The Right and Kind Reverend

Blast from the past, looking to the future

2011-10-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

While reading our local paper online the other day I saw a link to a story about an older belly dancer. Clicking over confirmed my suspicions, that it’s about Baltimore area dancer Samara. Kallisti Tribal had the pleasure of meeting Samara at one of our first performances. A local restaurant hosted haflas for awhile and we were lucky to perform at a couple of these incredibly fun (and supportive to our baby troupe) gatherings.

I remember watching Samara dance and thinking thank goodness I’d taken the plunge to try classes and keep up with them, to find other people I enjoyed dancing with, to get involved in this community. When I am Samara’s age I hope I am still doing my dance thing! I also hope I have her attitude too; after our performance she declared, with a big laugh, that Kallisti was “sexalicious”.

Here is the story with a lovely pictures of Samara dancing and zilling away.

And here is a link to our 2006 photo gallery which has pictures from some of those Amer’s shows. Nine people, nine!, in the small performance space in the middle of of the restaurant, with audience on all sides. I’m so proud of how hard we worked for these shows and that we took the plunge and put ourselves out there.

Turning down the noise

2011-07-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

I was perusing the forums at Bhuz* and I came across an incredibly helpful reading recommendation from Ozma. A student dancer was explaining how her old teacher had helped her to get out of her own head (my words) regarding dancing. In response, Ozma recmmended the book How to Dance Forever, and in particular the section on "Noise". Noise is all the self criticism, worry and defeatist thoughts that happen while learning dance, which can become patterns that can inhibit dancing.

If you log onto Amazon and go to the book, check the "Look Inside" option and search for noise inside the book, and you can read most of the chapter (thank you to Suzana for pointing this out). It definitely struck a chord with me, as noise is something I have had to work past in dancing. It's the "I'm so old/out of shape/uncoordinated/clueless/etc." critic that can run on an endless loop in my head. When this happens I have to turn it off, focus only on what I need to do in class, ask questions, and act like I look awesome while I work things out (to avoid frowning, angry looks, or "oops" face while dancing).

While reading one line struck me as particularly relevant for ATS/ITS dancers: "Above all, be certain you learn as quickly as possible what happens on count 1. If you don't know count 1, count 2 will be ridiculous." ATS/ITS dancers, have you ever had the moment when you've gone into a move you don't know that well, fumbled the one count, then proceeded to make a train wreck of the next 4 or more counts? I have! I've also hesitated started a move, with the same result, as well as confusing feet, losing the beat, rushing a move to get to the "good part" and so on.

When this happens you can not only mess up yourself, but as a leader you can take your followers down with you. If that happens too many times, you can start to lose the trust of those following you, and when that trust is gone you can lose the magic that makes ATS/ITS work. You don't lead with confidence, your followers second guess what you are doing, and there becomes a tension and stilted quality to the dancing that makes it flat and uninspiring.

So, know your moves! Know them well, inside and out, facing in different directions. Know them to different tempos, how to come in and out of them from different moves, and which ones work and don't work with different music. Know what to do when you mess up, so you can correct gracefully and with confidence. Have your safety moves. Also, know your music! How many times have you fumbled your dancing because you didn't know the music? If you're dancing to live music or a song you've never used or heard before, mess ups will happen. If you're dancing to music you've used before or was picked for a performance, there is no reason to get out there and have no idea of what is happening. Listen to your music in practice, at home, in the car, wherever and whenever you can. Knowing your music is as much a part of training as knowing your dance vocabulary.

And no, no one is perfect and there is nothing wrong with messing up, but messing up and letting the noise take over your head can lead to a disintegration of quality for the whole troupe. Be prepared both physically and mentally so that you can dance with confidence and ease (and joy!), which is the best thing for you and your troupe!

* really, no matter what you're bellydance style, get on Bhuz occasionally and read the forums. There is a lot of information to glean from the members.

Time flying, making up time, long post!

2011-07-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

So after about a month, my previously mentioned back pain finally worked itself out. It took so long because I had to fill in for a coworker at a job that kept me on my feet, and that combined with my two shifts a week at my other job (I co-own a cafe) as well as generally high stress levels made me a tense mess. I'm being very careful while doing yoga now, because I think an over enthusiastic arm-sweep-up-and-back-to a slight-backbend-while-in-a-lunge is what did me in. Dancing doesn't bother it at all, though, and that's good because though I'm off the Year of Practice I had still been dancing regularly.

Last year some dance friends and I started tossing around the idea of putting together a tribal (mostly improv) show for the 20th Anniversay of the Spoutwood Farm Fairie Festival. This is the place where I first saw tribal bellydance, and I was eager to find a way to honor that inspiration and my 10th year volunteering at the festival. Talis (who introduced me to the festival) and Jenn of Lilam were also interested in pulling something together, both because it would be fun to dance at such an amazing event and because we'd already be there volunteering, so why not?

We met in December to draft a proposition email to send out to dancers we wanted to work with, and everyone started getting together in February. We pulled 10 dancers from 5 troupes (and 1 soloist) to work up three 40 minute sets for 2 days, featuring large group ATS pieces, solos, small group improv or choreographed pieces, and general dancing with the crowd. It was incredibly fun and an incredible amount of work. Just getting everyone fully on the same ATS page was tough, then picking music, putting the sets together, agreeing on costumes, finding places to dance (we could only get one stage slot so we did "ground" sets too), and making sure everyone arrived at the right time and place became a logistical nightmare. Plus the three of us were managing our own volunteer duties and two of us had wrangle out camping gear too. Thankfully everyone was very professional, and we had some great shows.

For the festival we used the name "The Faerie Ring Dance Collective", and our bio read:

Inspired by the spirt of collective creativity manifested at Spoutwood
Farm and the Fairie Festival, the Faerie Ring Dance Collective brings

together 10 dancers (from 5 troupes and 1 soloist!) to create

performances imbued with passion, fun, and friendship. Grounded in
group improvisational tribal style bellydance, FRDC weaves together
our various styles into a magical expression of the joy of dance.

Our videos:

The full Saturday afternoon stage set (I am in the group pieces, the fast dueling duets, and the basket piece with the rest of Kallisti Tribal).

Transcendence Tribal Bellydance Collective from Talis on Vimeo.

Youtube has the Saturday afternoon ground set and the stage set divided into different pieces. I'm in the group pieces and with Kallisti doing "Amel" with zills. Oh, the tricky stops and starts! Oh the tricky soundsystems! The first part of the ground set is here and the first part of the stage set is here. I think there are nine videos per set. Sadly we have no video of the Sunday set, which happened under a tent were we sheltered from the rain. It was crazy, it was muddy, and it was magical. Those are always the performances that you miss filming!

You'll notice that the name listed for the performance is Transcendence Tribal. That's because this one-off plan has turned into a perma-project. We decided to keep going because we like dancing together, we like have the opportunity to do big group ATS, and it's nice having such a large group to pull from for certain performances. All of the individual members are keeping with their solo or troupe projects too, but we plan to get together once a month to hang out and dance, and then add more practice time as needed. We've also added three more ATS dancers, but we're going to hold it there for the time being to keep things manageable.

Our next performance was at Troupe 'Hip'notic's Summer Solstice Hafla. This hafla is a lot of fun, as it's a community event with all experience levels celebrating the summer and dancing. I particularly enjoyed Tribal Remix's passionate fan veil piece, and Cypress's sword duet. Post-hafla we retired to an after party and caught up with dancers we NEVER get enough time to see. Kallisti Tribal has long considered 'Hip'notic to be a sister troupe, after bonding backstage at a Tribal Pura show. That night's discussion of "the things you do in practice that would get you kicked out of the local bellydance scene if you did them in performance" was an inspiration for the Inappropriate Hafla. For the Solstice hafla, Jenn and Spiral were both feeling awful. I am incredibly proud of both of them for holding their own while under the weather, especially considering they danced again that day with Lilam. I really liked dancing this performance, I felt very connected to the troupe which can be hard for me as I tend to think two steps ahead.

Transcendence Tribal at Troupe Hip'Notic's Summer Solstice Hafla 2011 from Talis on Vimeo.

Next up was Baltimore Pride. We rounded up a big group to put on a show for the last set of the day at the Pride festival. As soon as we started a handful of people rushed the stage, and danced along the entire time. It was tough doing an outside gig in Baltimore City in the summer (hot! humid!), but we had a great time and the organizers were really happy with our set. If we do it again I hope we have time to do some "dancing with the crowd" songs to round things up. I'll admit, I felt pretty special at the festival, people kept stopping us to take pictures. It reminds me of how what we (BDers) do is really unusual if you're not embedded in the bellydance culture. Also, a bunch of women in ATS costuming is an impressive spectacle. After the performance we high tailed to a bar near my house for well deserved beers, burgers, and salted caramel and bacon cupcakes. Mmmm mmmm.

Transcendence Tribal Bellydance Collective from Talis on Vimeo.

Our last three for three performance (I had eyelash glue stuck to my eyes for three weeks straight) was at the long running DCTribal Cafe. 6 years ago Belladonna and Mavi (then of Romka, now both dancing as soloists in DC) started this as a professional once-a-month event for tribal and fusion performance. Kallisti was supposed to dance but Oneira had to travel for work. We subbed in Transcendence, and I'm really happy we got to dance the last show at Tribal Cafe's long time location (it's continuing next month at a new spot down the street). It is always tricky dancing there as the space is long, super skinny, and you have three areas you can lead to as well as some people standing behind you. You have to keep your face "on" the entire time, and remember not to stare at yourself in the wall of mirrors behind the main part of the audience. Because of the space challenge, every performance at TC feels like doing it for the first time, and I'm really happy with how the group (six of us) made it work especially considering two of the dancers had never performed there before! We came in with the FCBD Prayer and Lyra's awesome BSG Gayatri Mantra remix, split into duets (which let some of us use non-ATS combos since the song had tricky changes) for the second song, moved to slow dueling duets, and then finished with small groups to the whole troupe for a fast finale (with planned zill changes that were NOT ALL TRIPLES! YAY!).

Transcendence Tribal at Tribal Cafe, June 2011 from Spiral Dancer on Vimeo.

So that's been the past few months. Right now Kallisti is planning the 5th (already!) Inappropriate Hafla (sign up at our website), and TT is down to once a month practices until the Next Big Thing (possible DC neighborhood festival in September). I'm still taking classes with Shems here in Baltimore, though soon I want to start dropping on in Lotus Niraja's new classes. In August I'll be taking workshops with Lisa Zahiya when she visits town, as well as a day of classes with Amel Tafsout (again, yay!). For July, though, most of us have relaxed our dance obligations a bit. We deserve it!

Month Three of Practice

2011-04-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, things were going well, and then I hurt my back. It's about 90% better, unless I stand for a long time. I am totally off my practice track, though, and need to get back on it.

Inspired by A Year of Practice :

3/1/11: Troupe Practice
3/2/11: Yoga
3/3/11: 2 classes
3/4/11: ATS practice
3/5/11: Missed practice
3/6/11: Drills3: 3/4 an regular shimmy
3/7/11: Yoga
3/8/11: Troupe practice
3/09/11: Autum Ward DVD: arms and basic hips sections
3/10/11: Very intentional yoga practice
3/11/11: Free dance time, with zills.
3/12/11: uh oh, tweaked my back
3/13/11: none
3/14/11: canceled practice
3/15/11: none
3/17/11: 2 classes
3/18/11: none
3/19/11: none
3/20/11: none
3/21/11: none
3/22/11: Troupe practice, baskets
3/23/11: none
3/24/11: Two classes. Be careful of stopping suddenly from spins.
3/25/11: ATS practice
3/26/11: none
3/27/11: none
3/28/11: Free veil play
3/29/11: Troupe practice
3/30/11: none
3/31/11: Two classes: swords, vintage style/floorwork (be careful of knees!)

Around here we call it Giggle Cast

2011-03-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

You all are listening to YIP! Podcast, right? RIGHT!?! I found them when Carolena linked to their interview with her and Megha, but I'm not going to link to those episodes because you should go and listen to them all.

My boyfriend calls it Giggle Cast, because Tammy and Mary are always laughing. I enjoy the fact that they are having fun, that they mix up light and serious discussions, and that they cover all sorts of belly dance styles and events. I will load up a new podcast and listen while cooking, which is the best sort of multitasking. Sometimes I'll listen when I'm sewing but since my machine drowns out my stereo and I don't want to miss a thing, I don't do it very often.

This blog gets a <"a href="http://www.yippodcast.com/2011/02/episode-43-mixed-tape-with-jennie.html">wee mention in a recent episode. I got to meet Mary for a brief moment at TribalCon, but then barely saw her the rest of the weekend. It seems that is in part because she was interviewing tons of people for future release, so you should head over there and get caught up on the back episodes. Some of my person favorites are the ones with Donna Mejia, Mira Betz, Carolena and Megha, and Florida dancer Carol (who tells it like it is).

Off my practice track

2011-03-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

So my back is still bugging me and I'm off my practice routine. I did go to my classes Thursday night. Moving around doesn't make me hurt any more, and actually while I was moving I felt better even if it didn't last. I made sure to take it easy, though, and iced the hurty spot between classes. The worst part is the pain makes me feel snappy, so I'm not at my best right now mentally.

I'm getting my first massage ever Monday morning (too bad I have to go to work afterwards). If that doesn't help, it'll be off to the doctor. In the meantime I need to figure out some gentle practice to keep me moving. I think the culprit was yoga, so I'm not keen on jumping back in. I don't want to drill to much, as I'm worried the tension I hold when drilling over and over would not be a good idea. I'm going to maybe work with some combos and choreography bits instead.

What to do now?

2011-03-15T19:33:00.001-07:00

So I've borked my back. Not sure how I did it but Sunday it there was a twingy sore spot under my left shouder blade and it is not much better Tuesday night. Two weeks ago I pulled something from the top back of my right shoulder blade so it hurt up over my shoulder, but that worked it's way out after a few days. This new one is quite painful. I've been taking ibuprofen. I tried using a tennis ball to roll it out, but I think it's too deep/bad for the ball. We canceled practice tonight. I made some cookies while wearing an icy/hot patch, and now I'm in bed laying against a pillow case wrapped freezer pack, alternating it with a sock of rice heated in the microwave "heating pad".

Part of me had been feeling bad that I did not grab a slot at the Art of the Belly festival this weekend. Now I'm a little glad, because the practice would have left my poor back a mess. Instead I'll be booth sitting for friends while they are performing, and I'll be socializing. And maybe taking long walks on the beach, enjoying candlelit dinners, and cuddling by a fire. Oh, wait, that was from my online personals ad. * Sorry.

As for my practice, what do I do now? For the past few days I've been practicing my shimmies sitting down. I realized surf rock is the perfect music for fast shimmies, so I downloaded Dick Dale's "Miserlou" and put it on repeat. Then I practiced alternating between my "straight" legged shimmies and my active hip shimmies (er, need a better term). Shimmying up to full speed is hard for me, so this is actually good practice!

Tonight I am not sure. I may send my SO downstairs to grab my zills and practice patterns and free zilling to songs. I also just got Belly, so I might watch that. Or shimmy more. And there is, of course, the revolutionary idea of just resting. Imagine that!

Month Two of Practice

2011-03-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the run down for February. It's getting easier to find the self motivation every day, but still hard to find the time.

Inspired by A Year of Practice :

2/1/11: "Serpentine": yoga section and shoulder isolations. Love the yoga but it's too long for every day, maybe come up with my own shorter version. Practice veil parts for performance with skirt on.
2/2/11: Work on veil for CCT
2/3/11: Two hours of class
2/4/11: ATS group dance get together
2/5/11: Veil practice for CCT
2/6/11: Solo practice: listening to music to break down parts, associations for each part, brainstorm movements. Choli reconstruction
2/7/11: Veil practice for troupe, work on sections for solo
2/8/11: Troupe practice, partial costuming. On video.
2/9/11: Veil practice for troupe, work on sections for solo
2/10/11: 2 hours class, fun solo drum solos! Add ideas about focusing on arm work
2/11/11: Veil practice for troupe, solo practice in partial costume
2/12/11: Veil practice for troupe, solo practice - focus on arms/energy/extension
2/13/11: Practice for show
2/14/11: Practice for show, sew
2/15/11: Troupe practice for show, run solos for each other
2/16/11: Practice for show, sew
2/17/11: 2 hours of class, focus on technique
2/18/11: Practice for show, try not to let input from Thur class get in the way, no time to integrate most of that now, revisit next week
2/19/11: Run sets for show, finish costuming, performances
2/20/11: Yoga, finally!
2/21/11: Yoga
2/22/11: Yoga
2/23/11: Yoga
2/24/11: Tribal Con, Arrival: I Like Thinking Critically About Bellydance and I'm happy I got up to do yoga before my flight
2/25/11: Tribal Con, Day 1: My Zills Stink or John Compton has been playing zills longer than I've been alive and I want to incorporate them more in my dancing
2/26/11: Tribal Con, Day 2: Oh Boy I Need to Practice More or thank the gods for Yoga Toes
2/27/11: Tribal Con, Day Three: The Ass Kicking or yes, I will hang in there to the bitter end
2/28/11: Yoga, sweet yoga

Defeat the Beast

2011-03-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

So, the 365 Days of Practice are going well. I need to update February, and I did miss one day in March so far. I'm pretty proud that my reaction was, "Whatever, I'll deal and get back on it tomorrow." That's a great reaction for me, because I like to stick with things I start and tend to be really hard on myself when I "fail", which is a pointless reaction because it's not failing if I miss a day and it's not the end of the world. Perhaps I had a better reaction because I knew I'd be getting back on the horse the next day. Perhaps it's because I missed practice because I had a fabulous time having a long dinner and evening of conversation with an old friend, which was way more important than that day's practice.

On the other hand, I think the regular practice is making me have a change in attitude about my physical body. I think I am having some sort of split between my body and brain, but in a necessary way. The other day I was thinking about my natural tendency to be lazy, to want to sit around and do nothing, to indulge my food whims. Then I thought about how good I felt at TribalCon, dancing and working and being on my feet (and sometimes other body parts) for hours, eating for pleasure and because I needed it. Sore but not totally wiped out, ready to start again the next day, ready to dance for fun at night.

I thought about how different are our modern needs nutritionally, physically and mentally compared to how our bodies have evolved to survive. Then this short phrase popped into my mind: my body wants to eat, spawn* and die. It wants to do what it has to to keep moving, pass on my genetic material as long and as much as it can, and that's about it. My body is capable of a lot physically, but it wants to do the minimum to get the work done.

The outcome of this thought process was this: I need to be a lot harder on my body. I'm not saying to hate myself or hurt myself or punish myself. I need to tell my body to suck it up, that we're dealing with modern times and my modern brain and it isn't going to get what it wants. My brain needs to have some control or my body is going to go to hell. The result of indulging all the laziness and sloth is pain, atrophy, ill health and frustration. Sure, I want to nurture my body, pamper it and treat it well, but nurturing cannot slide into excuses. Nurturing is an "also", not an "instead of." I need to get my brain more on board, too. I know what I should do, I know how I should eat and how much exercise I need and my brain needs to drop the excuses and learn to love the work. When I'm active and pushing myself and learning my brain feels better too.

