I had a blast on Wednesday leading up a staff open mic at KQED (again). I wanted to create a safe space for folks to share their talents and passions with each other, and I think we achieved that! We had eight performers share their gifts with an enthusiastic crowd of about 40 staff. Seeing…
Category: Dancing / Music
Just Another Dope Night at Panther Skate (Photo Essay)
I shot a bunch of pics at Panther Skate Plaza on Thursday night to use for a photo essay I’m producing for work. Here’s what I shot. Panther Skate Plaza Photo Essay by Rik at KQED Here’s the pics embiggened with the same captions. You get to see so many fun skate setups at Panther!…
Three jobs least impacted by AI are…
“The jobs least likely to be impacted by AI are dancer, athlete and roofer.” – Ethan Molick, AI Expert See Ethan Molick’s blog www.oneusefulthing.org for more insight into the impact of AI on work, education and life as we know it.
Interviewing Sugar Sullivan and Barbara Billups at Swingin at the Savoy 2024
I had the honor of interviewing lindy hop and tap legends Sugar Sullvan and Barbara Billups at Swingin’ at the Savoy 2024 a couple of weeks ago. Sharing the stage with these two dancers was such a treat. Paulo Sentio was gracious enough to provide these amazing pics from the event.
I’m in a SkateLyfe Video!
Check me out at 3:23! My job here is done.
“Find Your Light”: The Importance of Being Seen
A Friend brought up at Quaker Meeting a few months ago the theater term “find your light.” Kaily Hansen and Ruthie Fierbird define it this way: This means you are in the dark on stage and need to step into the light. The only light that follows an actor is the spotlight. When a spotlight…
“Maybe Somebody Else Needs Me” (quote)
Wise words from Bay Area house dancer Lauren Benjamin about entering dance battles: If I feel the drive to do something, I just do it, before I can talk myself out of it. Maybe it’s not always about me. Maybe somebody else needs me to be there at that time. Lauren Benjamin
2024 Intentions: More Stamina, Skate Travel and Video Essays
I don’t tend to set “resolutions” for the New Year, which feels a bit too confining and unrealistic. Instead I do like to set “intentions” to give me direction and motivation. These are more like things I am very interested in and want to explore, but without set quantitative goals or deadlines. So not “I…
Who’s Yehoodi: The Story of a (Mostly) Online Dance Community
Well I finally finished the oral history of Yehoodi.com, a project I started back in May 2023. It’s not perfect, but I think it does a good job of highlighting the many ways that Yehoodi touched people’s lives over the past 25 years. This was the biggest personal writing project I had taken on for…
2023 Highlights: Tokyo Disney, Closing Yehoodi, Skating, Knitting, Baking
Japan Disneyland Bucket List Trip The biggest highlight of the year for me was getting to go on a bucket list trip to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea last May. Getting to visit the two best Disney theme parks was a dream come true. Of course, I had a lot of other lovely adventures in Tokyo,…