Fall and Rise

Hello dear people,

Welcome to Fall, the prettiest of seasons and yet the most woefully named. I presume it's because the leaves fall, and temperatures fall, and maybe even our spirits fall a bit after the blaze of summer. But Fall is so lovely - I can't even imagine living somewhere where the leaves didn't change colour. Those shades of orange and crimson are such a natural wonder, a painting come alive. I hope everyone had a great couple of months and that each of you has an adventure to file away in the Summer of '07 collage in your mind. Adventures can be dramatic and action-packed but they can also be quiet and still. They are the journeys we take, and the way in which they vary is what makes each life different from the next.

I had a few weeks off from school, which was really nice but felt odd! Actually being home in the evening every night? What a concept. Before I knew it though it was September and class was beckoning again. I'm now in Advanced Scene Study and loving it already. This term I'm playing the role of Becca in Rabbit Hole, an absolute gem of a play. Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda on Sex In The City, won a Tony this year for her portrayal of the role. I'm very excited to get to unwrap Becca and explore how I will meld with her and vice-versa. After spending 3 months last semester inhabiting a character with severely impaired speech and limited mobility, it's SO freeing to be able to use my true voice and move naturally again.

THE 2008 V-DAY TORONTO CAMPAIGN IS KICKING OFF THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! Thus begins the amazing nearly 6-month journey that will end with the '08 events next March. 2008 is the 10th Anniversary of V-Day, an amazing international organization committed to the eradication of violence against women and girls in all of its forms. This will be my second and last turn in the dual role of Producer/Director, and although I'll be handing over the reins for 2009, I will be a diehard V-Dayer for the rest of my days and may even turn up in the Monologues as an actor once again. We'll be launching V-Day Toronto '08 with a fundraising party this Friday, October 5th at the NOW Lounge (189 Church St. at Shuter) at 9 p.m.. Cover is $8, and everyone who pays to enter will have his or her name printed in next year's programme. Local singer/songwriters Heather Alford and Nancy Lim will share some songs and there will be munchies, music, stimulating conversation and lots of fun. =) The NOW Lounge is a really cozy and hip little venue so start the long weekend by joining us! The host will actually be doing a few tunes too. The host, by the way, would be me. I'll be performing some new songs, none of which will be in my show later this month...

Which brings me to my show later this month, on Saturday October 20th, 9:30 p.m at Cameron House. I'll be sharing the evening with the fabulous Wendy Lands and I can't wait. Along with a cover or two, I'll be singing all-new material, nothing I've ever performed before. It's my first full-length show with a band since the end of 2005(!) and I am so looking forward to it. My music has been informed by a lot - both within me and around me - in the last couple of years. It will be wonderful to be back on stage singing and not acting! I realize that I've been so immersed in the theatre stuff since late 2005 that there are people who know me that have no idea that I even make music, which is so weird. I'll share a little story that I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago. I was being introduced by someone I'm in school with to another person. The person doing the introducing says "This is Tanisha. She's a fine actor who also composes a bit of music and sings a little." I'm thinking "WHAT THE?!?!" It sounded sooo bizarre to me. It was the first time that someone had ever relegated music to #2 rung on my creative ladder. Composes "a bit"? Uh, yeah... pretty much constantly since I was 15! The love I have for acting is exciting and stirring and deep but music is my heart and my songs are my blood. That will never change.

And speaking of things exciting and stirring and deep, I went to my beautiful friend Tanya's wedding just steps from the banks of Lake Simcoe on Saturday, and it changed my life. Sounds extreme, but it's true. Once in awhile you find yourself in a place, in a moment, during which you are supremely aware that you are experiencing something transcendent, witnessing the highest that is in us as human beings and sitting at the table of the divine. I was truly nurtured and nourished at that table and I left with a new perspective, a more open mind, a clearer vision and a brimming heart. Who could ask for more from a single day?

Much love to all. May you feel passion & peace, and I hope to see your smiling faces at the upcoming events. Now it's bed for me. G'nite.

xo Tanisha