Spawrhawk 101

The Winged

// September 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Commentary

Dominic and Me leaping

I’m dancing with sjDANCEco this October 2nd and 3rd at the California Theatre located in downtown San Jose. It’s a gorgeous space and I’m so excited about dancing with such a great company!

Tickets are $27 if you buy them either through me or the box office by the end of September. Otherwise, it’s $32 at the door — no, this is not general seating, folks! One of the things I love about this theatre, aside from it’s lush history and architecture, is the fact that there really isn’t a “bad” seat in the house.

So come check me out! I can’t wait to see you all there!

Studio Recital: Bon Voyage

// June 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // Dance

Hi all!

My studio is having their recital the last weekend of June. Yes, I know it’s Pride Weekend up in SF, but we have several days you can come see the show! I’ll be dancing in it as well to help out the girls do their quick changes. Overall, it should be a fun show! Dominic and I will also be doing a duet which is awesome… but my lil bro is an awesome choreographer so that goes without saying. Come check it out!

Dates: June 25,26,and 27, 2009
Location: Louis B. Mayer Theatre @ Santa Clara University
Show time: 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $15

Video: Exurgency

// May 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Dance

Turns out someone taped the performance! They even got the scary “OMG I ALMOST DROPPED HIM!” lift. *sighs* Not one of my stronger performances, but we learn and grow, right?

Dominic Duong’s Exurgency from the Dancin Downtown Festival, held Sunday, April 26th, 2009 in downtown San Jose. This piece was dedicated to Fred Mathews for his contribution to the Dance Community and won the sjDANCEco ChoreoProject Audience Award. It features Joshua Lau, Michael Saenz, and Dominic Doung.

Update: Dancing Downtown Festival 2009

// May 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Dance

Exurgency

Dom found our pics that were taken from the Dancing Downtown Festival! I’m not sure why I’m looking down or why I’m pitched so far in my pose, but at least I’m pointing my foot? (Tries to look for the silver lining). Overall, I’m happy with the pic! Just in case you couldn’t tell, I’m the one in front looking at the floor — something I always tell my girls not to do during class. Ah well… just something to work on while honing my craft.

Dancing Downtown

// April 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Dance

tshirt Last Sunday I was in downtown San Jose to see my girls perform in the 7th annual Dancin’ Downtown Festival hosted by sjDANCEco. They were great! The marley dance floor was a bit sticky to begin with and they had some problems with that in the beginning, but perservered and did very well.

As for my performance later that day on the same stage… it was more like an out of body experience. I had this partner lift that has never given me problems before… turn into an excruciatingly slow motion nightmare all in the course of two seconds. My partner wound up flipping and turning and we were in the middle of spinning… and I had visions of us being in this big heap on the floor while the music still played around our collapsed bodies — yet we somehow managed to recover and I was able to put my partner down on his feet without dropping him. Don’t ask me how I did it because I haven’t the foggiest idea how!

That’s what I love about live theatre/dance, though. You never know what to expect.

Digital Footprint

// April 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Commentary

This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. You hear that you should be mindful of your digital footprint and how you interact on the internet. Stories of people losing their jobs or having to explain things done on their off hours is nothing new. With this in mind, I sat down and took a look at what my activities are online and what kind of impact this has on me.

I’m a dancer, an avid sci-fi fanboy, a dog lover, and a teacher. Sometimes these different interest intersect, but not often. We all have professional and personal sides to ourselves and I find that, online, the line between the “public” and “personal” me get blurred. How does one separate these personas? I’ve tried filtering and having different pseudonames, but invariably there is not much of a definitive break from the two.

I’ve been online since I was fourteen. I’m no longer the obnoxious kid (I would hope) that I was back then and my views have changed since then. The downside of the internet is that it retains EVERYTHING. That embarassing moment you had when you put your foot in your mouth? It’s saved forever to posterity online! One only has to Google for it.

How do you manage your public (professional) and private (last weekend’s bender with your old college buddies) identities online? How do you brand yourself?

Oh, Happy Day, Vermont!

// April 7th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Commentary

(source)
By DAVE GRAM, Associated Press Writer Dave Gram, Associated Press Writer –

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature’s vote.

The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote — the minimum needed — to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto. Its vote followed a much easier override vote in the Senate, which rebuffed the Republican governor with a vote of 23-5.

Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples and joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in giving gays the right to marry. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

UDT Performance

// April 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Dance

I went to the UDT Dance performance last night at San Jose State and was summarily blown away by some of the dancer’s and choreographer’s creative energy. Some of it inspired me and found me leaning forward in my chair to take an active interest as to what was happening on stage.

My friend, Stephanie Anderson, is in the UDT dance company and I am truly proud of her. She’s definitely grown so much from our time together at Foothill College’s Dance Company that I can’t help but burst with joy. It’s like the girl finally discovered her wings and is able to fly!

The last piece of the evening was done by Jill Yager (Thanks Dom for the reminder!). I know of her by reputation and haven’t really seen her previous work. Last night I was left speechless — what an amazing piece she’s created! It invoked fear, courage, determination, dispair; it was about facing our own demons. If there is a video of this somewhere I need to get my hot little hands on one! She spoke so honestly and openly that there were certain moments when I just got chills. It’s haunting me still today and I’m finding that maybe there is a reason for this. What demons do we have that need to be addressed individually as well as a whole?

Something New

// April 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Commentary

I’m giving this WordPress thing another go. I still have my Livejournal that I’m cross-posting to, but I really should make use of my domain name — if only for reasons of self-indulgence.