The "Safe-Zone"...Literally.

In the LEGACY productions, it is my job and responsibility is to create, create, create.

Literally.  For LEGACY, it is my job to lay down the “blueprint” or path in which the show will take.   There is always a certain vision that WE work towards and that takes many people and AN ABUNDANCE of creativity.

 My duties range from the choreography to the marketing materials to the music editing for the show and on and on…. Sometimes I don’t know why I’m still sane and walking around. I’m very passionate about what I do that sometimes I forget about the amount of work this all really is. The blueprint for the show includes the lineup (music), the feel of the show, the marketing materials, set ideas and the costuming ideas; these are the primary things we have in place before we begin running. Once these have been determined, some of these areas go to their respective people and some stay with me. The costuming goes to the costumer, set to set and so on…

Editing the music for an entire new show can take me months to complete. Every show has full custom-mixed songs and they have to be perfect. I find myself making adjustment to it weeks before opening night; I always find opportunity to add “umph” to the show. Never fails.  Then there is the choreography, which also takes time. Luckily, this time around we have a assistant choreographer who has been creating awesome work. Alan Mure has been helping create amazing work for this show which also gives me time to focus on other areas.

The "Creative Room"

In the middle of all of this creativity there is a special place that I call “the creative room”which to me is also a "Safe-Zone". I’ve allocated a room in my home that is solely used for the purposes of creativity. It’s particularly used to create for LEGACY. This is a place where I can go to and get lost for hours on end. Many would be surprised to know that much of my original choreography (as in, not used by MJ) comes out of this small, mirror-less room.  All the mixes, artwork that you’ve seen, lineups, costuming ideas and much more came from this room. You don’t have to have a fancy dance studio (which I have access to outside) or a state of the art recording studio to create what I consider pretty cool stuff. All you really need is imagination, a quiet, safe place and enough equipment to get the work done.

There is something to be said about “safe-zones”… this is a term we used to use all the time in the production when doing shows at kid-friendly events. We would keep the show in the “safe-zone” to not offend. In other words, “safe zone” means you tone down the sexual dance moves and other things that could potentially get us in hot water. We would also refrain from doing certain dances at certain events because sometimes it’d be too racy for the occasion.

"Safe-Zones"

For example, the photo to the right showcases a "safe-zone"show which took place last year. Here, more than half of our audience were young adults and younger kids who are of course, very impressionable. Notice that everyone has their hands on the belts instead of the crotch. In this particular case, I failed since mine is on the crotch. Luckily, there were SO MANY of us on stage that I don't think I stood out. Here is a good example of me either not following instructions very well  given by Gloria (our producer) or my honest mistake. 

There is that safe-zone and there is THE safe-zone, literally. A place where you can create without being judged or told it’s not good enough. A place where you can lose yourself in your imagination, creativity and art. The best part is the fact that the only judge is you until your audience sees the work of course. As I said before: In this business you are ALWAYS going to be judged for better or for worse.