AquaDance Fundraiser

Posted on by Thor

Genevieve Bernard of Voci Dance has always wanted to choreograph a water ballet. A week before the Orlando International Fringe Festival got underway, she held a fundraiser for her show titled AQUADance. The audience sat in lawn chairs on the back patio. Pam and I ended up sitting in a cactus garden in the corner of the pool enclosure. My hope was to sketch some of the audience as well as the dancers. Neighbors stopped by and brought along their lawn chairs because more people showed up that expected. A wind blew down the screen set up house left which acted as the dancers green room where they could dry of between sets. A Swam and large flamingo float acted as the background set.

AQUADance is the perfect Fringe show. It is sufficiently retro and weird while being absolutely adorable. Dancers came out wearing floral pink swimming caps while holding pink balls that they moved in undulating patterns. They all jumped in the pol gracefully and then began a Busby Berkely inspired number with kaleidoscopic patterns created as the dancers circled one and spun. When it came time to dis guard the balls they were thrown into the cactus garden where we sat.

Dancer Sarah Lockard was smiling ear to ear the whole time. Each dancer’s unique characteristics came out at various times in the show. It was clear that despite the hard work they all were having a great time. Genevieve shed a tear because she was so happy to see her dream of a Fringe Water Ballet finally become a reality. The most funny routine came when all the dancers became flamingos by holding a hand over their heads that was moved like a flamingos head. The dancers moves in distinct and quirky bird like ways, strutting and moving like a regal flock. Their facial expressions, with wide eyes and pursed lips had me laughing out loud.

This production first water ballet in the history of the Orlando Fringe! Inspired by
Esther Williams‘ classic aqua-musicals, Voci Dance presents a unique
blend of modern dance and synchronized swimming. At an off-site venue
with a pool and bar only 1 mile from the beer tent. The hand crafted bar has been in more shows than many actors. I had a coconut rum pineapple flavored tropical drink with an umbrella and I could have sipped that drink all night.

Brought to you by
the award-winning company behind 2016’s Paint Chips (Orlando Sentinel
‘Best of the Fest,’ Orlando Weekly ‘Best of Orlando’). It will be staged at Al’s home (The Aqua Venue 1314 Chichester Street Orlando, FL 32803) a few blocks north from the green lawn of faboulousness. Trust me this unique show will be worth the trek.

The show is 50 minutes and Tickets are $12 along with a Fringe button which is needed to get into any show.

9:00 PM

7:30 PM

9:30 PM 

9:00 PM 

11:00 PM 

8:00 PM 

10:00 PM

Getting over the hump of a long flight.

Posted on by Thor

Terry and I have been traveling quite a bit this year. Back in June and July we flew to the Rockies in Canada and in October we disappeared for a month to go to Australia. Flying to the opposite side of the world is exciting until you are half way into the flight. Terry takes some medication right before take off that cuts the edge off of her fear of flying. Not only can she relax, but she can pass out on a dime. While we were waiting on the runway to take off, she got annoyed at the delay. She then fell asleep and several hours later she woke up and called over a stewardess. She asked the stewardess why we hadn’t taken off yet. The stewardess calmly explained that we WERE in the air and had been for quite some time.

I can never fall asleep when flying. This was a real curse of the flight to Australia. I watched all the animated films on the entertainment list. I believe John Hurst, a former Disney colleague got an award for his storyboard work in the opening sequence of Rio 2. It is a pretty impressive sequence with Parrots performing a complex Busby Berkeley Song and flight routine. I just saw a live action film I did early storyboards for. It was exciting to see compositional ideas incorporated in the final film. Some of the cast had changed but the action was true to what I remember.

Sketchbooks, clothes and my carry on were all used in an attempt to create a comfortable sleeping position. The delicate house of cards would always collapse and I would nod awake.