Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Fire and Mud 2012-- a fire performance workshop and show



August 11 at 10:00am until August 12 at 4:00pm
Bechet House, 313 N Church St., Carencro LA 70520

Two days of fire performance workshops presented by JeriKaye "The Fire Maiden from Outer Space," from Lake Charles and Kim "Anastazia la Luminaire," and Jeff "Seaphram"  McMurray of Jebidiah Goodstuff's Pyro-maniacal Olde Thyme Traveling Sideshow out of Baton Rouge.

A public performance ($10 for non-workshop participants) Saturday evening! All-ages show!

Schedule: 
Sat Aug 11
10 am-11:30 Fire Eating (extra $5 fuel charge) (bring your own fire wand)
Learn to eat fire, run fire along your skin and execute other advanced tricks with grace and confidence.  Fire safety is emphasized.


12-2 Poi  (bring your own practice poi)
We're nothin' but a bunch of swingers, so come join us for an in-depth review of poi movements, from basic to the creative-beyond. From new weaves and butterflies, to flowers and more, come give it a spin with the Fire Maiden! The Fire Maiden will share the tips and tricks she's learned while carrying the torch on her many trips through space and time!


2-4 Hoop (bring your own hoop)
The class introduces all the hooping basics and teaches hooping on different planes of the body, hoop tricks and hoop expression through flow and imagination. To be in the hoop class you need to be able to hoop successfully around your waist. For those who haven't mastered that yet, we can spend some time on it while the other classes are going on so you will have a shot at getting it down in time for the class.


4-6 Art of Fire Dancing (bring your own fire tool) This innovative class focusing on the 'dancing' aspect of 'fire dancing' will feature two of South Louisiana's pioneering fire dancers, Anastazia la Luminere and the Fire Maiden from Outer Space. It is as if one fire master split herself in two for all of your educational needs. The instructors may teach together, separately, or a little bit of both so that all of the students' interests can be adequately addressed. A central focus will be how to free your body to truly dance while spinning poi at the same time. But no matter what your interest, there will be a topic for you. Each fire tool has its own "personality" -- a unique form and energy which invites a unique style of use. These fire goddesses will have their collective host of fire tools and toys at your service, to demonstrate the skilled craft of dancing with said tools while truly exuding 'grace under fire.' Come prepared to learn about any one or all of the following topics: bellydancing with poi or fire fans, different techniques and styles of fire fan dancing, theatricality/costuming for fire dancing, uses for palm torches/bowls, introduction to collapsible fire fans, test-driving fire fingers, and more . After this class, your body and your tools will work together as one—and you'll know many new tricks. Fire safety will be emphasized. Those taking this class will participate in the evening show.


8 pm Show


Sun Aug 12
noon-1:30 pm Fire Breathing (special class $50 includes fuel) (bring your own fire wand)
in order to attend the firebreathing class, you MUST meet with Seaphram at 11 for a qualification test. If you fail to qualify, you will receive a complete refund.


2-4 Make Your Own Tools


Workshop participants MUST be 18 yrs of age or older!
Pre-Registration is STRONGLY suggested, as class space is limited!


Event Pricing:
Classes:
$12/ class for all 5 tools classes + $5 fuel = $65
4 classes = $56(+$5 if fire eating)
3 classes = $51 (+ 5 if fire eating)
2 classes = $42 (+ 5 if fire eating)
single class = $26 (+ 5 if fire eating)

$50 single price only for Fire Breathing on Sunday


Class purchase includes show ticket!


Show Ticket (for non-workshop attendees): $10

Mail-in registration:  Indicate which classes you want (read pricing and descriptions CAREFULLY) and make checks to:



Bechet House
313 N Church Street
Carencro, LA  70520


Registration MUST be postmarked by Monday, August 6 to guarantee your spot in a class.




PayPal Registration:  


Choose # of Tools Classes from the dropdown and click the button below:





Click THIS button if you are taking Fire Eating to add fuel charge (required)
Click THIS button for the special Sunday class on Fire Breathing
Any questions? Post 'em below!


 SEE YOU THERE!!!



Jeff "Seaphram" McMurray

bio


Kim "Anastazia la Luminaire"


bio


JeriKaye "Fire Maiden from Outer Space"

Saturday, June 25, 2011

IHS 43 Wednesday: Brain and The Barbies

Wednesday's offerings included lectures on our patron saint of horn, Dennis Brain. John Ericson demo'ed different horns that Brain would have played on, and William Lynch shared his research on recordings of Dennis Brain that are new-found and unpublished.

Lunchtime college choirs included Jeff Snedeker's bunch from CWU


Our afternoon lecture featured some newfound ecordings of Dennis Brain. We were asrounded by the exhaustive effort put forth by William Lynch to track down these treasures!

