The Original Jules

Photo Story by: Nicole LeBlanc

Julia Geiger is one of the finest dancers of our generation.  She possesses a great confidence, exudes strength and power in her owned grace and beauty, always commanding the spotlight on any stage.  Shakespeare pointed out to us that “the world is a stage”, and Julia reminds us of this truth every day.  This showgirl is a storyteller that is reflective of her extended ballet vocabulary and mastery of core technique, executing each choreographed number flawlessly.

Julia is on her way to becoming one of the greatest dancers of our time; on the path toward being known as one of the most influential artists, and highly contributes to the overall wealth of talent and treasures within our performing arts community of the Bahamas.  We remember Julia’s performances always as memorable, impressionable, and inspiring – breathtakingly so, her grand gestures of exquisite theatrics are an eye catching habit that is based on such precision that she makes it look easy.

Photo Story by: Nicole LeBlanc

A dancer, highly skilled in ballet, tap, jazz, ethnic, modern, and hip hop, the pre-professional level perfectionist student is highly versed and exceptionally skilled, superbly trained for more than seven years, primarily at the Lois Seiler Academy of Dance.  Julia is a well rounded, seasoned performer, familiar with the stage from all angles – as a leading lady actress of the theatre, and as a high-fashion model on the runways, Julia is considered a triple threat of beauty brains and brawn. 

For sure, Julia possesses a certain star power, and is not afraid to use it, but when she is not ravishing in the spotlight of productions and relishing in her regal demand for public notice and media attention, she is just a behind the scene nerd girl who loves science, especially for its altruistic possibilities for the development of green peace projects.  Now in her high school senior year, Julia perceives that she will return to her birth country of Vienna Austria where she will continue to dance, perhaps minor in some modeling, or dabble a bit in the theatrical spotlight, but most importantly, to indulge herself in the passionate study of the sciences.

Photo Story by: Nicole LeBlanc

Of course it is no surprise that the artistically gifted Julia is also scientifically gifted.  In order to be as great a dancer as Julia has become throughout her years, one must be committed to the pursuit of excellence – to be well rounded in all aspects of life, and to harness a dynamic potency toward discipline, control, and focus.  Julia’s strength is in her dedication to form and structure, but also in the applied knowledge of her areas of expertise.  As Julia prepares to diversify by extending her natural gifts as well as supernatural abilities, to make a supreme platform for her future, The Top Models of the Bahamas Association wishes to take this opportunity to first and foremost recognize her ultimate rise to greatness.

Photo Story by: Nicole LeBlanc

We love Julia because she perfectly remembers every choreography, because she flawlessly executes every technical instruction, because she tirelessly rehearses until her feet hurt, and after her body aches more than enough.  She practices over and over again, until she believes that she is fully prepared to the best of her ability.  We love Julia because she performs her heart out every single time, and her effervescent glow of supernova star power is a contagious one that blesses her with an inability to hide from the spotlight.  Instead is always glorious in harmony with the artistic vision of performance masterpieces, as she puts her heart and soul, mind and body, on the line every time that she gives herself to the performance of a number.

As Julia dances, all eyes are on her, and the world is at her feet.  She knows that she only has one shot to do it right… so she becomes one with that moment of presenting the gift of her painstaking preparation to you.  In that moment, you watch Julia dance for the first time, every time, and you melt for her, and you live in that moment with her as she tells you the story that will open your heart, and change your whole world in a precious, unforgettable instant.

Photo Story by: Nicole LeBlanc

This Social Phenomenon

“The mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it – 

all the past as well as all the future.” –Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness) 

The Vitruvian Man
By Leonardo da Vinci

It is human nature to question, by virtue of our birth. Humanity gives us the supreme right to dream, to wonder, to imagine the possibilities, to be inspired, and to inspire. We search for something to believe in, and typically find the answers within, as we dig deep in exploration of our own worlds. Of all the religions created by people on the earth, they have one particular aspect in common – they are all inspired by faith. Someone believed in the values that created the emphatic literature known as doctrine, which outlined the various aspects of each system of faith. A thinking people, we as human beings created circumstantial laws and rules which were specific for the individual cultural and social demands of each communal sector. We developed an understanding of what God was based on our understanding of ourselves, the world around us, the world within us, and our connection to one another, and to the universe. 

