Light at the End of the Tunnel

           Something evil has been eating at me for days. And by days, I mean DAYS, it’s hard not to dwell on and wonder why so much negative is happening around when there was suppose to be good coming out of this. Some of you might know right off hand what I’m talking about others are going “dear Azzy what pray tell are you speaking of?” LOL…ok maybe not said quiet like that. It made me do a lot of thinking as to why people want to post their negative thoughts behind the “grey one” title instead of their own handle. And I know you’re still asking ok what are you talking about.

            The Cutie Awards, there were a lot of positive things I personally saw that came out of putting this together. Though I don’t know why but people are focusing their negative thoughts without giving any care about anything other than number one…aka themselves. Are they bitter cause they didn’t win? It’s possible, I suppose.  There are pro’s and con’s to everything we do and all the choices we make in life even in a digital life we can be held accountable for our actions by our peers. I think this is why there’s the negative posting behind the “grey one”. Comments I’ve read the past few weeks have been snarky, full of spite, and makes you want to say,  “and who the hell pissed in your corn flakes this morning?”

            So, I’m going to treat the negative comments much like those of a troll and just move along and post the GOOD that has come out of these awards. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel and by the grace of all that is good we shall reach it!

THE GOOD

1.     Brought the dance community together for one event. – Normally we’re all in our own little world, doing our own thing. By adding this event into the mix it brought out crowds to shows they’d never even knew existed. Granted most of the dance groups do advertise that they are hosting a show via the group. I witnessed this first hand at Guerilla Burlesque. We had many people that I know are new or had never seen the show before show up.

2.      We got to see the avatars behind their prospective group and some even a voice behind them. Again, this brought the dance community together for one event. We may have made new friends or ran into old ones either way, it was great seeing a diverse dancing crowd all in one room. It wasn’t just ballet or burlesque but ALL different kinds of dance.

3.     The community as a whole became a lot more active and voiced their concerns or opinions, while this is also a con in a way since Negative Nancy decided to rear her ugly head at the same time, this is more of a in between good and bad…pro and con…you get the picture though.

4.     Those that were nominated for an award felt their peers recognized their work.  Even if they didn’t win, their hard work had caught the eye of someone and it’s appreciated. We don’t dance for ourselves only. I mean if that was the case, then I don’t see how this would be successful at all. Those, that were not, then they know what they need to do to get recognized. This should of given everyone a drive, something to shoot for.

5.     This set the bar for next year, on improving, pushing and even giving everyone else something to strive for. If an actor/actress didn’t win the golden globe and had a complete melt down and/or diva fit because he/she didn’t win then those awards would be null and void.

            While that’s not all the good that came out of the awards, those are the important ones I felt were worth pointing out.  I won’t even touch the negative points, because they’ve been hounded to the point of just stupidity in my book and if you really REALLY want to know what they are, all you have to do is go to the Dancing Queen’s blog and read all the negative comments.  They are the reason I’m writing this blog, because I couldn’t sit back and let others just get the bad crap out there without shedding some light on the great, good things that came out of this award.

            I challenge those “grey ones” this…step back and take a big look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself why you got into dancing. If the words ever echo out of your head “I do it for the awards…for myself” then maybe you’ve got the wrong idea of what a dancer really is. A real dancer does it for the art, expression, passion, love… so many reasons. Read my last blog and you’ll know why I do.

That moment...

          You've had a long day at work, your feet ache...not to mention  your eyes are tired of staring at the computer screen for hours on end. You've decided to go out tonight, enjoy some free time, after all it is the weekend. Clubbing is fun the first few times you go after that it's the same thing. Giggly DJ's, some that like to talk over the songs, especially the ones you love. So, mentally you've crossed that off your list of things to do tonight. Then a friend mentions going to a show. The idea teases at you for a moment, as  you imagine the screen with the same ole hmmm huh movies. Then your friend ends up nudging you and saying no, not a movie, but a live show. Your ears perk even more at the sound of this, now your friend has your full attention. A dance show you say, from there your friend grabs you by the hand and drags you with them on the "limo" that was sent to pick them up....

                  Reaching the theater you're looking around, everyone is dressed top notch, from gowns to tuxes, which of course makes you look down at yourself to make sure you won't stand out too much. Deciding you look decent enough you are promptly greeted with a "welcome" by the hostess. Looking up at her you know this will be something different than the usual drone show. She has that sparkle of excitement in her eyes and the stunning smile to go with it. Nodding in return at the hostess and giving her a shy smile you sit down and wait for the show to start. As you listen to the chatter around, you can see the playful banter from the regulars towards one another and can't help but to giggle at some of the remarks yourself. You can see the flutter of the curtain as the dancer behind is trying to make any last minute adjustments to their sets, you start to feel the excitement of the theater build as the time draws close to starting...

                  Just at that moment the DJ cues up the intro, and a stunning strawberry blonde stands in front of the stage, taking the mic as the music plays she announces, "Welcome to Guerilla Burlesque"... as she speaks your head tilts and you listen intently to what she is saying. Glancing at the gold urns on either side of her a moment then back on her as she finishes her opening speech. You watch her as she moves away from the mic and back to her seat and the intro song ends. You see the curtain start to raise as the next song starts and you're instantly mesmerized....

                 This is how I felt the first time I tp'ed to Idle Rogue. I was shy, quiet though I didn't have a friend to tp me to the show, I imagined this is how it would of felt. I was drawn into each and every act that night and felt the rush of the crowd around me. I decided that, I wanted to do the same thing. I knew I could figure out how to do things in SL, after all my first Guerilla Burlesque show I attended was only two days new to Second Life. I didn't own a dance, let alone know how to build. But that draw of the dance was strong. Hanging around for a few weeks Diawa decided that she was going to get to know this quiet stranger that refused to "touch my butt" at her simple demand. She was gracious enough to show me some of the ins and outs of dancing and we worked hard together to put together an hour long Halloween show.  I'll be honest, we worked ourselves to the point of exhaustion...how we did the show is beyond me. But, in her eyes that was the biggest train wreck of her dancing career. For me, it was the doorway to prove we could do better and I pushed myself after that show to prove it.

                Now, I'm that dancer sweating behind the curtain, palms sweaty, heart racing and praying that everything goes as perfect as planned. So far, I've been lucky and only had one act that didn't go as planned. And, it's OK it didn't. I wasn't upset, I knew from Diawa, that this was going to happen at some point. She made sure that I learned the hard lesson long before the rewards...dancing is more than just the song and costume choice...not to mention the set. It's an outlet and expression for that person's interpretation of the song they chose. Sometimes the meaning is hidden and if you look close enough and listen to the words of the song, the concept will light up brighter than the sun....this is why I dance...complete and utter expression...and with that I'll leave you to your thoughts and hope to see you at the next show...

Azzy