Friday, December 22, 2006

Lessons

Here, so I don't forget them, are the things we learned in class. I remembered to write the first three down, but I'll have to try to come up with the rest of it later.

Class 1 - Slow Movement: Upward Figure 8 (takseem)

This can be done with floreos (sp?) - hand turns under as it moves to the outside (remember the hourglass, flipping it over) and flips over the top as it moves back to the inside, the downward part of the floreo is done as the righ hip goes out and up, top part with the left hip.This can also be done with snake arms...remember to keep hands from going too low, don't use too much shoulder, right arm goes up as right hip moves upward.

Class 1 - Fast Movement: Half Time Shimmy

This is usually done with arms at shoulder level...I think? Possibly they can move around, as long as you keep your frame. May have a turn in it, the full time shimmy does.

Class 2 - Slow Movement: Downward Figure 8

Once again can be done with floreos, only this time they go the opposite direction. Bottom half of the circle moves inward, top half moves outward again. Bottom half still goes with right hip, and top half with left.Also can be done with snake arms, arm moves down as hip moves down, as if pushing.

Class 2 - Fast Movement: Hip Turn (can't remember the name)

This is done with arms over head, right arm pulling back as right hip goes foreward, left back as hip goes foreward, remembering extra beat in the middle (Step, together, step, together).Turning - If you're facing forward you can go either way, only turning to forward and back, right and left directions. If you're at a diagonal you face front first. Example: If you're to the right diagnonal, you'd go center, left, back, right, then either repeat or go into your next move. You can only repeat once before doing something else.

Class 3 - Slow Movement: Body Wave

Remembering to keep hips completely still and tailbone dropped, shoulders back.Done with hands forming a frame, usually at chest level, can have audience side arm up or maybe down. NEVER done straight on to the audience. To do a big one, slight step forward with right leg, very exaggerated lean back, curling back to straight, hands come in towards the body and push out before resuming prior position. Turning...free form turn, arms come together overhead at the back then switch to the opposite of what they were at before. Example: Right arm up, left arm in front...as you turn to face back, left arm comes up together with right, then right arm comes down to form the mirror of the original position.

Class 3 - Fast Movement: Fast Body Wave (once again has a name I don't remember)

Keeping tailbone dropped at start, allow it to come TO NEUTRAL as the ribcage comes back, but never dropped. Arms same as body wave. Cue to start it is always hands go down through the center and back up to the top before setting up where they want to go.

((more to follow...))

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Lots of them. First and foremost, Aji is no longer going to be teaching bellydancing. This basically has the effect of dissolving our little group. I totally understand her reasons for doing so, and I hope that in the future she's able to devote the kind of time to dancing that I know she would like to.

Another change is more of an upcoming one, which is that I need to lose some weight. This is not news, but what is news is that my doctor actually commented on how much weight I'd gained in about a year's time. Most of the year she was talking about was spent at my old job, which had a very high stress level. But basically, I know what has worked for me when it came to losing weight in the past, and I've been doing alright with it. The past few weeks have been difficult, what with the holidays, but hopefully turning the spare room upstairs into dance room will help. (It has hardwood floors and a large closet with mirrored doors. Down here in the rec room I have to move the coffee table, shake off the rug of ferret toys and dirt and such, and shoo away anyone who's already in there.)

I've started taking lessons with Adriene Rice of Troupe Hipnotica. I took the entire Beginner Series, which I believe was 8 classes, and went to one Intermediate class. I definitely plan on continuing, but one thing after another has forced me to miss class for about a month now. I think there may be a break in classes in January due to maternity leave on the instructor's part, but I'm still practicing!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

No Guts, No Glory

So we're doing a performance this weekend, the same one we did last time in Bellingham. My emotions about this are conflicted. On the one hand, I'm way excited to go back to such an awesome place for performing, and an amazing group...but also I'm nervous. See part of this performance will be improve, a duet with just myself and Zha-el. Now, I'm not worried about her, I'm more worried about myself. I get nervous, I always have, and self-conscious. This is stupid, I know that, but it happens anyway. So I'm worried that I'll get nervous and freeze, or not be able to think of a combo, or screw up the choreography part, or whatever.