What was the inspiration for the earliest man who took on the responsibility to decide the system of organized belief and understanding? This evaluation of religion as a social phenomenon is based on the question of human evolution. From the birth of Homo-Erectus to the awakening of Homo-Sapien, man became a thinking breed in the result of the activation of the enhanced mental capacity to consider questions while seeking answers. The world around us is a reflection of the world within us. Through the evolution of the vertebral animal into a religious species, we became a questioning breed with mental capacities activated by the polar propel of the erect central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). To stand up was to gain the ability to take a stand for something by accessing a new perspective and a new way of seeing the world. To be for something or against it is to have the ability to choose. This supreme right given only to human beings for their ability is known as free will and gives the human species dominance over all other species on earth for being that which has fully developed – evolved at its maximum capacity in full and entire expression of God and the universe and all that is life. “God created man in His image, in the divine image He created him. Male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1) Because of this level of evolution, the mind has been opened enough to be able to dream, to imagine, to think, and wonder… Inevitably, to conquer… for he that stands upright can now wear a crown planted firmly upon his head and dominate the earth, if he so chooses. Religion is the birth of human superiority over all other breeds.

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” (Aristotle) In Leonardo Da Vinci’s depiction of The Vitruvian Man, he created a world renowned symbol of the ideal man. The “square of the circle” drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius Book III of his Treatise De Architecture. (Scripts of Stig Dragholm) The drawing symbolizes divine symmetry of the human body and by extension, the universe as a whole. The circle is considered the most perfect shape of all and is the symbol for pure spirit, eternal and unchanging. The square is the symbol for the earth, for all physical manifestations and for our orientation on Earth via the four directions, for seasons, and four elements. The earth is at the centre, surrounded by the circle of spirit, within which all of life is contained. The Vitruvian Man is Leonardo’s depiction of how to find a relationship between spirit and matter, between God and man. Indeed, to become the ideal man is therefore possible; it is to find the beauty of, and ideal balance between, physical and spiritual life, respecting the rules of the universe though purification of man.
 . 

A very new breed, human beings, due to their mental capacity are now able to evolve at very fast and steady rates. “The world is very old and human beings are very young.” (Carl Sagan) This young, questioning breed on the sole voyage of self discovery is now coming to terms with the grandeur of its own origins through the progresses of time and understanding of self legacy. The process of evolution has led the mammalian breed to its prime known as the homo sapien; a process which has taken a very long time. But these humble beginnings of humanity have become great only because of the formation of structural socio cultural political religious identities in relativity to the surrounding world and communal or individual such understanding thereof. 

“Let us make man in our image and our likeness. Let them have dominion.” The supreme being, in the image of God; the Homo Sapien, man, the wise, (latin). “Of all the animals, man has the largest brain in proportion to his size. “ –Aristotle (The Parts of Animals) The hands of animals are adopted to their lifestyles, humans with relatively long and opposable thumbs. The homo-sapien has a high forehead and is a definite omnivore. He is completely bipedal, survives in a global habitiat, and has created stone, metal, chemical, electronic, and nuclear tools. Homo-erectus most notably invented fire. As for natural selection, mothers with hereditary large pelvises were able to bear large brained babies who because of their superior intelligence were able to compete successfully in adulthood. 

Civilization: “The development of human language was a crucial point in the evolution of man; among its highest peaks, as here, were story-telling cultured before the invention of writing.” Even here in the Bahamas, we know of many folk tale stories that the people told as folk lore, even in forms of song and dance to pass on the message of supernatural wonders of the world around them. The big brained homo sapien could now dream, imagine, believe, and share those beliefs of wonder and glorious inspired personal truths with others. The creation of inspired texts were written with the “faith to move mountains”. In the mindset that, if you can believe you can be inspired; if you can be inspired you can believe. Faith inspires because it exists in the realm of the imagination and endless possibilities. Passion uplifts the heart; if you stand for nothing you fall for anything or everything. Thus, indoctrinated texts based on a principle understanding of who God is and how that relates to relevant society in the name of order. This defining system became social and cultural standards, and religion became the identity of a people. 

