Anne Polajenko Presents: "So’ Danca At Sweet Adelines International Convention"

 

    If you live in the Houston area and enjoy choral groups or quartets, you won’t want to miss the SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION & COMPETITION held at the Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, Oct. 17 – 22.

      Have a blast at the 65th Annual International Convention and Competition. Enjoy out of this world performances as you take in the sights and sounds of barbershop's best.
Events include the Rising Star Quartet Contest, International Chorus Competition, International Quartet Competition, Harmony Classic Chorus Competition, Education classes, Harmony Bazaar, Mass Sing and more.

     Sweet Adelines International is a highly respected worldwide organization of women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performance. This independent, nonprofit music education association is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women.
Members extend over five continents and belong to more than 500 choruses and 1,200 quartets. 
Today's Sweet Adelines choruses and quartets sing exciting a cappella, four-part harmony music, barbershop style. The music includes special arrangements of today's ballads and upbeat songs, popular show tunes, and even jazz. Members say that singing the powerfully balanced sounds of barbershop harmony provides a rich, rewarding experience.

   So’Dança has a long history with Sweet Adelines. It all began with a Texas group “discovering” the comfort of our leather Character shoe. Since then, chapters all over the country have chosen So’Dança footwear for their performance needs.

   For more information, go to www.sweetadelineintl.org.

       -- Anne Polajenko

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         Love from your humble blogger,

The Importance of Sleep

             

           There is deep importance within a good night’s rest. This importance gets overlooked by a significant amount of people and thus we have people falling asleep during the day or even worse, experiencing side effect health related issues. There are overwhelming amounts of reasons as to why people don’t get enough sleep, but in the end you are doing yourself a disservice. 

 

            The human body is a lot like a battery, you need to charge it from time to time in order for it to function as it should. You can’t just do everything and get no rest while assuming that everything is going to be ok and that you will not soon enough crash. 

             People have taken measures to ensure that this phenomenon continues, hell, it’s a fantastic marketing strategy, if you can’t get people to have good rest then just feed their bad habit by providing them with products that will ensure that they stay awake for the whole day, hence the rise of energy drinks, Starbucks, and recently 5 hour energy drink.

            The whole marketing strategy there is simple, you are being unhealthy, don’t stop being unhealthy, no need to while we are around, and Oh yeah, you’ll probably have pretty ridiculous side effects form all our products down the line, but you don’t care, do you? The mentality here is simple, we are a people that care about the now, about what I can get done now, and how that is going to benefit our day.

             From business men and women struggling to meet deadlines to college kids studying for exams, this problem is rampant. But do not fear, for there is a cure for this problem, a cure that was invited by our predecessors, but has been ignored by our general populous, now being brought back by the few, in order for the many to get better.

             Scheduling. I don’t mean live a predetermined life but I do mean creating a to-do list of things that must be accomplished, be it that day, that week or that month, and do it. Organization is the key to success, no one has ever reached success without it. It’s a guiding hand, it is the tool that will allow you to get your work done when it needs to be done and go ahead and get some sleep in the process. 

             By doing this you will not only live a healthier life but you also will be better rested, have better moods, your relationships will become better and grow better, and you will begin to feel a lot happier than before. You also will come to realize how much time you used to waste doing nothing, and therefore go on to truly enjoy your day to its full extent.

         Hope your week has been a good one so far,

  Love from your humble blogger,

The Importance of Exercising And Dieting Realistically

          There is a significant importance on exercising daily. A good part of your health is determined by your diet and your exercise regiment. This regiment can be the cure to some diseases and help extend life for a while longer. Thus one should always exercise at least 3 times a week and though there is no need to be anal about things, you should be careful about what you eat daily.

          There is a darkside to working out though, a miss conception built up by movies, television, and ad campaigns. The presentation of the female and male models as perfect. What do I mean by this? Well it's simple, with Photoshop being the prevalent software used in all media mediums we have seized to have normal bodied actors and models, and begun to have "perfect" bodied edited people, that no work out could make you like them, and no diet will ever suffice.

