Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Lac des Cygnes - Swan Lake experience




Swan Lake theme by Tchaikovsky;
image of the swan herself, Anna Pavlova
Ode to Odette

"Get my swan costume ready...[and]... play that last measure softly."  

Those were the last words of the swan herself, the incomparable Anna Pavlova. 

There is a good chance that at least a few of you reading this have bypassed your opportunity to realize your dreams of travelling the world as a prima ballerina. Our le Cygne experience allows you to revisit that dream.... if only for a few hours.

Our Ballet Mistress Madame Rouenska takes her job very seriously.  Disappointed in her own dance career, she takes out her angst on her unwitting pupils in true drill sergeant fashion.... She also moonlights as a tea leaf reader. All this adds up to the most uproarious dance class imaginable. 

This event runs approximately 4 hours and includes:
  • Rudimentary dance instruction (emphasis on rude)
  • Pointers on how to curtsy with class, catch bouquets, feign humility, sign autographs, deal with paparazzi, get free 'stuff' and lock in an infomercial
  • Feather hair adornment craft keepsake session
  • Pre-performance poser photo shoot (before you're all sweaty and shiny)
  • Videotaped prima performance - each dancer will get a brief moment in the spotlight if desired... no pushing, ladies
  • Glamorous recital reception with dainty delectables, sparkling wine (the key is the glitter), rushin' caviar, and ... wait for it .... a lovely traditional Pavlova dessert
Extras: Professional hair, makeup & photography are additional, items from the suggested Kaboodle Kit, a copy of our performance DVD.

Pre-requisite: ability to participate in the most basic of ballet steps... and look like you mean it. 

Anna Pavolva's original swan costume
Packing List: Please see our Kaboodle Kit at the bottom of this page for everything you may want in order to feel like the beautiful swan princess you know you truly are.  You may also want to bring practice dancewear, white or black shirt/top and white or black tights or leggings; byo tutu or borrow one of our scanty ones. It would also be beneficial to know how to spell your name prior to our 'signing autographs' tutorial.

Event takes place in a privately-reserved dance studio.  Please join us for this one-of-a-kind artistic encounter. It's sure to be the most fun you never had.

Event cost per guest: $55




Tuesday, May 22, 2012

As American as Apple Pie & Pin-Ups

Click here for our 2014 live interactive video workshop

“The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.” ~Betty Grable


Relive the era of innocent allure and wholesome exhibitionism, when a dimple and a stocking seam could inspire a grunt to glory.  Our All American Pinup event is a fun girly get-together, complete with baking, knitting, a hair and makeup party... and a little boogie woogie tossed in to keep things lively.


9am-3pm for basic session (elective evening activities are additional and end around 10pm)

Event basics are listed in blue. Optional extras are in grey italics.
  • Hot Mommas & Apple Pie (9-11am): Reveille! Nothing gave our boys in blue the will to hang on and make it back home like the beautiful women waiting stateside for them.  And there were few reminders as iconic as the pin-up photo. Go back with us to the fabulous 40's, a time of great courage and great music. We will conduct our morning lesson as we bake apple pie, from scratch, of course, taking photos. Includes a mid-morning coffee cake break... we're saving the pie for lunch!
  • PicKnit Lunch Break (11am-1pm): We're off to the park for a leisurely picnic lunch, during which we will have a knitting session to create beret keepsakes, pompon optional; if you'd like to stretch your gams a bit, feel free to play horseshoes or 'Frisbie'... we'll need our apple pie tins for that
  • Sing & Swing Time (1-2:30pm): Get ready to boogie woogie and wiggle at our 1940's song and dance session.  Choose to sing harmonies or jitter like a bug.  These will be the basis of our performance later. Includes a mid-segment Snickers cookies & tea break 
  • Afternoon Respite & Pin-Up Transformation (2:30-5pm):  Take this time to enjoy any of the following 
    • Treat yourself to a Mayonnaise hair treatment  
    • Practice your musical number 
    • Put your dogs up and rest a bit 
    • Primp for your evening performance
    • Professional hair & makeup, available from 3-5pm
  • Calendar Girl Cocktail Reception & Photo Session (5-6pm): Mix and mingle while waiting for your turn to pose for a Professional Photography Shoot in your Pin-Up garb. While you're at it, why not have 12 photos taken and create a calendar?
  • Pin-Up performance (6-6:30pm): Time to flaunt your perfect victory roll hairdo and kohl-lined eyes with your pin-up sisters. Whether as a singer, dancer or applauder in the audience, come cheer us on to victory
  • Supper Club (6:30-9:00pm): For pinup events held at Siren Central in Long Beach, CA, we will join the nightlife out on the town for dinner at The Sky Room. They close at 9pm on weekdays... most likely because of wartime curfew.  (Dinner plans in other areas will differ.) 
  • Pajama Party (9-?): For our for our overnight pin-ups... throw on your p.j.'s, break out the hair curlers and slather on an avocado facial mask... we'll make the popcorn and grab a film noir movie 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Water Sprite Spree

[updated 15 July 2015]
Please visit our
Naiad Springs Respite site for full details on this Mythic Adventure experience


"Come to my fathomless pond
Where it is so gently cool
Hear my notes from far beyond
Pick the rose and I will rule!" 
~The Water Sprite by Noekk

Dive into the mythical world of the Naiad at this aquatic getaway. Experience includes nymph lore and language. 


