Rare and valuable are the projects, where, in their midst, one is aware of how much they are learning and growing. My recent experience as the choreographer on the FSU Opera CANDIDE has been one such project. I became involved with the Opera through a classic case of "you know a guy who knows a [...]
Category: Dance
How Long is Too Long?
Hi Internet. It's been a while, I know. The life highlight is this: so long Syracuse, bye bye Boston, felicitations Florida. More to follow. Let's move on to something I've been tossing around in my brain for the past couple weeks. Before I left Syracuse, I had a conversation with a couple dancer friends about [...]
Vampire Video!
So once upon a time I directed and produced a Showcase. And in that process I had the pleasure to collaborate with a Michigan-turned-Syracuse fellow by the name of Andrew Banas. The story of how we came to work together is convoluted, but needless to say it was a good time and resulted in that [...]
A Day at Jacob’s Pillow
HI Internet--it's been a while, eh? Long story short --> Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston, Syracuse, back to Boston. Leaving for Florida in less than a week. (!) More on that later. Yesterday I voyaged across Massachusetts to see dance haven and curatorial powerhouse Jacob's Pillow in real life. Long I have heard tell of this [...]
Glamour Addiction
Dear Dr. McMains, I recently read your book Glamour Addiction. It took me all of a few paragraphs for my eyebrows to go up, and all of five pages to grab a pencil, defacing the margins with comments like “YAASSS” and “yes this!” Allow me to explain. We have similar back-stories, Dr. McMains. I started [...]
Syracuse Ballroom Showcase: Things I Learned
Hello internet--it's been a busy few weeks. I am currently sitting at home in a haze, still riding the high of the show last night. What show, you say? The Syracuse Ballroom Showcase, of course. The path to producing this show has been a long and interesting one, and I thought I would take today [...]
Syracuse Ballroom Showcase
Hi Internet! So by now you all know that I'm a dancer. And a choreographer. And a do-er of things. And in just two weeks one of my largest projects ever is coming to fruition. It is.... the SYRACUSE BALLROOM SHOWCASE! This is going to be a super cool event--the first of it's kind in [...]
Scheduling, Time, and a Lack of Both: a Holly Rant
Hi internet--here is a slightly garbled collection of thoughts about scheduling and time management. Proceed with caution if you are expecting coherence. I learned a lot from my time in the ballet company as a youngster--and beyond just technique. Very quickly it became obvious (to me) that talent alone was a poor substitute for dependability. [...]
IT’S REAL
Hi internet--I know, it's been a while. To be honest, the reason I haven't written is because there's only one thing I've wanted to write about, and I've not been able to write about it for reasons of not counting eggs before they've hatched. WELL. THE EGGS HAVE HATCHED. ALERT THE DINO-KEEPERS. Er. Ok. The [...]
Feminist Reggaeton?
Hi Internet, So those of you how know me IRL will know that I have a particular love for music with a strong, syncopated beat--and by that I don't mean Swing, I mean Samba. And Reggaeton. Obviously Samba is originally Brazillian, and has been in the Ballroom musical lexicon for many years. Reggaeton is newer, [...]
naturalopposite 