Showing posts with label DC dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC dance. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 04, 2018

Funemployment 2018 - Week 4 Report

So...here's what's happened since my Week 3 Report.

Job Hunting

Since last week, I had two interviews and I applied for two more jobs.

One is the Digital Communications and Marketing Manager at Step Afrika! I can't even express how excited about I am about pursuing this opportunity. Something I realized is that for my next step (no pun intended), I definitely want to be back "on the ground" so to speak, and an organization provide direct services, rather than at a support organization. And that's all I'm going to say, because I don't want to jinx it.


The other is the Deputy Director for Operations at HumanitiesDC. This is definitely an interesting organization, that is separate from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is really more of the former than equal parts former and latter. And my last job definitely felt a bit like a Deputy Director position at times.

Also, I decided to not pursue Beacon House opportunity. I knew with the other opportunities I was considering, I was not comfortable in my ability to be able to balance any future obligations with it, if I got the position. BUT I did say that I wanted to still be involved somehow, either as a donor and/or volunteer. They sent me a volunteer form back, and I've already made a $10 donation and made it monthly. And maybe it's a weird way to approach this job search, but the organizations I'm interested in are doing work I want to support in general. So if the job I was considering isn't it, and there are other ways to plug in, then yeah.

I mean I think it's kinda like meeting someone and going on a date but realizing you want to be friends rather than be in a more intimate relationship. Because the organization isn't the one that has the power in the situation, it is both the organization and the applicant.

Two opportunities I'll be applying for next are a Communications Associate position at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center and a Marketing and Social Media Manager one at Ford's Theatre.

Work from Home


Speaking of work, I hosted a Work from Home session at my place.

It was pretty great. I had two friends come over, one of whom brought cookies. We were able to dig into projects they were making space for. And I even got to help one of them with their website as well as their Mailchimp.

So going to not only host at least one each week until I'm employed again, but I think I'm going to see if I can continue to do so at least every other week when I do have another job.

CreativeMornings/DC


With the theme of Restart, December's speaker was Ari Baser. And as I am wont to do, here is a blurb about from the link:
Ari Beser is a Getty Images contributing photographer, producer and author based in Washington, DC. Since 2011, he has researched the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to publish his book and documentary, ‘The Nuclear Family.’ His aim? To connect stories of both sides of the atomic bombing though a family coincidence. One of his grandfather’s befriended a survivor from Hiroshima after the war, and another grandfather was the only man in the world to fly aboard both atomic bomb carrying planes. The messages of his grandfather and family friend had long been silent by the time Ari graduated college, but his renewed interest became a catalyst for a years long journey around the world that would bring new life to their mission. He has been active in the world of disarmament since and in 2017 helped successfully lobby member states at the United Nations to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. That same year he and his colleagues in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons were awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.
It was a pretty great talk, with some stellar images. And always great to see different ways storytelling manifests itself in various works. If you couldn't make it, the next Creative Mornings/DC is December 19 (a WEDNESDAY) at Studio Theatre. The month's theme is "Tradition" and DC's speaker is Angela Davis. Registration starts at 10:30 on Thursday, December 13!

New Cover and Profile Photos for December

So this is a thing I try to do for personal brand consistency across several digital media platforms: new profile and cover photos. I don't mean to be lazy, but I will just share what I wrote for each one on Facebook.


This is Christopher Breedlove and myself talking about Burners Without Borders (BWB) at Catharsis on the Mall. He is the Program Manager for BWB and has been phenomenal in helping inform the conversation about starting a chapter here in the District, and for that we've got a Burners Without Borders DC Working Group. If you don't know, BWB's origin story and first effort was doing disaster relief on the gulf coast after Katrina. Want to know more about the work globally, definitely check out their page. And if you want to be a part of the discussion and the work in the District, join our group.