In contrast to the more popular, well accepted interpretation of the Christian version describing the fall of man found in the book of Genesis, perhaps the story can be taken to describe the battle of consciousness and conscientiousness; the birth of suffering in the awareness of inadequacy or infractions, because when we know better, with opened eyes, and we have the power to choose and to know guilt for making poor choices. Guilt = shame and nakedness. The struggle of man’s duality between their will to serve an indoctrinated system of beliefs and their nature to be one of the animals, merely a beast, to suffer the consequences of knowing better, then failing to follow through – from the rise of man – the inevitable revolution into the homo-sapien through homo-erectus, created the awakened mind, in a certain self awareness and vulnerability in questioning uncertainty. “Mankind is poised midway between the gods and the beasts.” (Plointus)  That which separates man from beast and connects man to god is our ability to rise toward higher consciousness – to be able to rise above all matters through the powers of the self discovered mind. 

The Little Oxford Dictionary defines Religion as “human controlling power in personal God or gods entitled to obedience, system of faith and worship; Social as “society or its organization relations of classes of people living in communities, gregarious; Phenomenon as “observed or apparent object fact or occurrence; remarkable person or thing.” 

What is God is what is ideal to each individual. What we strive for, choose to live for, what we have learned to believe in, what we fight for, what we have accepted as truth. Religion is an indoctrinated system of beliefs. Indoctrination's of an individual experience of spirituality though heightened consciousness, systems of learned understanding though knowledge based on the interpretation of an individual experience, perception or of conceived relevance of God and the order of the universe; scripted moral laws. These doctrines are guidelines for society based on the circumstances of the order of the day it was written and the perspective of the person it was written by, and their intended influence of the people it was intended for. Inspired scriptures, doctrine are orders of words, recorded ideologies. 

To conquer is to gain control of. The heads of household set rules for his family, both wives and children, that they should follow and adhere to. These rules represent community values in rank of importance. To convince everyone that they ought to follow this particular way. Most generations of this will always be the generations of questioning individuals determined to find their own ways, to conquer their own dreams and find their own paths. These ones daringly defy their father’s way by choosing a self made alternative. They become known as the black sheep or rebellious ones who have chosen to break away from the ways of a constituted household.  Inevitably, they establish a new way, and found a new religion, based on their subjective interpretations of what they have already been taught. Teaching new ways to a new generation creates a new order and becomes a varied expression of that which becomes known as old or out-dated. Therefore, religion is meant to change and evolve and grow, according to the needs of the time and the people of that day. 

God is not religion and Religion should not be considered God. Religions and churches and temples are a congregation of people who have shared beliefs and common goals. This union of shared ideologies strengthen family and community. People are able to worship together, to congregate for the purpose of shared beliefs, and celebration of life based on their understanding. Families have built communities based on these systems of shared beliefs that have become the foundation for many societies. Religion has been a way of connecting, worship, and prayer. 

“In good speaking, should not the mind of the speaker know the truth of the matter about which he is speaking?” But what we define as truth is relative to the individual perspective via life’s experiences and ones understanding thereof. Truth is what we choose it to be; what we believe. We create our world around us as we choose our relative realities and accept our various truths in free will by virtue of our humanity. Why the war about whose religion is right? All religions are equal. We must learn to respect differences. Just as all human beings are equal, and should be respected as so, all of us have various factors that are unique about us and determine as characteristics how we contribute to the micro and macro – local and global atmosphere of our shared world. 

