Category: Events

Hello there! It’s your Dance Correspondent, R. Crap Mariner.

From the Wikipedia entry on Autism:

Autism is a developmental disorder characterised by troubles with social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour. Parents usually notice signs in the first two or three years of their child’s life. These signs often develop gradually, though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at a normal pace and then worsen.

SouthernComfort Magic (SoCo) organises and runs the Lighting The Way series of events as an awareness campaign for Autism, and here’s the announcement:

The past three years, the Lighting The Way Organisation within Second Life reached out to the dance community to take part in a weekend filled with dance and music for Autism. We have had such a huge response to this that we began running out of time slots. So this year, we will be having it on two separate weekends with many events running during the week. This year we will also have sponsors and business owners on the sim as well advertising their items.

The weekends for the shows will be Saturday, April 14th, Sunday, April 15th and Saturday, April 21st. The times for the shows can start as early as 6am SLT until 8pm SLT. If there is a specific time that works for you, just get with SouthernComfort Magic and we can work it out.

Not only are dance teams invited, but individual dancers and choreographers as well. We will have 2 variety shows during the 2 weekends. We will get everyone and anyone involved in raising awareness that would like to be a part of it.

Now, with that being said…. I would like to personally invite you to come and participate in this wonderful event. What I am hoping to accomplish again this year is for dance teams all over Second Life as well as individual choreographers/dancers to come together and perform for Autism.

That’s the TL;DR, but I want to learn more about the Lighting The Way event. What is it that got SoCo into raising awareness for Autism?

I know I want to know. So, let’s go exploring, shall we?

Lighting The Way To Lighting The Way

Soco teleported me over to the Lighting The Way build, which consists of a beautiful forest glade, a path that winds through rows of booths for event partners to show their support, and a performance stage with plenty of room for audience members to enjoy the shows.

(I felt a sense of accomplishment navigating around the water and fountain near the landing area, but SoCo told me that she’d put a transparent prim over the area to keep people from falling in.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/isfullofcrap/41061762331/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/isfullofcrap/41061761791/in/photostream/

I asked her why she started Lighting The Way in Second Life.

“The reason I started Lighting The Way was because of my two children,” she says, “whom both are on the autism spectrum. It was during this time I craved a means in which I could play an instrumental role in lighting the path from darkness for people who were diagnosed autistic.  My son suffers from the most severe form of autism while my daughter has the milder form known as Aspergers, so I decided to utilize SL as my platform for building awareness.”

Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD).

“When my son was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2, Autism affected 1 out of 150 children. Today it affects 1 out of 68 (1 in 42 boys). Over the course of 11 years, I have watched my son go through changes that I would never wish upon anyone. However, he is the most lovable child that I have ever known, he is truly an angel from heaven. He has taught me more about life & the person that I want to be more than I ever thought possible.”

So the next time You are at a restaurant or at a mall & You happen to see a child throwing themselves down on the floor, screaming and/or shaking things, stop & think before You judge. Not all disabilities are easily seen.  Sometimes all one might see is the symptoms & without knowing the full situation, You’re judging someone incorrectly & unfairly.

Where did she get the name “Lighting The Way” ?

“I needed to have an official name for raising awareness and I thought of a lighthouse,” she said. “It was strong, firm, always there, it’s beacon shining brightly for those who were lost. So I incorporated that into this event. We all come together to stand firm to help light the way for those on the spectrum.”

Continue reading “Lighting the Way with SoCo in Second Life” →

Hi there! It’s your Dance Correspondent, R. Crap Mariner.

Where do I begin with Idle Rogue and the Guerilla Burlesque group that performs there? They were the first group I saw performing in Second Life, although I should have seen them sooner if I hadn’t have been such a lazyass with all those invitations, oh, how I regret my foolish ways!

When I was listening to Grace McDunnough perform at After Dark, why did I not cam around the sim and see that theatre and get curious? Is Grace that mesmerizing with her sweet, dulcet tones?

Damn you! Damn you and your sweet dulcet tones, siren! The path of my life is paved with the cement of regrets and tears.

But let us not live mired in sorrow, but look to the future. And in Idle Rogue Production’s future we see their upcoming show Cirque du Nuit:

Idle Rogue Productions are presenting the very successful Le Cirque de Nuit again this Easter, with performances at 7pm on March 30th, 31st and April 1st , and a matinee performance at 3pm on March 31st.

