Posts Tagged ‘performance
Performances this Weekend
Come meet Minnow the Painting Pony (and his sidekick Ammo the Dachshund) in person – and get your big sloppy kiss! (Or for the faint of heart – just shake his hoof!)
We’re going to have a booth at the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show on Saturday AND Sunday! Minnow & Ammo are going to be doing tricks all day long, and they’re both bringing some of their famous paintings that will be available to purchase. We even have Christmas cards!
You can catch them on Saturday from 10 – 2pm (Minnow will do a special painting at 11am, 12pm, and 1pm) and on Sunday from 11 – 4pm (Minnow will do a special painting at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm).
We hope to see you there!
2011 Pony Penning Recap: July 29
This was our last day on the island, so we had breakfast and then headed into town for some shopping. I was on a search for the book “The Field Guide to the Chincoteague Wild Ponies” by Kelly Lidard, a book that has photographs and documentation of all of the current ponies that make up the wild herd on Assateague Island. It’s a really cool book – and a must for anyone who is coming to the island for the first time or wants to learn more about the existing herd. I was able to locate Surfer Dude, Boomerang’s maternal grandfather, and Witch Doctor, Boomerang & Blitz’s paternal grandfather in the book. The rest of their ancestors have since passed away. I’m excited to read more about the herd in this book, and I’m hoping to someday contact Kelly to see if she might perhaps have any documentation of when Minnow was a foal on the island. That would be so cool if I could find out who his parents were – or maybe even find a photo of him as a foal.
After a day of shopping we grabbed ice cream at Mr. Whippy and then headed back early to the Pony Centre. A bunch of the girls wanted Minnow to make them some special paintings before he headed home after the Pony Show.
Minnow painting "Flowers for Susan"
"Flowers for Susan" painted by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Minnow painting "The Lonely Oat"
"The Lonely Oat" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Minnow & Kyley with "The Lonely Oat"
Minnow painting "Rogue Wave"
"Rogue Wave" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Minnow was more the happy to offer up his painting skills as he painted away behind the Pony Centre.
Later he did one last performance to end out his week on the island, and his final painting sold after the performance.
"Seaside Happiness" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
Here are some shots of Minnow performing on his last day…
Since my dad and sister came down for the last two days of Pony Penning, I was able to get some video of Minnow while he was painting and performing. Here are some of my favorites:
Below is Minnow’s brand-new performance, which I call “Super Pony Picnic”, that he debuted at the Pony Centre.
When we begin learning a new routine we practice it over and over in the order that it is supposed to be performed (after Minnow has learned each individual trick). We practice it so much that Minnow learns what comes next – so much so that sometimes he starts performing the next trick before I’m even ready.
However, an interesting fact about Minnow is that usually during Pony Penning week he decides at some point to make up his own order of go – sometimes even adding his own tricks. I think he does this because he gets bored with the “routine” as we have it, so inevitably he decides to add on some of his favorites – and sometimes even taking out ones he doesn’t like as much.
One of these instances can be seen in the above video. Typically after I put on Minnow’s “scarf” he’s supposed to take it off – something that later in the week he decided not to do – instead he decided it would look much better if he got onto the pedestal (which was actually not in the performance at all until the end). When Minnow ad-libs I end up having to go with the flow too, opting to let him drink his hero juice while standing on his pedestal. We ended up using this adaptation to our performance for about half of the shows, and I actually liked it a little better. Minnow certainly keeps me on my toes!
And for our last video of the week, here’s a fun performance done by the World’s only Chincoteague Pony Drill Team – isn’t it fun?
And now the countdown begins all over again for Pony Penning 2012!
Check out all of our Pony Swim Pictures at Green Horse Studios!
Live Performance! Super Dog vs. Super Pony
Do you remember when Minnow and Ammo made their first Elementary School Visit back in May? Well, the day has finally come – their live performance video is complete! My brother Taylor (the filmmaker) shot and edited this whole video – and it turned out really cool!
We can’t wait to make more school visits in the future – making kids laugh is so much fun!
If you are having trouble viewing the version above, try the one below (without the super cool super hero music):
Tomorrow we’ll resume with out pony penning recap! Yeah!
Check out Depthink Productions and Envision Event Media for all of your movie making needs!
2011 Pony Penning Recap: July 25
Well, we’re back from Pony Penning! It was a lot of work, but so much fun! Most people probably don’t realize how much time, energy, and commitment we put into preparing to perform all week long in Chincoteague. Not only does Minnow have 10 times the luggage that I do, but making sure it’s organized, canvases are prepped, paint brushes prepared, costumes made, performances are practiced – takes months and months of planning. Every year I tell myself “I’ll be super prepared” this year – and even though I’m probably one of the most organized people you will ever meet (I might have an issue) – I always seem to be working into the wee hours of the night the day before we leave for Chincoteague. And this year was no exception.
The new trailer made packing this year a little more bearable though. Instead of having to bungee pedestals, easels and paints into a bay in our two horse trailer, we now had a front and rear tackroom to work with. But with all the added storage space, we still couldn’t let little Ammo stowaway. Sadly the island isn’t very “dog friendly” as most of the parks and hotels don’t allow dogs (although ponies walking down main street to greet people is a common occurrence! ha).
Minnow made the 4 hour journey to the island with ease, just as he has for the past 3 years. This was actually the first time he had ever ridden in the new trailer, but being the trooper he is it was a piece of cake. We arrived with just a few short hours to prepare before Minnow was set to perform. The first day of performing is always the hardest – because we are yet to get into a routine. Figuring out when/where to set up his props, getting a feel for how much time between “acts” he has for a “costume change” – even for Minnow it takes a little bit to get into the swing of things.
During Minnow’s first performance of the week he painted “Peace of Paradise”.
"Peace of Paradise" by Minnow - pony penning 2011
I got to watch a little bit of the rest of the performances during the pony show at the Chincoteague Pony Centre – but it was hard to see everything while making sure Minnow was prepared for his next “act”.
I’m so impressed by all the kids that work at the Pony Centre. During the pony show they finagle ponies in and out of paddocks – including mare’s and foals, tack and untack horses – all while making sure they are in the arena at their designated times to perform. I have enough trouble making sure Minnow and I are ready to go in the arena (and I have my mom along to help me!). Most people don’t get to see the “back end” of it, and believe me – they make it look way easier than it is!
- “Stormy Sea” by Minnow – pony penning 2011
During the evening show Minnow painted “Stormy Sea” and afterwards my mom and I mustered up enough energy to head over to the Island Creamery.
Double chocolate ice cream for me – I love chocolate almost as much as I do ponies! Then it was back to the hotel for the night – where I got to read Minnow’s article that made it into the paper!
You can read the entire article by clicking HERE.
And thus our first day on the island came to an end, keep reading to hear our recap on the rest of the week!
All Business
Minnow has been all business lately as we continue practicing everyday for our upcoming performances during Pony Penning week in Chincoteague.
It should be noted that I didn’t play with dolls growing up, instead I had guinea pigs, which I liked to dress up in doll clothes. That should help explain a lot. 🙂