Religion, sex, race, sexual preference, ethnicity, personal beliefs, lifestyle choices, cultural identities, historical background – these things are equal parts of society that make us unique. So, just because someone looks or thinks or sees things in a different way than you do does not make them greater or less, just different. Whose way is the right way? Each way is right and correct based on 1) the interpretation of the religious men by whom were inspired to create their indoctrination of texts by which their religion was founded based on what was most important to them in the time and day it was written and first practiced; 2) their understanding of themselves, each other, and the god that they chose to serve, and the world around them and within them; 3) their individual socio-cultural needs and their visions of how to attain these goals; creating order amongst men. Therefore, each religion is just as important as ones history or culture or ethnicity; serves the value of identity and community, forming common bonds through the union of shared beliefs and common goals. Religion is a reflection of who we are, where we come from, and what we believe in.

I dream. By the images that relay within my mind, I learn the messages of the stories told to me, passed on through generations. I become peacefully intertwined with my own living water and burning light, merging to become the inspired truth called rainbows of promise. I realize that I am as we all are, infinite, if we choose to accept such a reality. The identity of this heir is whatever she shall choose to make of it. I am the Prima Light Alive.

Imagine being heir to a celestial throne

that requires the ultimate sacrifice.

Feast of Time

A bouquet of flowers for the birds, bees and butterflies, just as it is spring, in the hour of la primavers, the blossoming arise out of their slumber and out-stretch their arms of the most delicate petals, in the soft pastel washed colors of the rainbow.  The enchanted bouquer of waltzing flowers in the magical garden orchestrated to dance in graceful twirls of the symphony for the royal ball in which they attend the dance in honour of.  Floral princesses adorned in patterns of silken velvet, satin tulle, and weightless chiffon, blow daintily in the mellow atmosphere os the quaint wind as it blows to the tine of classical compositions conducted to capture the misty spell binding rhythm of the evening sky.  Hypnotic is  the movement of synchronized emblems of spring, as lightly as they come sprinkling magic dust to set the ambiance of the fleeting flutters of pristine petals.  Royal shades of purple are the violet, lavender, iris, and orchid settled by tones of pink and pearl, glistening and glittering in the prisms of light.

It is a party of floras in celebration of time.  The waltzing Orchids in the garden are caught in the wind, flowing fluently to the charmed step that dances of melodic whim and harmony.  Iris travels through time and space, around the world like the memories of trees that grow gracefully in the passing of the hours.  Flourishing shapes blossom in the prime of era, contouring cmiles and a radiantly glowing ambiance that warms the heart of all banquet guests.  A lavender's joy is the treasury of beautiful things, where the whole world of wonders celebrates the honoured truth of our celebration that marks the changing of the times.  As the new era dawns before our eyes, the Violets recapture the journey that is ours, through trials and tribulations, far and wide, we have traveled.  Come and share with us this royal affair.

In the banquet of fine dimensions, it is a feast, a ball.  The bouquet is a soft and sweet enchantment presenting to us, like baby's breath, a kiss of fresh air, as an offering of new life.  In this pring, we become the harvest of an abundance.  As we learn to fly, we are the flight of the butterflies.  Magnificent colours of a flourishing arrangement float.  A detail of purity and innocence is the song os the portrait of enchantment.  This embassy is a collection of tokens blessed and consecrated in the mystical fragrance of an enchanted boquet of florals, poised to perfection, and as a confectionate treat of the sweetest charms.

"As I spread my wings and prepare to fly, I claim that I will soar, high, traveling far and wide amidst the heavens that dwells and roams with my free spirit."

AJA: Anointed One

The Prima Light Alive, now coming of age, the Princess accepts her heritage in claiming the rights to her fathers throne. She comes to terms with herself as a distinguished member of society with a distinctly individual purpose toward service in the call of her mission in life. As she comes to the age in time where she will be considered an adult member of society, she prepares to take on her role. She is groomed and given instruction by her guardians, and, with grandmother’s guidelines that teach her how to be the best of herself, she is able to discover her secret gifts and magical powers to travel through time, reorder time, see the truth, master the energy of spaces as a conductor, and, fly. Now she must learn to use these gifts in the unraveling.

