Sharky Speaks

to insanity…and beyond!

Archive for category dance

Tonight? Close your eyes.

Jul 27

Posted by Sharky in dance, deep, musing, tmi | 2 Comments

Thanks to LiLu, I was introduced to a band I’d never hear of otherwise.  Until they blow up bigtime, that is.  It’s Redline Addiciton.  They’re in the DC area and let’s face it – I don’t make it that way too often (but will for the first time in 6 months, for the big Night Out this coming Saturday).

After some friendly banter via Twitter, I got harassed into buying their album.  But I’m glad I did.

Dancing, while still my very first and only true passion, is a rarity for me these days.  There are no college teams when you’re 25.  Um – the studios in Carolina?  Are not ready for me.  And I don’t like toning down style to fit what the mommies think their lil angels should be doing.  Or being nice to their lil angels.  But that’s neither here nor there.  Point is, I don’t get to dance that often.  And rarely does inspiration strike these days – how can it with the Gagas and Beibers of the world blasting on our radios?  That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good rockout to Alejandro, but it doesn’t exactly move me.

Now – as a contemporary dancer (who likes a splash of hip-hop as well), I was inspired by Redline Addiction’s “Difficult to Dream,” for many reasons.

For so many months, years, and thanks largely in part to The Job Which Shall Not Be Named, I didn’t sleep.  Like…ever.  The wheels stayed turning all.night.long.  That was also a symptom of my depression (which, as loyal readers know, I’ve battled for well over a decade).  I practically needed horse tranquilizers to pass the f out.  I’m happy to say I’ve been off meds for several months now, but I still remember what it’s like.  I mean, c’mon.  It’s nearly midnight and I’m writing a post about not sleeping.  It’s starting again.

One thing I love about the night is it’s the only time I get to myself.  Everything’s quiet and I get to be alone with my thoughts.  I can watch whatever on TV or just write or read in peace.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the chaos of my life (Aries, remember?).  But the chaos makes me more grateful for the peace.

That’s why I love the lyrics to this song, and why they make me want to dance.  For so long I knew what it was like to be the girl in the song.  I still do, really.  You’ll need to purchase it on iTunes to hear it, but I hope they don’t mind if I post the chorus.

Hey tonight
Close your eyes
Fall asleep now
Cause if you’re wide awake my dear
If you’re wide awake my dear
It’s difficult to dream

That doesn’t even begin to cover the way I connect to the lyrics (wish I could post them all, but just buy the song!).  So now – a collaboration.  A contemporary dance by yours truly to the music of Redline Addiction.  The guys are stoked, I’m stoked.  Everyone’s stoked.

And it’s gonna rock, boom, blam.

Overhaul

Jul 16

Posted by Sharky in booze, charlotte, dance, musing | No Comments

New features, new layout, new style – in theory.  First and foremost I need to figure out how to work with some of this stuff.  I’m thinking finally sucking it up and getting Thesis.

Gonna need some wine for this one. 

In other news, I have some fun characters at my new job.  I know Sir Slacksalot is sorely missed so I did my damnedest to bring you these little gems.

Oldie von Holy – late 50s/early 60s lady in the cubicle next to me. Works Christianity into every conversation.  Insists Obama is Muslim.  Lives in the country and doesn’t come into Charlotte, according to her – even though I work (you guessed it) in Charlotte.  Ohhhhkay.

Jersey – We’ll call him this ’cause well…he’s from Jersey.  Not your stereotypical guido though.  Black, metro, pushing 40, has a long distance gf (wtf) back in Jersey.  Works (you guessed it) Jersey into every conversation.  Like him, but c’mon – it’s JERSEY.

So we had to come up with this team name, like the whole company does in each specific mini-department.  I came up with a fabulous name, which everyone loved except Oldie.  It was Paradigm.  She didn’t want to be known as setting the standard, because it would “come back n bite us in the ass.”  Please.  I AM the Paradigm. 

So Jersey came up with the next catchy (albeit hokey) name – Checks R Us.  Cute…but c’mon.  Paradigm is way better.  Stupid ‘has to be unanimous’ voting.  I got an IM from a team member saying “I like yours better.”  damn straight. 

And now I’m on team Checks R Us.  Just put me out of my misery, puh-lease.

But there are worse things than a cheesy team name.  For instance, working.  I swear to God, as soon as I pay off student loans, credit card, etc. I’m babysitting part time and working on a novel.   JUST YOU TRY AND STOP ME.

Oh!  And I’m teaching dance again finally – at a studio near the house.  Um.  Dance is very different in the Carolinas.  It’s not edgy at all.  Nobody cares about being a GOOD dancer and keeping up with current styles.  Let’s keep it wholesome for the Xtians, ladies.  No two-piece costumes, none of that “street dancing,” aka what they call real hip-hop here.  Hip-hop is “funky jazz.”  Good God. 

I was bouncin around the cube farm today and Jersey asked if I was dancing.  I said that yes, I was throwin down some Harlem Shake:

Something always brings me back…

Jul 10

Posted by Sharky in dance, musing, video | 2 Comments

I know a lot of people loved Kayla and Kupono’s contemporary routine on SYTYCD, and I definitely think everyone can relate to it.  But really it brings me to tears.  First of all, it’s my style of dance to a T.  I’m a contemporary dancer no doubt (ok, you can mix in a little ballet and hip-hop!).  I’m definitely going to teach myself this routine (by watching it about five times, no joke). 

