Cassandra Shaffer Dance Ensemble: The Blog

roxy is awesome fo realz

2008-11-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

hey beautifuls, this proves all internet things are fads lol no ones posted in MONTHS lol so here is my awesome post about posting, yep its just that deep be amazed!!!!

HEY, FACEBOOKERS!

2008-08-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Become a fan of Cassandra Shaffer Dance Ensemble on Facebook! It's the new cool thing to do.

Go on, don't be shy...

Le Sacre Du Printemps: The Oddball Child

2008-08-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

You heard it here first:
Le Sacre Du Printemps: The Oddball Child.
There are no elders, no mystics, and no implied nudity in this version of Le Sacre. CSDE and Stravinsky's score tell the tale of the Spring family, a normal middle-class family with four children, one of whom has always been a little....strange. Things start getting stranger after the young woman turns sixteen, and soon the family learns that something evil is afoot...

We also started our first pointe piece since......since..... since Rebekah French's solo in Season 1. Which doesn't really count, because it was a solo and also because she ended up not doing my choreography. But that's another story for another time. We're doing Celebre Tarantelle, and I love that it's being created at the same time as Sacre because of the opposing duality between both pieces: One is ultra-classical, ultra balletic, petite allegro and pointe work that involves many releves in a row and fast footwork. The other is as far from ballet as you can get-- very angular, very athletic, very Horton. We are going to be in great shape by the time this ballet is finished. In the meantime, we will be very sore.

Today's rehearsal was also a happy occasion because Diana came back! We haven't seen her in a long time (since Big Range), and we sure did miss her. In addition, we recently welcomed Robin Lynne Evans to the Ensemble. She is a recent graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she received a bachelor's degree in dance. Welcome to the family!

Checking In/Announcement

2008-08-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings from California!
Roxy is now the CSDE production assistant-- which means she's in charge when I'm not around. Tim is choreographing for the next 2 weeks while I'm at UC, but she'll be the "Mom" of the group-- so between now and the 15th, if you're going to be late/absent/etc let Roxy know. I'm 2,000 miles away; so until I get back letting me know doesn't help (especially because internet/cell phone service is hit or miss up here). :>
Congrats Roxy!

I miss you all, and I can't wait to see what you've been cooking up in Tim's rehearsals. :-) See you in two weeks!

Here's the schedule again in case anyone needs it:
Friday, August 8th from 7:30-9 (Danielle & Cassandra Out)
Sunday, August 11th from 10am-12pm (Danielle & Cassandra Out)
**No rehearsal August 15th**
Sunday, August 17th from 10am-12pm

Love,
C

Delicious cake and a webisode!

2008-07-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely Sunday for our ensemble today. Amy came in to finish creating her piece on us. Her husband Jed (our company photographer/videographer/security) came with his cameras and took lots of pretty pictures of us.
The Dance Formerly Known As 'Whirlwind'™ is really beautiful. I love A's style of movement. Although, I did come to the odd realizaion that I remember her piece from one rehearsal to the next WAY better than I can remember my own dances.
She used some interesting choreographic devices as well as the "sticky note" method of arranging phrases (she can explain it better than I). It's a really interesting method of creating work; I'll have to keep it in mind the next time I get hit with choreographer's block.

Since today was essentially Amy's last rehearsal until Baby W arrives, we had to send her off with cake. And when there's CSDE, food, and post-rehearsal/post-performance merriment...we get goofy. And when we get goofy, the cameras come out.

This......this is not your typical behind-the-scenes documentary. Behold:
CSDE Webisode 2: Delicious Cake
CSDE welcomes new dancer Danielle; discusses Amy's piece, Danny's type-cast roles and costumes; and Baby W's first performance. While eating delicious cake.

Hee! Enjoy.