So, things I am working on:

* Cooking healthier foods and acknowledging that enjoyment of food is necessary but that it is also fuel, and not every meal needs to be a huge production or an indulgent treat. When food is special, make it special so that the whole experience is set apart. Also, eat more raw veggies.

* Making sure my practice sessions are at least 30 minutes

* Getting up earlier so I can practice in the morning so I know it is taken care of for the day. Also, that way I can practice again later if I want, or do other physical things: gardening, walking, classes. This is the tough one, especially the days I work late. It's going to be gradual, so it might not happen soon but I'm working on it.

* Deepening my practices by approaching them on many levels. Not just doing the moves, but focusing on breathing, expression, tension, emotion, intention, control, speed, etc.

* Make downtime special. Don't have downtime because I get sucked into messing around online for hours. Acknowledge when it is happening so that it feels intentional and valid, not "wasted" time. It's okay to spend an afternoon sitting on the couch reading or blogging or whatever, but make it happen, not let it happen. And don't forget to make sure it happens, or else I'll burn out.

* I don't address any of the "spawning" things here because I'm childfree. Yep, sometimes my body says "Gogogo!" and my brains says, "Are you sure you're not making a mistake?", but it's not in the cards for me. The only thing I regret about my decision is for my parents sake, but at least my brother has kids.

Tribal Con, the quick report

2011-02-27T20:33:00.002-08:00

Tribal Con has taught me not only new ways of thinking about and executing belly dance, it has also told me the importance of supporting the local economy by eating my way through the neighborhood around the hotel and trying many new, delicious beers that are available in said neighborhood. Hey, I was working hard this weekend!

What the h@ll just happened!?!

2011-02-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

I wish I could better remember my performances. When I am in the moment I know what's going on, and for a few minutes afterwards I have the whole thing in my head. After about an hour, though, it disintegrates into a blurred impression with a few clear moments standing out.

Last night I performed solo and with Kallisti at Charm City Tribal's 2nd anniversary show. The solo was a first for me. Well, last year I did a short solo with fire sword for a show of all illuminated performances, but that was so heavily choreographed and so specific it felt more like a fire performance pulling from my dance experience not not really a belly dance piece. The only thing I remember from my three and a half minutes on stage was, at one point thinking, "I'm really glad I know my choreography so well." And that's it.

I was really nervous about last night's solo. I've been taking non-tribal classes for a few years with a great teacher, and decided this year I'd finally try to integrate what I've learned and step out on stage alone. It was really well received and I got great compliments from everyone, and I wish I'd been watching from the audience because my impression? Thinking, "Ah! Arms still for too long, move them!" and "Careful when spinning it's a little slippery up here!" and "One and two and three and four and five AND" (to hit a tricky accent that was eluding me) and "Smile! Look at the whole audience not just over their heads!" And that's about it. Oh, I do remember my belly rolls because they got a really good reception, the feedback made it through the fog.

For Kallisti's set we started with a short veil intro and then went into ATS, adding zills later on. And for that my thoughts were, "Don't fall off the stage when spinning", "Did I just hit my troupemate in the face?", "What am I going to do here, ARGH! zills fumbled while thinking!", "Hey there in the front row I'm smiling at you, oh hey! You're smiling back!" I do remember every time we circled up seeing my troupe mates smiling faces, which is always a great comfort and boost while performing.

I don't really remember any of the moves I use. I have no concept at all what my costuming is doing. Lyra once mentioned how our skirts were hitting each other while spinning in a small space, I had no idea at all because it's like I'm a brain and a body and everything else just falls away. Last I was really worried about the top I wore for my solo because I usually don't wear just bra tops, so I made sure I was tied in tight and secure beforehand because I knew if something slipped I'd have no idea of what was going on.

One thing I wish this happens because I'm having a moment where I'm completely immersed. I've talked to or read accounts by dancers where they recount times when they are getting into the music and everything else just falls away and they are in the moment and it's incredible. I've never had that happen. The closest is usually when I'm dancing with Lyra because we like to try to trick each other or steal the lead or throw in tough moves, so I'm really focused on her and the dancing to keep it going. Usually when I'm dancing it's like the control board of some sci-fi space ship, where the pilot is flipping switches and pushing buttons, scanning the screens and making decisions and maneuvering around. More systematic than ecstatic.

I'll keep trying to be more present in my dancing. I was actually thinking that before I went on: be present, enjoy myself, listen to the music and the audience. Hopefully I'll get to the point where even if I don't remember the entire thing I can have a more detailed impression of what went on. I put so much work into this I want to remember it!*

* unless it goes badly, then I can happily forget it, except those are the moments burned into my brain

Baltimore Bellydance Extravaganza 02/19/2011

2011-02-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

All that practicing is not leaving me much time to promote the event! Charm City Tribal is hostessing a show to feature Baltimore area Tribal and Fusion dancers. I am performing with my troupe, Kallisti Tribal (ATS-esque). I am ALSO doing a SOLO! Yikes! Doing a solo is one my of goals for the year, so here it goes! If I like it I plan on doing it again, though hopefully with a little more prep (I kind of threw myself into this one). I'm sure my SO will be happy to no longer hear the repeating soundtrack coming from the living room. I'll be happy with getting 8 hours of sleep afterwards!

I know it'll be worth it though, and this is going to be a fabulous show and a fabulous party!

* * *

A special, BIGGEST EVER, showcase of tribal bellydance in Baltimore. And a fundraiser in honor of the Second Anniversary of Charm City Tribal events!

From the Creative Alliance:

Stunning gals, glittering costumes and a mind-bending mix of tribal fusion bellydance with hip hop, latin and world dance celebrate Charm City Tribal's Two Years! presenting, Baltimore's big premiere of experiments in tribal fusion bellydance.

Lineup includes Naimah, Lilam Bellydance, Kallisti Tribal, Troupe Hip'Notic and Christina of Verve Tribal. The night wraps with an open dance floor and drinks with the dancers.

8pm. $20 General Admission, $15 for Creative Alliance members. Cash bar.

Tickets at: http://creativealliance.org/events/eventItem2445.html

One Down, Twelve to go

2011-02-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

One month of my year of practice (well, year of movement) is done! And though some days my get up and go got up and left, I was pretty happy with the overall outcome. I had a couple of days where my movement was shoveling snow; weather and commuting and the actual shoveling left me pretty wiped out, especially the night I almost got stuck at work.

For the near future my practice is focused on a performance in mid-February. My other goals for the month are to try out new sections of my yoga DVD, keep better notes about my dance practices, and after the performance give a new shot and doing Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" video. I am traveling late in the month, to TribalCon in Atlanta. On the travel days I'll have to be careful about getting in my movement, but the rest of the weekend is going to kick. my. butt.

So, I'm pasting my monthly movement list below, so I can free up the sidebar for February!

1/1/11: morning yoga, shimmy drill practice, hiking

1/2/11: shimmy drill practice

1/3/11: mile + walk

1/4/11: troupe practice
1/5/11: late evening yoga: looking forward to it!
1/6/11: two dance classes
1/7/11: wine break, then yoga!
1/8/11: First shot at "Killer Ziller" DVD, am combo + zill klutz
1/9/11: yoga, Jamila "Hip Work", am surprisingly sore next day
1/10/11: yoga, class work (zills, rhythms, Alf Leyla Wa Leyla)

1/11/11: build set list for CCT, play w/veil moves, zills

1/12/11: shoveled snow a.m., post work yoga p.m.
1/13/11: two dance classes, not feeling the drum riffs
1/14/11: 30 minute walk during lunch, worked 9am to 12am
1/15/11: yoga, enjoying
1/16/11: hour hike in the snow, need to remember binoculars
1/17/11: brainstorming for troupe practice and solo, feeling frazzled between ATS and what I'm learning in class
1/18/11: troupe practice, lots of veil work
1/19/11: "Killer Ziller" combos and zill patterns from class, working on tying hips to R and L and sounds
1/20/11: two dance classes, finally enjoying solo stuff at the end
1/21/11: hours dancing to Balkan Music, good cardio workout!
1/22/11: Rachel Brice "Serpentine" DVD, if not doing full yoga in the future use Sun Salutations to warm up
1/23/11: Yoga
1/24/11: work on veil parts for troupe practice
1/25/11: troupe practice
1/26/11: snow shoveling is it, bad weather, bad day
1/27/11: long walk in the snow, sleepy yoga
1/28/11:Pick up new veil, practice for next show with it.
1/29/11: Practice with new veil
1/30/11: dance to show music, start "Drills, drills, drills". Need to develop ab strength!
1/31/11: "Drills, drills, drills": foot pattern layering and shimmy drills

Is it a habit yet?

2011-01-22T08:58:00.001-08:00

Isn't there some saying about it takes 21 days for a new action to become a habit? Manage to floss every night for 21 days and you're home free? Get up at a new time for 21 mornings and you're all set? Well, it's been 21 days of added activity, and though I can see that the momentum of doing it one day to the next is keeping my forward motion, I would not say it's a habit. Yet.

I just bought a load of DVDs that have been on my wish list. I'm buying music, too, to round out my collection because I need some inspiration. I'm also picking up bits and bobs of costuming I've been eyeing for years. And getting some new zills. My parents gave me money for my birthday, and I am keeping it for ME! Not the house, not bills, for me, to spend on me things.

Can't wait for the zills to come, because I'm taking a rhythms class and my teacher is teaching using the same hand methods that a drummer users. Right with a ring for Dum, right with a clap for Tek, left with a double clap thing for Teka (or Isa, as we've been using). We have a drummer in class too, who is great, and he's also in the technique class I'm taking, which is all Drum Solo work. How he plays for 2 hours I do not know. He's also recording a series of different drum licks that we can practice to, that we can even set to repeat and such. I feel, with Shems and Nate, that I'm in good hands!

A sneak peek at a breakthrough

2011-01-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night I was driving home late. I had worked my regular job all day, and then I spent 5 hours at the cafe. I finally got out at 11 p.m. and headed home. As I was driving I was thinking that, by the time I made it to my house, I'd have 45 minutes to get my physical activity in for the day.

Note, physical activity after a 9 hour day at my regular job, which can and often does involve a lot of time running around, and then 5 hours on my feet at the cafe serving people, cleaning, cooking, and more.

Anyway, as I was pondering what I'd do I figured yoga would be it because I needed the release after the long day. I wanted to practice my shimmies for class Thursday, but that would have to wait. And as I thought about the yoga sequence I wanted, I realized something. I was LOOKING FORWARD to it! Not in an obligatory way, where I know I'll be happy after wards that I bothered to pull my mat out. In an anticipatory way, in a way where I was looking forward to being in the moment of doing yoga.

Now today I am procrastinating about changing out of my work clothes and pulling out my mat, but I know if I do it I am one more step towards accessing that yoga excitement more often. At this point, every small motivational point counts.

Practice. And more practice

2011-01-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Lisa Z's A Year of Practice, I'm going to try to do some sort of movement practice every day. Yoga, exercise, walking, drilling, choreography, classes. Each kind of movement is a part of putting together my own dance puzzle, as well as taking care of myself physically. I'm going to use this blog to make short notes on what I'm doing, and to examine the dance oriented activities in greater depth.

As for my overall goal? I think it's to make my dancing (and it's practice) less of a chore and more of a joy. To approach practice, classes, performances and fun dancing with the same excitement. To feel like I am progressing and not treading water.

My other dance goals are:

* try a non-belly dance class
* dance an entire song solo
* perform more, for fun or professionally

Touchstone

2010-11-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

I have been on vacation this week. To you, that may not be odd. To me, it's very very weird. I tend to not go on vacation, or, not on normal vacations. I'm a bit of a homebody. I've traveled for dance events. I went to Triboriginal three years in a row (and man, I LOVE me some Asheville, NC!). I think I'm going to hit Tribal Con in 2011. My boyfriend and I used to attend regional Burning Man events on a regular basis. But in the 8 years we've been together we've never taken an extended vacation together where we not only had no plans to participate in a planned event at our destination, but also were staying in a hotel. This changed because my parents booked us a week in New Orleans, using a week of their RCI time to get us a hotel room. We just had to get ourselves back and forth and take care of our other expenses. Thank you Mom and Dad!

We're finding we're not so good at the vacation thing, though. When left with days of unplanned time, we kind of wander around. New Orleans is pretty awesome; I'd been here in my early 20s and it's nice to come back as less of a sullen goth kid, and as more of an appreciative adult. But a lot of what there is to do is eat, drink, and wander around. My boyfriend and I excel at these activities, but also have had a certain amount of, "So, ah, what do we do now?" going on.

Luckily I have had the opportunity to take workshops with Ali of n.o.madic tribal the past three summers. Because I'm a slacker I didn't get to emailing her about our trip until the week we left, but Ali generously sent me an list of things to do/see/eat. She also picked me up Monday and brought me out to her class, where her students generously welcomed me and two other travelers (one also a dancer and one curious newbie) to the class.

It was wonderful, amid the feelings of dislocation caused by travel, to have the touchstone of a dance class. It was not my usual class, but because I've studied with Ali before it was familiar. What was also familiar, and comforting, was the routine of getting to class, warming up, working on new moves and reviewing old ones, stretching out and thanking my classmates for the experience. Everyone was sweet and I got to recommend my old teacher Lisa Zahiya's classes to a student who is headed to Asheville, NC.

So thank you Ali and thank you to my temporary classmates for giving me a much needed moment of normalcy in the fun but unsettling experience that is vacationing! I wish I could have been there for the entire class series, the small taste I got definitely made me want more. Have fun at your hafla this weekend!

Life updates and video!

2010-09-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

Man, this year went from busy, to crazy, to OMFG when do I get a break! After buying and moving into the house, J and I decided sure, we could TOTALLY host the 4th Annual Kallisti Tribal Inappropriate Hafla! Thus began the 6 week scramble to get the house guest ready, which included shoving things in closets the night before the party.

The hafla was wonderful! The weather was gorgeous, the performances inspired, we packed at least 50 people in our backyard, the neighbors didn't seem to care about the yelling , and some guys in the house behind ours pulled up chairs to enjoy the show. The evening ended with a handful of us hanging out in the backyard and eventually having pizza and wings delivered. It was a great housewarming-ish party. I'm posting videos and a write up below, but there is one more thing going on.

18 months ago I lost my job managing a local cafe and home goods store when it closed. 9 of us from the business stayed in touch, purchased the cafe equipment, and started planning a worker-owned cafe for Baltimore. After a lot of planning, hard work, worrying, and help from our friends, Charmington's opened Friday. The name is a combo of the names of the neighborhoods we straddle, offered to us by a friend who has always wanted to use it for a business. The reception has been fantastic! We're riding the wave of a successful opening, and digging in for the work that is ahead of us. The idea is to serve awesome coffee and light fare, sourcing local and organic ingredients whenever possible. We also want to be a place for the community, and we're already had groups meeting up and knitters hanging out.

Right now most of us also have day jobs or are in school, so on top of my 9-5 I also have an evening/some weekends thing going on. My Tuesdays (troupe practice, now at my house to save money) and Thursdays (class) are non-cafe days, but other than that I am juggling dance events and weekend shifts. I want to have some other dance oriented things at my place. I have thoughts of video nights in front of the fire, and back yard music jams. I also, it seems, must be thinking I can live on no sleep or create an extra few hours to the day! On top of all of this, Kallisti Tribal's 5th Anniversary is this winter and we're thinking about holding a really big party. 5 years in bellydance time is like dogs years, right? We've seen troupes come and go in that time, but we're still hanging in there!

Anyway, to hold you over until my next post I am pasting in my review of the hafla, with videos. This was written for non-dance friends, which is why I explain some things. Hope you enjoy the silliness!

* * * * * *

Ah yes, the evidence.

Kallisti Tribal reveals our true nature, including Justin getting in touch with his inner pretty pretty princess. I highly recommend watching this one on Youtube, so you can read the biography written by my troupe mate Lyra.

Flissy, from my troupe, is also a one half of Verve Tribal. Here they spoof the current "fusion" trend of costuming and stage antics that make you look like a drunk saloon girl. Which some people do on purpose. Priceless. Also, at the very end? Flissy is doing a legitimate move (sometimes called a Berber Walk). A dancer to the very end!

Troupe 'Hip'notic clued us all in to their piece before the hafla. I just wish the video was better because what made it, beyond the costuming and dancing, was their facial expressions. Since this went online Leslie Hall contacted them to let them know she loves it. The white shirts say: Vessel Of Shimmy

One troupe Rick Rolled us. Another did one of their sword choreographies except with phallic paper mache "eggplants" (a play on their name). I missed the who soloist did a great belly dancer inside joke, coming out to greet her adoring crowd to a famous dancer's entrance music (ed. Nagwa Fouad), then promptly skipping to the exit music and wafting off stage. A former Kallisti member steamed up the place dancing to this hideous song called "Lick". I promptly fell out laughing, as she had played it for me once and it was awful. Her dancing was impeccable through it all! There was inappropriate American Tribal Style to metal with punchy hands, and then crazy hats. Not one but TWO Freddie Mercury tributes. A kitty cat dance to Primus' "Tommy the Cat". Sassy blues bellydance. A five minute extended fart joke. I cannot for the life of me remember Lyra's solo music except that it was total rock and she downed an entire bottle of beer while in a partial layback (ed. it was "More Than a Feeling"). Our Femcee did a fantastic time introducing the acts, including riffing on both the bios and the performances. I think I may be forgetting some of them, but it was a big happy blur, made more so by the 7 of us who stayed up late finishing the beer in the cooler (and a flask of rum and a small bottle of Pikeville's Finest). It was truly a great time. Plans are already afoot for next year.

Where have I been?

2010-07-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? Buying a house! My awesome parents decided to give me a chunk of change and tell me to get busy buying a house while the interest rates are good. So I spent March - May looking, hoping and freaking out about ever finding a home I liked and could afford. And then I found one! The buying process was tough but I had a great Realtor and a supportive cast of friends, some of whom helped us move this past weekend (THANK YOU!).

Some things I wanted in a house were wood floors for dancing, with the bonus of having space to hula hoop indoors. OK, and radiator heat, a nice big front porch, and a kitchen that was either spacious or open to a dining area. Well, I got all of it! And not only is the living room large, it's large enough to be our interior performing space for the Inappropriate Hafla, if need be! The house is a foursquare, and at some point the wall between the living and dining room was taken out so it's one big room. I mean, not immense but a nice size for a hundred year old house in a leafy urban neighborhood, without being some huge, hard-to-heat, space-wasted-on-two-people kind of place. Here is a picture, with the foyer and front door behind and to the left of the camera, looking down the space to the fireplace that was added in the mid-1970s. Blogger is being a PIA, but you can see the first set of pictures over here.

So now I'm living in a house full of boxes and Very Concerned Cats, but eventually that will clear out and I'll be back to practicing and classes. This weekend I'll be taking my third workshop with Ali of n.o.madic tribal (and maybe an ATS workshop with Megha money and time permitting), and I need to get back to my classes, and there is a hafla to plan. To the dancing!

4th Annual Inappropriate Hafla!