Rachel Roa! I don't think I can say enough about how she inspires me. In addition to participating in the Ten Principles Storytelling Project, her life is one of service and FUN. She works at GlobalGiving, is a Trunk member for Catharsis on the Mall, and camps with Lamplighters, literally helping illuminate our paths in Black Rock City and regionals as things get dark. And while that certainly isn't ALL that she does, I think that gives you a good idea. So I wanted to share this photo of us for my profile photo for December.
Regarding Lamplighters, here's a video:


So yeah. That's it for December. Let's see which photos I pick in January!

Sunrise Vinyasa with Kegan


I love Kegan, my partner, SOOO much, I'm willing to wake-up in time to make their 7am Sunrise Vinyasa class at Dragon's Breath Yoga, in Columbia Heights.

Getting into doing yoga regularly as just been on the...not the bucket list, as those are things you want do to just once in life and be done with, so what's the list of things that you want to do and KEEP doing? Well, whatever it's called, yoga has been on THAT list for a while. Not that I had ever done yoga regularly, but in my contemporary/modern dance education/practice/training, many of my teachers and the choreographers I performed with incorporated yogic techniques in their own work, whether on stage or just in company warm-ups.

Oh yeah, also I've been working with Kegan to re-brand their yoga and health navigation practice. And so I'm really excited about that, as re-branding is something that I have a pretty strong interest and passion for. So if YOU have need for some re-branding guidance, definitely let me know.

John Kevin Boggs Memorial Award


John Kevin Boggs was a master storyteller and dear member of the Story District family. The John Kevin Boggs Memorial Award preserves his memory and legacy. Do you know someone who...
* kicks ass on stage and sets an example for other storytellers
* has told a particularly impactful story
* supports other members of the Story District community?
You may recall Story District from last week's blog (formerly known as SpeakeasyDC). So something I didn't share was not only have I told stories on their stage several days, but I was also a board member of 6 years, up until Fall of 2017.

And John Kevin Boggs is the whole reason I discovered them. A powerhouse of an actor and storyteller, as well as a teacher of both, I met him at Capital Fringe one year. He said that there was this organization which did some work I might be interested in, and I was hooked.

He passed away on Friday, March 13, 2015. I remember the day because I was still working at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and my and a coworker who also knew him stepped away from the office to visit him in the hospice in Virginia he had been spending his final days. We returned to the office only to hear he passed away not even 2 or 3 hours after our visit.

And so I was honored and emotional to be asked to join the committee to review nominations for this award, to be presented at Story District's Top Shelf show in January 2019. Can't wait for the recipient to be announced. In the meantime, check out this story of his.

Coming Up in Funemployment Week 5

So those are the highlights from week 4. Here's some of what's coming up in Week 5:
  • Creative Moco Grants Committee Meeting
  • Step Afrika! Holiday Party
  • Any Given Child DC Steering Committee Meeting
  • Naughty Snowball Site Visit
  • Burners B' Lunchin'
  • Work From Home - First Friday Edition
  • Barkada Xmas Party
  • Catch Up with Tara
And a reminder that I've started a personal email list, to get news and updates from me right in your email inbox!

Until next time,
Nexus aka JR
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Funemployment 2018 - Week 2 Report

Okay, not going to lie, this post is backdated because Thanksgiving week just got away from me. I think it being a holiday week...it was just a lot, which I'll touch on a bit in the Week 3 report. In the meantime, here's what happened in the week since my Week 1 Report.

Follow-up from last week

I did not win my write-in campaign for ANC. So Congratulations to Nick Cheolas. Looking forward to supporting him and holding him accountable for representing all of us in ANC 5E01. And I especially look forward to running against him ON the ballot in 2020.

My Unemployment is on hold as they take 21 days to do some fact-finding as far as the manner of my termination. But I'm still submitting things as required for if/when they approve it.

Job Hunting

So, there were two jobs I mentioned last week, which I submitted applications for.


