Thanksgiving!

Today we're celebrating Thanksgiving all over America, and I too am grateful for many things.
Through my life, women have played a huge part in my destiny.
My mother passed when I was 5, and that changed a lot of things in my life, it made me look at things differently.
At 13, I was saved by my great best friend at the time, A.G, who supported me and encouraged me to be good for many years.
At the same age, I met my Swiss friends who played a great role in me keeping my sanity. The mother, J.L was a great influence in my somewhat good behavior over the years.
Rosella Hightower, was another woman who believed in me, when everyone else didn't. She took me in her company, as a dancer, and through painful teaching and endless guidance, allowed me to dance.

Her daughter, Money Robier, was also extremely supportive of my acting and performance in general.
The next woman, is Martha Graham. Though I never met her, she built the bridge, that brought me to America. It is because of Martha, that I left my life in the French Riviera, and pursued an international dance career.
Once in New York, and dancing, the next woman that changed things around was, Jacqueline Chambord. Madame Chambord, was the one who trusted me as a choreographer and allowed my company, Saba Dance Theater, to perform for several years at the French Institute Alliance Francaise. She also dedicated two full pages in her book, Manhattan Rendez-vous, to my company.

http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-rendez-vous-French-Edition/dp/235593102X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353620244&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=manhatta+rendez-vous

The next person, is not a woman, and is and has been my closest friend, mentor and teacher. Bill Hopkins, has shown me, love, patience, guidance, support in every project I bring to the table.
Bill, was introduced to me by my dear Italian friend B.A. So thank you B.
In addition to these persons, I am eternally grateful to the hundreds of students, who never give up and never surrender to laziness and fear, and who continue to take my classes around the world.
Yes, I am grateful to all the persons above, and of course my close friends, who in a daily basis, from New York to the French Riviera, to Lausanne and Mexico City, I thank you all my friends, for listening to me, guiding me, supporting me along my life.
I love you and there's nothing you can do about it.

Sandy!

Two weeks after hurricane Sandy hit, I'm finally ready to talk about it. On that crazy windy Monday, October 29th, I was enjoying the warmth of my living room, watching Harry Potter 5 in blue ray, gift received for my birthday by my roommate (Keith). Midway through the movie, around 7.30PM, the power went out.
Darkness, filled the house and after lighting a few candles, Keith and I sat on the sun room.
Outside, the last rays of sunlight, quickly disappeared behind the horizon, to leave nothing but a black canvas. After chit and chatting for a while, I decided to go out and explore a bit.
Dressed in an orange raincoat, covering my body all the way to my knees, I was finally ready to face Sandy. As I walked in my street, I realized that, though the wind was extremely violent, very little rain was falling. Already branches and leaves were covering the streets and sidewalks. Around the corner, a few houses down the street, a large tree had fallen and destroyed the power line and blocked the access of the street.

Once home, we noticed blue lights coming from all around the neighborhood. At least five power lines exploded, in a beautiful blue light. It reminded me of "War of the Wolrds...." This called for an early night, as I was tired anyway.
Waking up around 6.30AM, did my meditation and yoga in the sun room. The sun light began to show around 7AM and allowed me to go out. The rain had stopped, still no power and I realized no heat.
In the street, I began to gather sticks and such to burn in our fireplace. The day went on, like gatherer. We ate the food from the fridge first and got ready for bed.
Until Friday night when the power returned, my mornings were outside, gathering wood, then inside reading a little and minding the fire.
I even painted a a canvas I had for a while, and will be a great gift for one of my friend's upcoming birthday.
During the whole week, no news, no music, no phone, no facebook, no transportation, and no access to fresh food. We had water, but had to be boiled. Hot water was available, but potentially soiled.
As I think about that week,  what I missed the most was LIGHT. All that time, and not able to read more then a couple hours, because the flashlight ended up being hurtful for my eyes.
No light to paint, write, clean, fix, cook....Darkness.
All this time I thought of Shakespeare and Molière, and many more who wrote by candlelight. What kind of candles did they have? I want those...Because mine were not strong enough.
As power was restored, I returned to TV and Facebook, and apart from personal stories, I read on my friends feeds, I did not know anything about what had happened. If you were home that week, with power and heat, you probably watched the news, and saw the devastation of Sandy, over and over, replaying the most sensational images available. Like the New York FDR totally flooded, or the floating houses near the Jersey shores, or the drowning cars, broken trees, burning houses....
Well, I haven't seen anything of it, and still today, I randomly find clips on youtube of the damage Sandy left us with.
One thing for sure, I'm getting a solar panel iphone charger, and a powerful battery operated lantern, for next hurricane.
Hope you were all safe and healthy.
Love.

My Birthday!

Every year in October, I begin to feel a bit blue. Nothing dramatic really, but I just feel a lack. This year I finally came around why. Born on October 26th 1972, I can remember only a few times my birth was celebrated.
The first time I was 3, and it is the only time I recall while my mother was alive, as she passed when I was 5. Another birthday that counted, was my 15th, when my good friend Alex took me for the first time to a Chinese restaurant and threw a party that was memorable.
My 20th celebration takes a big place in my life, but only for the wrong reasons. My reel father had a party for me that was just the wrong party, and it was also the last birthday I celebrated before I came out. For my 36th celebration, I was at the Petrossi's (Dear friends of mine), in Biot, South of France, and that was the last time I saw my adopted father cheerful and alive, as he passed the following June.

My dance students surprised me at the end of the class, with chocolate cupcakes and a glittering top hat. FUN! <3

As I sum up the events around my birthday, and throughout my life, I understand why I become apprehensive.
But this year, I turned 40, and it's about time I let go. From now on, I will celebrate my birthday and treat myself. I will cherish my life and my many friends who once again this year, have showed me their love and support for days before and after my actual birthday.
To me, the number doesn't matter, as I feel great and luckily I don't feel a physical change. Celebrating life has been my motto since 2001, and I will continue to practice it, in my everyday life.
Thanks for reading. Love is the only thing to heal the wounds of the world.