Author: Tonya

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MELANIE LAPATIN AND BENJI SCHWIMMER STAR IN "LEADING LADIES"

 

So excited! I’ve been hearing about this ballroom-based movie Melanie LaPatin has a role in for a while now and it’s finally being released. It stars SYTYCD season three winner Benji Schwimmer as well.

Here’s the synopsis:

“Nothing matters more to the Campari family than ballroom dancing. When star daughter Tasi reveals she’s pregnant, larger-than-life stage mom Sheri reluctantly turns to her other daughter, Toni, to win the upcoming dance competition. But Toni’s a little distracted since she’s fallen madly in love with Mona. Now Toni is under pressure to pull it together, train for the dance, and find the courage to publicly declare her exciting new love. Packed with astounding dance sequences and an infectious pop soundtrack, Leading Ladies is alternately outrageous and touching, and sure to please everyone from film buffs to dance lovers to Hairspray fans.”

So far it’s hit several film festivals, and if you’re in New York, it’ll be showing at BAM on August 29th. There will also be a pre-showing Q&A with directors Erika Randall Beahm and Daniel Beahm. It’s at 7 p.m.

Visit BAM’s website for more details on the August 29th showing. And here’s the movie’s site for updates on when it’ll premiere nationwide.

Melanie is a natural actress, and this sounds like the perfect role for her (I’ve often imagined her in the Patti LuPone Gypsy role). And will be fun to see Benji on the big screen too. I can’t wait :)

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEMI-FINAL

So, Tyce Diorio guest judges tonight, in addition to the regular three. But the judges’ opinions no longer matter this week; it’s all up to the voting public.

First on is a Tyce Diorio Broadway number to Guys and Dolls involving all four finalists. I thought this was pretty fun though it didn’t really blow me away. Lauren stood out the most to me; she had really beautiful form throughout and danced with a lot of spark, as usual. Kent’s backflips were a trip. The other two were fine.

First on competitions-wise is Lauren dancing an Argentine tango with Pasha. I thought this was really beautiful. More beautiful and romantic than steamy, but I loved it. I thought her leg lines were gorgeous, I loved how she danced on her toes, on releve, throughout, I love how almost balletic it looked. I love balletic-looking Argentine tangos. I think it’s the most ballet-like of the ballroom dances, and I feel like she understood that and drew that out, via her contemporary training. I totally agree with what Tyce said, about how the silences here were golden and she really drew those out. Mia tells her she just became a woman and she laughs. Mia then says she’d just become a woman until she giggled. Don’t the judges say so and so has become a man / woman every week? I think she was laughing because of that. Imo.

Next is Adechicke dancing African jazz with Lauren.

Continue reading “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEMI-FINAL”

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GALLIM DANCE UPCOMING AT THE JOYCE

 

 

 

From August 9th through 14th, Gallim Dance (photographed above), which I highly recommend, will be performing at the Joyce Theater. I recently saw them rehearse the program they’ll be performing, Wonderland, and I loved it. Young artistic director and choreographer Andrea Miller has studied dance in Israel with Ohad Naharin and has danced with his excellent company, Batsheva, and it shows. This is the kind of modern dance I most love: high energy, full of meaning, thought-provoking, and that really has something to say.

Gallim will be sharing that bill with Camille A. Brown, who’s choreographed for Alvin Ailey and Urban Bush Women and whose work I really like.

Alternating nights with them are two other female choreographers and their companies – Monica Bill Barnes and Kate Weare. I’ve found their work by turns clever, funny, and provocative, and I recommend them as well.

The Gallim / Brown bill is August 9, 11, 13, and 14th, and the Barnes / Weare is August 10, 12, and 14th. Go here for more info.

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JENNIFER BELLE REHEARSED PROFESSIONAL LAUGHERS AT DANCE NEW AMSTERDAM

Ha, I love it when my two favorite subjects – dance and lit – collide! A favorite author of mine (ever since her Going Down days), Jennifer Belle, publicized her latest book by hiring actresses to read it in public places throughout New York and laugh hysterically while doing so. She happened to audition the actresses at Dance New Amsterdam, the large studio in lower Manhattan that’s a favorite of small dance companies for inexpensive rehearsal space and that’s recently been in danger of closing due to lack of funds. Anyway, read the rest of the rather amusing story here.

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BRIEF BLOGGING BREAK

Hey you guys, I just wanted to let you know I’m in the process of re-modeling my website a bit. I should have the new site up very soon – I’m hoping the beginning of next week. At this time any new posts here are not automatically going to transfer over which means I’ll have to manually add everything. So, I probably won’t be posting again until the new site is up.

Thank you SO much to everyone who is being so wonderfully supportive of my book, by the way. The Kindle version is still on the Amazon top 100 list and is still at this time at number 1 on the legal fiction and anxiety disorders lists. I’m more thrilled than I could ever express. I’m just so happy people (well over 1,000 now!) are reading it.

