Adieu Le Cactus

          Dense. That's what it was. That's what I was, too, come to think about it, for not going back more often, for not reading all the material. Because there's always so much in a Maya Paris build.
          Last night was the last night of Le Cactus on SBCC after an outstanding 2 years on the sim; this morning, there's just mist and Art Blue, still falling over dead drunk on a sky platform. But last night... Maya and Simotron Aquila (shown above) were dancing when we arrived, and together with Art Blue, cautious about putting on any attachments that might mess up his hair or teeth (teeth? he has attached teeth?) we were a group of five.

          A few IMs soon put an end to that. Without exception, everyone contacted zoomed over - the words 'Maya Paris' were enough. The build was born to be a rollicking hullabaloo, and that's just how it was as one by one friends arrived, put on a record, and went bananas.

             Around the black vinyl dance floor were ranged a number of platforms and perches, where you could be swept up in crazy dances and particles. Among the party-goers were art wearers, like Eupalinos Ugajin who look his elephant for a ride on the Banana wheel....

and showed us his dinosaur...

...and Kikas Babenco, who brought a window onto the record stand

          In this whirling wonderland, perhaps none of us took the time to check out the HUD and watch the two fascinating documentaries on YouTube, one about Josephine Baker and one about Valaida Snow the two remarkable women who inspired, in part, this build. One must say 'in part', because this is a series of surreal moves that those two fantastic ladies might have loved, but surely could never have imagined. It takes a powerful leaping creativity to reach these heights, these curves, these fancies. In this Maya is surely unmatched in any art milieu for her eye for detail, and the multiple levels on which her work can be enjoyed.

          In the cold light of this morning, I returned to find that yes, Le Cactus was no more, and only Art Blue continued to wobble and wheel on the bare sky platform. Watching the two documentaries was like reading a book about a place where you went on holiday, or in a dream. 

          Suddenly it all makes more sense, and your memories are enriched by getting a bit of the backstory.  But on the night, on this last night of Le Cactus, Maya's genius was all color and movement and light. Her depths are like the ocean, we sail gleefully across the glinting surface that would not be there, were it not for the dark waters below.