On the eve of the Autumn Equinox I wish you a very Happy First Day Of Fall!
Even though it’s sunny and hot here in my
native Los Angeles and doesn’t feel like autumn at all, every Solstice, I get
the urge to prepare for the new season dance-wise. And for those of you in
places where the weather actually changes
according to the season, it’s even more imperative!
The first thing I do is go
through my costume closet and take a look at everything to see what needs
mending, alterations or some other kind of attention. I get out my sewing kit and re-do hooks and snaps, repair any loose beads or dropped hems, and see if anything needs to be washed
or dry cleaned. I check my dance shoes
to see if they need to be repaired or replaced, steam or iron my veils, and add
new elastic to my finger cymbals, and replace the cedar chips in the air-tight
boxes where I store my feather fans.
Most of us have costumes that we wear less
often during summer- like those with sleeves, more coverage, or stage creations
hade of velvet…now’s the time to bust out those beauties, cause they’ll come in
handy during these colder months.
I also re-stock my gig bags and class bags with
new supplies for the chilly season, adding a heavier cover-up plus things that come in handy in drafty dance studios or back
stage, like leg warmers and a light dance sweater or hoodie. I make sure each gig bag includes a little
emergency kit with bobby pins, safety pins, needles and thread, Band-Aids,
feminine protection, pain reliever tablets, and stuff I blow through constantly,
like breath mints, hair spray and body glitter.
Fall is a great time to check your stage make
up, too. This might not be pertinent for
Goth chicks, but as the seasons change, your skin tone is probably changing,
too! The transition from being a sun-kissed, beach babe to your non-summer complexion means that you’ll need to address
your skin products and foundation.
Now is the time to get a slightly thicker moisturizer
or serum to protect your skin from the cold and rain- might as well get a jump-start
on it, right? And you'll probably have to
blend a couple of tones of foundation to get your “transitional” skin evened
out. I usually take a clean new travel-sized container and mix the two colors
directly into the container. Remember that for stage work, if your foundation is
a shade or two darker than your actual skin tone, it won’t look odd; it’ll just
make you appear healthy and robust.
At the change of seasons, I also throw away
any cosmetics that have run their course- especially items like mascara or
creamy eye shadow or eye make up primer.
Because these are wet and can attract bacteria every time you use them,
in order for these products to not potentially cause an infection, their life span
is usually only three months, anyway. I date mine with a sharpie pen and get
rid of them at the three-month mark.
Right now is also a fantastic time to get a
jump on your holiday season gigs, too!
Show producers and private
parties begin booking for the holidays well before the end of October…because if they
don’t, the prime days- especially weekend nights between Thanksgiving and the middle of December,
will already be taken!
Send out emails with descriptions of what
shows and service you can offer during the holidays now. Make the tone friendly and
professional, and alert your previous clients as well as sending an email (or
hard copy promotional package) to venues like nightclubs, theaters,
restaurants, banquet halls and to individual event planners in your area.
Tune up your technique and start making your warm-ups a little longer and more thorough; the cold weather can seize muscles and some of us feel the damp in our joints, too. Start setting choreographies for your holiday gigs now… and take the next
few weeks to make sure that your special holiday costumes are either gig-ready, or at least that construction has started!
If you teach, this is also a fantastic time to contact the studio where you’re work-
or where you’d like to work, to discuss
class and workshop plans and time slots for 2015!
And as of right now, it’s only a few days until
October! Can you believe it? I sure as hell can’t!
Now is
also the time to practice saying NO…because
in a couple of weeks, everyone and their baby sister are going to be hitting
you up to borrow your expensive stage wear to use as Halloween costumes!
#
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