2010-06-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

Naima totally reminded me that we picked a day for our 4th Annual Inappropriate Hafla! It will be Labor Day weekend on Saturday September 4th. We wanted it to be over the summer but August is full of Pennsic, Charm City Tribal, Bellypalooza and Amel Tafsout, July is full of Tribal Synergy workshops and vacations, and June was just too close to everything else. Hopefully we'll have a good turn out, considering it's a holiday weekend. Also, we may have a new venue. We all LOVE Lyra's big yard but the possible new venue has an indoor performance space option if the weather turns against us.

So, dancers, start your engines! What craziness will you bring to the table this time?

Being here, now

2010-06-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I headed down to the southern part of our state to attend Troupe 'Hip'notic's annual Summer Solstice Hafla. The Hafla is a gathering of dancers, friends and family who get together to socialize, perform, and welcome in the summer months (which for many of us are dance intense!). Kallisti was not dancing, though Flissy performed with her other troupe Verve Tribal (a fun ATS piece to a Gogol Bordello song). We saw all sorts of dancing, different styles and skill levels, as the idea is for everyone to get together and have fun and enjoy themselves. There as an after party at Becca's house, with dance talk and good food and cute dogs and Becca's awesome new dance studio. The only problem is that 'Hip'notic is based 1 1/5 hours away from where I live, so we don't get do hang out more often.

As the show started I had this realization that I would not have wanted to be anywhere in the world at that moment but there, at that hafla, watching those dancers and hanging out with people I love. I had this sudden overwhelming feeling of being so fortunate to be doing what I am doing with the people I am doing it with. I was incredibly peaceful. Dance can be stressful. I worry about doing a good job, learning new things, finding the time and money to do what I want, trying to get people to appreciate what we do. Sometimes the fact that most of the dance scene is "for dancers, by dancers" can be frustrating when you wish a wider audience would take note of what's going on. Not that I don't like that aspect of belly dance! No, I love it, but sometimes it can be annoying.

At that moment yesterday, though, I was perfectly happy to be a part of one area belly dance scene at one of our regular local events, cheering on the dancers, being inspired and entertained. Seeing beautiful people dressed up in their gorgeous costumes, having a good time doing something they love? Isn't that a sight we should see more often?

It changes how you look at everything

2010-05-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

There is a flyer taped to a utility pole on my street, advertising a local "repair collective" of licensed, skilled workers who are available to hire for all sorts of repairs and jobs. While talking up their skills they also add the extra enticement of low rates, which they describe as undercutting the rates of their competitors.

Whoa, wait, undercutting?

If you've been in the belly dance scene for more than five minutes you've heard the stories of dancers losing gigs and other dance opportunities when another dancer, sometimes talented and sometimes not, comes along and offers to perform at a lower rate than the established performer. It's ugly. It's stupid. If you really are dying to dance go check out your local shows and haflas before stealing another dancer's job and performing for peanuts. One day you might be looking at the situation from the other side of the equation.

Though I know competitive pricing is all a part of running a business, it still made me stop to see the word undercutting used so casually. Hell, used with pride! I've been conditioned to think of undercutting as a sign of bad quality and clueless or malicious behavior. Perhaps this repair collective is made up of a bunch of wonderful, talented, hardworking people but their advertising language really turned me off. Something like "Give us a call and ask about out competitive hourly rates!" would have been a much more positive way to say, "We work for cheap!". And as someone who is about to buy a house, I am all about the cheap but not at the sake of quality and not if it screws other people out of a job.

Some more performance video

2010-05-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Flissy and I danced as part of a neighborhood art festival in Baltimore. We've been renting space from the neighborhood dance school for the past year, and before that our studio as at their previous incarnation in another part of town. We really like working with them and were happy to do a short performance as a part of their dance showcase. We shared the stage with tiny tap dancers, a capoeira group, and an amazing pop and lock artist.

I'm posting the middle and last song of our set, please excuse the low volume in the last song. If you follow the video back to Youtube you'll see the first part of the set, where Flissy and I had a moment of zill fumbling. We've only been working on zills for about 6 months so I'm pretty proud we're doing so well!

The ATS Mixer

2010-03-08T20:08:00.001-08:00

One thing I have heard about ATS, since my first class, was how once you know the common dance language you are able to dance with any other ATS dancers without ever having met them before. When Carolena reclaimed the term ATS a few years back that was one of the big points, having one common movement language for the style, so that it really could be performed by a group of technical strangers (united by their dance).

With this in mind, my troupe decided to put our money where our mouth is and host a mixer. So many of us spend our time in classes or performance prep, dancing with the same (lovely) people and working on the technical aspects of our dancing. The mixer is a relaxed, informal dance get together where we'll set up the space and music and you, the ATS dancers, come to dance and play together. Put that common movement vocabulary to good use and get moving with other ATS lovers, strangers and friends alike. We hope to make this a regular event, so locals please come out and support us!

The Electric Maid ATS Mixer
March 14th 3pm - 6pm
268 Carrol Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20012
(in Takoma Park)
suggested donation: $8

The Mixer is a low-key event for dancers to flex their improv muscles outside of
class or performance, in an intimate, sharing community arts venue. No pressure,
no recital, no judgement, no costumes. Dancers should come prepared to freely
improv with others based on their comfort level in American Tribal Style (ATS)
as established by Fat Chance Bellydance (FCBD).

Note about the dance space - bring dance shoes, the floor is a little rough. And don't forget to spring forward the night before so you're not late!

More details at www.kallistitribal.com

RSVP at the facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=463737400606&ref=mf

PS: if you throw in a non-ATS move we won't kick you out, we promise!

Kallisti Tribal Sunday February 28th, 2010

2010-02-24T21:12:00.001-08:00

This weekend we'll be dancing at one of our favorite events, DC Tribal Cafe! There's more info at our web page. It kind of blows my mind that this will be the 4th year we've performed there. It's a fun and challenging event. You dance for a lot of your peers and some of your teachers in a small, narrow, bar space that can be packed to the rafters with an enthusiastic audience. It can be both gratifying and shocking to be right up next to people, getting lots of live feedback, all while negotiating a space that seems to have simultaneously no or a multitude of "stage" fronts with which to orient yourself . It's tough and a ton of fun.

The night before Charm City Tribal hosts it's Bloody Heart's Ball one year anniversary show! I'm really proud of this group and all they've accomplished. You can catch Kallisti member Flissy at the BHB as part of the dance duo Verve Tribal, and soloist Samantha Hegre will be at both events too. Other members of Kallisti will be relaxing and letting our hair down for the evening.

2 (video) reviews

2010-02-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

I have been exercising my Netlix account late (or, if you're my SO, hogging the Netflix) and picked up two videos for getting my butt in gear: Every Shimmy in the Book with Bozenka and Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred. I figured someone else might find my thoughts on the videos to be helpful, so here are my reviews.

A quick note to start. I feel that neither of these videos are good for total movement beginners. It's good to have a basic knowledge of proper posture, how to keep your back flat when bending over in movements, how to keep your core engaged, all things you learn in a basic dance or fitness class. Jillian does give some pointers in her video, reminding you not to bend your knee over or toes, not to collapse your ankles and other simple instructions. Bozenka does not really get into any pointers on form, so it's good to have at least a basic idea of safe posture and movement for belly dance.

Now, I really wanted to like the Bozenka DVD. I've only seen videos of her online but I really like her dancing and yes, her shimmies are wonderful. Unfortunately this video does not do her justice, not her dancing and, I'm assuming, not her teaching. It's labeled as every shimmy in the book but it only touches on a small handful of shimmies possible. What's worse, though, is that she doesn't really explain any of the shimmies. She demos a shimmy, sort of breaks it down, does it slow, speeds up very quickly and then there is a bit of practice time but not a whole lot. There are no detailed break downs, no tips. There is no practice section where you go from one shimmy to the next. There is not much in the way of discussing the way the shimmies happen, anatomically. Each shimmy is presented in the same manner and the whole thing feels very dry. There is also a drum solo performance with her and Issam, and though it's lovely I wish BDSS had sprung for a little extra production budget because the camera angle in part of the performance shows the lights and back stage area and really? Do a couple of takes! Actually, the whole DVD felt like the production was rushed and on a tight budget, which made me realize that the one other BDSS instructional video I own, Rachel Brice's first, was very well made. Summary: I wanted to like this, and if you can check it out for free I would do so, but I wouldn't spend any money on it. The top review at the Amazon page pretty much says it all for me.

Next, the video I didn't want to like. Why? I hate exercising. I do enjoy being active and getting exercise through my hobbies or daily activities, but I do not like focused work out time. Unfortunately I have a desk job, so I need focused work out time. I ditched my gym membership when I lost my job last year, not that I ever used it enough because going to the gym to spend 40 minutes on the elliptical staring at a wall while I went no where was not my thing. What do I like? Hiking. And dance class.

Anyway, I know I need to add more activity to my life and I know I need to do it in small steps so I don't get frustrated and give up. At about the time I admitted this fact I read this helpful post at the blog Not Martha. As a side note, I almost want to get back on the elliptical if that means I get to Netflix Gilmore Girls. Taking the post to heart I rented the 30 Day Shred video and, hey! I kind of like it! I admit, I've never watched The Biggest Loser so I have no idea how Jillian acts on that show. On the video she's encouraging but also no nonsense. If you want to get somewhere while working out you need to apply yourself, and she says that straight up. I liked her attitude, the quick pace of the workout, that there are modifications for some of the moves, and that there's a progression to the video. At about the moment where I'm thinking, "Bored bored BORED!" it's over.

Now, I'm still on Level 1 as I'm not a consistent exerciser, but here are some things I've read and that I do to change up what's on the video. I warm up a little before I start, by jogging in place, or else my calves are not ready for the jump rope moves. I do not pause in the warm up but keep moving during her explanations. There is a lunge/squat move with curls that I rarely do because of my knees; instead I do the curls with squats. I don't do the jumping jacks, I know my form is awful and I don't want to hurt myself, so I jog during that section. I pull my punches a bit so I don't overextend my shoulders. I take 3-4 times as long to stretch out at the end, targeting trouble spots on my body that I need to address. When I move up I'll follow the advice of a review I read where the reviewer goes up through the levels, then on the next round ups the dumbbell weight to get a better work out. I think as I progress I may pick to sub in some moves in places as I find what I like.

Now do I think this video alone will make me look like Jillian? Hell no! But I know that some activity is better than no activity so I feel it's a really good starting place for me. This video is totally worth the money and I plan on buying it soon so I can send my Netflix version back for some other budding athlete to check out.

Snow Asana

2010-02-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

I live in Baltimore, and as some of you may know we got one hell of a snowstorm Friday and Saturday. I spent 2 hours shoveling out my car today, and that means I don't have to do my exercise video! That also means I'm going to be achy and sore tomorrow even though I popped some ibuprofen. Thankfully Flissy posted Asana Practice for Snow Shovelers! Thank you Flissy! I'm going to give it a shot, though not right now because I am full of dinner and am not fond of the full tummy + yoga combo. Hopefully some of you in snowy climates will find this post to be helpful!

Product Reviews

2010-01-26T15:56:00.001-08:00

Picked up some MAC Fluidline eyeliner in Blacktrack, knowing that Toya gives it her stamp of approval. Love it! I had a different gel eyeliner that I liked but the color was too light for performance wear (a black raspberry color). The Fluidline is so easy to put on, smooth and not out of control. I use a long fine tipped brush as I can control it better than a little stumpy applicator. I love that I can easily make a cat's eye tail on my liner, and if I mess up it doesn't dry so fast I can't fix it easily. Thumbs up!

For my birthday I was given a tin of Madame Scodioli's Fiji Mermaid Natural Clay Mud Mask. I've used it a few times and it really seems to do . . . something to my face. Get gunk out of my pores and tighten things up, it seems. The only downside is that it smells like seaweed, so today I put a dap of Vick's vapor rub under my nose to counteract the smell.

Finally Noralita picked up a tube of Lipstick Queen Medieval for me. This is a very sheer pale red lip product. It's lighter than a lipstick or stain but not as shiny as a gloss. The tint is barely there but it sticks around because the base is nice and creamy. I love this as my work lip product because I feel like I have a little more color without worrying about reapplying my lipstick. I have but am not crazy about Burt's Bee's tinted lip balms because they are minty and that makes me feel like my lips are drying out, so for me the extra bonus is it has almost no smell or taste. Noralita's been loving the Chinatown Gloss pencil in Mystery. Medieval was also one of Toya's recommendations, and let me say she is always right!

Getting back in one of my grooves

2010-01-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

I decided that it's about time to get off my butt and get back in the groove of my One More Tiny Choice Things (see tags and past posts for full info). On that note, I'm going to institute Meatless Mondays, inspired by my friend Barbara at Tigers & Strawberries. I'm actually going to really aim for not just meatless but also vegan meals, though I reserve the right to make it happen not on Mondays but on whatever day seems like the best for the week.

We didn't make it all vegan yesterday, as lunch was left over bacon and bean soup, but I did make a delicious dinner with leftovers for today. I made the lentil salad out of Veganomicon; I was skeptical at first but it is crazy good. With it I made a macaroni casserole from the Whole Foods Recipe App. It's like mac & cheese except it uses coconut milk, butternut squash and sage. Next time I'll maybe spice the bread crumbs on top (paprika?) and double the sage. I like intense flavors. It's amazingly creamy and very much a comfort food.

The meatless meals are coming hand in hand with my attempt to start exercising again (more about that later) and an all around decision to try to be more conscious of how I am living my life (more later on that too). It isn't hard, I just have to DO it.

ATS Classes In Baltimore - Winter 2010

2010-01-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

My troupe mate Flissy will be starting her ATS Belly Dance classes tomorrow night in Baltimore City. I hope I can drop in on them occasionally because I know I could use the work!

American Tribal Style (ATS) Bellydance Classes

Expressions in Motion, 756 Washington Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21230
Wednesdays 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
6-week session begins Wednesday, January 13th
$84 session
$17 drop-in
To register, contact me to pay by check or cash. Or you can register via PayPal: http://omchantress.com/

Tribal bellydance is a fun and empowering dance form that creates camaraderie among women, celebrates the feminine form, and builds core strength. This class will be specific to American Tribal Style (ATS) as established by Fat Chance Bellydance. ATS utilizes non-verbal cues to allow a group of dancers to improvise and dance together in the moment.
Over six weeks, you will learn basic tribal bellydance posture and movements, as well as the cues and formations to dance in a group improvisationally. Each week will also include drills and conditioning as a foundation to build the strength and flexibility to execute movements safely and gracefully. Other topics, such as costuming, dance history, and music appreciation will be presented.
No dance experience is necessary. Please wear comfortable, close-fitting attire, and a quiet hip scarf (no coins) if you like.

Tribal Pretties

2010-01-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

Just want to give a heads up to let you know that Chris of Verve Tribal is currently updating her etsy shop with beautiful, tribal belly dance inspired jewelry creations. Head over to Sihaya Designs to check them out!

More on that wedding

2009-12-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

One of my recent entries was about the wedding we danced at in October. Well our friends Christina and Jason are Offbeat Bride. Go over take a look at the gorgeous pictures of the ceremony and after party!

Gearing up for the new year

2009-12-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

Ever since October I've been feeling like the end of this year has been kind of . . . eh. I haven't been motivated, class schedules were weird, holiday and other obligations were looming. I tried to slow down a bit to enjoy the fall, get outside, rest up for the end of year craziness. Now that we're past the holidays I feel ready to jump into what's coming up next.

Christmas was wonderful as usual; my parents gave my SO and I a week of their time share in New Orleans over Halloween (his birthday). I already let Ali know we'll be down there, and (being me) I'm already making a list of places to eat. I've been twice before, as a poor goth young adult. Now I'm looking forward to going back as a less-goth (AKA not too cool to go on tours and other silly things) adult with a real job and some spending money. Thank goodness we have so much time to plan! There are also multiple Honk (marching band) festivals happening around the country and my SO wants us to go to at least one together. Need . . . more . . . vacation time.

In April Noralita and I will be taking part in a show of all illuminated dance and performance. We're actually both performing as soloists. I'm pulling out my much neglected fire sword. Let me just say that I will be getting up close and personal with Belladonna's sword DVD this winter, as well as probably booking a private lesson on sword work with my teacher Shems (who won the Belly Dance Nationals Proptastic Category!).

Also, there's a distinct possibility I will be buying a house in the first half of the year. Eeeeeek! I know nothing about buying a house but *gulp* I guess I'd better start learning.

And on top of that I'm waffling about going to the FCBD GS in Arlington, VA in February. I really want to go, I've wanted to attend GS since Carolena first mentioned the idea of it several years ago. Unfortunately it finally came to my area right as it went from a 3 to 4 day session, which hikes up the price. Also unfortunate is the location; the studio is awesome but it's over an hour drive from me in metro DC traffic. So I'm still thinking about this one. On one side, getting all that info from the source, digging into my dancing for four days and getting to really work. On the other, the cost and manipulating my schedule and accommodations to attend.

In preparation for all of this performing and dancing I've lined up some dance videos on Netflix so I can start getting my act pulled together in my home practice. After this weekend I'll be working on my schedule so I can get back into classes. There's a new dance studio in my neighborhood and I need to looking into their new year schedule.

So yes, I'm gearing up to launch myself into the year. Who needs sleep!

Dancing out of the box

2009-10-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my troupe had the honor of dancing at our friend Chris's wedding. Chris is Flissy's dance partner in Verve tribal, and they danced too (so Flissy had double performance time and handled it like a pro). This was all at the reception which luckily was indoors, and I say luckily because the weather was in the low 40s and raining all day long. The happy couple had wanted to rent a park pavilion and have an outdoor event, but it was too hard to get alcohol and loud music permits. We did get a chance to "enjoy" the weather for a bit because their wedding ceremony was at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (the original intent was for everyone spending a few hours enjoying the Faire after the ceremony before heading to the reception). It was a bit of wet chaos but right at the crucial moment it all pulled together and they had a lovely, heartfelt ceremony. My SO and I stayed on at the Faire for another 4 hours, hanging out, watching shows and generally feeling like "It's raining? Well we'll still have fun!" before heading to the reception. And dry clothes. A sense of humor, a resignation to getting wet, and a warm dry cloak (for me) make all the difference.

For the wedding I had proposed the idea of writing a choreography to one of our selected songs (Tim Rayborn, Zaman). It has very quick changes and some tricky bits, so I felt it might be nice to make something definite to the music instead of winging it with improv. I wrote the preliminary choreo, then Flissy and I got together and worked out the tricky or vague bits, then it went to the whole troupe and we polished the whole piece. We'd planned bits of other songs before, and learned a short choreo from Ali of n.o.madic tribal, but this was out first total almost six minute piece.

It wasn't perfect, we all had bits of "WTF am I doing right now?", but we felt good about the piece and our performance and most of all the Chris and Jason were happy with it and that is what really matters. The hours of troupe rehearsal (five in the 5 days before the wedding) paid off. It was awesome to look over during the intro (we led in with the FCBD dance meditation/prayer) and see Chris's huge smile. We segued from the choreo to improv, first with a slow piece doing dueling duets, and the last was lead out with a very upbeat song by Turku. My SO remarked at one point all four of us let our arm posture give a bit, and I told him I think the long day hit us all right at the same time, but we all perked up and rallied to the end of the set. Then we relaxed with cupcakes and open-dance-floor, no pressure, get your groove on dancing with the guests.

