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[SteepInKline]

Originally Posted by Asako021

I was so happy with how the masquerade went. I was chaperoning my younger sister who was the Princess Tutu cosplayer who danced to Michael Jackson. It was her first masquerade and first time I have ever chaperoned for an event like that. I was apprehensive that it would be a little tense backstage--however, I couldn't have been more wrong. All of the people who were competing and who were not competing were amazing and helpful. Everyone was so encouraging to one-another and it was probably one of the best competition atmospheres I have ever seen.

It was merely just coincidence about the ballet skits being close to one-another. My sis picked skit 18--since she wanted to end up in a half-way point of the masquerade. It seems that the other dancers had the same idea. Haha. Though it might have irked some of the audiences members all of the dancers very much enjoyed performing in close proximity of one-another. My sister was able to share her rosin with the rest of the dancers before they went on that stage--which was quite slippery if you were wearing pointe shoes.

All in all we had a great experience and plan on returning with something else.
If anyone knows a Deviantart account or FB for the one pointe dancer who had the beautiful wight wings please let me know. We forgot to exchange contact information with her before she left and we were quite upset.

Your sister was awesome. She totally earned that award. (Everyone else was awesome, too!)

Also, speaking of dancing and Michael Jackson, that was definitely a trend. Is that usually the case? I might want to take that into account for next time.

[Emerald_Star]

Originally Posted by SteepInKline

Also, speaking of dancing and Michael Jackson, that was definitely a trend. Is that usually the case? I might want to take that into account for next time.

Not that I recall. I think it's actually an unusual year as far as audio was concerned. I was a stage manager for a few years and remember seeing similar sources for costumes but not audio. I think the last time I recall this happening was about 3 years ago when there were the two Final Fantasy groups that did the opera music.

[Babbit]

Originally Posted by SteepInKline

Also, speaking of dancing and Michael Jackson, that was definitely a trend. Is that usually the case? I might want to take that into account for next time.

Duplicates happen here and there, and they're usually not predictable at all. My fear was multiple "call me maybe" skits, and that didn't come to fruition at all.

Dance skits, on the other hand, seem to have drawn the ire of the audience the last few years. Dancing seems to have become more prevalent ever since we started using the 1st Mariner Arena, which is a pretty big and sturdy stage.

Personally, I have no objection to them. Trying to limit certain types of skits just makes the show even smaller. It is an open competition after all, and we plan to keep it that way.

[FS_Copyninja]

It was a year full of good taste in music!

Howdy! We were the dancing Shinigamis. This was our third year in the Otakon Masquerade and the execution gets better every time. The queuing system for acts waiting to get on stage seemed to flow a lot smoother (though it was great last year as well) and there were no audio issues this time around (I think there was a speaker or audio feed problem in 2011). The break from the last skit to the presentation of awards felt pretty seamless, which definitely can't be said for every anime convention. The atmosphere in the green room was great, as usual, and one of the best parts of the whole process every year is really how supportive all the teams are of each other.

The many hundreds of bottles of water are always appreciated as well! Overall this was one of our best Masquerade experiences from start to finish.

And Asako021 - your sister is one mean dancer.

[KairasRaikou]

Originally Posted by Asako021

I was so happy with how the masquerade went. I was chaperoning my younger sister who was the Princess Tutu cosplayer who danced to Michael Jackson. It was her first masquerade and first time I have ever chaperoned for an event like that. I was apprehensive that it would be a little tense backstage--however, I couldn't have been more wrong. All of the people who were competing and who were not competing were amazing and helpful. Everyone was so encouraging to one-another and it was probably one of the best competition atmospheres I have ever seen.

It was merely just coincidence about the ballet skits being close to one-another. My sis picked skit 18--since she wanted to end up in a half-way point of the masquerade. It seems that the other dancers had the same idea. Haha. Though it might have irked some of the audiences members all of the dancers very much enjoyed performing in close proximity of one-another. My sister was able to share her rosin with the rest of the dancers before they went on that stage--which was quite slippery if you were wearing pointe shoes.

All in all we had a great experience and plan on returning with something else.
If anyone knows a Deviantart account or FB for the one pointe dancer who had the beautiful wight wings please let me know. We forgot to exchange contact information with her before she left and we were quite upset.

Your sister was amazing! There were so many good dancers this year! I agree with how slippery it was though. I actually ended up just doing the hand motions to some of our choreography and not the feet cuz I almost fell the first time I tried to do Secret's Shy Boy twist thing. I can't really blame Otakon or the masquerade staff for that though. That's just how it is. ^^ But, yeah, that atmosphere back stage was great. I wish I would have gotten more people's contact info too.

[GeneStarwind211]

I just wanted to say I had a great time this year. I did the walk on for the Hall Costume contest. I was the Renji that had the Bankai Zabimaru with LED lights. I'm glad the audience enjoyed it. Just a little sadden that it didn't get any recognition. Thought I had an amazing prop, and the sewing of the outfit was my first. Took a lot of pride in it. I wasn't expecting to win, but maybe at least an honorable mention.

However, I'm not going to let it get me down. For now on I would just like to do the walk on when I have something I would like to show off, and not even be judged. Feedback would be nice, but really the awards don't mean anything to me. I know how much work I put into them. Also, I like doing this for myself and for the people I meet at the convention. After all it is all about getting into character.

[Asako021]

Originally Posted by FS_Copyninja

It was a year full of good taste in music!

Howdy! We were the dancing Shinigamis. This was our third year in the Otakon Masquerade and the execution gets better every time. The queuing system for acts waiting to get on stage seemed to flow a lot smoother (though it was great last year as well) and there were no audio issues this time around (I think there was a speaker or audio feed problem in 2011). The break from the last skit to the presentation of awards felt pretty seamless, which definitely can't be said for every anime convention. The atmosphere in the green room was great, as usual, and one of the best parts of the whole process every year is really how supportive all the teams are of each other.