         It's important to tackle working out with your body type in mind, and realize your limits. By doing this you will not push your body to a limit it was not meant to be at. It's a horrible stigma that's hit today's world, where girls open magazines and are told what they should look like, but at the same time showing them what they will never look like, unless you go through plastic surgery, and vomit all your meals. The whole thing is obscene, and it's only getting worse.

         I think it's important to raise awareness on issues that are going unnoticed by the majority of the population. This is a HUGE deal, we're talking young girls and boys being given this social stigma of what a perfect man and woman look like and then shoving it in their face that no matter what you attempt, that in the end you will always come up short. Personally I think there should be warning labels on all ads, something on the bottom saying something like *Photo has been photoshopped and actor/actress's flaws have been removed*

          Am I being to extreme? Maybe, but that's besides the point, the point is that something needs to be done and nothing has been done, even worse this has become a more normal thing as time passes. It's a sad state we are in. Thus here is my point and advise, while exercising and dieting are both good things, you should know your limits and not attempt to look like a photoshopped doll. Do workout but in a healthy manner, and remember that having a good consistent diet is of equal importance as well.

          Don't let the media define what you should look like, through personal conviction and confidence go and define what the media should look like.    Raise Awareness.

      Love from your humble blogger,

So Danca Presents: "Spook-Tap-Ular!" Tap Workshop this October!

         
   So Danca is hosting a series of Tap Workshops starting in October of this year going through all of next year hosted by Aaron Tolson and Derrick Grant!! The tour will take place in various cities throughout the country, please check your local retailers for workshop dates and of course you may always check here for all upcoming So Danca events!
             We will always keep you in the know!

Sign up for the event at www.tap2you.com/register

Meet Aaron and Derick! (Taken from their site Tap2You):

Aaron Tolson        
   A native of Manchester, New Hampshire, Aaron is a national spokesperson for SoDanca, a consultant and writer for Dance Spirit Magazine, a Professor of Dance at Plymouth State University and the Boston Conservatory as well as the assistant choreographer, co-creator and assistant producer of Imagine Tap!
        Aaron started dancing at the age of ten in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Four years into his dance career he was performing in the Great Tap Reunion at the Apollo Theatre. He attended St. John's University obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications all the while honing his tap technique in Manhattan. His senior year of college landed him in the New York Shakespeare Festival tap program, also known as Funk U! Soon Aaron became a company member of Manhattan Tap and worked with the show Tap Dogs. Jumping feet first into choreography, he landed a job with Absolut with a tour called Absolut Tap!
          In 2005, Aaron completed a six-year run with Riverdance the show where he was a featured soloist. It brought him to Broadway and Radio City Music Hall and was also the captain of the Tap Dancers. Since then, Aaron has performed and taught at numerous tap festivals, in addition to performing with Brookline Chorus’ Duke Ellington Sacred Concert and The Late Show with Liam O’Conner in Ireland.
           Most recently, Aaron choreographed, produced and directed Something to Tap About, Tapped and Tapped In - featuring New England Tap Ensemble. Aaron formed New England Tap Ensemble in May of 2007 to promote the art of tap in the community while fostering a sense of individuality in a professional artist.
          

Derick K. Grant         
   A native of Boston, Derick K. Grant has been tapping for 27 years. He was an original company member and dance captain for Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk at both The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival and on Broadway. Derick recreated Savion Glover's choreography and starred in the role of 'da beat for the first National Tour.
            Derick began his training at the age of two at The Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts, and by the time he was eight years old, he has learned the "hoofin" style of tap from the master tap dancer Diane Walker. Derick furthered his training in Los Angeles at Universal Dance Design Studio under the tutelage of Paul Kennedy. Derick spent three years with the Jazz Tap Ensemble touring the world.
            He is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Upcoming Young Artists as well as The Helen Hayes Award (Washington D.C.) for Outstanding Featured Actor for his role in Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk. Derick was featured at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts African Odyssey program, part of the Expresiones Latinas Festival. He collaborated on a piece that incorporated tap and capoeira with renowned Brazilian artist Nego Gato, which opened the festivities for singer Daniella Mercury. He also choreographed and performed in a piece on the history of tap that launched the Black History Month 2001 celebration at Aaron Davis Hall. Recent compositions were featured in The Queens Symphony Opera's Duke Ellington Concert in Ann Arbor's Arts Festival.
           Derick's own creation A Night Out: Tap! toured the country for three months. Recent choreography and performance with Jazz Tap Ensemble at the Joyce Theater in NYC the New York Times said "Mr. Grant let gusts of rhythm propel him with remarkable velocity!"
           In the summer of 2006, he choreographed and directed Imagine Tap!, which had a four-week run at Chicago's Harris Theater with a cast including several of the best tap dancers of his generation.
Most recently, Derick was added to the So You Think You Can Dance staff as a featured choreographer for tap dancers.
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 We hope you all have a fantastic and glorious weekend,

