The Best of Burning Man 2012 in my eyes

1. Riding a bike in the sand storm and finding a shelter in the Temple.
2. Meeting people and sharing random life stories.
3. Watching time fly while hangin' out on the art cars.
4. Potato pancake parties.
5. My old and new Lithuanian friends.
6. Amazing beautiful costumes.
7. Smiles.
8. Forgetting about the face paint on my face.
9. Lamps, cups, glasses and gifts dangling around on my belt.
10. The Feeling after the fest.

 foto by Salvia

Iš laiško sesei GP

"Tiek daug visko dedasi aplink, kad net nezinau nuo ko pradet rasyti... gal kad is tiesu pries dvi savaites isvykau i Washington DC naktiniu autobusu (buvo turbut rugpjucio 25-os naktis), nukeliavau i tarptautini lindyhopo čempionatą (ILHC), o iš ten - į mažą Nevados dykumos miestelį Reno, kur sutikau žmonių ir nuvažiavau į Burning Man festivalį (tą Black Rock dykumą...) ir ten buvau apie 8 dienas, iš kur po to jau su kitais nusitrenkiau į San Franciską pas dar kitus, su kuriais praleidau Liepą švedijoj... atsipeikėjus san franciske jau galvojau kaip čia bus, nes ten nakvojau tik vieną naktį, kol rugsėjo 6 paryčiais parskridau į Niuojorką, kad jau tą patį savaitgalį trenkčiausi uždarbiauti į renesanso mugę, kurioj išmokau groti didgeridoo, šiek tiek fleita ir ocarina, šiek tiek dzembe... tiksliai nežinau, ką veikiau vakar, bet pusę nakties klausiau Anoushka Shankar, kol išryto visai netikėtai Jason'as mane išgrūdo dirbti į New York Fashion week. Ten ir praleisiu ateinančias dvi dienas, kol penktadienį viena žavi forotgrafė iš manęs darys graikišką skulptūrą. O po to vėl renesanso mugė..."

mažytis update'as, kas dedasi mano pasaulyje, kol po truputį vėsta orai...

pasiilgau mielojo Vilniaus.

10 places to go swing dancing in the USA

I was asked to put together a list of ten places I'd go swing dancing in the states, here it is in the order of abc:

1. “Century Ballroom”, 915 E Pine Street, 2nd floor, Seattle WA 98122
2. “Frim Fram Jam”, 412 8th Ave @ 31st St., New York, New York 10001
3. “Jam Cellar”, Josephine B. Parks Center, 2437 15th St, NW, Washington, DC 20009
4. “Joe's Great American Bar & Grill”, 4311 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505
5. “LindyGroove”, 200 S. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
6. "Mimi's in the Marigny", 2601 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70117.
7. “Mobtown Ballroom”, 861 Washington Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21230
8. “Radegast Hall & Biergarten”, 113 N 3rd Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY 11211
9. "The Spotted Cat", 623 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116.
10. “9:20 Special”, 2460 Sutter Street  San Francisco, CA 94115.

I have not been at number 1, 3 and 10, but these places are on my map and I will do my best to go out there as soon as I hit the west coast on my ramblings...  Jam Cellar, you'll have to wait for next ILHC :)

Do you believe in Fairies?

This year at Herrang Dance Camp I was involved in so many different activities that half of all of that has already fallen out of my windy head. One of the most random things was this...


Don't know how I wandered from Astrology to Fairies... It must be like everything in my reality... unexpected matches and twists of the story...

 

 

 

I get to leave every time I get to know...

Good bye LA, hello New York City. That's all I can say for now. And it's not even funny! Now I'm afraid to fall in love with this place, cause I feel like I'm leaving pieces of myself every time I start calling a place home. I will stop doing that now, but I will live in and around Brooklyn until the end of October... You're very welcome to visit :)

It's been around three days since I came back from Herrang, making a huge circle Europe - LA - NYC. Just because life's changing quicker than plane tickets... And here I am, still waking up to Herrang time, still living separately from my head... like unexpectedly grown Alice in urban wonderland... with my hear in the clouds and my feet in the park...

In my first 48 hours I met 1/3 of my NYC friends and had an amazing dance night. And I also love my garden and the park! I've seen hundreds of fireflies for the first time in my life and I've just finished reading "Dandelion Wine" this morning, surrounded by dogs and squirrels. Life's exciting! I wonder what's waiting for me around the corner...

Off to the New York Renaissance Faire in a couple hours. Impossible is nothing!

Another day in New York City

As I wake up in the room full of daylight surrounded by street sounds in Upper West side, Manhattan, I wonder, what am I really doing here. I'm in bed that is standing in the middle of the tiny room on the 5th floor and is actually the production office of the movie that is being made by my friends here in NYC. This same bed is also in the opening scene in the movie. It's going to be a good one...

In the big cities like NY sometimes I really feel like I have a cloak of invisibility and I'm just starting to take an advantage of it. Speaking of which... my latest dream is to work in the costume department for a movie like Lord of the Rings. I think now is the right time to dream big again, no matter how scary that sounds.

I came up with this idea in the dark of the empty movie theater while watching a latest fairy tale movie. It was poor, but man how I enjoyed the idea of behind the scenes! I remembered when Robin Hood series were filmed in the forest by the summer house and how exciting that was for us kids.

I've been also thinking about Herrang and planning for the 70's party. I lucked out with the theme in terms of difficulty and fun level. I went looking for inspiration at the famous Chelsea Flea Market garages yesterday and got a bunch of good stuff for Lindy Hop Shop and myself :) I reimbursed myself with Damasquinado brooch, similar to the one I've lost at Frankie 95 three years ago (http://giedruma.blogspot.com/2009/08/damasko-plienas-is-sendaikciu.html). Here it is and the squirrel!

Giedre & Mindaugas at Herrang Dance Camp 2012 weeks 1-4

The famous, worlds biggest swing dance camp is about to start in 20 days form today and this year we will be celebrating 30th anniversary of this annual festivity!

I love this place so much and I am super happy to take part in it for the 8th time (it took me several minutes to count how many Julys I've spent there...) So this year I will contribute to Herrang by organizing the Friday party of week 1 - "Back to the 70s" and teaching together with my partner Mindaugas "Deeb" Bikauskas on week 2. We will be spending the whole month in Herrang and will be available for all sorts of festivities and activities, including private classes.

If you are interested in one, find us in the camp, on facebook or email us: giedre@lindyhop.lt, mindaugas@deeb.lt, www.deeb.lt.

foto: Mania Zyzak

http://www.bobbybonsey.com/