2 (video) reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

*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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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.