Directed by Blaze DeVivre, with the assistance of Sho Kyong, and produced by chryblnd Scribe, this year’s production will feature new acts, new dancers, new art installations and perhaps a little something we haven’t done before.

Billed as “a steampunk circus in black and white”, Le Cirque de Nuit pays loose homage to The Night Circus, a novel by Erin Morgenstern, which tells the tale of an enchanted circus traveling the globe during the Victorian era. Our production features dance acts with themes of circus, illusion and steampunk, and the strictly black-and-white acts are interspersed by colourful art installations from Second Life artists and musicians.

This production debuted in 2014 and has since presented some of the most innovative dance creations in Second Life. It is beloved by all who have seen it, with its breath-taking special effects and an elegant ambiance you will not forget.

The opening night performance on March 30th will be exclusive to members of the Guerilla Burlesque Exclusive group.

Production enquiries should be directed to chryblnd Scribe. Media inquiries should be addressed to Aubreya Joszpe.

As for bookings:

Bookings for the 2018 season of Le Cirque De Nuit open on March 22nd at 4:00pm. From that hour onward, you will be able to IM Saturday Melody in-world to add your name to the allocation list, time stamps will ensure bookings are processed fairly. Leave a message indicating your first and second performance preferences and the names of those in your booking. Be sure to check the Auto-response message that will be generated when you open Saturday’s IM for updated details for any scheduling changes.

NOTE: Idle Rogue’s fan group – Guerilla Burlesque Exclusive – receive first and best preference to all shows on Idle Rogue. This affects bookings as follows:

March 30 – 7pm performance – Guerilla Burlesque Exclusive only
March 31 – 3pm performance – 20 seats for exclusive group, 20 seats for general admission
March 31 – 7pm performance – 20 seats for exclusive group, 20 seats for general admission
April 1 – 7pm performance – 20 seats for exclusive group, 20 seats for general admission

The sim will be locked to all but those whose names are on the access list at each show, unless the seat limit of 40 guests total is not filled, at which time the sim will be opened for general audience intake. Please allow for the Linden Lab limitation of 10% of the avatar limit (5-10 avatars)held for premium memberships. While we will do everything within our capacity to ensure you can access the sim on the night you have booked, please note this arrangement is a courtesy only and no obligation is implied.

That’s the TL;DR, but I want to know more. What is Idle Rogue about and what do they do there? What’s the appeal of Cirque du Nuit and how are they going about to create this in Second Life?

I know I want to know. So, let’s go exploring, shall we?

DIRECT ME TO THE DIRECTOR…

Blaze DeVivre is directing this year’s Cirque de Nuit, and she teleported me to the build in-progress to talk.

Beyond the wrought-iron fence and gates at the landing area, a gigantic big-top tent with the stage and seating was coming together. Underneath the stage, artists were loading their interstitial builds for the production.

Before we got into Cirque de Nuit, I pretended not to know what Idle Rogue and Guerilla Burlesque are, despite shooting photos of them for over a year and getting to know the performers, just so we could start off with a good introduction to this interview.

“Guerilla Burlesque started as a troupe of dancers who would do back-up for live performers in SL,” said Blaze, playing along. “Idle Rogue has always had a live music component to it, and Cherry managed some performers, then brought her two loves, dance and live music together. They started doing dance shows around the time I was rezzed, wanting to expand on the fledgling Virtual Burlesque movement that came about at that time.”

GETTING HER START

Where did Blaze get her start in all of this?

“I was going to events at IR before performing with GB, enjoying many good laughs and fun nights from DJs to live music. Early on, I got hooked up with the Aussies because I am a night owl. I lurked at their shows for about a year before I found out they were auditioning for new members. I had always had in interest in dance and particularly burlesque but not the ability to make it happen in RL, besides it is way better in here (and cheaper to create).”

Because I was working on a not-so-to secret project of a dance performance to demonstrate to y’all how easy or hard it is to do, I asked Blaze was it hard to learn dance performance? And, more importantly, how fun is it?

“it was hard. I had a steep learning curve in SL since I did not come from a gaming background, it was all new to me, but that difficulty was exactly what kept me coming back. The ability to create something here that was a composite of my love of visual art and music just grabbed me like no other art form ever did.”

“I have created with many media outside of the digital. I worked a lot with fibres and collage, very texture based sensory. I had been an art major at one time, so all the usual drawing and painting as well. I think it is that love of collage that translates best to SL, finding all the bits and pieces, from animations to props and costumes and gluing them together to make acts.”

Continue reading “Idle Rogue’s Cirque de Nuit” →