LE PASSÈ N'EXISTE PAS, IL N'Y A QUE LE PRÉSENT

>> 2.04.2010

     Yesterday night, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a modern dance spectacle called Present Memory, and I have to say, I do not think I have been quite so moved in a while. It consisted of three parts- the first, Les Souvenirs de Sam Jackson McBryb, the second, If You Knew, and then finally the third, If To Leave is to Remember. 
     The show, in its entirety lasted about an hour and a half, and I honestly don't think I took a breath. I even cried during the second part. The whole show was based on the fact that there is no past and there is no future- there is only the present- and they explored the emotions connected to that idea and interpreted it through dance. So beautiful.
     Here is an excerpt from one of the dances. (The text was integrated though the dance with projectors and screens): 
C'est ici.
Le moment,
L'endroit où la glace rencontre le fenetre,
Où l'ocean rencontre le rivage.
Il définit.
Il sépare.
C'est l'endroit ou le lever de soleil rencontre l'horizon,
C'est un moment aprés le passè
C'est juste avant le futur.
Ce n'est pas tout à fait moi,
Ce n'est pas toi.
C'est en nous tous. 

      I almost died. And now my mind is whirring with new dance ideas and choreography. I seriously can not wait to return to Alaska, get a job, sign up for ADT again, and START DANCING. I need to. It is something that I have missed so much and something that I think about each and every day of my life. I dream of dance, I see dance. I need dance.
     Annnnd enough of that. Here are some photos of the show. I have some videos, but they are going to take me a while to upload. Enjoy!


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DOPPELGANGERS

>> 2.02.2010

     The trend for the past week on Facebook has been to find your famous doppelganger and make it your profile photo, so of course, not being in Paris, I went on my mission.
     I've decided that no one actually really looks like their supposed "doppelganger," they just have a yearning to resemble that person like whoa. And I have no problem with that. But just know, you DON'T look like Jessica Alba, Adriana Lima, or Jennifer Lopez. You just don't. Okay, with that over, I've decided that I want to look like...
       EDIE SEDGWICK. Yes, indeed. I love her. Everything about her- and she got to hang around Andy Warhol quite a bit. I think that her life was completely fascinating, even though she got overly involved in drugs and ultimately died from addictions. Anyway, she was beautiful, and even thought I don't really look anything like her, I like to think that our spirits are alike in some way, shape, or form. And here's some photos of Edie to look at.

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LE WEEK-END

>> 2.01.2010

 
  So, again, I was without wireless internet, but I had an AMAZING weekend with some of the most fantastic people that I have ever met. The story can begin:
     So, as of a week ago, Chamone told me that she was coming to Paris. I found a really really cheap train ticket (15 Euro, holy cow), and set off on my way to Paris. Oh, and I was in first class. Perfect. I arrived in the Gare de Nord at about 17h30, and tried to find Chamone and her friends from London, but the phone numbers that she gave me weren't working and I was completely lost. Thank god I GoogleMapped their apartment, because I ended up just going there and waiting. Finally, I got a hold of them on the phone and they let me know that they were completely lost, waiting at the Louvre. I lugged my suitcase back onto the Metro and met them at Louvre-Rivoli. They seemed a bit frazzled, and one of the girls, Chelsea, was freaking out about how scared she was of the city. Eventually, we found the Hotel and got to relax a little bit.
     The two girls who were with Chamone, Heather and Chelsea, decided that they were going to spend the next day at Versailles, but Chamone and I had other plans. At this point, all of the girls had decided that they HATED Paris, and that it was just dirty and scary. Of course, I took it upon myself to enlighten them about the amazing things here and why I absolutely LOVE it here. I decided to take Chamone on a walking tour of my city the next morning. We all plopped down on the oddly placed beds and slept.
     At about 9h00, we woke up and I helped the other two girls map out the Metro- which I have become surprisingly good at- to Versailles. We sent them on their way and Chamone and I left for Place de Volataire, my home base.
     I took her to my favorite Boulangerie, the one I speak of all the time on my blog, and I bought her some freshly baked croissants and a pan au chocolate. Let's just say that she couldn't speak for a good 5 minutes. It was so nice. After that, I took her shopping by Rivoli and we dipped back into the hotel for a few minutes. I made sure to walk her around the old Paris, and of course to the Notre Dame. It is so incredible at night; they light the building from the bottom so you can really see the detail. It was breathtaking.. We went a few more places and then headed home. Oh, she fell in love. SUCCESS!
     I decided to take the girls out to this club that I really enjoy- Le Globo. You might have read about my travels there on this blog before. We got ready, decided to buy some wine pre-hand, and went out dancing all night. We returned at about 7h30, and just passed out on the beds.
     The next morning was a bit hectic. We woke up late, had to shovel all of our things into the bags and leave in 10 minutes, and believe me, none of us were in the right shape to be moving so quickly. I had to rush Chelsea to her train that was leaving in 20 minutes- that was scary- and then after that, I was charged with taking Heather and Chamone to the Eiffel Tower. Kill me. I seriously hate going there.
     We dragged our luggage to the Tower, took some pictures, and left. We found some croissants too. After that, we returned to the Notre Dame, and then I took the girls to CDG, so they could catch their flight back to London. I bought myself a train ticket to Lille, and headed back to N. En Ferrain. I am going back to Paris in a week, so I found it necessary to make it back 'home.'
     Loved it. Hectic, but so much fun. And getting to see one of my best friends in my new home town was pretty mind blowing. Here's some photos.

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