What a Year :) - the Re-post

2008-07-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Comment from "Roxy's life Update, " Re-posted as a main topic as requested by Cassandra :)

Love you all- xoxo

Aims

Rox,

I was thinking about what you said yesterday, that all of us have gone through so many changes this past year that we've been together as a company, and you're so right.

All of us have had big life changes and revelations, experiences, and lessons learned. But ultimately, we've all been bettered by this year and now we find ourselves in a better place than where we were before...even if we don't feel like it! We've all moved forward, and everyone is now in a new and exciting place!

Cass has all of her performances with Sandra's co. to be proud of, and Diana and Mel and Mari are all moving on to new places in their careers involving travel, Dr. Dan is now dancing with Hope Stone Inc, Jed and I are real close to welcoming our little bundle of joy to our new house that we've worked so hard for, and look at you! With an apartment of your own and making strong decisions about your life, even if they feel like little ones. I'm so proud of all of us, and excited about the next year of this company's progress, dance-wise, and in our personal lives!!!!

Love you!!!!!!

Tentative Casting: Round 1

2008-07-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

This will change, especially as new dancers join us. I don't want to run you all too ragged; (seeing as Danny and Roxy are in every piece so far) I haven't even posted the casting for Tarantella yet for that reason. So here's the first draft, let's watch and see how many times this all changes, shall we? ;-)

Metamorphosis
I. When I was a child...
Danny Magner
Danielle DeWitt
Timothy Johnson
Marisol Sarabia
Roxanna Temple

II. Faith, Hope, and Love
Danielle DeWitt
Angela Fry
Timothy Johnson

Vis (Choreographed by Timothy Johnson)
Danny Magner
Roxanna Temple
Shanon Adams
Angela Fry
Marisol Sarabia

Whirlwind (Choreographed by Amy Thornton Willa)
Danny Magner
Timothy Johnson
Cassandra Shaffer
Roxanna Temple
Amy Thornton Willa

CSDE seeks a few good dancers

2008-07-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

(from our backpage ad:)

Cassandra Shaffer Dance Ensemble is seeking a few new dancers for their 2008- 2009 season. Flexible rehearsal schedules, per-performance pay, and we pay for you to take 2 dance classes per week at a fabulous studio here in Houston. If you're strong in modern, ballet, or contemporary and want to be part of a fun, laid back group of dancers, send us an e-mail and tell us a bit about yourself and your dance background.

Our website is under-construction (in mid-update) but check out our myspace (www.myspace.com/cassandrashafferdance) or blogger (http://csdance.blogspot.com).

Happy dancing!

Salary/Wage: See above
Education: All you need is to be able to dance. And, okay, you should be able to read, too.
Shift: Weekends

Hey!

2008-07-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely dancers!
Just a reminder that we will meet SUNDAY morning at HC, and afterward we'll do lunch and get caught up (since most of us haven't seen each other in a while!)
See you then, text me if you have any questions. :)
Love,
Cass

roxys life update

2008-07-02T09:15:00.001-07:00

hey guys i moved downtown into lisas place last night, and found an unprotected internet connnection lol so i have to decided to tell you all that i am not really a part of freneticore anymore i will explain at our next rehearsal why but any of you who have been in it can probably guess lol i also wanted to tell yall that i missed and love yall and cant wait until we have rehearsal just so we can all hang out and get to see each other

peace
roxy

Meta of the week: Movie Time!

2008-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of watching Save The Last Dance? Have you seen Center Stage so many times that you're tempted to stab yourself with a rusty fork the next time you hear "Higher Ground?" Are you one of the many people who think One Last Dance was Just Awful?
Well, angst no more. CSDE brings you a long-awaited dance comedy, a mini-documentary we made on the road during our first-ever mini-tour.

So without further ado, we bring you There Goes The Neighborhood: CSDE goes to PA

(We tried to be serious, but we're CSDE.)

Post-benefit webisode

2008-06-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

CSDE Webisode 1: After the benefit
In the dressing room after CSDE's benefit, talking into the camera about my insane week.