Live and In Person!

2009-10-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

A video! This is from May, when we danced as the headliners at Charm City Tribal's quarterly event, which is a ton of fun and you will want to attend if you're in the area when one is happening, like in early November.

This is the first time we performed with the dueling duets and it was Flissy's first performance with the troupe; we asked her to join right after this. She did a beautiful job.

One funny thing you can't see from the angle is that when I'm behind Nora at one point we spin around and our skirts hook together. I had to do a quick reverse spin to unhook us. Note to self: only one person at a time gets to wear an Indian embroidered skirts with sequins, and also never wear them around someone with a lot of long chainette fringe or yarn belts.

A Balkan Beat

2009-10-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday my SO and I made the very, very, VERY smart decision to attend Balktoberfest in Silver Spring, MD. Oh, it was awesome. It was held at a Ukrainian church, the first part outside and the evening show inside. The location made me think of church events I went to as a kid, though this was a LOT more fun than anything I attended at St Mary of the Mills Catholic Church.

Halfway through the evening, hanging out with J and some of our marching band mates, I made the comment that I really, really wish I saw more belly dancers there. In particular, I'd love to see some tribal/fusion dancers, particularly with the recent Balkan music craze going on in the scene. I didn't want to see them there belly dancing, I wanted to see them there absorbing the music and dancing in a back-to-the-roots way. Get at least a little closer to the source, then work from there.

Highlights of the evening, for me, were seeing a number of women rocking out on the tapan, whipping my head around towards the stage at the first amazing sounds of Elitsa Stoyneva, everyone crazy jumping up and down dancing to "Kalashnikov", and finally catching on to the patterns of the group line dances. On that last note, I managed to pull the muscles in both my calves while doing those dances. Next time I'm warming up first.

Oh yes!

2009-09-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

*rubs hands together in glee*

Today I used my 50% off Joann's coupon to buy 3.5 yards of gold dupioni silk. Gold pantaloons, the ones I have been dreaming of, here I come!

Yes, I could use the gold for something more glamorous, but I have been wanting gold 'loons for over a year, a good neutral for stage wear that's a little glam but not too much so.

Hafla Round Up

2009-09-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our 3rd Annual Kallisti Tribal Inappropriate Hafla. Third! Three years! It amazes me sometimes that our little troupe has been truckin' along since the beginning of 2006. The hafla was born out of the serendipitous meeting of our troupe with our Southern Maryland counterparts Troupe 'Hip'notic at the 2006 Tribal Pura show in DC. While backstage we bonded over our nervousness at dancing at the show, which lead talk of what we worked on in practices, and what other things we did in practices. The silly things. The inappropriate things. The dance things that, if done at a regular performance, would "get us kicked out of the local belly dance scene." And thus the Inappropriate Hafla was born.

This year's hafla ended up being wet; it started out with no rain, went to a misty rain thing, and then moved into a steady drizzle as the second act started. We did not despair, though! All the performers sat tight (under their umbrellas), waiting to dance and cheering each other on, and our non dancers stuck it out too. I told one performer, for whom this was her first time dancing outside of performances with her teacher, that after dancing in someone's back yard in the rain she could dance ANYWHERE.

We got to see dance offs, an amazingly silly cane dance, cheerleaders, a water gun fight, a burlesque fan dance, improv dance to a song picked by the dancer's Facebook friends, a slinky flapper-esque piece, and we had Troupe 'Hip'notic round things out with a hilarious "vicars and tarts" piece. We danced to Mika's "Lollipop", incorporating kids dances with some of our group improv and it was a LOT of fun. Not as epic as our multi-song mash up spoof of last year, but this one had some choreographed parts! I love the bio Lyra wrote for us:

Kallisti Tribal is a bellydance collective focused on pushing the boundaries of dance. Although originally brought together by a love of improv tribal bellydance, Amy, Brooke, Flissy and Nora are passionate about evolving their dance vocabulary and challenging the norms to achieve a new level of expression.

For this, their premiere Inappropriate Hafla dancing as a quartet, they sought out, searching far and wide for the biggest of all envelopes to push. They would not be satisfied with a mere A4 invitation sized dance envelope - no. They scoured their hearts and souls for, like, the biggest envelope you can imagine, ever. And lo, when they found it, they all got together and pushed as hard as they could.

By finding The Mighty Envelope and pushing it, they emerged with a regressive fusion that calls on their most innocent, most pure tribal roots. They're not just going to kick it old school, they went Older School, like pre school. No. Pre-pre school.

Kallisti Tribal......invites you to join.....
........ our TRIBAL..............
PLAYGROUND

If pictures pop up on Flickr I'll link to them.

ETA: Here is a video of about 1/2 of our performance. Flissy had to resync the music to the video, which is why the sound is not in "real time".

Trying something new

2009-08-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm going to mix it up a bit. Friday J and I plan on hitting Blob's Park Bavarian Bier Garten with friends, where we'll see Die Schlauberger on their Alpine Thunder tour. I'm not quite sure what to expect but I'm sure it'll involve beer and maybe polka.

Saturday Lisa Zahiya is in town and I'm taking two workshops with her, one on fusion drum solos and one on hip hop fusion. The hip hop is waaaay out of my normal range. I'll be beating a drum with Barrage Band at the Charm City Tribal Show Lisa's headlining, Sat night at Joe Squared (9:30 start time). Sunday evening Kallisti is dancing at the Bark's Animal Benefit in DC. It's going to be hot, in more way than one. Monday? Someone I have to crawl into work!

Things that mystify me

2009-08-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well thank goodness I have some talented ladies in my troupe, one of whom is a pro graphic designer, because I? Just spent 90 minutes resizing an image and figuring out how to paste it into a blank document in order to fit 4 small flyers per page. I'll try printing it with some left over card stock and linen resume paper (it's time for a new batch) tomorrow so I have them to pass out at the All Seasons Hafla.

On that note, the Third Annual Kallisti Tribal Inappropriate Hafla will be Saturday September 12th! (dancers can contact me about performing)

It's all fun and games until someone loses a bindi.

Something that popped in my head

2009-08-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

This thought just popped in my head, following my usual perusal of dance sites.

We don't have to save belly dance.

All we can so is dance, teach, study, share. We can be passionate, dedicated, thorough, inspiring, inspired, tough, helpful. We can set ourselves up as good examples and admit that we are only human, with the attendant faults. We can fight for what we love, and let go of what will only drag us down.

The dance doesn't need us to save it, it just needs us to be.

There will be more content

2009-07-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

I swear I will write more interesting things soon. I spent part of this past weekend taking workshops with Ali of n.o.madic tribal, and I have some thoughts to unpack about that and last month's workshops with Paulette of Gypsy Caravan.

Right now, though, I'm in the middle of tech week for my summer performance extravaganza Fluid Movement!!!! Fluid Movement is amateur community theatre that focuses on the mediums of water ballet and roller skating. Sometimes there is more dancing (2002's show was a biography of Freud done in belly dance. No, I was not involved in that one but I wish I had been!). This is my third year and, as every theatre person knows, tech week sucks away your time and energy and sleep schedule. It'll all be worth it for the shows, though!

So, expect me to dig myself out of my pile of glitter, tulle, and geisha wigs made of pool noodles sometime soon. I'll be back!

Education

2009-07-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

This week(end) Flissy is at the FCBD General Skills session in Orlando, FL. I wish I was there (okay, not in Orlando exactly I'm more of a Florida Gulf Coast girl, but at the GS). Since I'm not I decided to do my own FCBD ATS brush up. I've pulled out all my videos and I'm going through them one at a time, looking for new insights into moves and brushing up on what I already know. I'm also going to go through some of the latest FCBD videos on YouTube to see if I can spot changes and try to anticipate the information Flissy will have for us.

One day! One day I'll make it to the GS!

I grow old, I grow old

2009-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today I randomly started reading the blog . . . in a bottle. Genie is a friend of a friend and she hosts a participatory blogging project called Living Out Loud. While looking back over some of the past round ups I found this video post by Megan of An Acorn Dreaming, put together for the "Don't Tell Me. Show Me." project.

Click here to see the entry titled An Old Dancer.

Megan's observation that she started Irish Dancing "old" (24) and has only been getting older struck a cord with me. I started belly dance at 27. That's not old in the scheme of things, really, but by 27 I was starting to get a glimpse of what getting older holds in store for my body, especially when it comes to my knees. Some days I think, "What if I had started dancing in high school or college? Think how good I'd be now?", wishful thinking that I am sure has gone through the heads of many practitioners of many hobbies. I turn it around with, "Well, if I live until at least 60 and I keep up the dancing that means I'll have been doing it for over 30 years and that's a pretty good run." I also tell myself, "Shut up and be glad for each and every day you get to do something you love because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow, much less 30 years from now."

So perhaps I'll never be a fabulous dancer or do some of the crazy dance tricks I'd love to master. I do know that all I can aim for is approaching each day of dancing with commitment and love and passion. As Megan says: "I lay my heartbeat down on the floor every time I dance."

What is this I see?

2009-06-30T20:02:00.001-07:00

DC Tribal Cafe 2009-06-28 052e
Originally uploaded by Jonathan LC

Here is a picture from our Sunday performance at DCTribal Cafe. Hey Paulette, do you see what move Flissy pulled on me? The one we just learned and have practiced, oh, twice? Hopefully we'll have video up soon too.

Photo via Jonathan LC on Flickr. Check out his photo's, he's managed to get great action shots of dancers which is not easy at all, and the colors are gorgeous.

One More Tiny Choice Thing Archives

2009-06-29T09:44:00.001-07:00

A post to hold my weekly One More Tiny Choice Things. See my first post and who inspired them: One More Thing and Tiny Choices.

8/3/09: Clean the house, because for me a clean house means a productive house, and a productive house is one that uses less stuff, eats less take out, makes new things out of old, and cuts down on generating waste out of frustration. Cleaning also means adding to the "out with the old" pile, getting rid of the things that are just sitting around, taking up space.

7/27/09: Pack and take a lunch every day to my new job! Avoid take out unless necessary.

7/20/09: Several small things this week. Get in tune with our new recycling schedule. Take a box of old magazine donations to The Book Thing. Plan out our meals and shopping this week for less waste and efficiency.

7/6/09: Stop wasting drinking water, that is, finish the water I put in a glass or else collect it to put on the potted plants. There is no need for a half a dozen half filled glasses of water to sit around the house. If I pour a glass of water I should finish it.

6/29/09: Getting in line with Eat Down the Fridge and start using up what I already have instead of hitting the grocery store for new food that will become the old food that gets thrown away.

6/23/09: Making sure all the recycling from the bathroom makes it into the recycling bin instead of being lazy and throwing it away.

6/15/09: For my One More Thing I am going to recommit to using cloth napkins and I'm going to find the time this week to sew some out of my scrap fabric so I have extras to put in my car and with our camping gear.

Performance Prep Tip

2009-06-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

This morning has been a leisurely one at the Notary Republic*. Last night my SO and I played with Barrage Band Orchestra at a local bar's Circus Saturday event (where we marveled at the trapeze artist's ability to avoid swinging into the bottles behind the bar or the bar itself, as the trapeze is right over the counter). I've had a lazy morning, eating ramen (with kale and an egg mixed in to make it "healthy") and reading Princess Farhana's blog while my nail polish dries.

I'm also burning our CD for tonight's show as well as putting the set list on my iPod as a back up, and that's what make me think about passing on this tip for performances. If You are using your iPod for your performance music, or as a back up, make sure to mark what playlist is yours on the iPod. My method for this is electrical tape. Buy a roll of light colored electrical tape (I have some in yellow and white). Put a strip on the back of the iPod and use a fine tipped Sharpie to write the name of your playlist, how many tracks it is, how many songs it is, and the total running time. I say mark tracks and songs because I once told a (not very nice) music tech that our set was one track and how long it ran, just hit play. Even though the track was still running he stopped the music, which led to the events retold in this post. Because of the Sharpie the info won't smudge and because of the tape it can't be separated from the iPod, and you can easily peel up the tape after the show.

Here is to many music-drama-free dances for us all!

* Whomever rented our house before us was a Notary Public, and it says so on stick on letters on one of our porch doors.

DC Tribal Cafe - this Sunday!

2009-06-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

We're dancing this Sunday, June 28th, at DC Tribal Cafe: http://www.myspace.com/dctribalcafe

Unfortunately we're not sure who else is dancing, but we DO know it will be an awesome show because I don't think there has ever been a bad Tribal Cafe!

Here is some of the info, pulled from last month's show:

Let us enterain you!

Sit back and be entertained by cutting edge tribal fusion belly dance performances while enjoying Asylum's down-to-earth but oh so heavenly menu – full of the regular standard American fare and extensive vegan and vegetarian offerings.

With your tribal café admittance you get ½ price discount on burgers and $2 off select draft beer.

Sunday June 28, 2009

6pm – 9pm
Asylum Bar & Lounge
2471 18th Street, NW
Washington DC 20009

With the music of DJ MELLIE MEL in between dancer's sets! Doors at 6pm, performances start at 7pm – get there early for the best seats!

PICTURES and More info at: www.myspace.com/dctribalcafe
DCTribal Cafe sponsored by www.DCTribal.com
Asylum's awesome vegan and vegetarian menu can be found at www.asylumdc.com!
Questions? Email mavi@romkadance.com or check out our website at www.romkadance.com
Easy to access, paid parking is available 1/2 way down the block on 18th Street (on the same side as asylum)! There is another lot near the corner of 18th and Columbia in between the gas station and Adam's Mill Bar.

If you've never been to Tribal Cafe, it's set up as a pro, paying gig for tribal and fusion dancers in the DC area. Some tips for first timers - get there early to get a good seat. Also, bring small bills, as they put out tip cups for each performer (there are always three acts). If you're a pro tribal/fusion dancer in the DC/MD/VA area, check this event out. Dance there! Not from the area but passing through? Go see it! And maybe even see if you can dance there (special guests from out of town do perform on occasion!).

May we introduce to you . . .

2009-06-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

I realized last night that I have been remiss in making an announcement on this blog. If you've been reading along for a bit you've seen me mention my dance friend Flissy of Verve Tribal. While her dance partner Chris was living out of state we invited Flissy to practice, and then perform, with the troupe. Well everything went amazing well so two weeks ago we asked Flissy to join Kallisti Tribal, and to our delight she said yes!

I love this picture*, it looks like she's throwing some heavy metal "Hell Yeah!" horns.

It's been a lot of fun dancing with Flissy. She is both diligent and serious about her dance studies and she is incredibly playful about her practice (which I really appreciate because I can be a bit "All work, no fun!" and need to get snapped out of that tendency). She completed her yoga teacher training last year, which means we beg her to lead us through sun salutations during practice. To round things out, she's also a great vegetarian cook and amazing cupcake baker, which means she fits right into Kallisti "When We Get Together We Plan On Eating (a lot of good food)" Tribal.

Flissy can still be seen as one half of Verve Tribal, and you can always catch up with her at her site and blog Om Chantress.

Welcome Flissy! We are honored to have you dancing with us!

* I would credit this photo if I knew who took it, so if you know please comment and I'll add the info.

One More Thing

2009-06-15T07:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking some workshops with Paulette of Gypsy Caravan Dance Company. I'll talk about them in a later post but I will say that damn! I wish I'd done that sooner!

At the end of the workshop she talked about a project that came out of discussions with the Collective Soul dancers. Maybe project is not the correct work. Mission? Challenge? Action, maybe that's it. It's called One More Thing, and here is the idea from Paulette:

**But one of the things that came up in our many discussions about dance and about life, is the state of the world, a common topic of conversation in my life these days. With frustration at how many people still do not pay attention to recycling, reusing, and taking care of the earth, I try to do my part on a daily basis. WE can all do a little to help, and every little bit does help, but it is not enough.

I thought, One more thing.

We can all do one more thing. Whether it be helping our neighbor recycle, or not using weed killer on our lawn, or…..

So the Collective Soul dancers and I decided to start here, on this blog, every Monday to write in with what one more thing the can do or have done that week to help educate the public or what they have done in their own world. And I want you to participate!

Beautiful Rima suggests never buying a plastic bottle of water again. Get your refillable bottle and use it, or go thirsty that moment. I think that is a brilliant way to start!

Let’s hear it, starting this Monday…What one more thing can you do?

Bring it on, and remember, it all counts.

This reminds me of my friends who run the Tiny Choices blog, which is all about the tiny choices we can make to creating a cleaner, greener world. I particularly love Jenn's series of posts about finding a new water bottle. Sometimes I think water bottle choice is the gateway drug to figuring out the one more thing or tiny choices we can make to create a healthier world.

Here are some water bottles I have known and loved:
* A 32oz. wide mouth Nalgene in hot screaming pink. This was my first water bottle and it served me well. Unfortunately it ended up with this permanent weird smell inside and I had to get rid of it, though I'm not too sad because I always splashed water on myself even when I used the no-splash insert for the top.
* The SIGG Maharadsha in ruby. I call this the belly dance bottle. At Sunday's workshop there was my red one, Flissy's (purple) and another dancer's (blue). It's pretty awesome though it is a little tougher to screw on the top since it's so narrow.
* My everyday bottle is the 20 oz. Earthlust peacock. Or it was, the design rubbed off on mine. I may try another one day, maybe the 20 oz. dragonfly. These bottles are stainless steel, so no worries about what the liner may be leaching into your water. Also, I might get the sport top to add to mine because again, the narrow top can make it hard to close.
* I don't own one, but there is always the classic Kleen Kanteen if you want a simple stainless steel bottle.

Want to get in on the action? Paulette wants to hear from other people about their "One More Thing", so give her some feedback at her blog. I mentioned over there, and now here, that Tiny Choices runs a weekly survey where they profile one person and talk about that person's tiny choices; you should take the survey!

For my One More Thing I am going to recommit to using cloth napkins and I'm going to find the time this week to sew some out of my scrap fabric so I have extras to put in my car and with our camping gear. Here are some tutorials:
* Make napkins with pretty corners. Here are two other options.
* Fancier sets with bias tape binding. I'm sure you could buy bias tape for this project if you don't want to make it.
* The easiest option out there!. I'm not sure how much they will fray, though, I've cut fabric with pinking shears and still get some loose threads when it's washed.
* My quick and dirty version: Cut cotton fabric (I use quilting cotton) into squares as large or small as you like. Sew a zig zag or overlock stitch along the edge to prevent fraying. Use. Change the size to a rectangle and you have a thin kitchen towel.

The bonus is you can use your clean napkins as a convenient and stylish way to mop your brow when you're in the middle of an intense, sweaty dance workshop.

Homemade Mixing Medium

2009-06-08T17:42:00.001-07:00

Well, I think summer is here to stay in Baltimore. We have window unit air conditioners in parts of our house but we try not to use them unless it's unbearably hot. Considering my SO and I both grew up in small houses without AC we don't give in until it's very hot. So right now we're making do with fans and cold drinks and I'm keeping my entries on the lighter, less taxing side of things. I'm sure once I'm used to the seasonal changes I'll come around and get serious again.