     Love from your humble blogger,

Something Worth Thinking About

An old classic

     Do you remember all the movies you used to watch as a kid, or books that you read? Have you ever gone back to watch them again and see either how terribly bad they were or how heavy on adult themes they were and were surprised? If you haven’t yet you should, it’s quiet an experience. 

Great movie though, very funny

 

    This is not news for anyone really, take a recent movie, I say recent loosely here, “Bee Movie”. This is a great kids movie, heavy with laughs, cute animations and good themes, but on the outskirts of the movie there are tons of adult themes all throughout it. From jokes on religion, to racism, to oppression, to love, and so forth. This is a common theme among children’s movies, there are many theories as to why this happens. The prevailing theory is the movie producers creating something that the child and the parent will find funny and enjoy….but it begs the question, is this a good thing?

Oh Awesomeness

    When I was young the big movie for our time was “The Goonies” which I thought was epic, love it then and still do now, it’s a classic among classics. Though I was surprised when I re-watched it the other day how heavy it is with adult themes, racial profiling, and just simply full of mature situations that my 5 year old brain could not comprehend when I first saw it.

or is it?

    The question here is one of morality, and of when is it ok to introduce this type of content to children. I do not have any kids of my own, so it’s not like I’m the best person to speak on the subject, but it is something to ponder, something to think about and wonder how much of a subliminal influence those movies we saw as children affected us now that we are adults, or young adults. 

     This even applies to books, specially books really, which rely on your imagination. I saw a young girl waking out of a Barnes and Noble with a copy of Twilight the other day, and it made me laugh, the first thing I thought was “Man that conversation with the parents is going to be ackward, specially when she gets to the forth book”. We’re talking a 10 year old girl at most, being introduced to well, quiet graphic material. It’s a strange world we are living in these days.

     Now I’m not being critical or anything, I merely think that this is something that should be thought out and carefully by parents, and surely by us that suffered through the influence of these movies. Where did we learn about bullying, about social norms, about what’s cool and what sucks, television and movies of course, thus further enforcing the point that we ought to consider this topic more closely.

           

    Fun Fact: Dolphin's Tale is the only movie that is specifically coming out in the market that is directed towards children, in the next 4 months, crazy right? I think it’s important that we consider the future generations, it doesn’t matter how young you are, it’s important to consider the impact you are making on those around you and the impact they are making on you. We should strive to create a better world, and seek to provide all new generations with the best possible world for them to grow up in. Thus the nature of this post, a call for us to consider what we watch and what we let others watch, is there any harm, why or why not? And if there is then how may we go about fixing it?

We’ll never know unless we ponder these matters and strive to create a better future.

        Let me know what you think,

   Love from your humble blogger,

It's Football Season! Guest Writer Steve Demmler

A Preliminary Philosophy of Fantasy Football Drafting

Thoughts on what I think makes one a successful fantasy footballer.
** These points are primarily directed at leagues where one can freely and limitlessly work the waiver wire.
(UPDATE: Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments section.)

