#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 76

Day 76

Where: A friend's house, on the Mekong, somewhere along the road to Siem Reap, 10 km from Phnom Penh more or less

Why dance?: House party! A beautiful, big house along the river, albeit in the middle of nowhere which makes getting home a bit tricky. A terrace by the water where you can see the stars (the stars!!!!), a dance studio (no really), a big open space for a dance floor. There was even a DJ! We had a good time.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 75

Day 75

Where: CTN "dressing rooms," aka the toilets

Why dance?: On a pretty quiet Friday night at CTN, gotta do something to pass the time! Here's Robin working on some of his kpop movies -- I actually took a video, posted below.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 74

Day 74

Where: Java Café, Downstairs

Why dance?: This was a preview of a performance that will be taking place next week, by the Sophiline Arts Ensemble. Sophiline Cheam Shapiro is a fascinating woman and very thoughtful choreographer. She survived the Khmer Rouge and has created her own performing troupe, choreographing contemporary classical Khmer dance -- it looks only classical to outsiders, but she works in very contemporary themes, ideas, and stories. In this performance, "A Bend In the River" (performed as part of the Season of Cambodia festival in NYC in April 2013), she brought together a team to create puppets, an incredible set design, costumes, and reinterpreted an old Khmer story. I haven't seen the full piece, so I'll be looking forward to it!!!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 73

Day 73

Where: Cambodiana Hotel

Why dance?: The CTN team rehearsing, our usual thing, the usual place, the usual time. You can't really see Chanthorn's T-shirt, which says in large capital letters, HOLY SHIT. It goes right along with his other favorites, "Keep calm and smoke sisha," "Fuck Off," and "Sleep with me free breakfast." And yes, he does know what they mean -- I've checked. Boys....

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 72

Day 72

Where: The Flicks

Why dance?: Pretending that yesterday was not supposed to be Day 72 and I forgot to take a picture, I'll break my rule and take two today. The first is this.

One week until I go to Malaysia and three until I go to Paris. Life in Cambodia has become enormously confusing and a bit overwhelming and in very courageous fashion my grand solution to this is to run away for awhile and assume that things will look better when I get back. This picture very accurately expresses how I feel about being here right now.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 71

Day 71

Where: Home

Why dance?: Remember Day 43? Well, after Stephen scared the bejesus out of me by saying that holes in the toes of ballet shoes is a recipe for broken toes, I decided to go about getting new shoes. I asked the business director of the ballet school if she could pick some up in Bangkok when she was there, but instead, turns out she knows the people at the Bloch factory in Cambodia and wanted to learn how to make shoes, so with my size in mind, that's what she did! If you look on the tag you can see that lovely "Made in Cambodia" note.

Of course, part of a dancer's life is sewing the elastic on the shoes,  pictured here -- and in the inset, the finished product!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 69

Day 69

Where: Somewhere on the Riverside

Why dance?: One of the volunteers at the Flicks, now gone, discovered something called "Dance walking," a cross between a fitness craze and a viral video phenomenon. It's what you'd expect: people filming themselves dancing down the street kind of walking but really dancing. So naturally, her being a film person and me being a dancer, she decided we were going to make a dancewalk film à la Phnom Penh.

Normally I'm pretty shy about dancing in public (clubs excepted) for whatever reason. Performances are one thing as people are supposed to look at you but this is a bit different. However, my friend the volunteer was so excited about it I couldn't say no, and agreed to go dancing around in the heat to get some cool shots -- like this one, next to the river.

I'll be sure to post the link after she finishes cutting it together!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 70

Day 70

Where: CTN

Why dance?: The Philippines dance group doing their thing with CTN's special glow-in-the-dark costumes, which they imported from China before redesigning the programming system. I'm supposed to be able to use these sometime for my team, but it's been talked about for so long that I have my doubts about it actually happening. I'm not a big fan of this dance team for various reasons, but the costumes do look pretty cool.

