SHOWSTYLE THEATER – BRINGING QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT TO THE SL COMMUNITY: Josh (Thomas1 Bellic), Reporting ~ The SL Enquirer

In Preparation for the arrival of 2024, I decided to clean up my home office of much of the detritus I had accumulated in the past 12 months. Near the top of the pile of papers on my bookshelf, I came upon the following announcement for a Grand Opening.

It looked interesting, but alas, in my delays at the time, I had missed the opening. And yet, I wondered how this upstart theater was doing after a couple of months of operation. After I contacted Sagia, she and Dollystar.piers, a prior student of hers, graciously agreed to update me on the status of this particular labor of love.

Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) (JB): So, tell me, Sagia… Just what is ShowStyle Theater all about?

Sagia: ShowStyle Theater provides entertainment. It provides people a means of relaxation, and enjoyment, and escape from their daily routines. This can help reduce stress and promote mental health. We put on monthly dance shows. I know many dance choreographers who put on different acts for each show monthly. It is fun entertainment. Usually at the finale of these shows, the guests are invited to come on stage and dance with the chorus.

JB: How did you two meet? And how did you decide on a partnership in the performing arts?

Sagia: I was a teacher at Audace Modeling School where I also managed Audace ShowStyle dance theater. Dolly was a student at the school and became a dancer for the shows. She started to assist me until RL difficulties required her to take a leave of absence.

DollyStar: I was a student at the modeling school for two semesters - spring and summer of 2022. Sagia was my teacher for two different subject classes. I helped with a build on a stage and started dancing for Sagia's sets for upcoming shows. Sagia taught me how to Theater Dance and showed me how to create my own stage sets and I became a dancer and dance choreographer until I had to leave SL for a while at the beginning of this year.

JB: What sets ShowStyle Theater apart from the many other theaters out there?

Sagia: We give opportunities to all choreographers to work with us, whether they are beginners or highly skilled professionals. This allows us to produce a variety of shows with different levels of abilities and everyone is satisfied.

JB: I have heard that you sometimes draw as many as 80 people to one of your shows. How do that many people find out about your productions?

Sagia: Our sim can go up to 100 guests but we usually cut it off at 70. We make invitations and send them out along with many notices to various groups.

JB: Do you plan to host Special events here? Weddings? Funerals? Rezz Day Celebrations? Bar Mitzvahs? Blues Festivals? And how might someone learn of any scheduled activities here?

Sagia: No special events as you named will be scheduled here. We do a monthly variety show, put on by choreographers, or we can plan a one-choreographer, one-hour show. We are doing that with the McPol Show and we call that type a special. Our activities are published by invitations and group notices.

JB: It must take quite a staff to run an operation like this. How big is your staff, and who are some of the key players here?

DollyStar: Sagia manages all aspects of theater from organizing, booking, and invitations to groups to wardrobe malfunctions "dancers missing" and even DJ organizing. So much to do even Sagia has her set early in the hour to sort anything that arises.

JB: What has been your greatest challenge in building and running ShowStyle Theater?

Sagia: Organizing the monthly show takes time in coordinating all the choreographers and their time. I would say getting 6-8 choreographers with acts ready to go, particularly with a common theme, is a monthly challenge.

JB: How would you advise someone who wants to get into your line of work What would it take?

Sagia: You need to spend time making friends with members of the second life dance world. The more friends one has who are choreographers, the easier and more fun this line of work is.

JB: Who do you hope to attract to your shows? What special group of people might find MCPOL and the Amazon Dancers especially appealing?

Sagia: We attract guests who enjoy entertainment that has beautiful sets, costumes and dancers with awesome dancing.

DollyStar: Sagia booked that show for her theater for a special event featuring an artist to show that person's talent in stage set design, and theme, and to show costumes and amazing choreography and the person's dancers' artistry

JB: It must take quite a staff to run an operation like this. How big is your staff, and who are some of the key players here?

Sagia: I do this on my own. I organize each monthly show and the choreographers do their performing for each show. It takes about 7 choreographers for an hour show, along with about 15-20 minutes of the crowd dance.

JB: I’ve heard you mention “crowd Dance”? What is THAT all about, and is it popular?

Sagia: Yes, it is very popular to guests who enjoy dancing and dancing on the stage. We have dance devices all set for them to stand and dance with us alone with our music. This is usually the finale and the dances and music runs for about 15-20 min.

DollyStar: The "Crowd Dance" is the end of the show. When it’s time for the "Crowd Dance" all our guests are invited to walk on stage to dance and enjoy the experience in sync with the other dancers. They get to dance with and mingle with the artists and other invitees.

JB: I understand you also own or are involved with a couple of other businesses. Would you care to comment briefly on those other enterprises?

DollyStar: Sagia is also a choreographer, dancer, builder, teacher and an all-around woman of many hats including DJing at some larger venues. She does private DJ parties as well

Sagia: I am also a choreographer and I perform not only at ShowStyle Avenue, but at other dance theaters as well. One is the Empire Theater known as Elysium. Additionally, I do two sets a week as DJ at Runaround Sue's.

JB: Is there anything else you want to share with our readers today?

Sagia: Certainly. For those interested in learning more, about ShowStyle Theater and some of the projects we are involved with, I recommend they please check out the following links:

BLOGSPOT: http://sagiaresident.blogspot.com

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sagiaresidentcom/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TvI68BH8Ok&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuhJGH886dc&feature=youtu.be

Gyazo: https://i.gyazo.com/d91d60ac17309013b21421958d19280b.mp4

https://i.gyazo.com/450b6be9c0aa67453a1f9e29d6b8a17b.mp4

https://i.gyazo.com/033e0113191143985e959b99d99fccf1.mp4

DollyStar: If I may Josh, Sagia is a bit too shy about touting her own accomplishments. For eleven and a half years, Sagia has owned and operated Showstyle, also known now as ShowStyle Avenue. She just moved to her new location recently. ShowStyle Theater is a theater of Dance and arts. Once in a while, she will host an individual to make up around 6 or 7 sets for an hour-long show. She directs 7 different choreographs, and each artist/choreographer designs and creates a theme, dances, and set about that theme. This hard work and painstaking precision showcases the excellent talent she has in making each set stylish and centering around a given story. Costumes help with the theme and background. Sagia gives the artists a place to establish their creations and show the results of their hard work. To prep for a show takes a full hour to cache each set, the costumes, and final fixes and the DJ has to have a steady hand for on-time intervals before the curtain call show. Artists make it seem so easy and if it wasn't for Sagia holding the entire show together, the dancers and routines would fall apart. She has a keen understanding and the knowledge to coordinate and deliver an awesome show with well-known artists from around the Globe. She is so humble and to be housed at her new home on 5th Avenue is a great honor.

So there you have it folks. Start your New Year on the “right step” by catching one of these amazing performances at the Showstyle Avenue Theater. The next extravaganza, MCPOL AND THE AMAZON DANCERS SPECIAL" GIPSY KINGS" will be performed at the Showstyle Avenue Theater SUNDAY, JANUARY 7 @ 1 PM SLT

SURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Avalon%20Cove/191/79/23