The Project Manager position at Wired Impact is particularly appealing because:
  1. As a faithful Wired subscriber, finding out they had a nonprofit website product and service was the best of my worlds colliding, and I'm a huge fan
  2. The position is a remote one, so I'd be able to stay in DC
  3. I would love helping nonprofits all over get great websites up and running
And then there's the Community Programs Manager at Arena Stage. This one was of interest because:
  1. Work would be just a couple of blocks away from my parents house, so I'd probably see them a bit more
  2. It would be nice being involved in Direct Service again, after years of respresenting teaching artist, giving grants to artists and orgs, and advocating for youth centered and informed funding, legilsations, and policies. 


COFFEE Club

During my time at DCAYA, I rebooted a regular gathering of Communication staff members at member ogs. And then started a group for all employees, friends, colleagues, etc. that might manage Communications, whether or not they were at a DCAYA Member org.

This group was called COFFEE Club for:

Communication Officers Forgathered For Enabling Effectiveness

Now I don't know if DCAYA will continue to convene regular meetings for Communication staff, but I'm glad COFFEE Club will go on, through and with the work of the co-chair, as well as other members, in terms of hosting it.

So, if you are interested and manage communications for your org, consider joining us:

Dance Place Board Meeting

Even in unemployment, there is plenty of work to do. And this meeting was no exception. Beyond our regular board business, we were presented with a mostly final draft of a Strategic Alignment project from Compass Consulting.


I won't go into the details of the actual project presentation. I'll just say that it's a pretty phenomenal suite of pro bono services that Compass provides:
  • Board Development
  • Funding Strategy
  • Partnerships and Collaborations
  • Strategic Alignment
  • Strategic Marketing &
  • Strategic Planning
If you're a nonprofit in DC, and you haven't checked them out yet, you should.

Die Hard


So...nothing says the holidays like Die Hard. And since the original one came out 30 years ago, this year, I thought I'd use my favorite crowdsourcing movie screening platform, Tugg, to make it happen.

If you're not familiar with it, you just request to screen a film in their library, pick a date, and they take care of all the administrative stuff, booking it with the venue, making sure the film gets there, setting upt the ticket page.

All you have to do is make sure that a certain threshold of ticket sales (really, reservations because no cards get charged until that threshold is reached), to make the movie actually happen.

And if you're free and in DC on December 19, I hope you can help us make Die Hard happen:

Broadway Singalong

This was definitely a highlight of the week. We had at least 50 people show up, even despite the weather that Thursday.


Thrilled to have executed this third event with my singalong partner in crime, Kristin. We were inspired after a couple of magical afternoons at Burning Man, with a camp that did this. And we're really getting the hang of it. It's a true singalong, no karaoke mic, but this time with words on the screen.

It's the second one we've done quarterly, whereas a whole year and a half passed between the first and the second one. And we alternated from Disney to Broadway for the most recent one, so we'll be back to Disney in three months. Now we just need to find a venue with a room for free that is accessible and kid friendly, as requested by some who could not make them so far.

Which I guess I should add to my to-do list this week!


DCAYA Exit Interview

It should have been a red flag that the board chair just wanted to have a conversation and listen, and that I was more prepared in terms of typical exit interview questions and having answers for them.

Regardless, I presented an outline for how I thought the conversation should go, starting with life in general, what I liked about DCAYA, what could've worked better, and what they should look for in hiring a replacement.

Anyway, obviously still processing.

Meeting w/ Arts Management friends and more

I continued to call in the troops and met up with about 10 people over the week.

These ranged from Arts Management colleagues I hadn't seen in a while, including one that just had their first album release party at the 9:30 Club. Others I got to chat with ranged from Burner friends to Youth Development folx I'd met while at DCAYA whose work I still wanted to be involved with and support, which I discuss a bit more later.

Overall, definitely thankful for the literal social net I've had to catch me. Even if these meetings and coffee dates aren't directly resulting in job prospects, I feel like they're all relationships that have informed my life and will continue to do so. If anything, I feel like it's helped me reset my own personal and professional compass when it comes to what's next.

Aida


Even in unemployment, the show must go on. In this case, it meant having a wonderful date night with my partner, and introducing them to Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, presented by Constellation Theatre.