Anyway, will be back soon! In the meantime, happy first international dance day everyone!

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PLEASE PLEASE!

Hey you guys! I have the hugest favor to ask 🙂

So my novel in e-book form has been climbing the Amazon best-seller charts, winning awards and getting good reviews. I’ve been told that if it continues with this success that there’s a chance I could get picked up by a good publishing company, which is my dream beyond dreams! So, I’m just asking you all to spread the word! It’s about a young Manhattan attorney with an anxiety disorder called Globus Hystericus, and it’s comical in places, but also very serious. Reviewers have found it both entertaining and thought-provoking. People who like books about lawyers, women’s fiction, or books about anxiety disorders seem to be liking it the most. It’s currently 99 cents in e-book form and is $14.99 in the paperback version. But since the e-book version is doing so well and people seem not to mind taking a chance on a new author at that price, I’m trying to get the word out about that one. So if you know anyone who reads e-books (the Kindle version is downloadable onto any e-reader as well as a PC or Mac) and likes the kind of fiction mentioned above, please let them know!

Thank you so much you guys!

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 7

Yay, no injuries tonight!!!

Toni Reopath (is that how her name was spelled?) is a guest judge. Ballroom dancer. I haven’t heard of her but I’m thrilled there’s finally a ballroom judge in the house!

First Kent dances Cha Cha with Anya in a Jean Marc routine. Well, I thought that was very good for someone who isn’t trained in that style. I didn’t think it was anywhere near perfect. It looked way too jazzy, which is how contemporary dancers always look dancing Latin to me. Too loose-kneed, too fluid, and not enough sharpness. I agree with Toni saying it was better and he was more grounded. Very true. He was better but it still wasn’t all there. Haha, I love what he says in response to Mia’s face critique: “I’m sorry, I’m trying not to do anything with my face; it just feels good to express myself and I forget.” (I mean, not word for word but in sum.)

Next Robert dances a Stacey Tookey contemporary with Kathryn. Wow, what a beautiful song (slowed down version of Heaven is a Place on Earth) and gorgeous routine! One of the best contemporary routines I think I’ve seen on the show.

Continue reading “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 7”

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KINDLE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

I am today’s interviewee on the new blog, Kindle Author, which is for people who are thinking about publishing their books via Kindle. I think it’s my longest interview yet and I blabber on and on about my own writing and publishing journey, the reader outreach I’ve tried to do, and the advantages I’ve found of publishing in e-book form. If you’re an aspiring author, I highly suggest subscribing to that blog; he’s got some really good interviews up.

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ENTER THE MYMUTATION ONLINE DANCE COMPETITION

 

I received this email yesterday from the marketing department of the Sydney Opera House in Australia announcing a competition they’re having as part of their upcoming Spring 2010 Festival.  They had the same competition last year and it was a huge success. I thought some of you guys might be interested in entering. There’s no geographical limitation; it’s a YouTube contest and anyone can enter.

Here’s the info they sent me:

MyMutation is an online dance competition, where competitors dance their take on a starter solo choreographed by Kate Champion (Director of Force Majeure and Judge of the competition) and then dance a further 20 seconds in their own style. The entries are submitted online through our YouTube competition webpage, the link can be found on the e-card below. Entries close 10 August and the competition is open to dancers of ALL ages and styles. If you get your dance moves on early and upload your entry before August 1 you will also to go in the draw to win a SONY bloggie.

Prizes for the winner include $2000 cash, a wonderful SONY prize pack and also the opportunity to work with Kate and dance on the forecourt of Sydney Opera House on 26 September as part of our Spring Dance Festival (expenses paid trip to Australia!). The festival runs from 31 August until 26 September, and involves some of the world’s leading choreographers. Some of the top names include Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, world’s greatest tap dancer Savion Glover and Gideon Obarzanek (in his first solo performance in 20 years!). There are also some free events, including the MyMutation winning performance, Transports Exceptionnel and Dance on Film.

Click here for more information, demo videos, and instructions on how to submit.

Have fun, good luck, and let me know if any of you submit anything!

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KINDLE NATION DAILY EDITOR'S NOTE

I’m today’s sponsor of the fabulous website Kindle Nation Daily‘s daily email. Look at what the editor wrote in his note! (I sent him a review copy of Swallow.)

(Editor’s Note: Ordinarily I don’t say much to embellish the material provided by authors and publishers for our sponsorship titles, but it’s not often that — for a mere 99 cents — we get to play a part in discovering a new novelist who is destined for very big things, as you can see from the 5-star reviews from some of the top Amazon reviewers to the great blurbs and book description below. As one of Tonya Plank’s first readers among the citizens of Kindle Nation, I promise that you are in a for a real treat. -S.W.)

How sweet is that! It’s from an email, but I think you can access it online here, or here.

Update: Only minutes after this email went out my book shot up the Kindle bestseller charts, making #307 on the overall Kindle charts, and #3 on the Legal list! 😀