10 reasons to see the Mesa dance show this weekend

1. Student choreography – all of the pieces are choreographed by the students! The title “student work” might make you think that it will be low quality, but let me tell you – this show is full of fresh, quality work with amazing themes and diverse styles.

2. An eclectic group – this show includes hip hop, jazz, modern, tap, african, bollywood, and more!  You won’t be bored…

3. Support dance programs – we all know that the education system is getting gypped and classes are being cut, so why not support the college and the arts

4. Support Mesa Dance – seriously though, the dance program at Mesa College is killer. It’s a place where dancers of all ages and all backgrounds can come together and dance. I work for a living, but Mesa allows me to take classes at night from amazingly supportive and skilled dance teachers, for an affordable price, and still be a part of a performance.  The dance department at Mesa is truly a community and I am happy to be a part of it.

5. Dance with a message – each one of these pieces carries a different message or story – how you perceive it is up to you. OH and there is one inspired by “where he wild things are…” enough said.

6. Spandex – now c’mon, when else can you see a bunch of adults wearing brightly colored spandex unitards?! it’s always a good time…

7. Laughter – I guarantee you will enjoy this group and I bet we will get a little chuckle out of you… its ok, its all part of the performance

8. Dancers are hot – everyone knows that dancers have killer bodies because we’re working hard and dancing our butts off for long hours

9. I (Melanie) will be performing – I am in 4 pieces and I will also have a piece that I choreographed in this show. Come out and see what all the fuss is about! We have all been working really hard and we are SO excited to share our creations with you!

10. You Could see stuff like this: Check out a dance that I did last semester called “Barrel of Rain.”

Mesa College San Diego: Spring Performance 2009
Choreography by: Nancy Boskin-Mullen
Music by: Berkley Hart
Dancers: Melanie Williams & Emmet Aquino

© Mesa College Dance Dept – All rights Reserved

GREAT! I want to see the show!

What: Mesa College Dance Dept: Student Choreography Performance

When:
Friday: April 30th > 7:30pm
Saturday: May 1st > 7:30pm
Sunday: May 2nd > 2:00pm

Where: The Lyceum Theater – downtown SD in Horton Plaza

Tickets: $10 Pre-Sale and $12 at the door
For more info call: 619.544.1000
OR go to http://lyceumevents.org/

Hope to see you there!

~Mel

Intl Animation Festival in SF – this month!

San Francisco is known as a center for creation and this month they celebrate the 4th annual International Animation Festival. This 5-day event features animation from some of the most acclaimed animators from around the world. Come to the Embarcadero Center Cinema from November 11-15 to see some shows! I watched a few clips and trailers and I’m very impressed.  Hope I can make it out for this event ~

TNT is BACK

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is bringing back TNT (Thursday Night Thing) THIS Thursday, November 5th. Come see the first major museum survey of Tara Donavan’s grand sculptures. Donavan is most known for her mass accumulation of ordinary objects and even received the 2008 MacArthur “genius” award. Holla! I love to be swallowed by art and I’m intrigued by the scale of her work. If that wasn’t enough, TNT also features arts and crafts led by Dave Adey, performances by Addi Somekh, DJ set by Monkey Mark and live music by Birds and Batteries. General tickets are $10, Students are $7 and members are free. After filling up on an evening of art and culture, head over to the W Hotel for some drinks with our friends from Holiday Matinee. See you there!

Peek-a-BOO Party @ The Pearl

What are YOU doing for Halloween? Come to the Peek-a-BOO Party at the beautiful Pearl Hotel in San Diego. Our friends at LandMarK events are putting on a great night of drinking, dancing and of course – costumes! So if you don’t want to fight the downtown crowd, join us for a night no lines, no cover and all fun.

Here are the deets:

WHEN: October 31, 2009 > 8:30pm – 12:30am
WHERE: The Pearl Hotel
HOW: No Cover – Thank the Pearl Hotel 🙂
RSVP to: info@landmark-events.com

PLUS – Share your best Halloween Photo of ALL-TIME in our Halloween Photo Contest! The Pearl is giving away a 1 night stay and a $100 for food and drink to the photo with the most votes. The Winner is chosen by the public, so submit your photo today and tell your friends and family to vote here.

This was Michelle and I last year and we have some great costumes lined up for this year!
Hope to see you @ The Pearl.

-Mel

Zank Live at the Beauty Bar SD

Our favorite local musician Zank is playing a show tonight at The Beauty Bar in San Diego with fellow musicians, Anthony Molinaro, Allen Mautner & Chad Farran from Superunloader . If you’re in town we’d love to see you come out and support local music and maybe spruce up your nails at the same time! To get an idea of what an acoustic orgasm sounds like check out their video from the studio this weekend. I was lucky enough to watch these guys record a new demo at Big Fish studios in Escondido on Saturday. What a treat! Hope to see you there.