The following video was linked on the Bhuz forums, and I'm really glad I found it. It's a tutorial for a cheap and easy way to make a mixing medium at home. Mixing medium allows you to take loose or solid pigments and other types of make up and apply them so they stick. The medium will increase the intensity of the color, too. Ah, here's a nice application tutorial. No, it won't keep the make up on forever because it's not waterproof, but with the medium you should be good to go for awhile.

I made some up the other day and used it to turn my Aromaleigh Drama Queen Liner in Topaz from a powder to an awesome gold-green liner. I've done this before using my Eye Kandy Sugar, which makes the liner super metallic. The medium made the liner bright and defined but not quite as shiny. It held up nicely for several hours and was easy to remove. I'll have to give it a try during a hot, sweaty practice (our rehearsal space is in an old studio that does not have the best AC either) and see how my eye make up holds up.

Here is the original tutorial I found through Bhuz. I watched a bunch of Koren's videos and really liked them, he's very relaxed and low key and it's kind of soothing to watch or listen to the videos while I'm working on other things. If you have makeup or hair questions I recommend using Youtube for tutorials and tips, people are really taking advantage of the medium (ahem) and putting tons of information out there.

The fruits of my labor

2009-05-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

So, after all the talk about make up I was dumping on you I figured you all might want to see it in action.

First, though, I'm going to start with a picture of my oldest tribal belt. This is not the first one I made, which was crafted from a Pier One place mat, upholstery tassel trim and home made yarn tassels. I do still have that one. This belt is made from a base I bought from The Red Camel (shop there, she rocks). I cut a piece of flannel to line the belt, then sewed two ties to the lining then hand stitched the lining to the belt, so when I tie it on (tight) I'm not stressing the fabric of the belt but am instead pulling against the lining. I added embroidered shisha mirrors to the ties, as well as some metal beads. The lower edge of the lining has one half of a row of snap tape sewn on so I can sew an arrangement of tassels to the corresponding side and swap out different "looks". No, I did not come up with that but I'm glad I read about it somewhere!

Anyway, I had been wanting to do a bunch of pom poms instead of tassels for the belt, so I spent the last week wrapping yarn and making poms. I'm really happy with how they turned out, because when you get moving the poms really dance. I also added two darts to the top back of the belt so it will hopefully mold to my back end a little better. They are hiding under the blue tassels. Here is a pic of the finished product, hanging on my front steps.

Next up is a Myspace style close up in my bathroom mirror. This was taken about 8:15 p.m. Saturday as I finished getting ready for our show that night. Here you can see my first homemade bindi (small but sparkly), my eyeshadow that is FIRMLY held on with Two Faced Shadow Insurance, the results of my new bottle of Lorac Oil Free foundation, and my awesome new red Make Up Forever lipliner and stick. Except for the lipstick, which I eventually wiped off while eating pizza after performing, the rest of the make up was going strong when I got home at 2:30 a.m. As was my hair, of which most of what you see is fake and let me say that was SO much easier to deal with than fighting with my own hair.

Here is a picture of me ready to head out the door. I have the pom belt on, and see that lovely red sequined skirt? It got tangled with the skirt of another dancer mid-set so I had to twirl myself free. I bought the choli from a local dance vendor and then added some sequins to the edges. I may add more. That extra shiny is addictive.

Here's the aftermath. First, the pile of metal is my bindi, barrettes and the bobby pins used to keep my hair together. I pulled them out last night and left them on the edge of the sink. There's a point as I'm taking everything off where I just want to start ripping and pulling at my hair and costume, like a little kid who pulls on a shirt they find uncomfortable. The adult side of me always makes sure I am more careful then that, but when you're really tired and you just want to go to bed it can take a lot of self control.

And here is the pile of costume, which Noralita calls "dancer droppings". The pantaloons, skirts and choli are on top of my belts and scarves which are on top of my jewelry. It takes about 2 hours to get ready and about 5-10 minutes to take it all off. We danced an 11 minute set.

Hopefully the video from the performance turned out, if so I'll post that when I get it, as well as any action shots I can find.

Getting the word out!

2009-05-31T21:11:00.000-07:00

I want to take a moment to get the word out about some awesome events that are coming up in my area.

July 13-14 there are two amazing weekends of workshops going on, one in Baltimore and one in Philadelphia. First up is ReOrient: Artistic Perceptions of the Middle East.

This is being sponsored by my current teacher Shems and two other local dancers (I am proud to call my friends), Nina and Ariel. I am hoping to hit one workshop on Saturday, Aszmara's Stage Dynamics. I may miss the Sunday show, since I'll be out of town, but I am encouraging everyone to see it. Not only will the dancing be awesome but the Creative Alliance is a fantastic intimate venue.

The same weekend Hipnosis in Philadelphia is sponsoring Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan for two days of workshops.

I'll be traveling to Philly with my friend Flissy to take Day #2. After reading Paulette's book Tribal Vision I am really looking forward to meeting her in person!

Then, July 18-19, Mirage Trio of Westminster, MD is hosting Kassar (a tribal duo from New Jersey) and Ali (of n.o.madic tribal from New Orleans) for two days of workshops in Frederick, MD.

I had the pleasure to take a day of workshops with Ali last summer, and her teaching has been an huge inspiration to me. Two years ago I took (with Flissy) a duo choreography class with Kassar while at Tribeoriginal and it kicked my butt. Check out both workshops if you can, I'll be attending Day #2 (unfortunately being unemployed means I'm having to pick and choose my workshops very carefully, so I don't get to do it all).

Now, go forth and dance!

More make up: mascara

2009-05-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I was not going to get around to wearing fake eyelashes for our next performance because I wasn't going to have enough time to practice dancing while wearing them. I test drive everything! I also realized that my current mascara, though good for every day, is not quite enough for performing. So I again headed off to Makeda's blog to see what she recommends.

There I found her review of Cover Girl's Lash Blast Luxe, which boils down to "CG Lash Blast is good, Lash Blast Luxe is no better than the original so go for the regular one." Got it. She also linked this review of drugstore mascaras at Beauty Banter, and the Lash Blast got a good review again. That works for me!

I hit the grocery store while running errands yesterday, and they had it for $7.99. That's good, I can pay that. Then I hit the self check out aisle, where it rung up as over $9. Uh, what? I pressed the cancel button, and a clerk came over. I mentioned the price difference and said I wanted to double check the aisle. He said he'd do it for me. In a minute he was back and said I was correct, it was marked at a lower price in the display, and since there was a discrepancy I could have it for free! I told him I was happy to pay the lower price and he said I didn't have to, since it was their fault it was free (this was at a Weis store in Laurel, MD). I walked out very happy.

I wore the mascara to practice last night. It held up to two hours of sweaty practice, dinner at home afterwards, and a loooong soak in the tub at the end of the evening. I rubbed a little coconut oil over my (closed) eyes and wiped off most of the mascara before washing my face. It definitely added thickness to my lashes, and I'll keep playing with it to get the best, and most dramatic, coverage. And I promise to start wearing my fake lashes at practice so I can add them to my stage face.

Make up, redux

2009-05-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

Monday I met up with my dancer friend Flissy and we hit the mall for the Sephora store and MAC counter. I headed into Sephora with a list of product suggestions gleaned from my request posts to Livejournal, Facebook and this blog, as well as information I pulled from emails I exchanged with another dancer friend/make up guru Makeda.

Before I mention what I bought, let me take a moment to credit Natalia for my red lipstick hunt,which was sparked after reading her post Is there a lipstick shortage in St. Louis?. It made me think if my choice of lipsticks, nice intense colors tending towards the browny reds and bronzy browns, were not quite right for the stage. So began the red lipstick search.

Here is what I ended up purchasing, with notes:

* Lipstick: Make Up Forever Lacquered Lipstick in #205, with Aqua Lip Liner in #8C. This is a bright, clear blue-red, which worked better with my medium, slightly yellow toned skin better than I thought it would. At the MAC counter Flissy tried Ruby Woo and they seemed to be almost identical. I wore it to practice last night to see how it held up to two sweaty hours, and my troupe mate Noralita said my lips walked into the room before the rest of me. I think it will stand up to performance hair, make up, clothing, lighting, etc. I'd probably go with Ruby Woo next time since it's $5 cheaper than the Make Up Forever version, but since I had the gift certificate this worked out well.

Note: It's really hard to steer myself away from all the awesome burgundy and plum colors, my favorites due to spending 2/3 of my life wearing mostly black clothing and almost 10 years identifying as goth. Unfortunately those colors are really too dark for my small mouth, so I bring them in as sheer lip glosses that tint more than cover.

* Eye Shadow Primer: Here I went with Two Faced Shadow Insurance. I was not crazy about Urban Decay's primer. I felt the tube and applicator were not designed in a way to allow you to get the product out of the tube. Then I'd have to put the primer on my finger to apply it anyway, so why not just go with a product that I squeeze out onto my hand from the start? I tried this out at the store with a light gold Lorac shadow, and it held all day with no creasing. Last night I wore it to practice with a plum Urban Decay shadow and again, no creasing after two sweaty hours. This will really be put to the test this summer in Baltimore's heat and humidity. Bring it on!

* Just for fun, Flissy got eye lashes with a glitter strip, #113 Betsy. I can't wait to see them on! Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to rock a pair of the feathered lashes (for non dance costumes).

A product I want to try:

* MAC Paint Pots: I'd like to get this in Painterly to use as a primer (as I've read about online). Also, the colors Delft, Rubenesque and Artifact are gorgeous in person, the website does them no justice. There was also a lovely olive green with a gold shimmer that I do not see listed on the site.

Product I dream of:

* The perfect antiqued gold nail polish. It has to be out there, a faintly metallic gold with a base of black so it's rich, not light. NARS has an eye shadow that looks like the right color match in the container. I might have luck layering a lighter gold over black.

I don't have a lot of money . . .

2009-05-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

. . . but I DO have a $50 gift certificate to Sephora! Thanks Mom, what a perfect Christmas present.

So, any suggestions on how I should spend it? I will be purchasing some new performance foundation (I use Aromaleigh mineral foundation for day to day). I have oily skin that is, unfortunately, more sensitive and acne prone than when I was a teenager. My last performance foundation was Lorac's Oil Free, which is no longer available. I took a look at the site, and here is what shows up under Sephora's oil free foundation list. They have a different Lorac one listed, and I'm intrigued by the Clinique ones because my mom has used Clinique most of her life (definitely all of mine) and she loves it (and also has oily skin, though clearer than mine).

If anyone has foundation recommendations for a stage foundation, from Sephora or not, for oily and troubled skin, I've love to hear it! I do prefer ones without SPF because sun block can make me flush, so I prefer to be able to use it or not as it's needed, not have it in my foundation all the time.

I'm also thinking of an eye shadow primer, though I will admit I was unimpressed by Urban Decay's. It didn't work all that well on me and I felt there was not a lot of product in the tube and it ran out FAST! Now, I like Smashbox's Photo Finish* face primer, so perhaps their eye primer would be a good thing to go for? I've also recently heard good things about using the MAC neutral colored Paint Pots as a primer. Either way, I think I will pick up a concealer brush (I do have one for foundation already, but do I ever use it? No.)

Last, I need a good red performance lipstick. This is going to be a tough one. My skin has yellow undertones, I tan in a heartbeat, and I have some redness across my cheeks. I look better in warm tones than cool. I know I'll have to go check out lots of colors, but any recommendations for brands (Sephora or not) that are long lasting would be great! I've tried the two step lip colors with the base that sticks and the gloss that goes on top, but man, talk about dry flaky lips! I so think something with a bit of a shimmer is best (or should I add gloss on top) because I have small lips and matte lipstick makes me look all pinched and mean mouthed. Right now I have a nice copper-brown color, though I think it can be a bit too dark, and I have a great fuschia red from Bed Head, Passion. I guess I'm looking for something classic that can go with any of my eye shadows or costumes.

Makeda, I'm expecting you'll have some input for me?

* Thanks to The Tribal Dancer Sharon for introducing me to the world of foundation primers via her LJ!

ETA: A pic, I'm on the right, see my small mouth! There are other pics from that set where I'm smiling. Thank you to the awesome photographer, the whole set rocks!

Another ETA: Paulette, while reading your book I noticed it appears Noralita has the same bat necklace Thorn used in her dance costuming.

Best Intentions

2009-04-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have two barely started posts I'm sitting on right now. I want to post, I really do! But right now I'm in the full on crunch to get ready for The Spoutwood Farm May Day Fairie Festival. This will be my 8th year volunteering at the festival, my 7th where I've camped and been there all weekend. On Saturday this year my SO will be playing with his group The Barrage Band Orchestra (he's on the left in the top left photo); I may sit in on repurposed-kick drum-duval, even though really? I have no idea how to drum. I watch the bass drummer and follow along. Or add some zills to the mix. Around playing I'll be running around being useful and catching up with friends I only get to see at the festival.

So I'm trying to finish costumes, cook, pull out the camping gear, do laundry, borrow my parent's SUV, and generally get my act together around trying to finish up some work for a project and (reminder to self) paying bills. When I'm back I'll make sure to get working on those posts, and I'm sure the festival will inspire lots of new thoughts.

It's that time again!

2009-04-20T12:27:00.001-07:00

Over the past year my troupe's performance schedule slowed down a bit. One member had a baby last fall, another has other performance obligations, and we all have busy personal lives. We're trying to get back into the swing of things, and so far we have long(er) sets to dance at two local events at the end of May and June. What that means, though, is it's time to pick music.

Ugh

It's tough. Different people with different opinions, though we usually manage to find a middle ground or compromise. Sometimes we're excited about something we all want to dance to. I've been having a lot of trouble finding music I like lately, and all the classics feel so . . . blah. Sometimes I think I should put together the most repetitive and boring practice sets possible (or sets of things that are danceable but not really for performance) so when we pull out "the good stuff" we're excited about it. I have some iTunes credit and a gift certificate to Amazon that I should put to good use, but then I end up paralyzed with indecision! I'll freely admit, too, that I am the pickiest person ever. I have a very clear idea of what I think works for us musically, it's just finding something that matches that idea (oh, to have a band to work with!).

To top it off we have to pick costumes. I've been wanting some new "looks" lately, but along with time constraints it can be hard to get it to where all of us have the money to make and or buy new costumes pieces.

At least we have almost 6 weeks until the first performance!

What is it worth?

2009-03-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Like many people (I can't even say just Americans anymore, it's everywhere) I've lost my job. It hurt, not just because it was my source of income but because I worked for a local business I had helped create, open and run. I would like to say I've spent the past month kicking a$$ and taking names with my dance practice, but that's not true. I've been spending a lot of time sitting on my butt at my house. And cooking. I'm still in my class and my troupe is practicing, but I haven't really ramped things up.

Being out of a job it weird because suddenly I do have the time for the things I couldn't do before. Part of me keeps thinking I can go to yoga class! Or hooping! I could add dance classes with new teachers! I can travel to D.C. for classes! I can travel elsewhere for workshops and such!. Then I remember that Hello! No job! On a super budget!

Not having a job and not having lots of extra money means I am having to skip, yet again, something I want to really do, which is taking the General Skills workshops with FCBD. Between the workshop costs, the travel costs and the hotel costs I'd be looking at at least a thousand dollar commitment. It makes me sad, because I see dancers from my area making plans to go to one of this year's sessions and I want to go too! I remember when Carolena first mentioned them at a Tribal:PURA workshop and Lyra and I excitedly talked about saving up so we could go. Things have definitely changed since then (I think that was almost three years ago). I do not think anyone will bring GS to this area. I'm not sure there is someone in our area who could afford to do it, or who is in a position to be able to set up such an extensive event. I wish it could be me!

With all these thoughts going around in my head I really REALLY started thinking about attending the GS. And I started thinking I'm not sure I'd want to go, though I'm not sure if this thought process is soup grapes or me being reasonable. I know there is a wealth of info being offered, but one thing that I'm not keen on is that since the GS workshops started the size of the sessions has become larger. I think when it started the sessions could be 1 to 15 people (I'm trying to remember based on the old price structure info I read), which is definitely intimate and allows for personal attention. Now they go up to 25 people, and though that can be small for a workshop I know that is big for a regular class. It seems like that personal attention could be stretched a thin. If I was spending a thousand dollars or more to be one of 10 people, that's one thing, but not to be one of 25. I'm sure the size of the workshops has expanded to meet the demand of dancers, and I know that the teachers are also business people and they need to make a living.

But then I start to wonder how I could possibly teach with an ATS base and not take the GS? Not that I teach solely ATS moves, but that is where my troupe is grounded. But I also know that, more than for teaching, my desire to do the GS is for me, for my personal fulfillment. If I want to continuing teaching I just have to teach what I know, and what I am learning. Going to a GS session is more for me to bask in ATS for a few days, to dig into the dance form and understand it more. But right now I'm at a crossroads, balancing what I want with my other responsibilities, what I dream about tempered with a dash of commonsense.

In case anyone is wondering, I've had this cycle of want/don't want conflict tumbling through my head for about the past year. It's ramped up in the past few months I think because I have more time to think about it. I figured maybe if I could dump some of it out here I'd be able to get a better handle on it.

Everything old is new again

2009-03-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

This just popped into my head today:

Cowrie falls are an updated version of feathered roach clips*.

* Which I loved as a kid, and didn't realize what I was really wearing in my hair until I was a bit older, though I'm sure my mom got a good laugh out of it.

Now for something completely different

2009-03-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

My non-dance life has been a bit crazy lately, which doesn't leave me with much room for coherent blogging thoughts. One the other hand, vegging out to YouTube videos has helped me de-stress a bit. Here's one of my current favorites. What I love most of all is the sense of fun that comes out in this video, even though it's looks like a copy of a copy. And when the conga player really starts rolling around 3:20? Awesome!

24/7

2009-01-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

When I first started dance classes I quickly became infatuated with belly dance culture. I felt there there must be some way to keep the glamorous side of dance around when I was not in class, or a watching a performance, or immersing myself in dance stuff. It reminds me a part in "Snake Hips" where Anne Soffee writes about how, in our fantasy worlds, belly dancers should always be living in some kind of Orientalist tableau, not partaking of normal (boring) everyday life (I'd put a quote in here but I leant the book to a friend).

Anyway, I was musing on this train of thought the other day, thinking about how now the belly dancer persona is something I both take on and off and keep with me all the time. And I was thinking about really, how can you keep a spark of your (enjoyable) personal fantasy with you as you schlep through your daily routine? You know what I came up with?

Practice.

Practice when you're not in class. Practice when you're not at a performance. Or chatting with dancers online. Or buying dance stuff. Or whatever. Practice to keep that magic going, to become a better dancer, to enjoy the dance. Practice at home, secretly at work, stealthily in line at the bank. Practice in sweats or a costume or workout gear. Work on hard things, work on fun things, or dance just for the hell of it.

It was a total "Duh!" moment.

A new direction

2008-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

While my troupe mate Lyra has been taking a baby break, Noralita and I have been playing around with a choreography. So far we have one minute, twenty two seconds worked out. Not completed. Not polished. Not done. Just worked out. We have two minutes and twenty two seconds left to work out. Lisa Z. told us to factor in one hour per minute of song. I believe that!

It's been fun. No, I don't think this is a permanent direction change but it has been a fun way to play around with music and dance in a new way.

