These days, no matter your profession, it always helps to keep your mind and body in tune.As a musician/performer/composer, there is an absolute need for one's mind, body, "chops", to be kept up!In one of my latest endeavors, I have put myself up to the ultimate MUSICAL and PHYSICAL challenge.
The musical challenge: is composing a brand new 5 movement musical score to “IdEgo” to be premiered with the INCREDIBLE high flying aerial dance troupe Project Bandaloop Sep 30 - Oct 2 at the Orange County Performing Arts Cente.This piece deals, in visual art and musical themes, with the beauty and challenges within the sense of being an individual within a dense community.The music is written for Cello, Trombone, Guitar, and Turntables.It continues throughout each movement to evolve through fun and otherworldly grooves, breathtakingly beautifully melodies, and electrifying energies! http://www.ocpac.org/home/Events/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1067
[Project Bandaloop: Photo by Orange County Performing Arts Center. Click photo above to visit www.projectbandaloop.com]
The physical challenge:
is being able to perform part of the music FROM THE AIR!This has been the challenge of a lifetime to prepare to perform Trombone and Cello while hanging and repelling off of a wall [hundreds of feet above the ground] being held by nothing more than a harness and a rope around your lower abdomen.Project Bandaloop has been scaling man-made structures and sky high peaks occurring in nature for almost two decades so they have no problem making this amazingly difficult task very easy looking and quite graceful.Part of my training involves a bi-weekly trip to Bandaloop headquarters in Oakland California where founder/artistic director Amelia Rudolph has been my Guru and gatekeeper of my high flying musical experiences.In addition to the physical training, regular musical rehearsals, and trips across the country, I am also working on a special custom wireless microphone adaptor for the trombone with the head technician of Yamaha Brass Wayne Tanabe as this “ain’t your grand daddy’s trombone show”. See you in the SKY! DL
[Dana Hanging out at Yamaha Headquarters NYC click photo above to visit www.danaleong.com] [Dana Leong and Yamaha's Head Technician Wayne Tanabe brainstorming about how to secure a microphone to a trombone played in the SKY. Click photo above to buy Dana Leong Music]
DZ blogs now in HD! Join MILK & JADE as they crusade again through Europe by Plane, Train, Automobile, Camelback, Tortoise Shell, Horse and Buggy, and everything between. The shows, the travels, the faces, the places...
LIFE AFTER DARK by Dana Leong Work-in-Progress www.danaleong.com/lifeafterdark.htm FRI APRIL 17 & SAT APRIL 18, 2009 @7:30PM APOLLO THEATER 253 WEST 125TH STREET NYC between 7th and 8th Map it! Buy Tickets! Featuring 7 soloists and 1 VJ
Conceived and composed by Dana Leong Video by Johnny Moreno Lights by Miriam Crowe
Dana Leong, cello/trombone/laptop Aviv Cohen, drums Core Rhythm, spoken word/MC Yumi Kurosawa, Japanese Koto Adam Platt, keyboards Max Pollak, Latin Jazz tap dancer Val Inc, DJ/Soundscape Artist
