A modified post I wrote in December to the blog on my Myspace--which I hadn't been on in even longer than here!!!


Wow...looong time since I was on here! Needless to say, this year has been...er...interesting. *grin* New home and life, overseas touring, return to some places I visited last year and going to a bunch of new ones, playing house with paint and fabric and wallpaper, becoming a brown belt, discovering that a friend was so much more, deciding that I am soooo done with asthma...so much excitement. My head has been spinning for months, but now I'm home and I've been settling in, making cozy and decorating the apartment with lights and the ornaments my parents have given me--one for every year. The tree is teensy, but in this apartment that is a necessity!

I don't travel again until March, so I have been doing another major round of catching up. Lots of consolidating and organizing this round. I've been taking classes for my Mac and loving that little machine!!! I have half of the footage from the Runyon show into it, but I'm still having some problems and my one-to-one training is postponed until after the holidays. That's OK. I need a major break. Hot drinks and blankets and movies and bundled-up walks and a whole lot of cuddle time on the couch. Biter is doing very well--they had given him only a few months with the daily IV, but here he is--9 months later and he's playing and stalking and stomping my hair and begging at the table like usual. And Dart has come out of his shell even more--if there is a lap, he's in it. (except when he and Biter are curled up in one of the fabric buckets upon the pile of batting that will now never see the inside of a quilt.)

Next year has England and Canada on the docket, as well as Durango, Tennesee, Wisconsin and New York so far. I'll be filming another video with World Dance NY--instructional sword this time, not a choreography. I am getting ready to test for my 2nd brown belt, have been writing like a fiend and have some experimental dance projects I'm playing around with. Keep an eye out on my various blogs for some of my ruminations...they are coming. Like everything in the past year--very slowly, but they will eventually get there.

The major project for the next months--I'm doing a lot of consolodation for my local teaching so that I can offer more types of instruction, but trim down the time committment. I'm also trying to consolidate all of my communication channels. With this in mind, if you send me a message here, it may take me quite awhile to answer. If Tribe has a vacation alert like Myspace, I will be putting it on. This isn't because I'm necessarily gone, but because I'm really trying to organize my life and keep the bulk of my communication at my main email: izzy@izzydancer.com. Sooo...if it takes me forever to get back on here, that's why. That address is really the best way to get ahold of me, and I am in the midst of trying to catch up and put in some means by which to stay caught up, even while I'm on tour.

I guess that's what happens when one's life explodes as quickly as mine has. Canary Islands and Poland were amazing--such differnet places and such wonderful groups! They were both so fun! We did a benefit for the Cancer Society in Tenerife, followed by wonderful workshops (which I mostly taught in Spanish--wheee!), and in Poland those die-hard ladies bombed through 18 hours of workshops on all sorts of topics that culminated in 2 new choroegraphies!!! Tenerife was fascinating--tropical palm beaches, pine forests, and snow-covered mountains higher than the tree line, plus mummies, Sahara Desert Sand-covered beaches, botanical gardens across from our hotel, and a landscape closest to that of the moon--they do lunar landing practices there, apparently! And of course--THE FOOD. Soooo wonderful! Marina & Dani took us around after the show and workshops (Sadie and I got to travel together again, which was awesome!) and showed us the island. It was amazing to drive up into the mountains and see ocean on both sides! And coming back down into the beautiful towns--like gorgeous Mediterreanean Europe with the terracotta tiled rooftops, Arabic architecture dotting the skylines, and then if you look closely, you can also see the hints of the indigenous peoples who once inhabited the islands--similar motifs to those of the South American cultures. Sooooo fascinating! What a trip!

I didn't get to see nearly as much of Poland, alas, but the afternoon I spent in Krakov was amazing!!!! I soooo want to see more of that city and go to the castle! Even still, it was cold and rainy, threatening snow, and I bundled up (hard to believe I had been in a bikini the week before! Hahah!) Then wandered by myself, taking in this gorgeous city and its breathtaking architecture! I bought flowers in the square for my new friends, did a little xmas shopping, treated myself to a huge ice cream treat followed by a latte to warm up, and generally marveled at the history right before my eyes. I'm a sucker for old buildings, and some of the walls were even complete with archer slots! I also got to see Gliwice where the workshops were, and Katowice as well. Everyone was so welcoming and we just danced and danced and danced all weekend! And of course--THE FOOD. Heeee! The whole crew went to the Moulin Rouge restaurant one night--drool, and Aisha also took me to Korean and traditional Polish (and pizza--yes, in Poland as in Italy, a Pepperoni pizza is just that--PEPPER-oni, not meat--heeee and yum)! After many days of hunting in vain, I finally found my pierogi on the last day while getting to experience warm and welcoming Polish homelife with Suraiya and her generous family!!!

You want to talk about friendly people? Both places! They were so awesome! What a trip! Yes, there were many international travel fiascos and quite the number of interesting adventures trying to negotiate problems in several foreign languages, but we got where we needed to go in enough time, we even got our costumes for the show, and made it back home in one piece. Of course, my sword case died a horrible death somewhere between Denver and Madrid, and so it spent the rest of the trip in the Fragile Lane, duct-taped together in 2 spots, with no more shoulder strap. Well, for my birthday, my sweetheart bought me a gun case for my future sword endeavors, and it will hold more than just my swords--and/or canes--all of them at once even. Wheeeeeeeee!

Before that was my return to Huntsville, Northern Lights in WI, and Durango--they were all as wonderful as always!!!!! I wish I hadn't been so out of sorts (divorce, moving, saving the life of my cat, major family illness...um...yeah. That'll do it.) But life truly is kind sometimes, and it just so happened that these places were chock full of people that I have either known for ages or people who grew close in record time. The Show Must Go On...and it does...and all of these amazing people helped me to do my job when my heart was splattered on the ground. And I even had fun doing it!

One of the most notable pieces of the year was my duet with Ariellah at Northern Lights. I will be writing in depth about this piece and our astounding experience performing it, very soon. Also, I have updates on my website for my new winter schedule of classes, and it looks like I will finally get to come back up to Colorado Springs in April for a new choreography and for Intermediate Boot Camp review.

With that, I hope you are all keeping warm and are as cozy as I am these days!!!! May the new year bring you love, joy, health and harmony!

All the best,
Iz