I forgot how much I loved the soundtrack, and am kinda bummed that none of the soungs from this show made it into the singalong list earlier in the week. But hopefully our next Broadway singalong, that will change.

The love story also reminded me of all the reasons I love Kegan/Compass, my partner. I know, chessy, but whatever, that's part of what makes musicals so great. And it was a good note to remember to see art, especially when it feels like my life is unmoored.

The Community Enrichment Project


This is the organizaiton I mentioned earlier, which I came across and met its founder, Lauren Grimes, during my time at DCAYA. Fun fact, she's also another DC native. And her goal with the organization?
To instill a strong sense of civic awareness and engagement in underserved communities. 
So the work continues, because youth development work in the District is so much more than any one organization. And it being a relatively new and young organization, I just hope to do whatever I can to help her sustain and grow it and its programs.

Coming Up in Funemployment Week 3

That's it for Week 2. I anticipate next week will be a slow week, but I'm sure there will still be plenty to share:
  • More Catching Up
  • A Thanksgiving Moot
And a reminder that I'm experimenting with email updates specifically targeted to different interests and events.


Until next time,
- Nexus aka JR


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Friday, July 21, 2017

JR's List - This weekend in DC

Hey there,

Just thought I'd provide a list of things that are on my Facebook radar, which either friends are involved with or I'm generally interested in, and happening in the District (and surrounding area) this weekend!

On/beginning Friday for the weekend:


Fire Festival, Peculiarity Productions at Old City Farm & Guild

"To celebrate our last weekend of the 8 Bit Circus S*it performance series at Old City Farm [see below] we will have several local vendors at Old City Farm. Come by to meet local artisans and get yourself some amazing products before enjoying the show! Enjoy goods from Eat 170 Catering, natural products, jewelry, clothing, and more! The festival is free."

Fri 7/21 @ 6:30 PM


The Kind of Thing That Would Happen, Agora Dance at Gallaudet's Elstad Auditorium, presented as part of Capital Fringe

In a post-truth world, what makes a good story? Does it matter whether it’s true? Monologue, dance and an original score weave a narrative exploring elusive memory, love and how truth and untruth affects how we perceive the world.

Fri 7/21 @ 5:45 PM

Exit Carolyn, Nu Sass at Caos on F, presented as part of Capital Fringe

After the loss of their mutual best friend, Lorna and Julie are forced to find a new roommate to fill the space Carolyn left behind. Amidst a tangle of forbidden love, a bizarre new friend, and a sea of grief, can Lorna and Julie's friendship survive?

Fri 7/21 @ 7 PM, Sat 7/22 @ 3 PM & 7 PM, Sun 7/23 @ 3 PM & 7 PM
On Facebook here: fb.com/events/398522523880915

Lady Day, at Emerson's Bar and Grill

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, a play with music by Lanie Robertson, takes place in South Philadelphia in March 1959. Billie Holiday is performing in a run-down bar, during one of her last performances four months before her death in July 1959. She sings, accompanied by Jimmy Powers on the piano, and tells stories about her life.

Fri 7/21 @ 8 PM, Sat 7/22 @ 3 PM & 8 PM, Sun 7/23 @ 3 PM
On Facebook here: fb.com/events/118838902061053


To tell my story: a hamlet fanfic, The Welders at Silver Spring Black Box

 “to tell my story” takes the story of Hamlet into the one place even more dangerous than medieval Denmark: the mind of a teenage girl. In a world where political backstabbing plays out on Facebook and Teen Vogue is helping lead the progressive resistance, this is the reimagining of Shakespeare’s Danish detective story that we need.

Fri 7/21 @ 8 PM, Sat 7/22 @ 3 PM & 8 PM, Sun 7/23 @ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Tickets here: brownpapertickets.com

Things You Shouldn't Say, The Kinsey Sicks at Theater J

 The ladies of The Kinsey Sicks are throwing down their sequined gloves and itching for a fight in Things You Shouldn’t Say, their most personal--and political--show ever. Full of their signature panache, hilarity and perfect harmonies, this all new show takes a searing journey into Trumpism, racism, AIDS, giraffes, Bette Midler, oblong vegetables, and much, much more. The Kinsey Sicks are the Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet that The San Francisco Chronicle has deemed “high-camp, unafraid, subversive and astonishing.”