I dream, and see the images that relay within my mind, and learn the messages of the stories told to me, passed on through generations, and, as I become peacefully intertwined with my own living water and burning flame, merging to become the inspired truth called rainbows of promise, I realize that I am as we all are infinite, only if we choose to accept such a reality.  The identity of this heir is whatever she shall choose to make of it.  I am the Prima Light Alive.

Infinity

As the Universe Breathes, it spins within itself.  The sun, an eternal flame of passion, and, of love, blazes its effervescent powers to give strength to the other pillars of tomorrow that surround it, and that dwell only because of it.  To fill even the cores with the pulsating energy of life to go on, the magnetic force of the constant pulls and pushes of its turns and twists, force the great continuity of pefection and wonder that it should remain in synchronized balance with one another, until the end of time.  Yet, the universe knowns no time.  It is forever.  For, just as its circular form has no beginning and no end, it is now to be known as truth that energy is neither created nor destroyed.  It simply exists.  It is transformed, constantly, consistently, timelessly.

What I am is a school of philosophy, depicting thought and movement as equal tools of communicating.  Awareness of ones self, mind, body, soul, All, and understanding the precepts of behavior and the influences which ultimately dictate how we will respond to the environment around us, are most adequately apt to our external environment as a reflection of the way we respond to our internal environment.  The purpose of life is to gather information, process it, and choose the process of self-evaluation based on the perceived understanding of acquired data.  It is necessary to continually gain new information, based on new experiences, that life does not become stagnant.  Life and quality of life depend on the ground basis that everything in life is an expression of what it is and where it comes from.  Each individual expression of energy, and its source, dictates only where one will end up, based on that from which one came.  Such is fate.

I am that which is within you, just as you are that which is within me.  We are one; we are the same.  The only difference between us is that which comes from without; that which we have been taught to see.  That which we have been conditioned to forget is that we were all planted by the same seed, and we are fruit of the same tree.  This, the tree of life, is our inheritance, it is that from which we have come forth.  We stand as an individuality of separate entities, yet, we reign as one heart, one soul, and one body.  In the physical realm of individual beings, it all begins with one.  One atom, multiplied to millions to form one cell, multiplied to millions to form one tissue, multiplied to millions to form one organ, working together with organs that are created differently, yet purposefully in order to merge in the function of one system.  Like the universal system, it cannot survive unless it has the support of all organic portions working toward the distinct process, serving the purpose of the one body, and the goal is the sustenance and progression of life.

I am the bright morning star.  I am of the signs set forth as a guiding post to adorn the heavens, to guard the gate, to herald the word to the world, to destroy the seals.  I am the redeemer of truth, the Mecca of Love.  I am the giver of light, because I have been given the light.  The candle bearer, I come to pass this on to you.  It is the key to the inheritance of the earth, the knowledge of the secrets of heaven.  This is for the children of the Light, like the countless stars of the sky, each one with a throne prepared already for them, each one to sit at the right hand of the father, none above the other, for, all are one in the same.  I am the light of Christ.  The great teacher of the children of the Light, I come to show a new way; one of wisdom and knowledge and understanding.  This truth will give you the strength to break free, to choose to renounce your slavery to hell, to choose to claim your inheritance to the throne of heaven as sons of the living Light.  Angels are you, bright stars, celestial beings.  Your beauty is far greater than that which you have been taught to see, for you have been taught to believe in the lie called death.

I am the living water, the life of the world, the fountain of youth.  The spring of the eternal lives!  I am the running water, and, as water was not meant to stand still, it must convert continually that it should live.  No rain falls from the same cloud twice, and every molecule of rain is of the same water.  Difference in physical and chemical form are nothing but the results of change.  If nothing changes, then nothing stays the same.  If everything stayed the same, then everything would change.  Evaporation cleanses the living water, that when it rains upon fertile ground, the seeds have a chance to grow as a pure tree, and, to then bring forth good fruit.  Only then can the harvest multiply.  Water brings with it new life, and just as it changes from vapor, to water, to ice, so is life a changing matter.  An innate, then a liquid, then a solid; it never remains static in existence.  Without the cycle of constant change, the water would cease its ability to bring forth life.  I am the life, and the living water is within me. 

