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There's something about Bonnie

Some people are born to inspire others.
And man, when they know that and own up to it... It's just so inspiring!
You can instantly tell who's one of them: They only speak words of encouraging wisdom; they believe in you and your potential more than you could ever possibly; they love what they do and they do what they love and they share that passion and vision with you.
They're prophets.
If you're lucky enough and open enough, you are bound to come across one of them.
But if you're the luckiest, then you'll come across Bonnie Gillespie.
There's just something about her...
She's truly one-of-a-kind.
See for yourself and be inspired:
The Actors Voice
by Bonnie Gillespie
http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/

Jon Brion @ Largo. The best show in town.

Maybe it’s no news for you but it is for me. Jon Brion’s show at Largo at The Coronet is the best show in town.
After seven years and change of living in L.A., I finally figured it out last Friday and, as most great things in life, it happened by chance.
We’d been surfing a bit at the end of the day and I was ready to watch Cinema16: British Short Films and chill when Pedro, my fiancé, suggested we go check out Jon Brion’s show. Pedro is a film composer and he’d been curious about it for a while but I wasn’t sure. As a Magnolia and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fan, I was familiar with Brion’s work as a film composer, but I knew nothing about him as a musician and singer-songwriter and even though I consider myself quite an adventurer, the “experimental” part of his style scared me a bit.
I’m glad Pedro insisted and one hour and fifty dollars later, we both had funny stamps on our hands and smiley faces.
The room was half full when we took our seats, only a few minutes after gate opening. “Good sign”, I thought. The crowd was very eclectic. Another good sign.
We sat for a while and admired the visible stage, framed by heavy, burgundy velvet curtains and hanging dimmed light bulbs, where an array of silent instruments and curious objects anxiously waited with us. About a dozen guitars, a drum set, a weird looking piano (maybe a Chamberlin?) with all kinds of accessories and crowned with a Viking helmet, an organ, a little toy piano (smaller than the one in Punch drunk love), a vibraphone; a couple of little intriguing bouncy-type toy creatures (I don’t really know how to describe them any better) and a wide empty screen. The show hadn’t started yet and we were already dazzled. Definitely a good sign.
Still a few minutes to go and since they don’t sell any alcohol, I got us a delicious berry black tea and a yummy chocolate chip cookie (three dollars each) and I was moved by the original art deco light fixtures on my way back into the room, now almost completely full.
A presenter came up on stage, said we had made the right choice and called him in: the one and only Jon Brion. He came out and I liked him immediately. He looks just like an eleven-year-old boy who’s woken up one day as an adult. He’s tall, thin, a bit shy and very sweet, a total character at first glance. He wore a sand colored summer suit and a dark magenta shirt. His dark rebellious hair covering half his face, he said hello and thanks for being here and then he said, “It’s delightful”. Funny he said that because he’s the one who’s delightful; his delight of merely being there is contagious. He’s a kid in a candy store, about to go bananas. And you know it. You can feel it. He’s elated and it shows.
He sat at the piano and went straight to business, or, better said, straight to play.
Lucky us he gave us an original melodic, warm-up piece.
Then he picked up his guitar and asked what we wanted to hear. Everyone yelled the name of a song. He chose “As time goes by”. He then looped himself on drums, guitar, piano and vocals and created a one man’s band assembly right in front of our eyes.
He made the audience choose again. Someone pitched “Axel F”. He went to the vibraphone. Yes. Wow is right. The man kicked ass improvising the mythical Beverly Cops theme on a vibraphone. He must’ve been pleased himself, since he gave it both fingers once he was done and the crowd cheered.
Then came a piece that should be part of the MOCA permanent collection: A multi-media collage of image and sound. He played a few seconds of a black and white clip of an old style, quite pathetic Cuban salsa band. He cut a piece, then looped it. He recorded some piano and vocals over it. Then a few trippy visual effects started taking place. Then, when you didn’t think it could get any crazier, he started singing a Supertramp song over it. Don’t ask me how but it worked. The whole thing made enormous sense. It was absolutely brilliant.
Another audience choice: “Under pressure”. He picked up his guitar. He said it was the first time he’d ever play it so look out for mistakes. Someone yelled out “no pressure”, he laughed. He thought for a second, a rhetorical question came out loud “how do I do that: tun tun tun tuh ruh ruh ruh”. He announced the style was going to be Lou Reed’s style; the album, one that had come out way before he had moved here; because it’s cool, that’s why. He did it and blew our minds away. I mean, literally.
Then he treated us by scoring a “Felix” cartoon live on the piano.
One more multi-media collage: an atrocious clip of some famous eighties drummer (Iron Butterfly’s drummer) who makes mean faces as he drums away and old B&W footage of two ladies singing a beautiful, peaceful religious hymn a capella as they smoothly swing on a dangling bench. Jon juxtaposed those seemingly irreconcilable clippings, then played and looped a variety of piano specimen and one more time began singing some classic pop song over the mix.
He performed another one man’s band original piece and then said good-bye and left.
As if we were gonna let him.
He came back. Asked the audience one more time and effusively responded to “I want you to want me”. He created all sorts of effects on the piano, organ, mini-piano, vocals and percussive toys. He looped them, mixed them and distorted them. He made his voice come out like an alien choir. A disturbingly gratifying surprise and a proof of his fantastic sense of humor, which made us crack up several times throughout the night.
He then picked up a harmonica with the thingy that goes around the neck so you don’t need your hands to hold it and played an original song with the guitar.
He said thank you and good night.
But we weren’t ready to let him leave yet.
He came back one more time and said: “You made me come back, what is it that you wanna tell me”. And someone screamed: “We love you!!!!”
He asked for one more title. People threw a few. He said “keep them coming” until someone hit the right note. He picked a different guitar and played “Father figure”.
That was his final piece and a grand farewell.
Along with the excitement for having witnessed such a genius display of talent and utmost creativity, a deep sense of emptiness invaded the room. The instruments were silent again and the stage looked so sad without Jon’s vibrant stream of creation.
Jon Brion would be certainly missed. That is, until next Friday, when he comes back to delight us all over again with the best show in town.

