions.com www.pixievisionproductions.com mobile 818.512.8474 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ tribes.tribe.net/pixievision www.myspace.com/pixieglittermeow www.flickr.com/people/pixievision/ modelmayhem.com/member.php

Shakra in October!

bronwen — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:43:48 GMT

Hello all! There is so much exciting dance stuff going in on October! We will be performing at 2 shows in DC (our first local shows in over a year!) October 19th and 20th at the Belly Horror Show hosted by Romka and DC Tribal- check out my earlier thread for a complete list of performers, times and ticket costs. Tickets are going fast! Buy tickets at: http://www.dcartscenter.org/ Halloween Night- October 31st for the release party of the Gothic Bellydance Revelations dvd. This will be our very first live show of the dances we perform on the dvd!! Check out our website for all of the details and to view the flyer. Come out and celebrate the best holiday of the year with the dark dances of Shakra and Mavi and the music of Terrorfakt, Dismantled, The Last Dance and Blind Till Now and DJs Vlad, Ras DNA, Pureevil, Midcage, Mellie Mel, MissGuided and Miko Lestrange. Click below to visit our website and go to the "calendar" for more information! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ We are so excited to announce the official release of the Gothic Bellydance Revelations dvd produced by World Dance New York. We perform two dances on the dvd and it is stocked full of other innovative and creative pieces... all of them darkly beautiful and unique! You can order the dvd for a special limited time sale price of $13 plus $5 for priority mail shipping at our website! They are in and ready to be shipped to you. You can also order shakra t-shirts (men sized), baby doll t-shirts and tank tops!! All at the "gear" section of the website. Check out the trailer for the dvd here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0FdCKmKuvE AND We are featured in the October edition of Navel- an online bellydance magazine as part of the "Gothfia"!! Read the article here: http://www.navelmagazine.com/id24.htm

Upcoming Shakra Performance at the Belly Horror Show!!

bronwen — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:15:28 GMT

Yay! Our first local show in over a year! Friday, October 19th, 10pm and Saturday, Oct. 20th, 10pm Don't let our cuteness fool you... we can be scary- bwaaaaaaaaa!! AND- be sure to keep Halloween night free... there just might be something super cool going on.... more details coming soon. ;) BELLY HORROR SHOW! Romka invites you to the darker side of dance for the 2nd Annual BellyHorror Show with two nights of scintillating and sinister performances by local & national artists! Friday, October 19th, 10pm Performers: Belladonna Mavi Tempest Ariel, Shems & MiAsia Kaihea Yameena BellaTrix Eguenia Shakra Alexis and special musical performance by American Sinner! Hosted by DC's own sideshow girl of horrors: Mab! Saturday, Oct. 20th, 10pm Performers: Belladonna Mavi Tempest Ariel, Shems & MiAsia Kaihea Yameena BellaTrix Eguenia Shakra The Voodoo Sisters & Nora Hosted by DC's own sideshow girl of horrors: Mab! Limited seating available, buy your tickets early.....parental discretion advised...come enjoy...if you dare. Tickets $20 general admission. Reservations at www.dcartscenter.org More details upcoming at www.RomkaDance.com the Belly Horror Show is sponsored by: DCTribal.com

Time for Adventures

bronwen — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:55:48 GMT

My last Burning Man blog was all about the serious intents I have for the experience this year... this one is about the fun I want to have. ;) We fly out tomorrow evening for a few days in Tahoe for a wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends and then on to the desert! We will be camping around 8:00 and E (or maybe F) with a camp called "8 Pod". Come and say hi! I'm sure we will be hanging at PEX a bit and running around a lot to find adventures. Alas many of our beloveds are not able to make the journey with us this year. We will miss you guys sooooooo much and bring back lots of amusing stories and love from the playa. I can't wait to come home. P.S. Maybe we will actually find the "True" jesus this year... tee-hee.

Three Years and Counting....

bronwen — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:16:20 GMT

Happy Happy! :) Cael and I were married three years ago today! We had an amazing party with family and friends and totally cheesed out and promised to love eachother forever....not in a scary "ball and chain" sort of way...but in a celebration of finding a partner for all of life's adventures!! These past few years have held extreme ups and downs for us, but overall they have been the best years yet and I know they will continue to get better. I'm getting no work done... I'm having too much fun looking at our wedding website and getting lost in happy memories.... my dad and brother leading us in with their Celtic songs... my sister's special song for me... lots of happy tears... Na'la's sword dance for us and the spiral dance she and Jimmy organized.... good food and drinks... loving family... beautiful friends... great music and dancing... singing into the night.... Baccus would have been proud! :) I'm so blessed. If you are bored today and want to cheeese out with me... check out our website: http://tribalgrove.com/wedding/ Warning: Dorkness level.... this one goes to 11

Thank you

bronwen — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:37:14 GMT

Thank you so very very much to everyone for your kind words and support. Cael and I are back home in Takoma Park for a few days... hoping to make it back to work tomorrow. We are still planning to come to PDF.... I need the time with my family of friends. This summer is going to be rough.... lots of figuring things out and going back and forth to Floyd VA to see my family and help them. My father was an artist and he left a lot of work behind him. I was thinking of organizing a fundraiser for my brother and his wife who are adopting my orphaned half sister and who need to find a bigger place to live because of this... maybe having performances and selling some of my father's artwork and perhaps other donated items....later on in the summer... or perhaps in the fall. I know you all have expressed how much you would like to help, and I appreciate it so very very much. I thought this would be an awesome way we could all help with our different forms of art. The idea is only in it's very beginning phase right now, but it is helping me to think about it. The theme of Burning Man this year means more than I could have ever imagined. The Greenman was an icon that my father felt very close to and created this beautiful rendition of. It is one of my favorite pieces of his art and my brother Shawn already has it tattooed on his shoulder. My brother Jeremy, my sister in law Ashley, my sister Molly (when she is old enough), Cael and I have all decided to do the same. I know this summer will be intense and difficult at times, but I also know that the trek out to the playa will help me to release my saddness and anger in my own way... with the rituals that resonate with me. I feel the love coming from all around me. It is the support of all of you that is keeping me from falling apart. Because of my community and family of friends, I have been able to be strong for my family when they have needed me so very much. Thank you. I love you.

Loss and Love

bronwen — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:14:54 GMT

I lost my dad the day before yesterday. He had a sudden and unexpected heart attack....he was only 59 years old and seemed very healthy and strong. He was more than a father... he was a friend who truly knew me. He was more amazing than I can possibly express in words.... he never once judged me... he loved all of us unconditionally. He went through more hard times and tragedy in his life than anyone else I know... but through it all he remained truly open hearted, silly, fun and loving. He was a human full of light and life. His joy and love will live on forever in his art... his music and through his family who all miss him so much. I am here at home in Virginia with my family. I will be here for awhile... then probably come home for a bit... and then be back here on and off all summer. I'm not sure how much access I will have to the internet or connection I will have to my world for the next few days. To all my wonderful family of friends... please know that I feel your love and support. I know that the only way I have been able to be strong so far is through the amazing people I have in my life that take care of me. I love you all.

NEW Shakra Website!!!

bronwen — Mon, 14 May 2007 05:14:33 GMT

Check it out! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ Thank you to the super talented (and oh so sexy) Caelstrom for his hard work and evil genius!! Please check it out and let us know if there are any issues. There are still some "coming soon" areas... but we will have them up and running soon!