Disney on Ice at Xcel Energy

The Disney on Ice experience set off on time at 10am at Xcel Energy in downtown St. Paul Minnesota.    Literal sized cars from the movie Cars transcended themselves on the ice and followed one another skiting on the slippery ice as it would allow giving new meaning to the word fishtail. 


Following that scene was the The Little Mermaid.  Any young girl would be able to connect with this movie and songs like A Whole New World and Under the Sea as the dancing crab Sebastian (seen in the picture above) located himself at the four corners of the Xcel center's stage and motivated the audience to clap along to the song.



 Following that skating performance was the  Tinkerbell movie where characters like fawn, Silvermist, Iridessa, Rosetta, Fairy Mary, Terence, Clark, Bobbie, Queen Clarion and all of the other characters from the movie eagerly introduced themselves to the audience.  How they managed to get themselves on a platform shaped like a four foot chopped down tree trunk is beyond me. But their skates dug in the platform and they eagerly climbed and stood center stage waiting for the  song to introduce each of them.



  The stage effects of the performance were unbelievable.  Tinker bell was hoisted fifty feet in the air so that that she could fly and spread her famous pixie dust on the audience below.  Fairy Godmothers in big  dresses were hoisted above as well.  While skaters below did their typical routines triple axels, toe loop jumps, triple loops, lots of camel spins where skaters' legs extended in beautiful arabesques.  The fairy costumes of these skaters fit perfectly with  what a natural figure skater would wear, although some of the skaters were as fortunate to have easily moving costumes like Ursella in Little Mermaid or Slinky from Toy Story who needed a  skater in front and back to function his moving slinky body








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9MFJBUjHMk&feature=youtu.be.

Story #3 Derrick and his Tundra Theater in November

Man, it must be hard to work in a coffee shop.  All of that running around to please customers.  No sense of artistic development.  That’s why I got to dance, he thought.  It’s for me and it’s for all my dancers.  Without dancing, I’d be like a pretzel    siting and wandering when it’s my time to shine. time for coffee.  Derrick got up to look around at the shop.  He picked up a bag of espresso beans and tossed in his other hand.  Then one of his songs played on the mic. 

He nodded at the manger showing his appreciation of hip hop music in the shop instead of the typical elevator music that permeated.  He did a few two steps to the card tree, picking up some of the cards.  .
The afternoon began settling in.  Everyone has their agenda and from Derrick’s vantage point he can gaze in on all of their rehearsals. steal.  The tundra-like theater allows each of the dance rooms to be sections off like cubicles allowing the casual observer from above to be able to observe like a vulture peering out at it prey.  This is the greatest vantage point, derrick thinks, he feels as if he’s a conductor and his dancers are his marionettes. 

Story # 4 Derrick Starts a Duel

Derrick in preparing for the acting duel takes a fake sword and begins to show the dancers the duel, the whole time, derrick has a look of scorn and utter hatred for his opponent, some dancers play out the fake sword hits with a taping of a cymbal? Like salsa dancing, Matching each sound.

Two dancers walk out as if they are going to start a conflict, they have determination casted looks on their face, their hair is short and their check bones sharp.Steal.  The dance goes on as derrick goes up the stairs matching his opponents every strike with a strke in returns, he lands on the ground and flips over in pinwheeling on the floor in amazement that he took a wound to his chest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6idyuKJRK8c

"Ellen Degeneres:Seriously...I'm Kidding" By Ellen Degeneres

 

"Ellen Degeneres:Seriously...I'm Kidding"  (A memoir) By Ellen Degeneres.  This is a great humorous read, I can't even summarize the book because there are just so many levels of funny. It is so funny, that when I was listening to it, (on my way to work), a man in the car next to me, must have been enjoying my laughter, because he was grinning at me.

 Degeneres talks about what all humans are in search of: happiness.

 Am I happy writing this blog?  I would have to say "yes", I love siting down at the computer listening to Jay-Z's "Forever Young" and writing reviews on books that I've come to listen to, throughout the week.  

 Am I living day-to-day? asks Degeneres?

 Yes, with each new book review, I'm adding creative ideas to my life, while simultaneously living vicariously through the authors for which I read.  

Sometimes he doesn’t even say a complete instruction just utters words like bum, bum, bum, or snaps his fingers.  Because derrick doesn’t have a piano, playing the songs, he has slum behind the dj booth, in front of a laptop and can stop and play the songs at intervals, while knowing the exacts second and minute where he can go back and play important song sequences.  Some of the dancers to bend over in lounges and relax their back muscles.