Virtual Shopping

2008-12-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Just for the hell of it I decided to post a dance wish list for all the little things I look at and think, "Yeah, I'd like that".

BD-TV 2 and Belly Dance Rocks DVD. BD-TV 2 for the interview with Caroleena, Belly Dance Rocks for some of the great (and fun) performances.

Skirts: A black 25 yard skirt because I love to swish around in them for everyday wear and a jaipur skirt in, hmm. Red, Saffron or Blue (I think). Not in black because I need more color in my dance wardrobe.

FCBD Instructional DVDs #5 and 6. This may be a reality rather soon, as I think there are things in them I could use for my classes. Or at least they'd give me a good idea of how to structure what I'm teaching.

I'm also interested in becoming a better zill player, so I am interested in the Zills Drills and How to Become a Killer Ziller DVDs.

To go with those videos? More zills! I want a pair of the brass Afghani Saroyan's, or maybe Sulyman's el Coyote's large zills in the low tone, if he ever makes them again.

For music, FCBD sells Aisha Ali's series "Music of the . . . " which would be a good addition to my library. I need to pick up Helm's first "Tribal Dance, Tribal Drums". I could probably use some serious time with Amazon and iTunes to start finding more music. Or hey, if I could have the money to work with live musicians!

Speaking of money, if the sky's the limit I'd go to San Francisco for the General Skills workshop. I have a feeling by the time I have the money and time the opportunity will be long gone.

Talk about commitment

2008-12-05T06:59:00.000-08:00

My work life has been very stressful lately. I'm working mostly 6 day weeks, with a couple of dance commitments a week. I finally managed to engineer a shift swap with a coworker so I have one more night free and can finally take a class with Shems. I'm also trying to set up a private lesson with a local ATS certified teacher so I can brush up on my ATS skills and have some questions answered. That one's going to be tricky because she lives about 45 minutes away from me. I was feeling a little whiny about that drive, until I overheard a dancer last night in class. She lives in Delaware, but every Thursday she is driving down to Baltimore to take two classes. She said there is nothing in her area that is quite what she wants, so she is dealing with the drive (I think about an hour and a half on a good day) and considering it "her" night out.

I was really impressed, listening to her. So many of us (and I've done this) complain about having to drive to classes that are not close to us. It is hard to deal with this in an urban or congested suburban area, and it is hard to take the time from our busy schedules. I admit I am always amazed to hear from dancers who are traveling hours to take a class, who sometimes have to commit one entire weekend to travel and dance study because they have no local opportunities. It makes my own dance "problems" seem pretty minor.

What time? No time!

2008-11-06T19:34:00.001-08:00

I'm working six days a week right now, and it's seriously cut into my dance time. I'm teaching every Monday after work, troupe practice is Tuesday after work, Wednesday and Thursday I work in the evenings, Friday after work my SO and I try to hang out, Saturdays are usually booked and Sunday I'm working and trying to relax or get things done in the evening.

I did take a few workshops with Dalia Carella last weekend, and she totally rocked. I wish I was in NYC so I could study with her all the time! Other than that, though, I have not really danced for me for a few weeks. It's tough, I have some music I've been wanting d to work with but I keep having to put it in the "Soon!" pile. Once I post this I'll be back to working on the epic email message I'm sending out to my students that goes over what we learned in class this past session. I've been trying to work on it for two weeks but it's really hard finding time to finish it.

Hopefully things will calm down in a few weeks, or else I'm going to miss the fun of the holiday season!

What is real?

2008-10-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

My thoughts of late turn to that which is . . . fake. Fake eyelashes and hair, that is. I splurged on some eyelashes (and other things) while shopping at Sephora. I have yet to actually try them on, though I'm sure it will be a comical event. Now I am searching online for fake hair on a weft that will work with my hair color, which is, um, blondish-brownish-reddish? I have no objective idea WHAT color I'd call it. Anyone who knows me IRL want to help out?

In case you're wondering, Natalie of Delirium Tribal/ Columbia Alternacirque is responsible for this obsession.

Improv Tribal 101

2008-09-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

I decided that, in order to get some information out to my students without the returning students having to hear the same information again (though some stories are classic), I'd instead post up an into to Improv Tribal/ATS basics, a place to direct people and provide links to more information.

A Quick and Dirty Historical and Informative Lesson About ATS and Tribal Group Improv for the Kallisti Tribal Student

The Foundation:
The foundation of most cued improvisational tribal style belly dance is American Tribal Style (ATS), created in the 1980s in San Francisco by Carolena Nericcio. ATS arose out of Carolena's dance classes, and at first was danced solely by her troupe Fat Chance Belly Dance (FCBD). Until recently ATS was not strictly codified; in the past few years Carolena has worked to define ATS through it's common look, vocabulary, and system; she does this through her instructional videos, the Tribal:Pura workshops, General Skills certification and Teacher Training certification programs.

Improv Tribal, solo or group, that does not follow the ATS structure is not considered ATS. Instead dancers use terms such as Improv Tribal Style, Tribal Group Improv, Tribal Fusion or named a specific system used by a particular troupe/dancer/school.

The name is descriptive of the style, American because is is an American invention, Tribal to describe how the dancers work as a unit and can look as if they are part of one "tribe".

There is a more detailed essay on this at FCBD's website:
http://fcbd.com/about/history_rr.shtml

The History:
Before ATS there was Jamila Salimpour and Bal Anat. In 1968, in order to offer an authentic look/feel performance for the CA Renaissance Pleasure Faire, Jamila created a troupe called Bal Anat that showcased different dance and entertainment styles Jamila had learned from her circus and dance background. The dancing was incorporated with live music into one seamless spectacle. Bal Anat costumed in a faux folkloric style, using original textiles and clothing from various North African, Near and Middle Eastern, and Asian countries. The show gave a feeling of an authentic dance experience, though it was made up of elements from many different cultures, and also introduced snake and sword dancing to the belly dance repertoir. The style of Bal Anat and similar troupes has been called California or Old School Tribal.

Baltimore area students are probably familiar with local teacher and dancer Piper, whose mother Rhea was a member of Bal Anat:
http://www.pipermethod.com/rhea.html
http://www.gildedserpent.com/aboutuspages/rhea.htm

One Bal Anat dancer, Masha Archer, left to create her own group, The San Francisco Dance Troupe. In 1974 Carolena Nericcio began dancing with Masha; when the troupe disbanded in 1987 Carolena began teaching classes in order to have people with whom she could dance. What Carolena taught was pulled from Masha's eclectic style, and in her classes the movements began to solidify into a cohesive vocabulary.

Pictures of Masha's troupe:
http://www.gildedserpent.com/art39/CedarsArchives.htm

The Style:
ATS can be defined by several things: the cued movement vocabulary, the improvisational choreography, and the look.

Vocabulary:
ATS has a set vocabulary of codified movements. Occasionally new movements are added, but only through careful examination to see if they line up with the rest of the ATS vocabulary. Movements are split into fast (with a timed count, done to fast music) and slow (no count, done to slow music). They are drawn from standard belly dance moves (such as horizontal figure eights), standard movements modified to fit ATS (the Arabic series of movements that date back to Jamila Salimpour), and movements modified from other cultures (floreos from Flamenco or moves from Indian dances). All ATS dancers know all the same movements, enabling dancers that are don't know each other to successfully dance together with no practice. The same movements are used if an ATS dancer solos, though the dancer may modify the moves to make work better for a solo dancer (such as not cuing a move since there is no one following the leader).

Also, ATS is danced while playing zills (finger cymbals) during fast songs. Patterns used most often are triplets, the military pattern and baladi.

Improvisational Dancing:
The style of ATS can be called cued improvisational dance, or improvisational choreography. ATS dancers will dance with a group of 2-4 dancers, sometimes backed by a chorus that uses simple move and which serves as a frame for the small group. The small group is set up with the leader in the front left hand position with the followers in formation behind, everyone angled slightly to the left corner to maximize visibility. When dancing the leader picks movements to execute and the followers know what moves are coming either by distinctive cues or because the beginning of a move is distinctive enough to tell the dancers exactly what is going on (i.e. the move is the cue). When the entire group knows the movements well the changes happen simultaneously giving a "flock of birds" appearance to the group. Leaders can change though line fades or circling. Some ATS groups will choreograph occasional performances, usually for a large stage, to give a dynamic look to a performance, though most choreographed pieces will still follow the ATS rules.

The Look:
One of the first things audiences members tend to comment on with ATS is the look. Like Old School tribal, ATS has a "fakeloric" look that has a feel of authenticity but is actually a fusion of many different styles from different cultures. The basic of ATS costuming are usually: turban or head wrap (many cultures, used to balance out the top and bottom of the dancer's silhouette), choli (open backed cropped blouse adapted from Indian clothing), coin bra (from American belly dance, often used for more "ethnic" flavored dance instead of sequined and beaded bras), pantaloons (based on salwar or other pants but styled differently than actual historical clothing), tiered skirts (adapted from multiple cultures), hip shawls/wraps (standard to belly dance), and sometimes tassel belts (not an actual or a rare clothing piece historically, adapted from horse and camel tassels and used to accentuate hip movements). Carolena has decided that is is the basis for the standard ATS costume, with some modifications allowed, such as mirror Indian cholis instead of a choli and bra combo, or more streamlined costumes for certain performances.

In addition to the distinctive costume there is the distinctive posture and carriage of ATS. Most belly dance starts from a strong neutral posture: head level, shoulders rolled back and down, chest lifted slightly, abs engaged, pelvis tucked slightly to protect the lower back, knees soft. ATS has a slightly higher lift to the chest, which lends a feeling often described as strength or pride and can create an illusion that the dancer is slightly arching the back. Arms are usually held at chest level or higher, with the elbows slightly bent; movement is generated from the shoulders through the elbows and hands to keep the arms strong. The gaze is level and outward, to enable followers to catch cues and move changes. Movements are usually danced flatfooted with some moves executed on the balls of the feet.

One point of contention within the belly dance scene has been the perception that ATS dancers do not smile while dancing. This is not generally not true. There are some groups that purposely cultivate a serious look, but Carolena has stated that ATS is meant to be a happy, joyful dance and dancers should be enjoying themselves and therefore convey this by smiling.

Overall, through the costume, posture and stylization, ATS aims to produce the feeling of the dancers as a cohesive unit. Dancers should move almost as one, and the costumes provide a colorful accent to the dancing.

So What Do We Do?
The members of Kallisti Tribal come from a variety of dance backgrounds. Lyra has training in classical western dance styles and Irish dance, personal family experience with Indian dance and has studied both tribal and non-tribal belly dance. Nora has trained in social partnered dance and multiple styles of belly dance. I have no dance back ground other than kids ballet and a semester of modern in college; my belly dance background has been primarily in tribal supplemented with classes in several cabaret styles. We met through one of Lisa Zahiya's classes, which was tribal group improv, based out of ATS but with some of the vocabulary reinterpreted and also supplemented with moves from other tribal improv styles or ones created by Lisa's dance troupe. ATS classes are new to the Baltimore area, and there are not many dancers doing strict ATS though this will probably change in the near future as current students start performing.

Over the past few years we have consciously decided to look back to our ATS roots for many reasons. First we feel that to dance tribal style we should have a strong base in the foundations of the dance. We also feel that ATS is just really cool and beautiful and we like to watch and dance it, and Carolena is a continuing source of inspiration to the troupe. Also, it's smart to look into not just the vocabulary of ATS but to the concepts (of presentation and form) that Carolena's developed because they look good and make sense, so why reinvent the wheel? None of us are ATS experts, but we are enjoying our continued studies in the style.

We've also kept some of the moves we learned from Lisa, some of which do not stick to the ATS rules. To this we've added moves or concepts we've picked up from other teachers and we've added things we've, to be honest, made up. Even when using established moves we sometimes change their execution to suit our tastes, but we always try to make sure that what we're doing looks cohesive. Also, though ATS does allow solos for dancers, we tend to do our solos in more fused tribal styles; we break out of the ATS vocabulary, will bring in more audience interaction, and will adopt more individual emotional expressions during solos. And if you ever see Kallisti dancers busting out a solo performance, don't be surprised. We are happy to support each other in our different dance endeavors, which include the occasional spot of solo dancing.

I recommend Sharon Moore's info site for a good synopsis of tribal styles; she is very knowledgeable and very passionate about this dance!
http://tribalbellydance.org/

So, What Are We Teaching?
As I mentioned, we believe in Tribal Group Improv dancers having a strong background in ATS, because it is the source of our dancing. With that in mind, many of the basics we teach are straight from the ATS vocabulary, and we recommend students pick up the FCBD teaching videos (especially #1, 4 and 7) to supplement their home practice. Videos are an extremely helpful tool, though they can never solely substitute for feedback from a teacher. When we do teach something that is not strictly ATS we will make sure to tell you, and are happy to show the "traditional" variation. All three of us continue to study with local teachers and take workshops, so we will continue to bring in new information and inspiration from what we are learning in our own studies.

Also, though Kallisti does not currently dance with zills (as we were not taught to do so) we believe that all dancers should have basic zill abilities, so Amy will be introducing them in her class. We admit to being zill beginners, so we are learning right along with you and will be continuing our studies in order to present solid material to our students.

All of this information is, of course, just a taste of what is out there. I recommend students take some time and look into online resources, including the various groups on tribe.net (the Tribal Style Bellydance, ATS, FCBD and ATS FAQ in particular), the forum discussion Bhuz (great info on music and various dance styles), and the North Beach series at The Gilded Serpent. But don't be just an armchair academic! Get out to watch dancing, whether at restaurants, shows or parties, and make sure to dance yourself, not only for practice but just for the fun of it.

Elaboration: Fusion, performance and skill

2008-08-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have been a part of a discussion on my personal journal regarding fusion performances. It was regarding an online video performance where the dancer, a beginner/intermediate level student, was dancing with a very dramatic prop and very non-BD/ME music in a fusion piece. I did not like the performance, because I found the prop to be distracting, and I thought that the prop and music choice were so dramatic that they took away from the performance because they emphasized not what the dancer can do but instead her limitations. That is, her prop and music did not contribute to the performance, but detracted from it.

I know that some of my future students and newer (to the) dance friends read my journal, so I wanted to clarify how where some of my opinions come from, and to emphasize that I am not bashing on newer dancers because they have less experience. Gods know my dance time is a mere blip of time compared to some dancers' long and rewarding careers, and I hope I get to keep dancing and keep growing. I admit I tend towards a more conservative view of belly dance. I love it for what it is, and I'd prefer if some of the crazier fusions going on would politely excuse themselves from the belly dance party and start hanging out in a different dance scene. With those points in mind, I'm going to expound of some of my thoughts.

* Dance honestly: Overall I am not fond of fusion that feels it is done just to do something different. It does not feel honest, it feels forced. There seems to be some kind of fusion one-upmanship going on where people are using weirder and weirder costumes, props and music that move further and further away from belly dance and into I don't know what. This movement doesn't feel genuine, it feels gratuitous.

* Match your ideas to your skills: I see dancers doing dramatic fusion pieces that are less effective because of their skill level. Does this mean dancers should never try new things, reach beyond their abilities in order to grow as artists? No. It means that when a dancer has a modest skill level but chooses to do a piece with dramatic costuming, props or music that over reach that skill level it can make the dancer look bad. Instead of the dancer's showing her strengths, the dramatic elements emphasize weaknesses. There can be stepping stones to a big dance idea, performances that build up until your skill level matches your dance plans and it all finally comes together. I have music and ideas I've had for a few years that I revisit to see, "Am I ready yet?" Some yes, some no. I don't want to waste my really cool idea on my current skill level, so I'm still holding it until I can pull that piece off. And I'm sure by that time I'll have something new I'm working towards.

* Teachers, you need to be honest too: On that note, I sometimes wonder if some of the dancers I see have teachers or mentors who are evaluating their students performances. I see some videos online that make me cringe at what people put on stage, and I ask myself, "Did her teacher not tell her that was a bad costume choice? Did her teacher not tell her that music was not good for that venue? Did her teacher not tell her she may want to work with that prop more before using it in a performance?." I feel sorry for these dancers because I hope teachers are putting their students on a stage looking and performing their best. My heart hurts for them. It's their moment to shine, whether it's a baby beginner hafla performance or a student about to go pro. Teachers can be tough and honest, but they also need to support their students. I don't see letting a student get on stage ill prepared, out of her league or way out of line as supportive. If my students come to me for help I hope I can evaluate them with fairness, tact and honesty. I want to encourage them and their creativity, but I also want to make sure they are growing into strong dancers. And I don't want anyone to cringe when they dance.

One of the best things ever said to me by a teacher of mine happened when I asked her what level she thought my class was at, and she said, "Advanced beginner". I'd been dancing for a few years and thought pretty highly of my skills. Her comment made me feel a bit deflated, but her evaluation wasn't mean. It was honest, and it made me committed to take an close look at my skills and then keep working on them. I knew that she always had my best interest at heart and that she wouldn't let us go out unprepared or unsupported.

* Sometimes you have to be encouraged to fly: Just a note to point out that I also think teacher's should push students who don't see that they are ready and prepared to take the next step in their dancing. That does not mean going pro. It means getting a student who is ready to finally do a solo, or to finally take the lead in group improv, or finally work on a dramatic piece to take that next step. Sometimes you have to push them out of the nest.

* Teachers are there for a reason, use them: On the flip side, students should be checking in with their teachers. This is what evaluations and private lessons are for, to work closely with your teacher. This can be anything from specialized classes to info on how to go pro or just brushing up your basics. I especially encourage students who want to start performing to run things by their teacher, as no teacher likes to find out a student is performing and the teacher had no clue what was going on (the dance scene is small, everyone eventually knows what everyone else is up to). Teachers have a lot of info to pass along about performance conduct, pricing, ethics, etc. Keep your teacher informed and I sure you will find yourself well supported for that next step.

So hopefully I have not bored or alienated anyone with my long opinionated list. I was lucky to have, and still have, supportive teachers around me. I also know what it is like to look back and think wow, I was not ready as a dancer to do what I just did. Thankfully I think there are no videos of those performances, because YouTube can be your friend or your enemy, one with a long long memory.

A very happy post

2008-08-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to post this video of my teacher Lisa Zahiya. This is the same performance she did at Baltimore's Bellypalooza, and I'm happy I get to watch it again (and again and again). At around 4 minutes the camera changes so you get to see her up close.

Preparation

2008-08-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you what an exciting evening we're having around these parts! First there was dairy dinner (grilled cheese and ice cream), washed down with a (ginger) beer. Now I'm making song lists for the class I'm going to be teaching. Yes, teaching. One of my troupe mates teaches a beginning level Tribal Group Improv class but needs to take some time off this fall. I'm going to pick up the class while she's out. The hand off is happening a little faster than I expected, so I have been working on my notes for what I want to cover, drawing up a syllabus, and planning warm up/cool down sequences. Now I'm making up some starter playlists: Warm Up Music, Easy Steady Songs, Zill Tracks and Fun Music.