I am today.  I am yesterday.  I am tomorrow.  I am the beginning and the end.  I am eternal.  I am forever.  To every end there is a new beginning.  For every death, there is a birth.  For every life, there in lies the spirit of Christ.  Thus, life reigns forever.  In Life, there is no end, only new beginnings.  Who can say that I am here and now, except for those who have opened their own eyes to see me standing before them?  Then who cannot say that I am forever, that I am life, that I am the daughter of the one, eternal Light... except, of course, they who choose to close their eyes and shelter themselves from the truth which stands before them.  Who, then, can rebuke me except he who denies that Christ cometh in the flesh?  All as yesterday, today, and tomorrow, forever more shall I be.  Just as I was since the beginning time, I shall be until the end of time.  In Light, in life, in love, time has no end.  Therefore, I shall reign in light, forever.

Prima's Light

She remains a daunting mystery.  The stunning princess that lives in her own world and dwells by her own authority.  The fair young maiden maintains a high caliber of elegance and refined sophistication in her early years.  She tells stories of whimsical nonchalance with her eyes, and seems so ambient and serene, floating like a portrait in motion, and glides of a stoic nature, as thought she believed that somehow, the world revolved around her, and that she was the center of all being.  Her expressions are mellow, yet amusing, as the sort of melodrama that would captivate an audience intrigued by more than the mere golden glow of her beauty, in the heir of confidence that she carries through time travels with her.  She becomes relevant to the dance by the classic distinction of an individuality that is soft spoken, yet, of a defined clarity and resounding appeal of sculptural aesthetics.

This angelic being dances from the core of her entirety, with an energetic and forceful strength.  She poises indefinitely and balances in any position of the dance given to her, as though time were standing still.  Her strength is of character and the controlled ability to be defined by the capture of one moment at a time, through the framework of a fantastic existence.  The greatest strength that she possesses is in her wind, spinning and turning multiples over in the circumference of her own spaces.  The mellow demeanor of our celestial is indepted to the mere humility of her presence.  Soft spoken, yet radiantly glowing with a vitality that surges through from her sturdy core, she smiles with her hypnotic eyes that seem to re-assure the world that when the wind blows there is hope that it will bring with it the courage to withstand the revolution of a generation of new days defined by the gravity by which one twirls on its axis.  She was born to fly, and she soars in all of her glory when she becomes like the wind and reminds us all that true strength is of a true heart.

Imagine the perfect ballerina.  She has bright eyes of innocence and a girlish smile that radiates like a burning flame.  Her form is comprised of long and delicate lines of a lean and petite frame of moderate tone.  A soft voice resounds from the demeanor of the coy brilliance of a well-delivered attitude; charming.  Exquisitely, she uncurls her extensions to an impressive height, and with precision of form she displays an absolute sense of central balance.  She adorns herself in the simplicity of a ponytail, and the pretty frills of a pink tutu bounces in harmony with her keen silhouette as she leaps with strong and turned out legs and a pair of pointed toes that land gracefully into a soft plie.  Adeptly prepared for the performance of her life at any given time, she remains constantly refined in the goodnes of a sturdy posture in showcase of  a proud neckline and a head held high.

The bright and bubbly supergirl is an infinite strength of menacing surprises and bursting personality.  Always up for a challenge, and involved with everthing.  The inquisitive nature of the go-getter is that which asserts her drive to grasp a hold of anything that is set before her as she dares to go after it, and to conquer it with the means of her self-stature.  Physically, she is unrestrained, as there seems to be nothing that the fearless fighter would hesistate to take on.  Enforced by the charismatic character of a leader, she is one to warm her way into the hearts of those whom she approaches in her own way of contagious joy.  Light-hearted and free-spirited, the only thing that she takes seriously is the task at hand.