Kirby and dance shows

At the HSC conference, Kirby was on a panel about TV and Video Games. People in the audience were trying to suggest that IF kids watched TV or played video games, that's all they would do. Rose Sorooshian was the panel leader, and pointed out that everyone up there was a martial artist (all black belts but Kirby), and in listing other activities, Kirby mentioned having worked on the stage crew at a dance festival.

First, here's a photo from when Kirby was 12 or 13. The dancer is his friend's mom, Carol. He had gone with her to set up for a performance.



And that "dance festival" he mentioned so politely in Sacramento was this, in April, 2010: Texas Burlesque Festival

He didn't dance, but he did end up on stage (click to embiggen):


I'm putting these here partly for storage and juxtaposition, and partly just for the general purpose of showing what kinds of things can come along in busy lives for kids who are trustworthy and voluntarily helpful.

Another thing, for the record, about the Garfield shirt. It came from the karate dojo where Kirby studied for years, and helped with the young children's classes. He didn't get a black belt because the school had a strict rule that no one under 18 could go above brown belt, and after he was grown he was busier and generally doing other things (including still teaching the kids' classes for quite a while). But the owner liked him and trusted him enough to have him housesit. The dojo is in a building that also houses a martial arts supply store, and the sensei lives in back. As a teen, Kirby stayed the weekend two or three times when the teacher was out of town. Big responsibility. No dancing involved... just the shirt and the "trustworthy and voluntarily helpful" connection.