A new direction

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

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

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.