What do your tax dollars do?

Oh boy, it looks like I'm advocating for arts funding these days.  I got an email from a fellow dance artist & my former college professor, Mark Haim.  Of his dances I have seen, I am very impressed by the way specific focused ideas drive his choreography. 

"Today, the U.S House of Representatives Appropriations Interior Subcommittee passed their initial FY 2013 funding legislation and proposed a cut of $14 million to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). President Obama actually proposed an $8 million increase.
Please take two minutes to send a customizable message to our members of Congress to restore full NEA funding.

You just need to enter your zip code, then sign an e-mail to our representatives in Washington. Lets advocate for the arts and dance!"

Fund a Festival

Seattle International Dance Festival needs funding to off set costs of this year's festival & continue bringing the festival back.  Check out the kickstarter & pledge within the next 10 days.  Two generous donors will match any donations (up to $2,500).

Action Attack! from Rachel Randall on Vimeo.

Action Attack!

See the video from Art on the Fly here:

https://vimeo.com/43595285

This is the stop-motion video generated from the slow motion dance battle performed at Art on the Fly. Art on the Fly is the outdoor portion of the Seattle International Dance Festival running from June 1st to June 10th 2012 & featuring local as well as international dance artists.

For more info about the festival see www.seattleidf.org

For more info about RandAll Dance see www.randalldance.com

Video by Rachel Randall

with

John Jensen

Fisher Qua

Jonathan Rose

Meredith Sallee

Abigail Wallace

Orville Zharoff

Reed Nakayama's camera (he also makes a sneaky appearance in the video)

& volunteers from our sidewalk audience

Original Music:

"Something I can Touch"

"Big Blue Whale (Reprise)"

"Karate Theme"

By Nathanael Volckening

More about Nathanael: www.volckening.yolasite.com

Stop-motion video from Art on the Fly coming soon!

Check back here on Wednesday June 6th before or after going to see Spotlight on Seattle or the International Series at Raisbeck Hall.
Thank you to everyone who participated & came out to see dancing on the sidewalks.

In case you missed it at the event, I posted this letter on the table during RandAll Dance's slow motion dance battle to address the issue of violence:

Dear Seattle International Dance Festival Attendees,

This dance is supposed to be entertaining, yet it is also not to be taken lightly.  Every action has an inevitable consequence.  This slow-motion dance battle is about capturing actions & responses.  In light of the recent murders, I would like to say that this slow motion dance battle was originally intended to show entertaining interactions between the dancers & was not meant to encourage violence in any way.  It is still not meant to encourage violence in any way.

As we play with actions & responses, our number one rule is that NO ONE GETS HURT. 

If you have young children watching this, please make sure that they understand that this is play-fighting & that hurting other people is wrong.

Take care that your everyday actions towards others are compassionate, patient, & friendly to produce good responses from those around you.  When you’re angry or upset, take a deep breath, & think about the consequences of your next actions.  Sometimes, there’s no going back, the journey just goes on whether you’re ready or not. 

My thoughts go out to the families & friends who have lost loved ones.

Safe travels,

Rachel Randall