Of course, all of this is dependent on me having a place to teach. Unfortunately the studio may have a class planned for our usual slot. I would rather not go an hour later, as I have MY class I want to go to that evening. I'm worried about changing nights, Monday's have been a really good time. The location is perfect, near my house, not too downtown for the suburban students but also in the city for those who need it. I've been doing some intense online web searching and I started calling some possible space alternates. I also have to get liability insurance, but I don't want to shell out a couple of hundred dollars until I know I have the class set (and as some places require insurance in order to rent a space this could become a big Catch-22).

So we'll see how it goes. The class may have to get pushed a few weeks, but I'm hoping something works out. I'd hold class in my living room but it's hard to dance around the cats.

It gets better, but you have to make it happen

2008-07-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

My SO and I know a photographer/author/blogger/all around excellent and interesting person in Philadelphia by the name of Kyle Cassidy. He is currently working with Amanda Palmer from The Dresden Dolls on a new book project, which is being written my Neil Gaiman. Those two names involve a bit of "Squeeee!' in my brain, and I think about how cool it is that Kyle gets to meet, work with and befriend such interesting people. Kyle wrote about the experience today, and I want to highlight something from his post:

" ... then we hied back to Castle Amanda and climbed up through the cloud club, through a skylight, and onto the roof where the cool air washed over us and the city was wide open before us. i felt like i was a part of something grand. and not because of who i was with or what we were doing, but because i was alive and a great metropolis streatched before me like an awaiting tableau saying "write your life here" ... we climbed to the peak of the house and all sat in silence looking out for a while. the tempertaure was perfect.

"Since I left high school," I said, after a long, contemplative silence, "my life has been going up, and up, and up. I feel like every day is better than the one before."

"I'm happy," said Amanda, looking at me, and then out across the cool vastness, with a lone skyscraper in the distance as witness.

"Life is really wonderful," said Neil.

And sitting there, looking out over the rooftops of Boston, I thought about all the hard work -- all the crap I put up with in jr. high school -- from all those jerks who peaked in 11th grade and spent their time trying to come up with new ways to make me feel miserable, all the bad times, and how everything just seemed right now to be exactly where it should be. neil was right.

Life is really wonderful.

Work hard, believe in yourself, enable your dreams, seek out creative people. Hang on. Tenaciously. Always be a force for good. "

It's true. I've felt my life has been one climb upward since the miserable days of my adolescence. Personally I'm a lot happier than those days of aimless yearning to do something, ANYTHING! with myself. I've enjoyed the modest amount of notoriety I've achieved due to my life (from the knitting, fire and belly dancing). I haven't chased my happiness, but I've worked at it. Or really, I've worked at things I love and the happiness has unfolded from that work.

I want to print this out and hang it up and pass it along to everyone I know particularly the teenagers in my life who may need the reassurance that yes, life is amazing and it can surprise you, but you will have to put some blood, sweat and tears into it.

TGIT (Thank God It's Tribal!)*

2008-07-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

I wrote this for my regular blog, to amuse my friends and show them what things we go though as dancers. Of course I have to repost it here.

This past weekend our friend Cathy hosted Zafira for 2 days of workshops. It was incredible. I've taken workshops with Maria and Olivia twice before, at Triboriginal in 2006 and 2007, and even though some of the material this weekend was familiar I still walked away with so much new knowledge, so much inspiration, and so much of my a$$ being kicked (in a good way). I love them. Or lurve them. Or luff. With two effs.

Saturday night was the gala show. Cathy scored the Theatre Project, which I feel was (physically) an awesome venue, even with the tiny backstage (and tinier backstage restroom, which really makes you understand the term "water closet"). There were a lot of people in attendance, and though it was not a dance crowd (i.e. very quiet while you danced) they were very receptive and appreciative. Also, very patient and gracious with the sound mess ups. I'll get to that in a second, but first:

The good: Piper rocking her solo even with the horrible sound, getting to finally see Sammati from the audience (go zills!), Piper and students dancing with drums!, Levialora's beautiful basket dance with live music, Naimah showing us her softer side and endless shimmies, the huge group improv set with baby dancers to seasoned pros all dancing together even though most of us have never danced together before, Shems' glittering veil solo, getting to dance with Lyra and knowing that no matter what happens we've got each other's backs, Mavi being an incredible sword goddess, and Zafira working an amazing spectrum of dance from a saucy vaudeville number straight through to heart meltingly romantic belly dance.

Now, let me tell you about the crazy parts!

I have this part under a cut on my other blog, titled "You thought we would stop dancing, but you were wrong"

There were sound problems all through the show, starting with some of the CDs not working during the sound check. Piper's music from her CD was barely audible, full of static and the sound person cut it early, who knows why!! The crew didn't seem to understand that Zafira wanted their music to start and then took their time turning it up loud enough. Even though the sound guy said our CD worked, I ran for my iPod during the intermission, which was good because the CD of music for the large group set wasn't working and I thankfully had let the practice playlist on the pod. I didn't trust our CD to work, and I was worried even with the pod.

At first, despite the crew not understanding "Bring up the music and lights at the same time", it went well. But then, well, here's what was going on in my head:

First song done! Why are the lights going down? We have another song. It rocks! What? Okay, we'll stand here. And smile. Smile more. What is this! Okay, I'll start to taqsim just to do something. Hey, people are clapping, and it's a 4/4. We can dance to this! This is okay! Maybe the music will be fixed! Wait, this could go on forever. Thank you Mab for wrapping that up. Standing. Fine, I'll go up into the booth. *hike up skirts, run up the steps, pull up the exact song we need (the performance was single tracked)* "Don't hit play until I get down there!" *climb back to the floor* "Brooke, you go first!" Man, I am out of breath, but smile! Uh, why is our first song playing again? Okay, we'll dance to it! These poor people. I am so hot and sweaty. My arms hurt. Hi Brooke, look at us dancing! Hello people in the front row, are you tired of me yet? Okay, that's over. Pose, smile. Why are the lights going down! *scowling* Sound guy: "There's only one song", Me: "It's single tracked!" Suddenly! Our second song! Yeah! But it's too low. Make turn it up motions. Both of us yell: LOUDER! Hey, there it is! Me: Shimmy shimmy shimmy! Brooke: Shimmy shimmy shimmy! Both of us: dance dance dance dance. Totally rock the ending! Pose! Applause! Smile! Bow! Walk off. Sweat, gasp, gulp water.

So yeah, have I told you lately about the glamorous world of belly dance? On the other hand, improv rocks my world!

*Tribal group improv, that is

Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes

2008-06-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not bells. Toe rings, for sure.

OK, I know it's a cliche, a belly dancer wearing toe rings. But seriously, when your poor feet take the abuse of practicing and performing* (not to mention normal wear and tear) it's nice to thank them with something pretty.

I bought my first (well, I may have had one as a kid) toe ring at Smile Herb Shop in College Park, MD soon after I started classes. It's just a plain silver band and I've been wearing it on my middle left toe ever since. Today I was at a local jewelry store and I picked up two more rings. One is a thick silver wire that has two curlicues on the topside with a small silver ball set in one curl. The other has two stylized almost paisley shaped curls decorated with chips of hematite. I'm wearing the silver wire one on my right middle toe, I'm saving the fancier one for . . . later? A special occasion? Something like that. Either way, this is one belly dancer cliche I'm happy to live up to.

* Just ask, I can tell you about what happened the first time I was leading our student troupe. It was a total "I should have known better" situation.

Performance Realization

2008-05-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend at a non-dance festival, hanging out, volunteering, listening to some great music, hooping a little bit, having a great time. I also had an interesting dance realization, regarding performance.

I prefer to (belly) dance in more formal situations.

Formal is the best word I can come up with, though it may not be the most accurate. Perhaps defined situations? Either way, some friends were performing at the festival and months ago had invited me to "sit it" (dance in?) for a song during the set. With planning for the weekend and costuming things and running around all weekend I didn't really do that, though I did jump around and get down a bit during some of their sets. I was totally happy to dance around but realized I was feeling well, shy might be the best word to use, or hesitant, about getting all belly dancer-y down during their set. So I had to think about this a bit.

I don't know if this comes from my inherent personality shyness* or from my experience as a dance performer, but I think I really like to have a definite idea of what's going on when I dance. Even in situations such as the DCTribal Holiday Hafla or the D.C. Jalsah it's a little hard for me to get up and belly dance. Sometimes I feel too, "I'M A BEAUTIFUL BELLY DANCER! LOOK AT MEEEEEE!". Or I wonder if the musicians really want me to be up there. Or I feel like I'm hogging the limelight. Or I feel slightly off, which my troupe mate pointed out may be that I'm feeling the lack of official belly dancer drag that we put on for a performance. If I'm dancing with my partners I start to think, "Are we taking up too much room? Too much attention? Putting the focus on us too much? Can't stop thinking AHHHHHH!" I also think I get super sensitive to the fact that not everyone likes belly dance and I don't want anyone thinking, "Would she just stop and sit the hell down?".

On the other hand, if someone wants me to dance and we arrange it I can show up in my dance drag and have a bit of a clue of what's going on and if I feel like I belong there and it's okay that I'm taking up people's attention then it's totally fine. I will dance and smile and make eye contact and shimmy around, even when I am alone and missing the back up of my troupe mates. The stage is set, I am there as a part of what's going on, I feel appropriate and pulled together and in the right head space and it's fun and even if I'm nervous it's okay. And if anyone doesn't like what I'm doing than tough!

So if I'm at some event and there's great music and everyone else is busting out a shimmy or some snake arms or something on the dance floor and I'm not, it's not because I don't want too or don't like the music, I just feel weird. And if someone asks me if I'd like to maybe dance along with their music or DJ-ing or whatever I have to figure out a way to say sure, but I need to have it be in a performance based way or else I feel like an attention hogging ass.

Just to make it more confusing, if I'm at a non-BD dance party or club or something I am out there shaking my butt all over the dance floor, and I'll even dance when no one else will. I didn't say this all made sense, it just is.

* Yes, I am shy, you can stop protesting now. Wonder why I talk about my cats so much? Can't think of anything else to say. Why, when I do start talking, I have trouble stopping? Total brain freeze freak out and can't shut up, breathe or let anyone else get a word in edgewise. Talk to you without ever introducing myself? Forgot such social cues as, "Hello, my name is ___ and I'm glad to meet you." Use very animated facial and hand gestures? Hamster wheel is the brain is going a thousand miles a minute.

ETA: New thought. I am a control freak! Maybe that's why I worry so much

ETAA: Ah, I think I may have thought of something. It's doing versus thinking. In an organized dance situation I know what I have to do and I do it. OK, it isn't that utilitarian, but that's a nice summary. In a less organized situation I have to think too much about what I'll do, how to do it, etc. and then I start over thinking and then I'm so in my head I can't dance.

Discussing with another dancer in my livejournal about dancing with a group versus solo made me stumble upon this thought. Dancing tribal group improv with people I already know what I'm doing and how to do it and it's pretty easy. Dancing solo is new for me and I still over think it and worry, which is why I'm currently taking classes with a someone who teaches solo style dancing because I need to work on that weakness.

Hmm, that's a lot of thinking for today, maybe I'll need to watch some Youtube videos later, maybe that Engineer's Guide to Cats one.

Stupid injury

2008-04-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

I think I sprained the middle finger on my left hand hoola hooping last week. I was doing a lot of off the body hooping and corkscrews up and down; after class Monday the knuckle was sore. Then Wednesday I spent an hour hooping in the park and now my finger hurts down into my hand. I'm going to ice it when I get home; since hoop class is over for a little while I'll take it easy practicing for a while.

Speaking of, I found these tutorial videos at hooping.org, and I'm going to give her knee hooping tutorial a try this week.

New dance crush

2008-04-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

I've developed a new dance crush. No, I'm not going to give up on my old crushes, I have space for many of them. My new one is on n.o.madic tribal. I've been aware of them for awhile, and I love Ali's intelligent and thoughtful posts on various Tribe.net groups, but I'd never sat down and watched a bunch of their videos. I love what they are doing both with their ATS-derived improv (and how they've made it their own) and the choreographies they create (which keep the feeling of the improv while allowing for more ambitious staging). Here's a clip:

I also love how they bow to each other at the end, we should honor our dance partners!

Holy S!$t!!!! She won!

2008-02-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

My friend, fabulous dancer and beloved teacher won Bellydancer of the Universe: Tribal Dancer!!!!! I am so proud of her!

Hey Lisa? Can I touch you next time I see you? Can I get your autograph? OK, I kid!

You go get 'em!

2008-02-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

I just want to send out some love and support to Lisa Z who is headed out to California this weekend. You rock!

Not a safe sport

2008-02-07T09:36:00.001-08:00

This week I:

* Have bruises on the back of both hands from hand hooping in my Monday hooping class
* Have a bruise on the top of my head from troupe practice, where we've finally started working with swords. I have the huge Cas Iberia scimitar, and even with a scarf on my head it dug into my scalp.

Note to self: fingerless gloves for hoop class, thicker scarf for sword practice

Meal time!

2008-01-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Doesn't every dancer need a delicious and healthy pre-performance meal of bologna and butter on wheat bread with a side of chips? The post dancing reward will be falafel from the awesome place down the street from where we're dancing.

OK, time to go fight with my hair!

Squealing fangirl!

2008-01-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how much I love my teacher, Lisa Zahiya? If I had seen this in person I think by the end of this I would have been screaming, "Yes, yes, YES!!!". I recommend letting the entire thing load before watching, so it's (for YouTube) in synch.

Reductio ad Envelopium*?

2008-01-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

or, Godwin's Law of Belly Dance Discussions:

As an online belly dance forum discussion about dance styles grows longer, the probability of the invocation of the term "pushing the envelope" approaches one

"For example, there is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis (ed: or has used the term "pushing the envelope" to justify their belly dance performance choices, even bad ones) has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law. It is considered poor form to raise such a comparison arbitrarily with the motive of ending the thread. "

This may also be seen with the phrase "But I'm an artist I can do (fill in the blank with whatever action is being justified)", and may be followed by the phrase, "You just don't understand" or "You're just jealous".

*Please excuse my dog Latin.

Class time!

2008-01-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

Well I was planning on signing up for some dance classes this week, but instead I'm taking a six week hula hooping class. Poor me! I've already hooped a little and I have a one my SO and I made and a custom one I comissioned from a local hooper. The class was great, and I've already picked up a few new things. I don't know if this will help my dancing, but it's great exercise and it's FUN.

I'm also going to drop in on some classes. One is a Level I in a local teacher's method and one is an Intermediate level solo tribal fusion class. Of course, things being the way they are, all three classes are on Monday nights, hooping at 5:15 p.m., Level I at 7 p.m. and Tribal at 8:30 p.m.. I am obviously not cooking dinner Monday nights.

Classes with Kallisti Tribal Bellydance

2007-12-19T07:46:00.001-08:00

My troupemate Lyra is offering tribal group improv classes in Baltimore January - March 2008. Here are the details (below). You can register for the classes at our website.

IMPROV TRIBAL BELLY DANCE I and II
Aura Movement in Fell's Point (Baltimore, MD)
Saturdays: January 5, 2008- March 8, 2008

Improv Tribal Belly Dance is a series of moves that are woven together through hand and verbal cues. In this sense, it becomes a universal dance form wherein anyone who learns the moves and their cues can dance together in an improvisational lead and follow fashion. It's a very liberating, proud and joyful dance form that celebrates women in all of their shapes, sizes, colors and emphasizes spontaneity, interaction and a fusion of both individual and group dynamics. Class will focus on American Tribal Style moves as well as other fusion and tribal choreographies that draw from various forms of dance, including Cabaret, African, Indian, Middle Eastern and Greek. Note: This is not an ATS only class. Improv Tribal Bellydance mixes ATS movements with various Improv Tribal Combos not created by Carolena Nericcio and Fatchance Bellydance.

11am-12pm: Improv Tribal I
This class is focused towards students who are new to Improv Tribal Bellydance or need to work on solidifying the basic movements before moving on to Improv Tribal II. Class will focus on posture, basic slow and fast movements and formation. Emphasis will be placed on learning the stylistic differences that are characteristic of tribal bellydance- carriage of the body, arm movements, floreos, hip work, etc. By the end of this class, students should be comfortable following a leader in formation through these basic movements and can even try out leading themselves.

12pm-1pm: Improv Tribal II
This class is tailored for students with at least one year of Improv Tribal Bellydance instruction who are comfortable with basic posture, formation and lead/follow format. Improv Tribal II will be a more intense class in which we will be focusing on the finer technique of basic improv tribal movements, as well as the lead/follow/chorus format. Students are required to attempt to lead movements in each class, as this is an intermediate-begginer class. In order to join this class you must be proficient in the following:

-tribal posture
-floreos
-tribal arm placement
-basic egyptian w/half turn
-turkish/turkish shimmy
-undulations
-3/4 shimmy
-arabic
-snake arms
-taxim

By the end of this session, students should be able to fully understand the lead/follow/chorus dynamic, as well as have a much more solid grasp of the basic tribal movements and transitioning between them in a dance setting. This class will also focus on incorporating these movements to music and each class will end with a short free dance period.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please come in form fitting clothes that ensure easy movement and comfort. NO COIN SCARVES OR DISTRACTING ACCESSORIES ALLOWED. Please be kind and respect the right of your fellow students to learn in non-distracting environment. Shawls and hip wraps are fine, as long as I can still easily see your muscles/hip movements.

Class Rate: $15/drop-in rate or $120/10 week session in advance.

If for any reason you are wondering which class you should take, please contact me via tribe or email me at lyra at kallistitribal DOT com and give me a resume of past classes you've taken and previous dance experience. You may also contact me at the above email to set up a private or group evaluation for class placement. Please take care to consider which class would best benefit your skill level. I reserve the right to take students who are not ready for Improv Tribal II and place them into Improv Tribal I at my own discretion.

NOTE: In order to keep classes economic for everybody, each class has a 5 student minimum that must be pre-registered two weeks before the class or classes will be cancelled. Each class will be limited to ten students maximum in order to ensure that every students gets personal attention. Please contact me at lyra AT kallistitribal DOT com for pre-registration information. If classes are cancelled, any students pre-registered for classes will receive or a full refund OR can apply their payment towards private lessons.

Thanks and I hope to see you all in class!

It's not so simple

2007-12-02T21:22:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been watching lots of ATS and tribal group improv videos online looking for tips on technique and moves, and I've come to a conclusion: the Basic Egyptian move is really damn hard. This was one of the first moves I learned when I joined a belly dance class almost 4 years ago, and I still don't have it down correctly.

You can see this move at around 17 seconds in this clip of Fat Chance Belly Dance. It consists of the lead right foot stepping slightly forward of the body and the foot and hips twisting, then coming back and repeating on the left side, allowing the hips to reverberate as you transfer the weight. The arms are overhead and as a foot reaches out the arms give a slight pull, opening up the line of the body on the side of the foot that is out.

When I started dancing this move felt like "step the foot and bump the hip a little and pull with the arms". My timing was horrible. Then I realized I was pulling my arms too hard, and I had to soften it a bit. Next I figured out that the hips were a twist, not a bump. Then I saw that there was the reverberation with the weight transfer. I had to make my hands smoother, less flippy. When turning in a half circle the turn should be smooth and try turning under the left arm. And my current focus is on keeping my pelvis neutral (no duck butt!) while making sure my arms are up, not drooping down, and pulled back using my shoulder blades so I don't obscure my face.

