after her stint as Living Goddess is over, are easily done in SL. As Inarra said, “When I turned a young woman into an old lady during a series of “forever” turns, I was hooked.” Then dancer and builder, Amelie Dibou asked “[Have you] ever try to have a lake bring up a blooming lotus and then close over to soil in RL?” The dancers also talked about how performing in SL brought about the same kind of “nerves” a performer may feel before and during a RL performance.
The activity of Muse of Fire feels somewhat less focused, but then that would not be surprising for a venue that hosts different kinds of performance. Their next production will be a model of the Theatre of Cruelty of Antonin Artaud, which will incorporate Phorkyad’s interest in immersiveness and the actor/ audience connection. Both Ballet Pixelle and Muse of Fire are excellent SL options for a thoughtful and entertaining “night out” in Second Life.excellent SL options for a thoughtful and entertaining “night out” in Second Life.
Living Goddess is the seventh ballet performed by Ballet Pixelle, which started its existence as Second Life Ballet three years ago. That longevity prompts the question of how such performances get funded in Second Life. Yes, the money question that always arises when discussing supporting the arts. On the whole it’s much less expensive than in real life, but still, you need a place to rehearse and perform, the time and skills to prepare the work and build the performance space. . Ballet Pixelle has been blessed with the support of IBM, who has given them theater space on their sims. Otherwise costs associated with performances and rehearsal space are paid for by the directors, and, occasionally other donors. Neither performing group charges admission. The exception has been the appearance of a foundation within SL that funded Muse of Fire’s production of The Bacchae, among its other projects. The grant came from the FFRC (Foundation for Rich Content) that allowed Phorkyad to pay builders to build the Greek Theatre on donated land. The rest of the grant was used for props and costumes. Even so, he went over-budget, and used his own funds, but, in the end, with tips, broke even and even paid the actors. The varied funding sources as well as frequent budget woes are similar to those in the RL performance world. Ballet Pixelle and Muse of Fire are only two of the many SL performing groups. Ballet Pixelle seems more firmly entrenched given its relationship with IBM, the pre-performance and post-performance activities and their SL equivalent of a glossy picture program that you receive when you enter. These last elements are provided by the company. This is not surprising as they have had three years to discover what can be done best in SL. They are finishing up the last of Living Goddess performances in September and will then turn to their next production.
Muse of Fire Runtrop (98/149/501) Muse of Fire blog: musofyr.blogspot.com Ballet Pixelle IBM 10 (15/180/25) Ballet Pixelle website www.balletpixelle.org FFRC (Foundation for Rich Content): Sami (229/148/33) Euripides’ THE BACCHAE www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk2Anr6AWlk Orphan Train Poems www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s5i2EOYrk0
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