Off my practice track

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?

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

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

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

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!?!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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!

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?

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.