On the upside, I found music I eventually want to do a solo to. It's...well, it's Rob Zombie. Obviously this is not medfest material, if only because of the family atmosphere. The primary song I'd like to use is Living Dead Girl, because it's awesome and has a great beat to it. There's also a little in-between piece after it that I want to use, but I'm not sure what I'd couple that with. I just like the fact that the music makes me want to dance. I need that, especially if I'm going to do a solo.

But I guess planning a solo isn't the best idea until I've actually proven to myself that I have the guts to do a duet. Depending on how Sunday goes, I'm planning on asking Zha-el if she'd like to do a duet at Medfest. Maybe part improv, part choreography, maybe a tiny solo for each of us, but totally us and totally fun. Whee!

Okay so to recap...excited + nervous = omigodwehaveaperformancethisweekend!

Sunday, August 06, 2006

A New Year Begins

Around here, the bellydancing year ends with MedFest. Everything after that is considered the next year. This will be...holy crap, my third year bellydancing! It's crazy, amazing, very cool...and also a bit sad, really. The sad part is that I'm not better than I am. I know I could be, I mean I'm not one of those people who can't hear rythm or can't make my body do anything I want it to (although my shoulders are singularly uncooperative), but I just don't practice enough. And yeah, I know, I've said it before...but it's still true. So I'm going back to Wednesdays with Zhael, which will hopefully motivate me more during the rest of the week. Also we will hopefully be moving soon, so I'll have actual room to dance without flipping the bed up against the wall.

Anyway...things are up in the air still about how and what and all that, but we have a show in Bellingham in September. The last time we did that show it was completely awesome, good audience, very nice venue...so yay!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Med Fest '06 - After

Wow, was that fun! We all had a fabulous time, the performance went well, etc. I got nervous, as usual, and made a few tiny mistakes but nothing major. Mostly, being there just made me want to perform more. Next year I might do a duet with Zha-el, which I think would be fun.

Basically it was great, and I'm exhausted and sun-burnt and ready for sleep :)

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Med Fest '06 - Before

So it's that time again. Medfest. It's been a while since I updated, mostly because things have been crazy, what with the new job and the bellydance cram sessions to try to learn all of our new choreography in time. Sometimes it makes you wish you could control inspiration, just command yourself to think of the moves. But of course, you can't...and sometimes that leaves you with a new choreography with about six weeks to go before the big performance.

Somehow, though, we seem to have managed it. I won't say we pulled it off yet, because I'll know that in about *checks watch* five hours. What I will say is that I'm totally nervous, which happens to me a lot, and totally excited. Medfest is going to be an absolute blast this year, so yay!

I'll post later, probably, with impressions and such, but right now I'm off to get ready. Hair....makeup...jewelry...costuming...choreography....yep, I think it's all here :)

Sunday, May 21, 2006

It's....ALIVE!

Today we pestered Aji into showing us some of the choreography. We ended up getting to see the first minute and a half or so...maybe almost two minutes...of the song we're going to do. We actually have two and a half short songs, so really it's just over 1/3 of the way done. But...yay! It's so...sexy and slinky and really really really tough, but it's going to look awesome. I'm definitely psyched about this, and the other girls are too.

We'll get this tribal thing yet :)

Monday, May 15, 2006

I Made a Combo!

Saturday we had practice, which was somewhat low-energy and all but still productive, and we finally finished the combo I thought of about a month ago in the Old Navy dressing room. Yes, that's what I said. See, for some reason when I'm trying on clothes I always end up dancing in the dressing room. It's not as if all clothes are meant to be danced in, but I've given up trying to examine the somewhat odd workings of my brain.

Anyway, the combo was fast and kinda short, and just felt unfinished. It has stomping and umis and hip circles and this little shoulder roll, but we added to the end a really slow snake arm thing with a body wave. I like it 'cause the result is something like this:

STOMP STOMP, umi umi, ciiircle.....ciiiircle with shoulder roll, snaaaaaaaaaaake aaaaaarrrmsss.......booody waaave....

In other words, fast and kinda hard-hitting, then really slow. Great stuff.

Unfortunately, Zha-el's back was bothering her so she missed practice and won't be dancing today. I'm going to practice on my own, probably do the yoga/bellydance DVD and then drill the combos some.

Yay for progress!