4 years! 4 years and many teachers and workshops and I'm STILL tweaking this move. I'm not perfect at everything I do but I can say my Turkish Shimmy and Arabic basic and many variations and hip bumps/choo choos are doing a lot better than my Egyptian Basic. It's a tricky move, a lot is going on, and it all needs to pull together seamlessly. Unfortunately it's also a move where each bit that's "off" is noticeable, which is why I've been working on mine so much. Actually, I've also been working on my posture around my shoulders, that back and down through the shoulder blade that keeps the arms and chest strong and lifted, that gives the openess of tribal posture. It's hard work, but I've been lucky enough to have lots of "Ah-hah!" moments lately that make the work rewarding.

Music reviews and reservations: Beats Antique, Le Serpent Rouge and Tribal Beats for the Urban Streets

2007-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

I am slow to buy new music, I think because I am so sad when a CD disappoints me. I did decide to splurge during one Border's trip, and picked up the Beats Antique CD "Tribal Derivations". It's not quite what I expected from the name Beats Antique, which was more of an Old World, modern age meets the music of the common people kind of stuff. Instead it would fit fairly well into the trip hop genre of the mid 1990s, which (for me) means it's nice to listen to but I don't want to dance to much of it. One that that does annoy me is in my own head, that is, I can see EXACTLY how this music is going to be used by fusions dancers everywhere. I hope I do get to see some fabulous dancing to this music so I can relax and shut the hell up. My favorite track? The hidden one. Seriously!

Since I wasn't all that crazy about the Beats Antique I passed it on to my troupemate, and she bought me the "Le Serpent Rouge" disc, which is music from The Indigo's show of the same title. This is a little more my style, especially (my favorite) accordians! I like the mix of music, though again the more eletronic stuff just isn't what I want to hear. In case anyone is wondering, no the Pentaphone is not too weird for me. I've listened to some rather difficult music in my life, so if I wanted to hear it I'd just trot over to my CD collection and pull it out. I'd like to hear more of Pentaphobe's newer stuff, but I'll wait until someone I know has it and I can give it a listen.

Along these lines, I find the review of Tribal Beats for the Urban Streets over at The Gilded Serpent to be highly amusing and at times right on target. Something I find interesting about the CD is the inclusion of a Muslimgauze track. I've been listening to him since 1994/95, and though I own and enjoy a handful of Muslimgauze CDs, I've always had internal conflict about supporting him because of his politics. I do believe he was addressing subjects in his music that most people shy away from, which is important. What bothers me even more is that I hope dancers look into the work of this artist and make informed decisions as to whether or not they want to use it for performance, instead of just jumping on a "it's on a tribal belly dance music CD so let's go with it!" wagon. Check out Donna Mejia's video for great dancing to a Muslimgauze song. I particularly like the attitude and strength she projects.

Random thought

2007-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Lorenna McKennitt's "Marco Polo" is the "Stairway to Heaven" of belly dance.

This is the life!

2007-11-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

What does a belly dancer do after a long weekend of performances? Why, put on her PJs and crash out on the bed with the laptop, cats, and leftover Halloween candy! Damn I'm sexy!

News, privilege, guilt

2007-09-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the news makes me think of dancing. The other day it was while I was driving home from work, headed uptown in late afternoon traffic. As usual I was listening to NPR, and the All Things Considered story was about gemstone miners in Afghanistan.

What caught my ear was the mention of lapis lazuli, a stone you see frequently in less expensive jewelry marketed towards tribal style dancers. Actually, my first lapis jewelry was a pair of dangly earrings I bought as a teenager at the hippie store in my local mall, earrings I've had for 15 years and now occasionally repurpose in my costuming. Lapis is not just for cheaper jewelry, it's also found in vintage and antique pieces. The less expensive items are easier to find, such as the ones sold by Tribal Souk or The Red Camel (who both also carry older, pricier items). *

The story ends with details about the working conditions at gemstone mines in Afghanistan, which really got me thinking.

Conditions in the 20 or so lapis mines above the town are even worse. Some of
them are run by militia commanders. There is no official oversight other than
a required license and taxes paid on equipment in the mine.

Surprisingly, news of the recent mine disaster in Utah has reached this
isolated enclave.

Police chief Sayed Asssadullah Mujaddedi says the American story may have
had a sad ending, but Afghans here envy the equipment and effort that went
into trying to rescue the six American miners.

"We don't have anything like that. There's only one way into our tunnels and
that's the way the miners use," Mujaddedj said. "Last year, six people got
stuck in a cave-in and we had to get them out by clawing at the rocks with
our hands."

Nor are there benefits paid to the families' of miners who die or are maimed.
Mining lapis is a job no one here likes. It doesn't help that the free-for-all
mining encouraged by the Afghan government is lowering lapis prices.
That, in turn, lowers the daily wage, which on a good day, is $10.

But miner Rahimullah says there's no other work available to them. He
has worked the mines for 9 years. He says his 2-year-old son will
someday work them as well, unless other jobs open up.

I wondered, does the lapis in my jewelry (much of it made in Pakistan, as the stickers on the back of items say) come from remote mining towns like this? Is the lapis in my jewelry mined by men with an aging drill and hammers, people who hope that their children will have the opportunity to do something else with their lives instead of this dark and dangerous job?

I suddenly felt like a spoiled brat, in that I am lucky enough to spend my money on jewelry for a hobby, jewelry made from gem stones mined by people who get $10 a day to go in the ground and dig out those stones with hammers. Then I thought that at least these people have a job and make money, and that Afghanistan is changing so that they can legally sell what they mine, and that hopefully this is a step to more economic development that will benefit them, and then I got angry that no, this still really stinks (note - I'm not getting into a discussion of the war and all that, or else this would go on forever).

Finally I felt like an even bigger jerk for my guilty, privileged** whining, when I should really just a) be thankful for what I have and b) try to use some of my money/time/abilities to help out other people.

So I drove home with all this tumbling around in my mind, and thought that I finally had something to type up and post on the blog that was not something I was going to just write up and then delete because it would just be crazy ranting about the usual crap that bugs me in the dance scene (this week: undercutting, bad "fusion"). I'm going to try to follow it up later with thoughts about costuming elements for tribal belly dance, where these elements come from, fair trade, and seeking out alternates when you want to know what you're wearing and where it came from. I'll try to make it coherent.

* Note: I am not passing judgement on these vendors, I am merely using them to illustrate the items I am talking about. I've shopped with The Red Camel (lovely items and a great lady) and I've heard wonderful things about Tribal Souk.

** Speaking of privilege, this weekend I'm headed to Asheville, NC for Triboriginal: Tribal Dance, Music and Culture Camp and I can't wait! I went last year and loved it; hopefully I'll have the energy to report back later. I'm currently having a crisis about what classes to take (when two that look awesome are back to back).

This entry was edited for clarity on 8/31/2010

What I get for playing with fire

2007-08-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

I may fire dance, but I've never candle danced. Sure, I've singed bits of my hair off, but I'd never dripped wax onto my head, face, shirt and arm before. At least I can say I've tried something new!

I'm pretty sure how to get the wax off my top (iron it with a paper towel on top of the wax), but I have to see the best way to get wax out of my hair.

8 things, again

2007-08-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

It's too hot to knit, sew or practice. It's too hot to cook or eat. It's too hot to blog.* But I will make sure to finally fill out this eight things meme passed on from Natalia:

1. I have been thanked in two album's liner notes, one a Legendary Pink Dots CD (for submitting artwork for said album) and one Ego Likeness CD (my SO was a member of the band).

2. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here, but I do fire dancing. OK, so I don't practice enough, I'm a really lazy fire dancer. I use poi and fire fans, though my poi skills are rusty to the point that I would not light up at the moment. When I started, my mom stated, "But you're not very coordinated!" Not true Mom, I just don't bother with physical activities that much.

3. As any of my close friends knows, I love the Little House on the Prairie series (the original books, and NOT the TV show). I would definitely draw a straight line from the series to my love of fiber arts, DIY crafting, and interest in local and sustainable food/cooking issues.

4. Man, I love office products. I have a special love for the kind found in older, independently owned supply stores: metal index card boxes, steno notebooks, drafting supplies. I like binder clips and folders and hole punches. A well stocked desk full of office tools and empty notebooks is not only a sign of potential creativity, but of possible life organization.

5. I knit and sew, and I want to learn how to crochet, spin and weave (see #3). I have a vague dream of making my living with these pursuits, but am momentarily too lazy to do so. Of course, I also still dream of having my own cafe, but after opening and running one for the past (almost) two years I'm not so sure I want to go there.

6. Contrary to what most people think about me, I'd like to be a librarian. I have loved libraries since I was a child. I like being able to take someone's vague question and find exactly what they need. I like the organization and information. OK, I don't really like people, or red tape, or paperwork, so maybe it's not the thing for me.

7. Several years ago I directed a scene in a water ballet. Baltimore is lucky enough to have Fluid Movement, a people powered performance art group that puts on water/roller/dancing/etc. shows every year. I would like to be involved with them again, but can we say time commitment?

8. I want a pony. And a llama, an alpaca, goats, a bunny, maybe a sheep (but they are so stupid). My SO and I want a mini-farm of "soft things you can pet".

*By the time I finished this the weather had cooled down. Now it's just "too lazy to blog".

Standing at the source

2007-07-08T18:24:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend at the D.C. Tribal:PURA workshops. Though I have taken them twice before (every year varies slightly, so some information repeats and some is new and all of it is valuable) I still came away with new "A-ha!" moments and ever increasing respect for Carolena Nericcio.

While I let the workshops sink into my brain (and veg out on the couch), I am going to paste a section of a 2004 post from Bare Feet: a dance journal (readers of my personal journal have seen this before). It does a good job of summing up my feelings about the weekend:

. . . . Being in Carolena’s presence is like standing at the source of a mighty river, just at the place where the water is its purest. There’s a sense of vastness there. You know that the droplets from that very spot will travel downstream and intermingle with water from other sources and become huge and impressive- so much so that the spring, itself, can seem impressive, even if it’s really very small. And she is. She’s one woman, but she’s the beginning. Learning from her is more powerful than learning from someone further down the stream because so much of what we do sprang from her.

My thanks to DCTribal not only for sponsoring this event and having my troupe dance at the gala show, but for also awarding me a grant to take the workshops. We're really lucky to have such a dedicated group working to support tribal dance in the D.C. area!

I paid for this?

2007-06-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, I did! I paid for 10 weeks of having my butt kicked in Asharah's Beginning I class. Monday's now involve joining two friends for the round trip to Joy of Motion's Atlas studio in northeast DC and putting ourselves into her capable hands. The class write up mentions sweat, and sweat I did, down my face, my neck, my back, the floor. I'm not too sore, but then we really didn't get into too many squats or butt squeezes. It was only the first week, though. We'll see what comes next.

So today I think I'll take my hoop to a shady spot in the park and try to work out some of the kinks. Tonight is practice in our un air conditioned studio space; this weekend . . . craziness! I have a private lesson with Lisa Sunday morning, a 4 hour workshop with her Sunday afternoon and we're dancing in a hafla Sunday night. Monday? Exhaustion!

Summer is the hardest season . . .

2007-06-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

. . . for keeping up with your dance classes.

My teacher had to move her classes to her home studio, since attendance goes down too far for classes to keep going at the studio she rents. I emailed to see if there was room in the class today, but haven't heard anything back yet. Vacations and life in general keep interrupting our troupe practices.

It would be so easy to say, "Let's take a break until fall", but that way lies, well, not madness but surely laziness. Besides, we have three performances to work on for the summer!

You got me

2007-06-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

I usually don't do meme's, but this one comes to me via Toya, and I love to indulge her!

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to then report this on their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. They then need to tag 7 others and list their names on their blog. They are also asked to leave a comment for each of the tagged, letting them know they have been tagged and to read the blog.

1. I own a lot of socks. One could say I am addicted to them, especially tall socks. I have an entire (small, three drawer) dresser devoted to just socks (tights and such are in a different dresser). I really dig Socks Dreams.

2. I am convinced I am supposed to be taller, probably by a few inches. I am the shortest person in my family, and I think this is because I started drinking coffee as a small child. My grandfather would pour me a cup and I'd take it with evaporated milk and 2 Sweet N Lows. When all of my friends got into drinking coffee in high school they acted like it was a new thrill. To me it was just a tasty tasty beverage. I can still drink lots of coffee late at night and go right to bed.

3. When I tie knots, I usually tie them three times. This is some kind of a holdover from my spell castin' teen witch days or something. When I sew I always knot my thread three times; when I tack something I will pull the thread through and knot it three times. Starting or finishing embroidery? Secured three times to the cloth. Finishing a knitting project? I knot the yarn three times.

4. I wish I had some sort of organized belief system, but I don't. The best way I can describe myself is "vaguely pagan", and that's about it. I guess I pretty much believe that this world and our whole being is incomprehensible and pretty awe-some. As J and I joked at the PA Fairie Fest we really like the idea of, "Be excellent to each other." I think there is more to the world that can be seen, and I'm not talking about needing microscopes.

5. I have a very visual memory, and cannot stand to have my physical environment rearranged by other people. This is why I fuss when we're camping and the campsite is messy, or why I constantly arrange and rearrange my work spaces. It can be frustrating living with a messy person, because I want to know where everything is all the time. Ask me sometime where something is, and I'll probably close my eyes and move my hands around in the air to "place" it, then I'll be able to tell you exactly where it is located. I think this visual memory is one reason I give really good directions.

6. I want to travel and live in other places. I am terrified of going to unknown places or living somewhere I do not know like the back of my hand. This causes me a lot of internal strife.

7. Sometimes I hate myself for it, but I love pork products. Bacon. Sausage. Pork chops. Pork roasts. Pork rinds! There, I said it! I like to snack on pork rinds. I also think pigs are incredible animals, and like to hang out with them. I also think Pig (see: my pet cat) is totally awesome, but I do not want to eat him. Hopefully one day I'll be able to put this love aside and go vegetarian

I participated, but I'm not so much for passing these on. So, I tag you!

The teaching dilemma

2007-06-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Why do so many belly dance students become belly dance teachers? Am I the only person who sometimes wonders if belly dance can be like a university's English Lit. department, turning out students that will become teachers to the next generation of students in a never ending cycle (this is coming from someone with a degree in English with a Women's Lit. concentration. I have two career choices there: teach,maybe at the college level, or be a barista. Ahem).

I ask this because I sometimes wonder about my own place in this chain. A year and a half ago I did an evaluation with my teacher before she moved away. She asked me at one point if I ever thought about teaching belly dance (not in the near future, but when I had more experience). I said I wasn't sure I was cut out for it, as I don't think of myself as very patient especially with people who have trouble understanding and need lots of help, or people who don't think/learn like I do and need different teaching methods to help them understand. This is something I've always had trouble with; one of my big challenges at work is training, as I want to tell people, "Just . . . do it. It's not hard. Figure it out!" (which is much how I was trained to do my my job, or parts of it).

Currently I do not feel I have enough belly dance experience to teach other people. I don't feel that I am 100% totally positive all the time accurate on how I do moves, especially since we do a lot of ATS and it is a codified "system" of dance. I don't want to teach and realize I'm constantly changing what I am doing. Not that dance does not change and evolve, but I want to make sure if I teach a vertical hip figure eight on the ~~down~~ up (taqsim) that I am doing teaching it exactly right. To go hand in hand with that, my troupe is currently tweaking moves, dropping or changing things we were taught to fit the ATS format or to better reflect our style of dance. I feel we're in a state of refinement that reflects our growth as dancers and as a troupe, which is good but also currently unstable.

So with my "no teaching!" stance why then did I just start a notebook where I am entering detailed notes on all the moves I know, from the ATS standards to solo dancer moves to Kallisti specific ideas? Because Baltimore is lacking so horribly in a tribal scene that I feel one day I'm going to throw my hands up in disgust and admit, "F#@k it, I'll teach!" (actually, if you know me you know it'll involve a lot more cussing than that). If I eventually get to that day I want to make sure I have lots of background work accomplished - information on the moves, the formations, how I'd put them together, what works, what does not, tips and tricks for passing on this detailed body of knowledge. Even if this information is never utilized in the classroom it is still valuable for me, a personal tribal compendium perhaps.

If that day does reluctantly come I hope I have other tools under my belt: a Fat Chance Belly Dance General Skills certification, probably an ACE certification, insurance, about a million more years of dance experience, a steady tribal teacher of my own. Ok, hell may freeze over before the last one happens, but you can't blame me for being optimistic! Most of all, though, I hope I have the confidence to pass on not only the practical details of tribal belly dance but also my enthusiasm and love of this art form.

Edited: to correct definition of taqsim. See!

Short letters to things that may not respond

2007-06-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Dear hands,

Play with confidence. Practice. Doing these things will only make you better. The zills and the drum will not bite, they are something to be worked with not against. Honestly, people will not point and laugh if you mess up.

Love,
Me

* * * * * *

Dear body,

Yes, I am going to schedule a check up, then get those knees looked at. I am sorry I don't take very good care of you. I admit, going to the doctor's makes me scared. I will try to be nicer to you.

Love,
Me

* * * * * *

Dear self,

Admit it, you have to get off your butt. Try really digging into things instead of flitting from item to item. Think of how good you could be if you really, and I mean REALLY, applied yourself. And one last thing. Practice. You know what I'm talking about.

Love,
Me

* * * * * *

Dear new notebook,

You're plain, nothing fancy or expensive. I love you. I love your college ruled pages, the nifty pockets, your three sections. I am excited about filling up your pages. Thank you for indulging my Type A tendencies. Maybe you would like a sticker to dress you up?

Love,
Me

On that note

2007-05-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Memo to self:

Remember that dancing and having fun thing? Like the hours of dancing Saturday night at the Goth Prom party? How you didn't have to think about dancing, it just happened? Work on that! It's fun! It's good for you! It looked good! Sure, it wasn't all belly dance, but there was a lot of it in there.

Also, if dancing wildly for a few hours did not cause massive thigh and calf pain then the classes and practice must be paying off. Bonus!

Who would've thought?

2007-05-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

My "Duh" moment of last week:

You're dancing because you like it, and you like the music, so just go ahead and dance to the music!

We were dancing a 15 minute set Friday evening at al all tribal night at a restaurant. I was worrying about specifics of the performance, how would my little solo go, the usual round of thoughts.

Then something hit me. I really like most of the music we listen to. I really like dancing, whether it's belly dance or just out at parties or fun or whatever. So . . . (wait for it) . . . I need to carry the fun I have from dancing casually over to my belly dancing (particularly when performing)!

I know, it sounds elementary. I am one of those people who gets into things for the technical aspects; I can very much put a mental, academic spin on my hobbies. It takes effort to just relax and enjoy things for what they are, without my brain overdoing the whole experience.

Was I successful Friday night? Not completely. But I'll keep reminding myself that "Hey! This is FUN!", and I think it'll take hold eventually.

On that note, today I am going to the library then to the park and I am going lay in the grass with a book and not do anything else. I'm not going to practice my hula hoop or my poi, I'm not going to take any dance stuff along. I am going to relax and read and enjoy the weather. I swear.