Emma Portner

January 15, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

There are some people in this world who are so wholly beautiful and themselves that it can inspire you in such a profound way, but also make you feel so inadequate. Emma Portner is among those people. Not only is she one of THE MOST brilliant dancers that lives and breathes on this planet, she is also an incredible photographer. Some people are just mean’t to share who they are, and nothing can hold them down.

I have known Emma for years. Hailing from Ottawa, she moved to New York City to live out her dreams, but you could argue that she is a gypsy-nomad of sorts. She travels all over North America sharing her dancing brilliance, and documenting some beautiful moments along the way. I feel elated knowing someone who stays so true to their art, and really lives and breathes it every day. There is nothing disingenuous about this young girl with an old soul. There is something to be said about a person who is fearless, and so unrelenting in all that they do.

If you haven’t checked out her work, both in dance and photography, you should. You will not be disappointed.

Dear Ballet

August 1, 2013November 11, 20144 Comments

I’ve been dancing since I was 3 yrs old – Mind you, at that age, I mostly sat in a corner sucking my thumb, creating a lovely buck tooth effect to my teeth. Thank god they didn’t stay that way! But that is beside the point. As soon as I really understood what dance was, I was in love…for life it seems.

Finding these photographs of ballerinas in 1936 from Life Magazine reminded me a bit of my history with ballet school. At 12 yrs old, I spent a very short time at the National Ballet School, here in Toronto actually. I was offered a full scholarship, and at that time, that seemed like the most amazing thing. And I guess it was. Being a ballerina is like every little girls dream (well not every). It got me thinking that that was to be my future. At 12 yrs old I was making pretty grown up decisions about how my life would be. Ballet is serious, you guys!

I ended up choosing (back then) jazz and (my niche now) contemporary/hip hop dance over the NBS (but still continued on with ballet), and I do not regret that decision. I will always love ballet, and appreciate all the great things it has done for me. Without it, I wouldn’t carry myself as a dancer the way I do. I truly believe it is the foundation for all. But looking at pictures of ballerinas, and watching ballet films always get me thinking how different things would be, had I chose ballet. I always thought it was a strange thing, that there was a clear moment I had in my life, where I had two paths I could take, and knowing now, how different things could have been had ballet been the one.

Ziegfield Follies

July 17, 2013November 11, 2014Leave a comment

If I could go back in time, well there would be a lot of things I would like to do, but one of them would definitely be performing as a Ziegfield Follies girl. Probably for obvious reasons this appeals to me. One, being the dancing and entertaining, and two, the costuming! How amazing would it be to get to wear these beautiful babies!? Intricate craftsmanship like this always takes my breath away. Someone spent lengthy periods hand sewing sequined appliques for costumes and creating incredible bead work, that I can only imagine in this time period (1907-1931) would take hours upon hours. And that doesn’t even touch upon the pattern making and sewing of the costumes themselves. From what I know about sewing tutus (watching my mom sew me a bajillion of them growing up) it truly takes time and patience. Whether it be a romantic, classical or platter tutu, they all take a great deal of skill. In this case, practice truly does make perfect. I think my mother had her tutu skills down pat by the time I left my dance studio and moved to this big ol’ city.

There are so many things I would love to teach myself to do. Bead work and crafting appliques is one that really stands out in my mind. Even if I would have nowhere to wear these things, even if they just hung on my walls, I imagine it would feel incredibly gratifying.

If you have never heard of Ziegfield Follies, you should check em out. It’s worth a gander and a few good reads. And maybe even check out the movie Ziegfield Follies. It’s full of the very best when musical theater was at it’s prime! Fred Astaire!

omg! dem hairs!!

*most of these photos came from this lovely tumblr

Jelly Belly in The Distillery District

June 24, 2013November 11, 2014Leave a comment

How did it become Monday already?! This weekend flew by. Meg has gone off to Catskills, NY with her bff, and I have been stalking her instagram making myself so envious of all the amazing things she is doing and seeing. I’m sure she’ll have plenty of pics to share with us when she is back. Yay!

Now me you ask, well, Matt and I spent most of our Saturday in The Distillery District, seeing Kim’s Convenience, a play one of Matt’s pals from an old show he worked on was acting in. It was SO good! Matt and I kept having to hold back our sentimental tears at pretty much every moment. After that we had some snacks and beers at Mill St. Brew Pub, bought some baked goodies and walked around pretending to be tourists. Sunday I had a busy day of dance. It was Toronto’s Choreographer’s Ball last night, so I was dancing my little heart out on stage with my dance company, A.I.M. Always a fun and inspiring night. And one of the few events where pretty much everyone from the Toronto dance scene shows up to. It’s like a stroll down memory lane sometimes.

This shift dress I’m wearing could be one of my favs. I very much love anything with geometric prints or crazy floral patterns. It does however sometimes make me look like I have a pot belly, but that could also be because I have the most horrifying posture. I’m not sure how I did ballet for 19 years and could still have the posture of a jelly bean.

shift dress; 69 Vintage, blouse/shoes; thifted, socks; UO, sunglasses; Philistine