Note: Day 69 will be posted later, I'm tracking down a picture from a little dance film project I did with the volunteers at the Flicks but forgot to get the files before they left this morning. Oops!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 68

Day 68

Where: Rambutan Hotel

Why dance?: I was very annoyed with dancers in general -- my CTN team and Dara -- for being flaky, as dancers have a tendency to be here. There's always something and always some story -- someone's sick, they don't have a moto to ride (families often share motos), the nebulous "busy" (whatever that really means, I've not quite figured), they have another rehearsal, someone's changed the time of something, yada yada. There's always an excuse, but the fact of the matter is that they are very rarely on time, which drives me, a very punctual person, batty.

So in between rehearsals, I was invited to join the Flicks volunteers at the pool, and I jumped at the chance. And of course, anytime I'm in the pool, I have to spend some time upside down. It's just a thing -- but with impeccably pointed toes of course.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 67

Day 67

where: Central School of Ballet Phnom Penh

Why dance?: There is nothing remarkable about this picture. No one is dancing, it's a bit dark, it's just a room. Let me help you see it the way I do:

This is a dance studio at the end of class. The room is steaming by this time and all your muscles are wobbling, but all of the day's crap and mania has burnt away and peace of mind has returned. The mess of life is much more simple, vanished into the simple complexity of putting the body where it needs to be, balance and technique.

I've said it before: this is home. It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had, bad or good or somewhere in between, from the first step inside -- the feel of the floor in ballet shoes, the mirrors, the barre -- the world goes away. I know where I am, and what needs to be done, and that's all, for the next 1.5 hours.

No, there is nothing remarkable about this picture, but for me, it's most certainly not just a room.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 66

Day 66

Where: The movie room in the Flicks

Why dance?: You have not known heaven until you have rolled around on the pillows in the empty movie room in the A/C. That is all I can say.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 65

Day 65

Where: Brew House, Sothearos Blvd

Why dance?: I needed to get some work done and was heading to Brown's coffee on Sothearos when I noticed this place. I had to turn around and go back to it -- the terrace, the details on the metal work,  the doors. It just screamed very cool artsy coffee shop -- and I was right. Murals on the walls, very pretty (though uncomfortable) metal chairs, a miniature leaning tower of pisa somewhere randomly in the middle, and this lovely lady, dancing to her own music.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 64

Day 64

Where: CLA studio

Why dance?: A new skirt that does all sorts of wonderful things when I turn (bought, of course, for a dance piece), a bit of color and sunlight, and yet another rehearsal.

The things my life is made of. :)

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 63

Day 63

Where: Nomads bar, st 51

Why dance?: It was a night out, they were handing out roses, and well, why not?

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 62

Day 62

Where: Lucky Supermarket, Sihanouk and Monivong corner

Why dance?: Where's Waldo? There is a dancer in this picture -- can you spot her? (If you know me, it'll be all too easy).

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 61

Day 61

Where: The mirror in the corner at Cambodian Living Arts, the rehearsal room

Why dance?: At this point, what I'm looking for is just shapes and angles. This one is just simply some dancer legs, after rehearsal, in a studio -- and lest you accuse me of not 'dancing' per se, I say this only: balancing this and taking a picture at the same time was no walk in the park.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 60

Day 60

Where: The Penthouse bar

Why dance?: Happy hour, best friends, watching the light slowly vanish and the world go by. Reason enough in my book.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 59

Day 59

Where: Inside the Flicks movie room

Why dance?: Shadows, silhouettes, and dance, oh my!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 58

Day 58

Where: The Flicks

Why dance?: Imagining shapes against pretty lights. Nothing more or less.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 57

Day 57

Where: The Flicks, downstairs

Why dance?: Well, I discovered Thursday's performance was being re-broadcast, and decided to check it out. Taking a picture of the television is tricky especially because of the crazy camera things they do, but I did manage to get this one of the ballet.

I will concede: it was okay.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 56

Day 56

Where: The Flicks

Why dance?: Sunday afternoon killing time with the volunteers: playing cards, ordering food, drinking wine. What happens when you win? Victory dance of course!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 55

Day 55

Where: Mondial Wedding Center, Mao Tse Tung and St 230.