• Never draft a kicker. The skill of the kicker matters relatively little when compared to potential points in each matchup. Kickers on teams with average to above average offense and a below average to poor red zone touchdown percentage are likely available every week on the wire. If you have two viable choices check the arenas and weather. Minnesota's Dome in November? - great. Chicago's Soldier Field in November - terrible choice. Of course, this strategy point requires diligence on your part; do not expect to see the man with the golden leg sitting unclaimed Saturday afternoon.
• Never draft a defense. Choosing a defense is trickier and every week in the NFL there is potential for a perennially poor offensive team or player to have a monster statistical game (I am sure the Browns have proven this at some point in history). But just like in poker when you just folded a 2-7 off-suit and 2-7-7 flops, you have to be satisfied with the high percentage choice. Most leagues spot the defense ten points to begin with, so the smart move on defense is the conservative move. The average defense against average offense is safe, sometimes holding onto a total point range between 8-12  will be the difference between win and loss. But if the rest of your team has favorable matches why not gamble, start whichever defense is playing against whoever is the starting quarterback in Seattle now. The point is whether you want to play it safe or gamble you will be able to find a solid choice without wasting a draft pick on a defense.
• If a player is the primary-whatever on their team they are more valuable than a more talented second-string or relief player. Example: LaDanian Tomlinson versus Mike Goodson of the Carolina panthers in 2010. Goodson saw less than 20 carries until week 10 that season he got a three game stint as starter; here's how those three weeks played out between them: LT-142/0TD - 134/0TD receiving and MG-275/1TD -  125/0TD receiving. Going by common point values (6 per td, 1 per 10 yards gained) the final tally is LT 27, MG 36. You have to take the point where you can get them. Oh, and if you want to argue that LT is old and MG is in his prime, all I will say by way of response is - c'mon.
• Who to draft in the first round? My feelings here are not steadfast. The overall quality of quarterback in the NFL is so high right now, it doesn't make sense to me to go QB in the first round. Especially when your league is likely filled with half non-obsessive football fans and no matter what Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and now Aaron Rogers will come off the board first. That leaves Matt Schaub, Matt Ryan, Big Ben (who passes more than you think and is always seems to add a few points via scramble), and oh yeah, the incredibly prolific Philip Rivers. I'm leaving out 4,000 yard and/or 25TD QB's here because I think my point is made.
  
  My preference is starting running backs, usually in rounds 1 and 2, but in more savvy leagues (read: leagues filled with more obsessive players) maybe 1 and 3 is better. If one gets injured you can pick up an average one and not be eliminated from contention. It's riskier to build a team around wide receivers because what do you do when you rely heavily on Sidney Rice and Brett Favre snaps his brittle bones into pieces? It is tougher to predict consistency in wide receivers from week to week than running backs; how many targets, is it windy, is the quarterback healthy, who is covering him. A running back is usually good for an expected minimum number of carries and if an important O-liner goes down, and the RB had been producing, then the rest of the line will probably manage to hold up well enough to not effect your man's point total too much. The offensive line is not successful because of one man, it's better or worse. Now imagine: Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne, and now, Curtis Painter to Reggie Wayne.

           --- Steve Demmler
 For more articles by him follow his blog You Can't Mean That!

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     Hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day. Enjoy yourselves and have epic cookouts!


        Love from your humble blogger,

Anne Polajenko: Y.A.G.P. @ Toronto Film Festival

 

YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX DOCUMENTARY TO BE SHOWN AT TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL:

          This news just in from Y.A.G.P.

        “A documentary has been produced by independent filmmaker Bess Kargman on Youth America Grand Prix and the students whose lives are touched by our programs.  The film, entitled "First Position," follows five participants on their journey to the YAGP Finals in New York City in 2010.  The documentary will premiere at the 36^th Annual Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept 11, 2011 with screenings to follow in San Francisco, New York, and Boston.”

        For those not familiar with this organization, Y.A.G.P. is the only worldwide ballet competition for students which offers major scholarships to international schools. Semi-final rounds are held on four continents. Qualifying dancers then move on to the final rounds held in New York City. Judges include the directors of all the major schools (such as The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theater etc. Dancers are judged both on stage and in the classroom.

         It is a very heady time for all the competitors as they are being viewed by all the names that count in the ballet world. Additionally, talent scouts from major companies are often in the audience. In the very competitive world of ballet, this is the event where you go to be noticed. 

        For more information on Youth America Grand Prix, go to www.yagp.org.

       --- Anne Polajenko

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    We hope you had a fantastic week and are looking forward to a glorious weekend, 

       Love from your humble blogger,