View cassandrashafferda nce's map

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)

GREAT SHOW GUYS

2008-06-06T22:28:00.001-07:00

hey guys i just want to say that i love you all and for a show that was thrown together, it was amazing and even if we planned it i dont think it could have been any better. each dance was perfect and worked out better. it shows how great dancers we all are that we can play off each other even the improv was awesome! amy and mels pieces were awesome and they are great for coming up with the choreography! i loved all the dances and of all the people in the world, im glad i got to dance those pieces with you guys! LOVE YALL LIKE A FAT KID LOVES CAKE

'Building Nothing' stills and Big Range Plug

2008-06-05T04:55:00.001-07:00

Building Nothing (2.0) 4
Originally uploaded by cassandrashafferdance

Some teasers from Tuesday's ''Building Nothing' run. Enjoy them, and make plans to see....

Big Range Dance Festival: The Dance Gathering
Sunday, June 8, 7pm
Barnevelder Movement Arts Complex
A fast-paced, widely varied, uncurated evening of 4-minute works by 16 local choreographers, from emerging to professional, representing a multitude of dance genres.

Come see our new 'n' improved 'Building Nothing!'

View cassandrashafferda nce's map

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)

View cassandrashafferda nce's map

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)

New version of an old dance, the life of a rookie company director

2008-06-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today we had tech rehearsal for the new version of Building Nothing. We were nervous going into it, but we got onstage and the piece just....happened. It was incredible.

I'm really happy with how the new version is coming along. Although we are doing an abridged version for Dance Gathering, it's not officially "finished"-- there is so much more that I want to add to it, choreographically and conceptually, but time got away from us. Regardless, we already have a notable improvement over the original, the footage from today looks great, and we're excited to present it this coming weekend.

We are also having our fundraiser in a few days, and I'm knee-deep in last-minute preparations. We're looking to fund our upcoming performances both in Houston and on the road.
That aside, the director of CSDE (e.g. yours truly) is accepting any and all donations of sanity-- I'm fresh out. I'd like to go into a little more detail here about the oh-so-glamorous life of a dance company's rookie director, but and I need to quit blog-stalling and get back to work, so I'll make this quick. Let me show you what my office looks like right now:

It was worse earlier today before rehearsal. Trust me.

P.S. Lesson of the day is this: The words "Windows Vista" and "film-editing software" should never be used in the same sentence unless you want to spend two hours head-desking. I learned this the hard way.

Meta of the Week:

2008-05-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

A text message I sent to one of my dancers:

"Hey, random question: Do you have a yard?"

(Why? We're going to do an outdoor site-specifc improv on film. We'd like to start doing more dance on film pieces, and this little improv will be a practice exercise for us in terms of camera use and editing. Or so I hope. :>)

My dancers

2008-04-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Dear dancers,
I can't tell you how blessed I am to have you in my life. You not only bring my visions to life but you are my friends, great people who keep me grounded (and smiling...and laughing...and having awesome memories).
Love,
Cassandra

Um..we rock the socks off dance

2008-04-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, just a though here, after spending a while YouTubing dance videos...

There are so many people in this world that think they know dance and know how to dance and know how to choreograph...and we knock the socks off them. No offense to them - I'm glad they've dedicated themselves to their art...but as an ensemble, I just believe that all of us have such a great background and point of view when it comes to movement.

When I dance with you guys, or see what your ideas for movement are, even if we're just goofing around at rehearsal, danny's throwing us around in the air, we're improvising together, silly-dancing, or trying to waste time while we wait for the air train...LOL

everything I see and sense in us is so deep and grounded- there's no pointless movement, and no "standard stuff".

It impresses me. ... just how cool we are :)

Love you guys!

S.L.

venturing out

2008-04-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

we had a pretty awesome show!!!! just thought everyone should know that it went fantastic and lots and lots of fun. im so glad that i got to be a part of it, thanks cass and tim! i love all you guys