We've somehow made it to February and although 4 weeks have gone by, it feels like 4 years.
As an Angeleno, we've had QUITE the month. On the night of January 7th, we had the most intense windstorm which resulted in the rapid spread of not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 (or 5 if you want to count San Diego) damn wildfires in succession of one another. Now as a Southern California girl, we are quite used to wildfires. It's actually healthy for wildfires to happen in our terrain. But what transpired that night was anything but healthy.
I live in the San Gabriel Valley, which is about 25 minutes south of where the Eaton fire took place. I thankfully did not have to evacuate but that didn't mean we didn't feel the impacts of the fires. The windstorm alone that night was enough to stress us all out. I was actually driving home from teaching in Pasadena that evening and let me tell you - I NEVER want to drive in those conditions ever again. Multiple trees on the streets, debris everywhere, and at one point the wind was so strong it physically pushed my car to the side for a bit. AND I was on the freeway. Thankfully everyone else who was on the road that night was also being incredibly cautious and drove slowly through the streets. When I drove into Alhambra, I was shocked to see some areas completely out of power. It made me nervous and I prayed my area still had electricity. Thankfully once I got home, I saw that the lights were on and everything was fine. But the walls and windows shaking loudly in our house was enough to freak us out throughout the night.
The next morning came and I started getting ready for work. I was teaching my newest morning class at People's Yoga in East LA so I was both nervous and excited to debut this new class of mine. As I woke up and started making my tea, I opened the door to my room and immediately smelled smoke. I looked outside and was in shock of how orange the sky was at 6:30am. Despite these alarming things, I kept getting ready for work because that's just what I would normally do. At around 7:30am, I get a text from my boss letting me know we have to cancel class until further notice. I was in the middle of straightening my hair so I put the iron down and looked outside once again at the ominous orange-red sky and then it started to dawn on me that this is kind of bad. Now that I had the rest of the day to stay indoors, I took a look at the Watch Duty app and then it hit me like a ton of bricks - our city was on fire and people's houses, businesses, and schools were being reduced to nothing but ash. It's not just kind of bad, it's REALLY bad.
I remember I had a rehearsal scheduled that night for a show we were supposed to have that week at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) so even though my class got cancelled, I figured rehearsal could still happen, right? It was originally scheduled at my studio Athletic Garage in Pasadena, so I was a bit nervous regarding if it was even safe to be over there. Eventually my boss let me know that classes and rentals were all cancelled. Oop, there goes our rehearsal. I text my collaborator Joy and we move the rehearsal to North Hollywood. It should be fine over there, right?
We went about the day anxiously checking the Watch Duty app for hours on end. Joy and I somehow kept planning as if this show and rehearsal was still happening, but it was a weird feeling to be witnessing multiple cities on fire as we plan for this comedy show. It's a hard feeling to explain - it really was an out of body experience trying to stay "normal" during a crisis. As we got closer to the rehearsal time, our dancers concerns kept growing and Joy and I had to make a decision about what to do. Then around 7pm that Wednesday night, the Sunset fire broke out and Joy decided to evacuate. Rehearsal was cancelled.
The next couple days felt like a haze. My agent sent me an audition and I really filmed a self tape during all of this chaos. As I was memorizing my short monologue for this McDonalds commercial, I had to stop and laugh about what the hell I was doing. I can't breathe, my eyes hurt if I go outside, my community is scared and struggling, and my ass has to learn this McDonalds Gen Z dialogue by 3pm?? Welcome to LA, baby.

If you ask any Angeleno their experience, a lot of us have stories from that entire ordeal because the city is collectively grieving. We're also collectively coming together to make sure our community is safe and supported. I was able to bring some drinks over to an evacuation site in Pacoima on behalf of Island Pacific Market and doing that together with community was truly heartwarming and inspiring. I'm proud of my city. We keep each other safe.

As I'm writing this, we finally had rain last weekend for the first time in almost a year. The air quality is a bit better, all the fires are 100% contained, and LA is finally able to collectively catch their breath. Shout out to all our firefighters and first responders. These past weeks have been a blur, but I'm so grateful that our community stepped up for one another.
Now during all of this, the inauguration happened.
Ugh.
That alone deserves an entire post on its own, but I did want to mention that because that plus the fires is why the category has been chaos this entire month. Oh but there are some good parts! During all of this, I was able to go to San Francisco for the first time to perform in SF Sketchfest. Joy and I re-debuted an old musical dance sketch and not to toot our horn, but it absolutely slayed, lol. We were supposed to debut this in LA first, but well, you know how that went. But don't worry, I'll let you know the next time we perform it in LA. And then the week after my SF show, I danced with my dear friend and Taiwanese American drag superstar Miss Shu Mai for Lunar New Year at Beaches Tropicana in WeHo (formerly known as Heart which was formerly known as Rage). In addition to these shows, I booked another residency at a school in South Central where I'll be choreographing for this elementary school's multicultural show. I did this same gig last year and it's an honor to be asked to come back. Not to toot my own horn again, but I f*cking did that. And that's on building community trust and connection. Period.
So for the age old question - "how are you doing, Ally?" I'm ok. I'm ok as anyone can be during this time. As frustrated as I am towards our government, I'm also very motivated and inspired to create new work and strengthen connection with community. Like Maya Angelou said, "and still we rise."
Thanks for reading, chaotic bestie. I hope you're staying safe and well. Happy Black History Month. Happy Love Day. 'Til next time.
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