Fri 7/21 @ 8 PM, Sat 7/22 @ 2 PM & 8 PM, Sun 7/23 @ 2 PM & 7:30 PM

8 Bit Circus Sh*t, Peculiarity Productions at Old  City Farm & Guild, presented as part of Capital Fringe

 This is a live stage performance designed to bring video games to life through fire and circus arts. Through two acts, the audience will be immersed in an alternate reality of two video games: Alessa's Nightmare and Pyro fighters.

Fri 7/21 @ 8:30 PM, Sat 7/22 @ 8:30 PM
On Facebook here: fb.com/events/127955381117663

DJ Dan with Proxxy & Lantern, at U Street Music Hall

The legendary DJ Dan has become a master of his craft throughout his career of over two decades. His music has been repeatedly praised by some of the all-time biggest house artists like Carl Cox and DJ Sneak for its funky, boundary-breaking sound known as "West Coast House." Catch this celebrated artist when he returns to U Street Music Hall this summer!

Fri 7/21 @ 10:30 PM


The Changeling Child, The Coil Project at Atlas Performing Arts Center, presented as part of Capital Fringe

Thirty years after a fateful midsummer’s night, discord brews once more. The changeling child at the center of that infamous custody battle lives caught between two worlds, while the heir to Athens' dukedom would rather read poetry than lead armies.

Fri 7/21 @ 11 PM & Sat 7/21 @ 1:45 PM

On/beginning Saturday for the weekend:


River Otters Pirate Booze Cruise, Otter Den DC leaving from Georgetown Waterfront Park

A 2-hour booze cruise on the Potomac with otter pal DJ Jeff Prior (CTRL, Trade). Departing from Georgetown. Tickets only $20. A full bar is available on board and it accepts cash and credit caaaaaaarrrr-ds (you knew that was coming).

Sat 7/22, 4:30 PM -6:30 PM
Tickets here: eventbrite.com


Arden Now, Rude Mechanicals at Gallaudet's Eastman Studio Theatre, presented as part of Capital Fringe
Using William Shakespeare's As You Like It as a framework, this play celebrates the diversity of love using modern concepts of romance, relationships, gender, and sexuality.

Sat 7/22 @ 2:30 PM

A Glorious Evening with Octo Octa, The NeedlExchange

Spend a glorious evening with us on the district's most flagrant patio as we welcome Octo Octa for her Washington, DC debut!

Sat 7/22 at 6 PM to 3 AM
Tickets here: residentadvisor.net

DJ Rap, 3D and Fun & Bass! at Zeba Bar

 Charissa Saverio, a.k.a. DJ RAP, has been the undisputed queen of the turntables and voted the number one female DJ in the world for the last 10 years! DJ Rap has infiltrated the music industry with her arsenal of talent. She has established herself as the CEO of her labels: Propa and Impropa Talent, developed her creative direction as a full-fledged producer, and remains to be the recording artist and DJ that everyone has come to love and love dance to!

Sat 7/22 at 10 PM to 3 AM
Tickets here: ticketfly.com

On Sunday:


Storytellers' Brunch, Story District
[Disclaimer, I'm a current Story District board member]

Spend Sunday morning with Story District at this morning mixer for storytellers. Eat, drink, shmooze, and swap stories with fellow storytellers. Also, Artistic Executive Director, Amy Saidman, will share a brief presentation and Q&A about the vision for Story District for the next few years based on our strategic planning process and community input. Plus, bring your story ideas and Amy will give feedback to as many people as possible on making a strong pitch.

Sun 7/23 at 11 AM to 1 PM

That's it!

Hope you're able to make at least one of these awesome shows or parties. If you do, make sure to check in, share on Facebook or Twitter, and even let me know about it in the comments here!

- JR
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