SCI at Hornings - Friday

Uli was adamant about a 10:00 call time, even though we didn't go on until 12:45. But there was a meeting for the Saturday lightshow then, too. Ari and I were there at 9:45 - nobody else showed up until 10:30 or so. Nobody was actually *there* and ready until 11:30. It was really frustrating 'cause I get cussed out for being 10 minutes late to practice now & then, but the cussers are frequently an hour late for performances. I attended the Sat-night show practice as the sole Kazum rep, which sucked - we would've been way better positioned for the show if we'd all been there.

Anyway, by 12:45 we were all set up. We had Daniel Flynn for our MC, with Tommy Twimble & Blake Hicks & Jackie for 'Tweener acts. Blake really ripped it up - people kept blowing past Dutch & I to compliment him on his bikery. Very cool.

The show was great, though there was low turnout at 12:45. We busked through quickly and gathered a bit of attention, but it was still not many people. It filled up as we went, though, and it was an okay crowd by the end.

We did Piggies, then Tommy took over. Then it was Lions, then Jackie. Then Cards, then Blake. We ended with Death Blossom. The show went seamlessly - it was wonderful.

We wandered and busked for a few hours in Peacock costumes. It was a blast - people really enjoyed seeing us do stuff.

We also went swimming. Dutch and Blake and I competed in rope-swing leaps. I did pretty well - I've not swung on a rope since before I was an acrobat. I represented well. Doc and Alysia showed up and weighed in - Doc's a natural but I have more training. Alysia looked like an aerialist - very impressive.

The Cheese show was pretty cool. I like Keller Williams, so I like the Cheese okay. But I'm not big on 'em. Clover & Uli & Miranda tried to dance to them but couldn't... we had to bail. *shrug* We stunted a bit here and there for hours, wandering.

The girls wandered home to sleep, so Dutch and I took over the evening set. We had Biscuit, though, and I eventually found Dawn again. We wandered and stunted and had a spectacular night. I met lots of people and lifted many of them - success! Dawn and I wandered home around until dawn again.

Wanderlust Circus hits San Francisco - The Backstory

Three weeks ago Kazum returned from the Moisture Festival and realized that we had to choreograph a whole new routine for the San Francisco trip. That's really where last weekend began.

An unlikely duo stepped up to the plate due to Uli's school activity coupled with both of our fliers' superbusy dating life. It's tough being a dazzling, costumed acrobat girl. So many parties to attend. ;) No, really, they both work a lot and Uli's school schedule has been crushing her.

Dutch and I agreed to spearhead the new routine, which James eventually christened the "Death Blossom" in honor of a way cool weapon name from the Last Starfighter. If you don't know that show, please remove yourself from my FaceBook friends-list. We basically took one of our toughest routines "Planet Claire" with me & Dutch & the girls, and hacked it down a bit. Then we added a 5th person and our other hardest number - "Birthday". But we really needed to Doctor it up a bit so we threw in some Adagio and other Doc-friendly tricks, culminating in a big 6-person Candelabra.

Dutch and I paid lip-service to how freaking difficult and exhausting this routine would be. But we've both got enough machismo to gloat on the inside. We paid for that arrogance in sweat - both our own and others'. Doc looked like he had been white-water rafting at the end of the set on Saturday night, and James & the girls weren't so fresh-looking, either. But Dutch and Scott, the Meatloaves of Kazum, really bore the brunt of the exhaustion, I think.

It was sad to choreo Ari outta the routine, but he can't make the performance dates. :(

As we worked on it, Doc and James surreptitiously injected their special magic into the routine. They both kinda went with, "Sit out for the first half of it? I think not." And what they added is spectacular - yet they were careful not to eclipse or steal thunder. Excellent choreography shout-outs to both of the Kazum Ninjas.

Doc & Dutch have been putting in mad extra hours, too. Both of their stunting & spotting have increased remarkably in the last 2 months. Big kudos to them for extra efforts! That's the way to hone your stunt game - work it outside of regularly scheduled practice time.

Forward to last week - we've still not gone through the whole 5.5-minute stuntfest yet. Even blocking it is still rough. Some tricks were still tagged "in progress but hey we'll get it won't we?" Typical Kazum errata; nothing new there. But still pretty scary.

As we so adroitly do, we pulled it together. I had a hard time staying focused due to anguish over Joey and what I did. (Quick summary: I broke up with her by cheating on her.) I was also stressing about covering rent, finding a place to live, working as many extra hours as I could manifest, and not sleeping nearly enough.

But we did it! Death Blossom is a great routine with lots of amazing stuff in it. It rockets into action with an early Basket Toss, and finishes up with dazzling Adagio and a huge angular Candelabra. It's not to musical cues other than the first 8 measures or so, so it can be fit to any music. We're well pleased.