Saturday, May 12, 2012

A Site to Behold




"La joie de vivre est de dĂ©couvrir qui vous ĂȘtes"
{The joy of living is discovering who you are}

* * *

$25 Annual Enrollment Tuition 
Enroll today and start earning siren rewards points immediately

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Timeless Tales & Faebles

We all have personal tastes and opinions when it comes to fairy tales.  Whether we favor stories that are Grimm or Disneyfied, whether we believe magical beings once lived among us, and perhaps still do, or whether we believe these allegories serve as moral lessons or are merely kid-level entertainment fodder, one thing is certain, the accounts of occurrences that happened once upon a time are still fashionable and considered by many to be relevant today.


So many of the stories we love most, regardless of era, are grounded in the tradition of fairy tale and myth, with attendant obstacles, formidable villains, and of course, the hero's journey.  Film series such as Star Wars, and more recently Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter show the viability and evergreen popularity of legendary tales.  The plotlines of these beloved stories involve seemingly ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, which test their mettle nearly to the breaking point, and carve and polish their character into something altogether noble.  While these examples all have an average Joe male as their protagonist, they also have strong female characters who can handle themselves and extreme adversity with wisdom, decisiveness and powerful action -- no shrinking violets here.


“The idea of my life as a fairy tale is itself a fairy tale.”
~Grace Kelly, aka Princess Grace of Monaco
Being of a warrior mentality myself, I relate to these female archetypes, and admire their moral strength and fortitude.  However, among those I grew up with, I was definitely in the minority.  Most of the females with whom I attended school yearned to play the role of the heroines we know from most female-based fairy tales -- none other than that of the princess.  While as a child I wished to vanquish dragons, my female play friends wished to be pampered and live in luxury with a Prince Charming who would rescue them from the routine of their lives.... and can you blame them?


Few of us girls end up like Kate Middleton, marrying the heir to the throne, but nearly everyone can point to a moment in her life that was magical, if not seemingly miraculous.  I have many such moments, nearly daily, actually -- despite the fact that I do not possess an enchanted wand nor keep a cache of fairy dust at the ready. 


How have fairy tales influenced your life?  Please feel free to share your own story on our Facebook page.  And by all means, join us for our Grimmer Fairy Tales weekend getaway.  Together, we can make magic!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Bringing in the May

Queen Guinevere Maying by John Collier
'But I must gather knots of flowers,

And buds and garlands gay,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, 
mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.'
 ~Alfred Lord Tennyson


Siren School is readying for its Grande Opening and inaugural season, which takes place at the time of year in which are celebrated Beltane, May Day, and Spring's promise of new life.


In Britain, the festivities attending the advent of Spring have a century-spanning history.  Beltane, originally a Celtic observance, marked the end of winter and the coming of summer and the cattle were turned out to their summer grazing pastures. During Britain's subsequent Roman occupancy, a May feast worshipping Flora, the goddess of flowers, and Maia, the goddess of spring for whom the month of May is named was introduced into the seasonal mix. The mixture of these celebrations became May Day, along with the traditions that accompany it.


The term "bringing in the May" referred to going out into the woods and fields on May Eve (April 30),  to gather flowers and foliage to be used as Maypole decorations.  It also offered the opportunity for amorous trysts while the 'mayers' were unchaperoned at night in the woods.


By the Middle Ages, a Maypole could be found in virtually every English village. Originally, they were denuded trees, awaiting decoration by the revelers. On May Day itself, the Maypole served as the focal point for the event's  dancing and games... rather like the gathering of people in Time Square on New Year's Eve.


Based on the trending religious proclivities and morality of the generations since, Maypole festivities have waxed and waned in popularity. In recent times, Maying was embraced by middle-class Victorians who longed for the pleasant joys of a simpler time.  In their hands the celebration was stripped of its more hedonistic elements and repackaged as a sweet little children's activity.  That is when the Maypole became attached to ribbons and Morris dances.  Scholars have suggested that the exaggerated leaps typical in Morris dancing, were used to promote crop growth, just as the Romans once attempted with the clashing of sticks representing the battle between Summer and Winter. 


The foregoing touches on just one aspect of the rich, impassioned and symbolism-laden celebration of Spring's coming.  It is a practice that has traveled across both centuries and continents.  And it is one to which we hope to do justice as we bring in the May each year to kick off our school term.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

SirenQuest

Imagine sailing the seven internet seas in search of mythical creatures, stopping only to stock up on provisions, collect treasures and gaze on beautiful objects and images.  That is what you will experience when you embark on Siren Quest.

What exactly are sirens, you ask?
Are they mermaids? Women with wings? Birds with female heads? Seductive songstresses? Beguiling temptresses? There have been countless theories, but few facts. Find out for yourself as you travel to exotic web locales and garner to-die-for trinkets in search of the elusive.... siren.

Due to launch into the depths on Valentine's Day 2012, Siren Quest is an online sort of amazing race game activity.  Players will receive instructions, visit theme-applicable websites to pick up clues, answer questions to advance and figure out where the heck to go next... that sort of thing.  Participants will have inside info on siren ware and service specials, and vie for enviable 'real' prizes. 

The 'game' is a fun and adventure-based way to promote artists and businesses that are siren-friendly.  It's simple as seaweed and more fun than a cave full of eels.  Whether as a player or vendor, we welcome you to come and frolic with us in our search for sirens on our SirenQuest Facebook page.


Sunday, January 1, 2012

Siren School is in Session!

It's O-fish-al!
2012 is not the year the world ends...
It is the year Siren School begins!


In celebration of our quietly grande opening, 
please invite a friend to join you for our 2 for 1 introductory special -- good for any Fantasy Camp or Glamour Getaway experience.

After all, the more the mermaidier!