Blast from the past, looking to the future

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.

Defeat the Beast

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.

One Down, Twelve to go

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

Practice. And more practice

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

Life updates and video!

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.

May we introduce to you . . .

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

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.

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.