Pecha Kucka: a night of chit-chat

Last night I attended San Diego’s 4th edition of Pacha Kucha Night. Pecha Kucha is a Japanese term that means the sound of conversation or chit-chat and that’s exactly what we did! We all gathered around gripping our cervesas and fresh made tacos to share some information and meet some new people. Here is how it works: Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds, giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of floor time and expression before the next presenter is up. Then there’s the 20 “rules”. (This one is awesome: Pecha Kucha Night is about thinking and drinking.) The topics are not limited, but usually focus on design, architecture, photography, art and other creative fields. I enjoyed the format because the presentations didn’t drag on, but we were quick, concise and very interesting. My friend Dave Brown was the MC and introduced the speakers who shared insight about social media, the history of light, alternyms, a small African village and more… Pecha Kucha Night was designed by designers Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in 2003 as a place for (you guessed it) designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.  Pecha Kucha is now happening in 143 locations globally. I would say overall a very rewarding evening that sparked some new ideas on collaboration and creativity. Hope to see you at the next one! (January 20, 2009 –  I’ll keep you updated… San Diego Creatives UNITE.)

Oh, do you have something you would like to speak about? Contact pkn@sdarchitecture.org for more information.

San Diego Film Festival – *MENDED Premier*

The San Diego Film Festival kicked off last night with a great feature called Like Dandelion Dust and there was not a dry eye in the theater. This film explored themes such as religion, alcoholism, domestic violence, adoption laws and most importantly the love that parents have for their children. The headlining actors included some names you might recognize, but frankly I didn’t see the actors, I saw the characters. Well acted, well edited with a message that was clear, concise and touched everyone in the theater. Good Show.

I am now pleased to invite you to the premier of MENDED. This short film was written and directed by Diliana Deltcheva and is a literal translation of a common struggle known as heartbreak. It’s about love and loss and gaining your own meaning from the imagery. This is our first film festival and we would love to see you there!

MENDED is a part of the “Local Love Shorts 1:” a series of short films about love

SHOW TIMES:
Thursday – 6:00pm Theater #8 Buy Tickets
Sunday – 5:30pm Theater #8 Buy Tickets

(The festival is at the Gaslamp Theaters in downtown San Diego)
See the MENDED Website (watch the preview here!)
More about the festival

I worked with Diliana from conception to creation to promotion and I did all of the branding for this film. (website, flyers, etc.) I am so excited to see it on the big screen for the first time. I am so proud. 🙂

-Mel

Mail Me Art 2

Check out this London-based project called Mail Me Art. They just launched the second installment of this contest and they are open for entries for 6-8 months! Designers and Illustrators from around the world create art on boxes, wood, envelopes… any size and shape you want, but the sent package has to be the art. (Hence the name Mail Me Art) Every month the best submission wins a copy of the Mail Me Art book and the chance to display their art in the exhibition and book. You can submit 1 piece of art per month, so get your creative on a enter the contest. I just want a reason to go to the exhibition in London 😉 Check out the Winner for July: Carla Berrocal.

Submit your own art.

(via HOW)

Worth a Click 09.11.09

40 Stunning Tilt-Shirt Images or Urbanity – interesting photography

Horizontal Navigation Menus: Trends, Patterns and Best Practices – another helpful article from smashing mag

FFFFound iphone app – Don’t know about you, but im getting this app RIGHT…. NOW…. FFFFound is one of my favorite things in life.

Six fonts that piss people off – funny article about typefaces that cause RAGE haha

Poster Cabaret – buy gig posters and artist prints – a good collection

Practical Tips for Taking Design Inspiration without copying – we are so saturated with the media and internet today that it’s hard to define your own style – good tips for newbies and oldies

NEW Design contests from Veer – $50,000 in prizes – holla

Remembering 9/11 – NBC’s photo gallery from the service today

SAN DIEGO NEWS

8th Anniversary of Ray at Night – art, music and good people THIS SATURDAY – see you there

Art Walk by the Bay: Sept 12-13

2009 San Diego Music Award WINNERS

Have a good weekend everyone ~

Tracy Chapman – LIVE MUSIC does a body good

I went to the Tracy Chapman concert at Humphrey’s By the Bay in SD last night. The venue is awesome, with fold-out chairs gathered on grass, the bay on one side and the stars above. Ten feet away from the audience is the harbor with sailboats where people gather to get a glimpse of the concert. The sun sets with the girls and I enjoying a drink and listening to Tracy belt out her lyrics with such ease. She seemed so casual, like it was effortless. After the show I couldn’t play any other music or TV show because I didn’t want to taint my ears, and I fell into the deepest sleep I’ve had in a while.  Live music does  a body good.

You have to check out her new CD (even though I’m partial to the oldies) and her new website which is interactive and fun. It starts as a white coloring book and it let’s you choose your color and paint the scene. Each web page offers a new scene to color and is a metaphor for her new CD “Bright New Future.” Let’s all see what impact we can make on the world.

www.tracychapman.com