Why dance?: It's wedding season! Over the course of April - May, three of my colleagues have/will get married. This one was -- as far as I know -- more or less an arranged marriage, but the girl was at least given the opportunity to say yes or no. Clearly, she said yes! Here the couple is having their first dance, with two other of my colleagues (the guy is getting married next week, though not to the girl he's dancing with, she's another colleague) stealing the spotlight.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 54

Day 54

Where: The Department of Performing Arts theater.

Why dance?: I wasn't dancing for this -- I was just watching. Amrita is the main powerhouse -- really the only powerhouse -- of contemporary dance in Cambodia. Tonight was their "Contemporary Dance Platform", featuring works-in-progress choreographed by some of their dancers. Every so often, it's just nice to sit back and watch what other people are creating!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 53

Day 53

Where: The Penthouse, st 278 and 51, BKK 1, Phnom Penh.

Why dance?: So this was supposed to be posted last night but I got back late and forgot anyway -- it's a miracle I remembered to take it in the first place. Anyway, so here I'm teaching a new friend how to charleston -- why is a whole other story, which involves the song "Happy", which I had been performing to earlier in the evening. The new friend was actually a friend of a friend who I shanghaied into coming with me to the launch of a prominent fashion magazine. She was on a mission trip and as such wasn't allowed to leave the hotel alone, so she brought two friends along, and the whole posse went off. The girls -- bless their hearts -- were enormously impressed by the event (in Naga, the one casino in town) and by how many people my friend and I knew (not realizing being someone is very easy here). We hobnobbed for a bit and then went off to have a drink at the Penthouse, where this dancing lesson happened.

/deep breath

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 52

Day 52

Where: Cambodian Living Arts studio

Why dance?: Sometimes life just feels like this, like you're so very small and the world is so big! You'll have to forgive my very inexpert photoshop skills for this one...

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 51

Day 51

Where: "Uncle Paul's" house, near Tuol Sleng, BKK 3

Why dance?: I was here basically working as an EMT (Emotional eMergency Technician) to my friend Lizzie and rescuing her from her power-outage prone house and taking her to her Uncle Paul's place (Uncle Paul is Uncle Paul to everyone as far as I can tell, but he really is her Uncle). As it turns out, he has the most lovely apartment with a very lovely kitchen and he's a very excellent cook, so I had a fantastic meal in this adorable apartment with a real dining table. That's more than enough reason to dance methinks!!!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 50

Day 50

Where: Parkway Gym

Why dance?: I'm flying!! But really -- more rehearsal. And more. T-minus 3 days to performance!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 49

Day 49

Where: The Flicks.

Why dance?: The graceful bug splat: what happens after a week of dancing much more than usual.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 48

Day 48

Where: Central School of Ballet

Why dance?: That used to be me, some fifteen years ago. Here's hoping one or two of these little duckling dancers become the next generation of crazy passionate/obsessed dancers, to pass it on again.

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 47

Day 47

Where: The studio (aka meeting room with fancy light making things) at Ladies magazine, street 205 and 388, Phnom Penh

Why dance?: It's kind of a long story, really, how I ended up here and doing this shoot (yes, that's me and yes we were doing an editorial shoot for a popular magazine here). I basically crashed my friend's shoot (on his invitation) a month ago or so and managed to impress the photographer by helping the models do what he was asking them to do, and he said hey, it'd be cool to do an editorial shoot. So I said, why not? I suggested a sort of androgynous theme, and we ended up with a mix of high fashion, men's shoes, and adidas. It was awesome!

#100daysofdance (v. Cambodia): Day 46

Day 46

Where: Cambodian Living Arts studio

Why dance?: This is a screenshot of a video I took during rehearsal so I could actually look at the piece Dara and I are working on for the Malaysia festival. It's very hard to get a sense of the big picture when you're dancing in the piece, so I have to go pro-athlete and study video. I liked this moment in particular because we're so together! This week we finished the choreography for the 15-minute piece (all right, all right, it's technically 14), and so now we just have a 5 minute site-specific (well, choreographed with the site in mind at least), and we're good to go! One month and counting!