Women’s Fest expressions
Women’s Fest was a day-long festival of workshops, entertainment and resources for all women and their allies. The goal of this free festival was to empower women to cultivate new skills, celebrate creativity, build a stronger community and gain access to essential resources.
We shared two tables with our friend Sonia to display and sell merchandise. When we arrived in the morning, there were bagels and pastries in the front patio available for everyone. There were donation boxes scattered so people could donate whatever they could.
The first half of the day focused on exploring body politics within the San Diego queer women’s community. There were workshops held that explored practices and policies through which powers of society regulate queer women’s bodies. The workshops reflected ways to reclaim and emphasize power and authority over our own bodies.
Our tables were in the main auditorium where the performances took place so we got a great view of the talent that participated. We snuck out toward the end to take a photograph representing our empowerment. Painters, sculptors, performance artists, poets and musicians filled The Center with their works and expressions!
Nights out at Rich’s
Thursday, we took our friends visiting from New York to Rich’s ladies night Repent, put on by 607 Productions. We got there with more than an hour left to the night. The music was blasting and the crowd was dancing. The last time we went to Repent it took place in the front dance floor. This time it was in the back with the newly renovated bar where the VIP area used to be. We caught the last performance of the night on the platform next to the DJ.
Friday night brought us to Rich’s again. Instead of a reunion, it was a goodbye to our friend Lance who’s moving to Virginia. He rented a party bus, as it was also his boyfriend’s birthday. We partied inside the bus for a few hours as the driver took us all around Balboa Park, Gaslamp and Seaport Village. There was music and dancing, and fortunately, nobody fell off the pole. We arrived at Rich’s around 11 p.m. There was some confusion over at the VIP section so we were moved from the couches to the second floor booth above the DJ.
It was great to look down and see everyone dancing and having a good time. If you want a private party you’ll want to check out the second floor. The drinks and mixers are brought up and continually refilled. We even had a private bartender mix us drinks.
When the time came we said our goodbyes and the party bus took us home.
A Bit o’ Burlesque presents Cabaret Boheme
Founded in February 2007, this dance company delivers sassy, saucy and humorous entertainment. The collective experience of the 15 company members covers most dance genres; from ballet to ballroom to belly dance to musical theatre, with many styles in between; all of which they are able to incorporate into this delightfully saucy cabaret show.
The event took place at Tango Del Rey, a Spanish palace-inspired venue in Pacific Beach. The upstairs VIP area provided an unobstructed view of the performances. We received a signed photograph of the company as a little keepsake and chocolates.
There were some technical difficulties that delayed the show but the audience took it in their stride as they ordered drinks and food. The waitress was attentive and the host apologized several times. She encouraged the audience to cheer for the performers to come out and also had a raffle which helped deflect from the minor mishaps.
The Can Can girls turned up the heat in Fever and made the audience laugh silly with John and Marsha. Aside from the company members, they had several of their Bombshells-in-Training of The Bombshell Experience perform.
The costumes were beautiful and the performances were very entertaining. In between, the only man in the company, serenaded the crowd with cabaret songs.
The mix of dance, song and comedy made for a nice Sunday night out.
