Already excited for Tribal Fest 14!

Yes, it's time to start talking about Tribal Fest 14! Classes went up for sale on the 1st and I grabbed mine up! There's still plenty of classes left if you want to come, too. Visit the Tribal Fest 14 website to see what is available and make your purchases.

Reasons why I am already excited:

1. I'll be staying at a studio apartment in downtown Sebastopol, within walking distance of the event, Whole Foods, after parties and anything else I need or want. It's all the convenience of the hotel I stayed at last year, but with a full kitchen, more privacy, and less expensive.

2. My best friend Jen is coming to TF for the first time and we're going to be roommates! The only sad part about last year (other than going back home after) was not having a buddy along to share the fun. I'm super excited because not only is Jen an awesome friend, but we've traveled together before and know that we are super compatible as roomies.

3. I am taking workshops from Rose Harden, Alexis Southall, Steven Eggers, Paige Lawrence, Dusty Paik and Brandie Franks. I've only studied with two of these people before, and this year Dusty is teaching dance instead of costuming, so basically there's only one person on that list that I've learned dance stuff from before. I LOVE trying new-to-me teachers!

4. I'm not taking any workshops Saturday or Sunday so I'll have lots of time to watch shows and see any friends who are only coming in for the weekend.

5. This year I'm going to be brave enough to apply to perform!

6. I plan to drive, which means I can pop over to Cotati to visit my friend's beadstore, Out on a Whim! Plus since I'll be in a car, I can buy as much as I want without worrying about getting it on a plane. And given all the wineries and breweries and such in the area, that means boozy souvenirs for my loved ones in AZ ;)

7. The money that I am saving on taking a few less workshops, staying someplace more affordable, and driving means MORE SHOPPING! Aw yeah!

The only thing I'm not excited about is the fact that I have to wait until MAY! *sigh*

More festivals, please!

This is My Precious, the best purchase I made at Tribal Fest... possibly the best purchase ever? I suppose that depends on if dog adoption counts as a purchase, because I DO love my corgis more than this fascinator... but they're living animals, not things. This is the coolest thing ever. It's made by Dusty Paik of Snake Church, and yeah, that insect is made out of dead beetle parts and there are two extra dead beetle heads attached to the Art Nouveau lace applique. It takes a very special person to say "I am going to put insect parts on this antique textile" and an equally special person to shout "PUT IT ON MY HEAD NOW!!!" and a special event to bring those two people together. Tribal Fest 13 was just that event.

So now I am back home in Tucson, have been for just over a week. I didn't intend to not post any updates, but I had a custom jewelry order to fill, and friends to catch up with, and work to do, and of course, the usual post-vacation mixed feelings. On the one hand, there's all the warm fuzzy memories, but on the other, back to the daily grind. *sigh*

Not that my "daily grind" has been particularly awful. Hours of dance class, a quick jaunt up to Phoenix to see my best friend before her vacation, lots of chat about how amazing Tribal Fest was, make jewelry for a fellow dancer, snuggle my corgis and cats, and read lots of books. And of course the slow unpacking and post-vacation laundry, and wondering where I'm going to put all of these wonderful new costumes (and when will I wear them?).

I'm already daydreaming about my next chance to attend a dance festival (probably the Las Vegas Intensive in Sept). When I got together with Jolie to tell her about my TF experience, she asked if I was thinking of going to other events in the future and I rattled off probably 8 or 9, only to later realize that it wasn't even all of the things I'd like to attend. There are so many fun-sound dance festivals, intensives, workshop weeks (Mira! In Mexico!) and I just want to be at all of them! Learning, shopping, making new friends, learning some more, watching performances, maybe performing myself?

Although I know I want to go to Tribal Fest again next year, I also know I don't want to fall into a rut of that being the only event I go to. I want to see different places and different teachers and different performers. Depending on the workshop offerings, maybe a shorter TF visit will be in order, to leave more money to attend another event or two as well. Whatever I decide to do, you know you'll see it on this blog!

Tribal Fest Days 2-3

 Henna death's head scarab by Debi the Henna Crone, who rocks hardcore

Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday, the wifi here doesn't work very well at night but it does work well while everyone is actually at the Festival, so here's a quick post!

Rundown of my workshop experiences:

Costuming with Dusty Paik. Not only did I take two pages of notes on costuming, but Dusty is freaking hilarious and I love her.

