[ozma]

I don't know when we finished photographing the first costume, but the two hour mark was behind us by then and we didn't talk about it. My internal voice was whispering "You don't really need to do two costumes...you have a workshop tomorrow...you're bloody knackered." But Nam and Momo (who are not beholden to the elementary school teach hours I am forced to wake up for every week and thus are the night owls I once was) were enthusiastic and ready to go. Instead of complaining and giving up I asked Momo to free my thumbs and forefingers from my nails so that I could change my own costumes and use the bathroom.

By popular demand, my hair stayed big, thus keeping me from too many hair tosses. They felt the dead-sexyiness outweighed my desire to have hair-tossing action and that veil tossing and skirt-flourishes and spins would give me the motion I craved.

While Momo updated my face for my new costume Nam set up his second backdrop. Instead of the endlessly unrolling white paper we now had a huge cloth backdrop (and floor) with color modulation due to dye and crinkles that could be colored this hue and that depending on the gels he employed. It was new to him.

We did various lighting test shots, adjustments and started shooting. Nam told me that I didn't need to adjust the floor portion of backdrop so often at which point I explained that a cloth floor and multiple spins weren't mixing. I inevitably wound the cloth around my toes and had no smooth space on which to pivot.

We took another break. Nam and Momo secured the cloth to the floor with tape.

I drank my fruit-veg juice and put on up beat music for the second set. Balkan fusion, Turkish Rom, and brass galore. Wake-up time.

First we shot dance and spins. This was fun. This was me getting into the music that I love the most and being as much as I can be me in the situation.

Whenever it was time to adjust the lighting, a shot, whatever, and my performance was not needed I would stay in place and perform a silly shimmy dance of sorts to keep my mood up. Shake it out. Make all those grotesque faces that I'd been dying to make. Giggle.