The many hundreds of bottles of water are always appreciated as well! Overall this was one of our best Masquerade experiences from start to finish.

And Asako021 - your sister is one mean dancer.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! She loved your dancing so much when you and your group finished your skit. You guys were AMAZING!!!

[dizzylizzy]

I enjoyed having the HCC first. I actually got to see the costumes instead of, well, not seeing then. I'm usually off judging or in the Masq, so I was very happy to see them.

Everything ran smooth from what I saw. The staff was very helpful to us judges.

Thank you for letting me judge performance this year. I'm usually stuck in a room doing craftmanship! (Although I love doing that too!) Good job everyone. I look forward to next year and beyond.

If anyone would like critique on their performance, I am available. It will only be my critique and not the other 3 performance or craftmanship judges.

[FS_Copyninja]

Originally Posted by Asako021

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! She loved your dancing so much when you and your group finished your skit. You guys were AMAZING!!!

Haha thanks! Please tell her -- merde!

Originally Posted by dizzylizzy

I enjoyed having the HCC first. I actually got to see the costumes instead of, well, not seeing then. I'm usually off judging or in the Masq, so I was very happy to see them.

Everything ran smooth from what I saw. The staff was very helpful to us judges.

Thank you for letting me judge performance this year. I'm usually stuck in a room doing craftmanship! (Although I love doing that too!) Good job everyone. I look forward to next year and beyond.

If anyone would like critique on their performance, I am available. It will only be my critique and not the other 3 performance or craftmanship judges.

First off, thanks for being a judge and making the Masquerade possible! If you have any critique or feedback for our team, I'd love a PM. Hope life post-Otakon is going well

[Lilith Oya]

Hi! I was the Ryuken in the Maria Holic group! (who crushed the box with her foot during her heroic speech and then squealed over Three Kingdom cards)

I always appreciate Otakon's way of running the Masquerade. This was my 4th at Otakon and it was just as much a pleasure for the vets in the group and the newbies.

Course, nothing to do with how things were run....there's always lots of music related skits, but I was shocked that we were one of just a few comedy skits! Tons of talent though in the music/dance skits! Kinda funny how for no particular reason Michael Jackson was so popular this year. Aside from the Street Fighter skit who we knew immediately was going to win Best in Show (you guys rocked so hard) my favorite was ballet to Smooth Criminal.....that even impressed my friend Dennis who's sat through 7 of 8 masquerades I've competed in even though he hates sitting through these long shows (he does it just to support us, daw <3). Wowing him THAT much is a super hard feat and when we spoke about it the other night he just lit up! Moonwalking on your toes????? WAS SO COOOOOOL!

[Emerald_Star]

Originally Posted by Lilith Oya

Wowing him THAT much is a super hard feat and when we spoke about it the other night he just lit up! Moonwalking on your toes????? WAS SO COOOOOOL!

I have to second this. I only saw about a minute of the Masquerade while I was getting the rest of the HCC stuff set up, but I was very impressed by the moon walk en pointe.

[Babbit]

Originally Posted by FS_Copyninja

It was a year full of good taste in music!

Howdy! We were the dancing Shinigamis. This was our third year in the Otakon Masquerade and the execution gets better every time. The queuing system for acts waiting to get on stage seemed to flow a lot smoother (though it was great last year as well) and there were no audio issues this time around (I think there was a speaker or audio feed problem in 2011). The break from the last skit to the presentation of awards felt pretty seamless, which definitely can't be said for every anime convention. The atmosphere in the green room was great, as usual, and one of the best parts of the whole process every year is really how supportive all the teams are of each other.

The many hundreds of bottles of water are always appreciated as well! Overall this was one of our best Masquerade experiences from start to finish.

Thanks. We really challenged ourselves this year to do everything we possibly could keep progressing forward. A lot of our staffers took on extra roles to better distribute responsibilities, and I'm glad it translated into some great positives for the year.

DSL sound was really on the ball this year too. They really forged through setup and actually put themselves ahead of schedule by the time Friday evening was over. At times during rehearsal on Saturday, we were ahead of schedule, which is pretty rare.

[SteepInKline]

Originally Posted by Babbit

Thanks. We really challenged ourselves this year to do everything we possibly could keep progressing forward. A lot of our staffers took on extra roles to better distribute responsibilities, and I'm glad it translated into some great positives for the year.

DSL sound was really on the ball this year too. They really forged through setup and actually put themselves ahead of schedule by the time Friday evening was over. At times during rehearsal on Saturday, we were ahead of schedule, which is pretty rare.

Again, given that this was my first year, I really don't have any real frames of reference, but you guys worked really hard to make things move incredibly smoothly. And I totally realized that the whole "audio delay" thing on skit skit was my fault; I was new, so I didn't really know about audio cues vs. starting cues, etc.

I'll admit (and I'm sure everyone else in the show can vouch for this) that I was a little verbally dumbfounded (to say the least) about the number of MJ acts. Still, I think we all did really different, really awesome things with the music, and we made our skits our own.

Speaking of, would anyone like to work with me on a potential skit for NEXT Masquerade?

[Asako021]

my favorite was ballet to Smooth Criminal.....that even impressed my friend Dennis who's sat through 7 of 8 masquerades I've competed in even though he hates sitting through these long shows (he does it just to support us, daw <3). Wowing him THAT much is a super hard feat and when we spoke about it the other night he just lit up! Moonwalking on your toes????? WAS SO COOOOOOL!

Thanks so much! I have been showing everyone's comments to my sister and she cannot thank you enough! I'm so glad your friend Dennis enjoyed the show!!!

[Asako021]

Has anyone received the video of their performance as of yet?