Slinky with Deb Rubin. One of my all-time favorite teachers, really breaking down how to make your slow just ooooooze with decadence.

Impulse with Donna Meija. First of all? There's something about Donna's voice, it's very lovely and soothing. This is a good thing, because she murdered me with an hour and fifteen minutes of hardcore warmup, so if she didn't sound so nice I might have hated her. Really enjoyed her approach to motivating movement from different parts of the body and playing with momentum.     

And now, per the request of Miz Becka Bomb, more shopping pictures! Here's some of my pretty jewelry. I've received 100 compliments on that beetle ring. Glad there are more people in the world who love beetles! Also glad I found a spiky bracelet that fits PERFECTLY.

 These fabrics are going to be a costume together. I am thinking a bustle skirt with the chevrons running down the center, and maybe I can put some chevrons on a bra too?

These green scarves were stupidly cheap and you can never have too many green scarves.

Tonight is the Meet and Greet Trick or Treat with the teachers, and tomorrow the performances begin! Eeeeee!

Tribal Fest Day 1

 I brought my laptop, so you get updates from the Fest! YEAH! So here's me all ready for the Unmata Pillow Fight choreography. I made that pillow! And since I had 6 hours of workshops with only 2 15 minute breaks, I got to rock the pajamas and pigtails look all day. Good thing I have super fashionable PJ pants with peacock feathers on them.

All of the workshops that I took were great. The pillow fight was fast-paced and fun. Western Technique for Eastern Dance with Cera Byer had me doing things I didn't know I could do and taught me so much. Bold and Sassy with Naimah was an intimate class with great combos and so much good attitude. Those latter two are teachers I'd never studied with before and I loved both of them.

I was going to be a good girl and not buy anything tonight, just pick up things I had pre-ordered. Well, that obviously didn't happen. First I found a cute beetle ring that fit me and was only $16, and since there was only one I figured I should grab it. No biggie. But then I hit the Mishu booth and there were green lacy things, and well, I blame the 6 hours of dance for my total lack of self-control. How could I say no?

But this wasn't even my big purchase. You'll have to wait on that one, the seller is putting on the finishing touches :)

Other highlights of the day: meeting and getting hugs from Blume Bauer and Dusty Paik! I love meeting people in "real life" for the first time!

What to expect while I'm at Tribal Fest

This is not a picture of my Tribal Fest suitcase, but Topher has been sitting on it. That cat loves luggage!

I am leaving for Tribal Fest on Monday and I won't get back until the 20th. I can't believe it's so close! I have so much still left to get done, especially since my mother-in-law is coming out for a visit while I'm gone, so I can't just turn into a packing whirlwind and leave a disaster in my wake.

Anyway, this blog will not be idle while I'm gone! I've already pre-scheduled a great Follow Your Dreams interview for Monday, and today and tomorrow I'm going to work on a cosmetics review for Friday. After all, Urban Decay has new glitter eye shadow, you know I've got to review that!

I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to bring my laptop with me. On the one hand, it would be great to be able to blog from Tribal Fest, but on the other hand, that means less room in my carry-on for purchases. But then again, I have a FOUR HOUR layover in Phoenix on the way out, so I could get some work done in the airport. Assuming I can get WiFi. We'll see!

If you will be at Tribal Fest too, please come up and say Hi to me! I love meeting new people but I am pretty shy and often won't go up and introduce myself.

I'M GOING TO TRIBAL FEST!

Well, I found a way to shake myself out of my funk... This morning, I registered for Tribal Fest 13! I stayed glued to my computer until the shopping cart went live, with a handy list of the workshops I had decided on (an agonizing process! so many options!), so I was able to pounce and get into all of my first choices. I'll be studying with 3 awesome teachers I've had workshops with in the past, and four new-to-me teachers!

I cannot even tell you how excited I am about this. I've wanted to go for the past two years, but things kept getting in the way. But this year, thanks to the support of my two biggest fans (my husband and his mom), I am going to find a way to make it happen. I've already been selling off all the costuming bits that don't quite fit or don't quite go with anything else, and I've got a couple of big shows with my jewelry business planned, so I should be golden.

Now no matter how "blah" things get in Tucson, I can remind myself that in X months, I will be at Tribal Fest, so I need to keep practicing to be in tip-top form for my workshops. I can't wait! It's going to be the Best May Ever.