this was a lot of fun to do and i enjoyed learning the music quite a bit...

please click on the image below to be taken to the video and if you have any comments, please write them below the video on the actual g14 site!  thanks!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO BE REDIRECTED TO THE VIDEO!

If you enjoy the video and/or have any comments, please leave them on the video on the g14 website (which you're being redirected to) and not here or back at me unless they're really only directed at me! Thanks lovahs!



www.insertshowhere.com

a friend of mine had a class project to do on in-camera editing and i was asked to help out along with the g14 productions guys... so now its up for viewing at the g14 website and its delightfully funny... of course keep in mind that this was shot entirely in camera so no editing or effects could be added... its very entertaining... well to me anyway  :-P

i hope you enjoy, the link is below...

ALSO- g14 productions would be very happy to receive comments on this and any other videos of theirs that you like- so if you enjoy this video please leave a comment on it on the actual g14 page (the link below)... also there's a bunch of links on my main profile page to other videos of theirs that i've been in so if you check out any of those and enjoy them, please leave some comments letting them know!  :o)

CLICK ME!!!!  SERIOUSLY... DO IT

i've been reading articles and stories all morning and below i've combined several articles, messages and some of my own sentiment in regards to Martin Luther King Jr Day... i apologize that none of my articles are cited and the flow may be rough as the statements are from different speakers...

Martin Luther King has taken his place among the great American leaders of history. And it's not surprising that people today still seek to use the symbols and the language of his civil rights movement. But as we debate issues like gay rights, women's rights and illegal immigration, one wonders what we mean by equality and civil rights today.

And if you are tempted to think that the fight for civil rights for blacks in the 1960s has very little direct relevance to our society today, think again. Take this excerpt from King's Letter From Birmingham Jail:
"Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal....
Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

Turning a blind eye to inequalities isn't an option.

America is a different country for every generation that occupies it. Its great gift is the urge to make itself better, an impulse we are celebrating today as we take stock of the work left for us to do.

The country that Rosa Parks lived in 50 years ago is gone. Things aren't so black and white anymore. That's good, but it also can be confusing.

Latinos are now the largest minority in the country, and some people, who themselves are the descendants of immigrants, as we all are, still worry that immigration is a bad thing.

African American sometimes now means directly from Africa as more people emigrate from that continent than ever. Even more people are moving here from the Caribbean.

It's been nearly 45 years since Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech and nearly 44 years since Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but activists say there is still much to be done.

Martin Luther King would've been 79 this year if her were still alive.  Some of the younger generation think of King's work as "history" but the fact is that it wasn't so long ago.  If he hadn't been assassinated, he'd be alive today, still fighting for the rights of those still being treated unequally.

Dolores Huerta, an Hispanic civil rights activist who worked with labor activist and union leader Cesar Chavez to improve the conditions of farm workers in California, spoke at Utah Valley State College on Tuesday as part of the school's commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Monday.

"Why are farm workers not respected given the important work that they do?" Huerta said.

Huerta chronicled the abuses farm workers endured, including being denied the right to unionize. She also spoke about gender discrimination, gay rights and immigration, and said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a force for good in his country.   

"It was once the blacks, it was once the women, and now it is our latinos, our brothers and sisters of different color, different religion, different economical status, different sexual orientation...  fighting for the right to be equal... but we are all human beings first and are equal inherently... we should share equal rights."

From Rev. Al Sharpton:
We cannot treat people of different cultures as inferior
Whether People come from Mexico, Haiti or Canada, there must be one set of rules for everybody. We cannot welcome those to come and then try and act as though any culture will not be respected or treated inferior. We cannot look at the Latino community and preach "one language." No one gave them an English test before they sent them to Iraq to fight for America.

This is an issue of human rights. And I think it is dangerous to give states the right to deal with human rights questions. That's how we ended up with slavery and segregation going forward a long time. I, under no circumstances, believe we ought to give states rights to black's, women's or even gay and lesbians' human rights. Whatever my personal feelings may be about the color of someone's skin, their sex or sexual orientation, the religion they practice, unless you are prepared to say these people because of their differences are not human beings, they should have the same constitutional right of any other human being.

In the words of Dolored Huerta:  "Our nation still has a long way to go to be a true democracy without discrimination. "

but who can blame her?

(there are also four more identical requests below those... including a second one from the other girl named Tom- who knew that name was so popular among women?)

the studio where i teach, The Ballroom Studio in Centreville, VA, had their Fall Showcase in October and here are a few of the things i did...

the first is the "girl number" which is just Michele and myself trying to make sure all the women at the studio are involved in the show regardless of skill level:

link to youtube version



the second is a medley i did with darryl adams, one of the studio owners- he's usually very proper so this was quite fun to get him to break character... you can even see when he's doing his hiphop, he has little ballet/jazz hands  :-P  if you read the "about" section on youtube, it will tell you all the dances we do

link to youtube version



the last is a tango i did with alan steele... our rehearsals turned out to be a bit better than the performance itself, but it was a lot of fun and i of course love the music!

link to youtube version