This video, this dancing.  I was so moved because it’s exactly how I feel about my depression.  Just when I catch a glimpse of what my life can be, the dark world returns and swallows me whole.  It engulfs me, it is inescapable.  Watch.

That’s how I feel most of the time.  It’s a constant battle.  Even with the best meds!  Haha. 

I recently joined a street team for To Write Love On Her Arms, an organization dedicated to prevention of and treatment for depression, self-mutilation, and suicide.  I really hope I get to go to some middle or high schools and talk, tell my story, listen to others, spread the word that they’re not alone.  I’d also love to put together some sort of depression workshop as a wellness program at work.  SO many people suffer from this horrible disease and go untreated.  Spread the word.   

Bird of Paradise, my ass.

Jun 3

Posted by Sharky in dance, pic | No Comments

Liz and I went to hot yoga after work on Friday at Charlotte Yoga.  I really enjoyed it; I’ve done hot yoga before but by no stretch of the imagination am I anywhere past the beginner stage.  My muscles are so tight from 20 years of dancing, so used to doing the same things, working the same way and nothing else, that at even the easiest pose they would scream at me, “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!  CODE RED, CODE RED!”  Oy. 

One pose I mildly kicked some A at was the Standing Split Stretch.  Thank you, needle (a similar dance move). 

                                                     

However, I’m comfortable with the fact that I will NEVER be able to do a Bird of Paradise.   My body just won’t twist that way. 

 You hold your hands behind your leg, say right hand under your right leg and left hand grasping it, then extend your leg.  I had two friends in college with whom I was on the dance team, Austin Gille and Tara Hawthorne, who could do this, except to the extreme.  This pic is from our Nationals Competition at Daytona Beach my junior year. 

I had to do a BUNCH of digging through old pictures to find this on facebook, too.  But yeah, out of 21 dancers who had been dancing for 15+ years, they were the only two who could do EXTREME BIRD OF PARADISE.

Yoga’s hard, dude. 

I’m not a princess.

Jan 8

Posted by Sharky in dance, musing, video | No Comments


I’m not a princess… from Christa Schuck on Vimeo.

Say you’re sorry, that face of an angel
comes out just when you need it to.
As I paced back and forth all this time
’cause I honestly believed in you.

Holding on, the days drag on
Stupid girl, I shoulda known, I shoulda known

That I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale
I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet & lead her up the stairwell.
This ain’t Hollywood, this is a small town.
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down.
Now it’s too late for you and your white horse to come around.

Maybe I was naive, got lost in your eyes
and never really had a chance.
My mistake, I didn’t know to be in love
You had to fight to have the upper hand.

I had so many dreams about you and me,
happy endings…now I know

That I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale
I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet & lead her up the stairwell.
This ain’t Hollywood, this is a small town.
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down.
Now it’s too late for you and your white horse to come around.

There you are on your knees.
Beggin for forgiveness
Beggin for me.
Just like I always wanted, but I’m so sorry.

I’m not your princess, this ain’t a fairytale
I’m gonna find someone someday
Who might actually treat me well.
This is a big world, that was a small town
there in my rearview mirror disappearing now.

And it’s too late for you and your white horse to catch me now.

Protected: FML.

Jul 26

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Protected: 18th Floor Balcony

May 16

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Protected: Studio C: A Dance Academy

May 2

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You can never go back home.

Feb 22

Posted by Sharky in dance, deep, money, musing | 1 Comment

Well you can, just please realize it’s going to totally suck. 

I cannot fathom why people like to live where they grew up.  Even half an hour away is hard.  Yes, I realize while I was living in Dallas I could have saved thousands of dollars living at home.  NOT WORTH IT.  Don’t get me wrong, I love going home and seeing my family, especially after a month and a half.  It was nice.  But there are several reasons why it just stinks.

1)  I can never find anything.  I spend half of my time looking for shit.  At our apartment, I know where my keys are, where my coat is, where I keep my jewelry.  All bets are off in a foreign place.  Five years of not living at my parents’ house, it’s considered foreign.
2)  I’m about to sound like the worst person in the world, but I like my sister much more when we never speak.  We’re just too different.  she still acts like she’s in high school, bitching about her sorority and other crap nobody cares about.
3)  Going to the office takes a lot out of a person, actually.  A month and a half working from home, I’m still just as efficient, yet I don’t waste an hour and a half “getting ready” for work, and no commute is beautiful.
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All she wants to do is…

Feb 4

Posted by Sharky in dance, musing | 1 Comment

I miss dancing.  It’s sometimes hard for me to digest that I’ll never dance on a team again.  Hard to digest because it’s something I’ve known for a long time, practically my entire life.  Not to say that I would want to be on a team again.  Quite frankly, I’m not a) willing to have my life structured in blocks of time.  On Dallas Dance, while I enjoyed my time there, the hardest part was acknowledging that my Sunday afternoon was strictly set aside for dancing and dancing alone.  And I’m not b) willing to be bossed around.  I’ve done the drill team thing.  I’m over it.  I realize some people can’t get enough, but I’d rather just dance for fun now, which is exactly what I plan to do.
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