The afternoon recital featured horns in two and fours; the duo Mirror Image and the horn quartet Quadre. I always enjoy presentations by Lisa and Michelle, and very much appreciate their many contributions to the (now growing) duo repertoire. And Quadre seems to get better and better every time I hear them. I very much enjoyed the new work "midlife Crisis," maybe a few of us in the audience could appreciate the sentiment!

Next up was the play and talk presentation from the new horn quartet sensation, Genghis Barbie. I had the chance to visit briefly with these gals backstage (and have them sign my GB CD fundraising mute), and I know we're all excited to watch and see where their wild ride takes them.

The evening recital featured the old and the new; some death-defying natural horn playing by Andrew Clarke, and a jazz horn presentation from Tom Varner

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

IHS 43: Tuesday

Tuesday's sessions included a masterclass by our host, Wendell Rider, on "Inner Beat Phrasing." The students who participated truly seemed to benefit from the ideas of mini-phrase and micro-phrase repetition.






Our internet access was granted today, so many of our wonderful vendors were busy getting caught up on credit card transactions

Lunchtime choirs included Oklahoma State, led by Lanette Compton, our hosts froma recent wonderful Mid-South Workshop






Dinner was at Joe's of Westlake, old school Italian with a large menu and excellent service. Chicken cacciatore with polenta was rich and satisfying.






The evening concert featured Gail Williams and her former student, Nicole Cash. Besides the fine horn playing in solo and chamber works, highlights of the performance included young Jonathan Ring accompanying Gail on drum set, and some mind-meld duo playing by Gail and Nicole on the Beethoven Sextet. Turning pages for the Clearfield "Songs of the Wolf," I wondered if the huge strength of Gail's high range was carrying to the hall in the same way it was screaming to the back. From my spot onstage, it sounded like she was driving a Ferrari at 120 mph, and was about to drop the hammer and leave us all in her dust!

One of my favorite things at IHS is the informal horn choir readings that happen after hours, and one of these sessions happened at The Tower to finish out the night.



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

IHS 43rd Symposium- Monday: The View From The Stage





Our Symposium opened with amazing playing by our fearless Society leader, Frank Lloyd, followed by a somber tribute to those we lost this year by the Symposium horn choir. Our concerto winner livened things up with her Strauss 1, and the excellent San Francisco Symphony horn section closed the show:








A quick lunch took us to the 3:30 concert, with Jon's and my Ewazen, A cool new piece presented by Denver IHS host Susan McCullogh, and some great trio playing by Nancy Joy, along with friends from my hometown on flute and piano! Louisiana represent!




Dinner tonight was near the Hampton Inn, at El Fin Nicaraguan/Mexican. Fish tacos were tasty, and Jon's fried pork looked great, with a side of plantains. Be careful with the pico de gallo they bring to the table, it is HOT!

While hanging out backstage waiting to turn pages for the evening concert (I duty I actually enjoy for the birds-eye view it gives me), I was approached by our AC representative from Japan, who wanted to thank the symposium-goers for all the emails of support in the aftermath of the Tsunami, and needed a word in English to describe his feelings. We came up with "heart-felt," and I was suddenly very glad I'd had to be backstage :-)



Turning pages for Patti Wolf as she played a wicked Czerny transcription was both an adrenaline rush and a jaw-dropper. There were places in the score where her fast hands blurred on the keys! Patti told me afterwards that Roger often recommends to his audience that, if they wish to program this piece, they had better marry the pianist! Great contrasts in this concert; the fireworks of Bill Vermulen's selections, and the beautiful aquatic flow of Roger Kaza's.

After my turning duties were completed for the night, word of a Barbies sighting lured me downtown. Missed those elusive Genghis Barbie girls, but enjoyed hearing a piano quartet at Revolution Cafe where the bartender repeatedly reminded the patrons that "this was a performance, not background music! Keep the talking down!" We tipped him well :-)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

IHS 43: Rehearsals and PARKING

This morning we had brunch at an unusual restaurant not far from the SFSU campus, The Mayflower Restaurant:



A phone call from wonderful Tomoko Kanamaru told us it was time for Ewazen, before the other performers snapped her up :-) so we headed to the Creative Arts Building. We had an hour between our Ewazen rehearsal and Symposium Choir rehearsal, so Jon and I walked the campus, which is quite beautiful:






Then on to Symposium Choir rehearsal, where it was great to see friends and enjoy playing in a horn section with some of the finest players in our Society:







Next up was scouting out parking for the week. There is a garage at the end of State St. that is just $5 a day.

and while we're talking about getting to campus in the morning, we were told by a San Jose native to avoid 19th Street at all costs, unless you want to sit in traffic for upwards of an hour (!). We are planning on coming in via 280 and Merced and avoiding 19th entirely . . .



Our Memphis friends Ion (of Balu Mutes fame)and Kyle met us at Extreme Pizza for a quick bite, where Jon and Ion began plotting the Next Big Thing :-) you never know what's coming next from Balu Mutes, so stop by his table at the Symposium and find out!

The show starts tomorrow at noon, folks! See you there!

--Catherine