WHAT: Jon Brion and friends
WHERE: Largo @ The Coronet
WHY: Because it’s the best show in town
WHEN: Most Friday nights @ 9:30pm
WHO: Jon Brion
HOW much: $25

Find the truth

I saw STATE OF PLAY the other night and I have to say I found it truly impressive.
The story is highly enthralling, full of twists and turns. The screenplay clever, the dialogue real. Amazing directing, great cinematography and... MY FAVORITE PART, PEOPLE!!!!! THE CHARACTERS AND THE ENSEMBLE CAST WHO PLAY THEM. They are all so textured and three-dimensional, so profound and superficial. So full of contradictions. I could not get enough of them.
The tag-line for the movie is "find the truth" and I think suits it perfectly not only thematically but also because this is what they've achieved with the movie itself: They have found the truth and that is very inspiring!
A must-see for anyone interested in the performing arts and the craft of movie-making.

Flyer!

Golden Bridge Yoga

I was there this morning for my absolute favorite class: Women's Kundalini Yoga & Meditation with Gurmukh.

I hadn't been there in over a month and I didn't know how much I missed it until I re-entered that very sacred space, a true hidden urban temple and suddenly I was beaming.
That place is so enchanting and soothing... So very inspiring!!! And it's right there, at the very heart center of Hollywood too!!!!

Has anyone ever tried a Kundalini Yoga & Meditation class before?
More specifically, has anyone ever tried a Kundalini Yoga & Meditation class with Gurmukh over at Golden Bridge Yoga?

If you haven't you should.

It's just so powerful. So amazing. So invigorating. So beautiful, magical and profound.

They have many wonderful teachers, I've taken classes with a few: Sat Siri, Tej and more.
They offer different workshops and throw special events all the time, such as the "Full Moon Kundalini Yoga & Meditation" class, which I love.

Check out their website and online schedule or just stop by. You will instantly know what I'm talking about.

http://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com/

SAT NAM.

When times are hard... Dance your heart out!!!

Remember when you were a little kid and used to break into the music the moment you heard it?
When it was hard NOT to jump, twist&turn and go up and down a million times, certain you could touch the sky and then land back on the floor without a scratch?

Maybe you don't, but one thing's for sure: You were once that kid, so in tune with your body and so careless and free. So happy to be moving, so happy to hear the music playing. So happy.

Well. I'm happy to remind you it's never too late to claim back that magical, primal and powerful connection in which your body, music and movement become one.

I had never EVER taken dance classes before in my life, until a few years ago I was going through a personal crisis and a very intuitive friend (who's an actor) told me I should start dancing.

So I reached out to the universe and I was lucky to find the most amazing, encouraging and patient teacher, Seda Aybay, who's also a choreographer and has her own dance company in Los Angeles.
http://www.kybeledance.com/index.html

She teaches over at KATNAP DANCE CENTER in Mar Vista/Venice http://www.katnapdance.com/index.html
Monday 7;30-9:30pm (intermediate /advance)
Thursdays 6:30-8:0pm (beginning/intermediate)
Saturdays 2:30-4:00pm (beginning/intermediate)
Sundays 6:00- 8:00pm (intermediate /advance

And also @:
- Downtown Dance Loft: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 1:30-3:00 pm (beginning/intermediate)
http://www.thenewlatc.com/

- Pasadena Le Studio: Tuesday, Thursday 2:00-3:30pm (beginning/intermediate)
http://www.lestudiodance.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=38

I have taken lots of friends to Seda's classes and they've all come back for more. Thing is, her classes are not only amazing opportunities to have fun and express yourself but also to work-out and stay fit.
I can proudly say in the three years I have been dancing, my body has changed significantly (for the better). I feel more flexible, stronger, fitter and healthier than I've ever been.

Needless to say, actors and performers have historically been trained in dance. It is just so fundamental for an actor to feel good in her/his own body. To be able to be free and expressive and connected to everything and everyone else in the room.
I've also read dance betters your short term memory, so if you're an actor, dance class might collaterally help you in memorizing your lines!

I will finish up by saying I find my dance classes extremely therapeutic. Mainly during stressful times I try not to miss them. They're my chance to meditate and float in my own emotions in a realm that is not verbal, logical or analytical. I can let my inner child out and about and, just like Billy Elliot says in his song "Electricity" by Elton John: "I'm free. I'm free."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoomfOZ2elw&feature=related