| JoY |
[Apr. 24th, 2008|04:13 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sick | ] |
Well, it's been a while coming, but here's a brief(ish) run-down of the Spring 2008 Jewel of Yorkshire weekend:
( JoY )
Now I am having a minor strop, because I missed class last Thursday as my knee was still bothering me and I didn't get home from work until 3 minutes before class was due to start. Yet it looks like I might have to miss class again as I've been steadily coming down with something thoroughly unpleasant since mid-morning and now I ache worse than the morning after Leyla's veil workshop, I feel weak and I feel dizzy. *sulks* |
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| Phew, made it! |
[Feb. 24th, 2008|02:04 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
Didn't think I'd make it to class today as Cis was stuck in Manchester and unavailable to give me a lift and Erica's car is broken. However, the lovely Dave came to the rescue at the very last minute and drove us to class! We arrived a little late and had to sneak into the warm-up, but at least we made it!
( 1st hour )
( Khaleegi choreography ) |
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| Veils! |
[Feb. 20th, 2008|11:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | pleased | ] |
My veils arrived!
I am now the proud owner of 7 semi-circular chiffon veils in varying shades of purple :) They are ideal for what I want, light enough to float, but heavy enough that you don't have to fight with them to make them move, wide enough to drape nicely, but short enough that you don't trip over them.
The lovely lady at India Bazaar.net also sent me a full colour chart in case I want to order more, and a set of 3 fancy bindi for free! |
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| Waaah! |
[Feb. 16th, 2008|10:23 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  distressed | ] |
Bookings have opened for Gothla and I am too poor to book myself a slot!
I probably have a couple of months before I really need to worry about not getting a place on any workshops, but I really wanted to book places on all the Ariellah, Sashi and Tempest workshops. If I want to get on all of them and go to the hafla on Friday night then I'll need to book the Friday off work and find £200 from somewhere. Also, that's not counting the cost of accommodation, the meal on Saturday night and the club night on Saturday night too.
I need to win the lottery next week! I don't need the jackpot, just 5 numbers maybe, enough to pay ofr workshops and a bit of shopping? Is that really too much to ask? |
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| Glee!!! |
[Feb. 8th, 2008|01:13 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
My JoY registration confirmation just arrived in the post! I got all of my first choice workshops, so I'll be doing Tunisian with jacqueline Jamal, Baladi with Caroline Afifi, Khaliegi Tabla with Khaled and 2-7 veils with Leyla Jouvana. There's a note on my form saying 'Bring lots of veils'!!! They tried to deliver the veils that I ordered a couple of days ago, but we were at work. Kelly has asked for them to be re-directed to his work, so hopefully I'll have those next week!
( Magency )
( Thursday )
( family reactions ) |
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| Khaleegi |
[Jan. 27th, 2008|03:52 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Just back from the Barnsley Arabic Dance Association annual workshop and AGM. This year Vashti came to teach us about Khaleegi Dance.
( Workshop )
( Vashti's dance )
( BADA AGM ) |
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| Dance of the 7 veils |
[Jan. 21st, 2008|10:33 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  Apprehensive | ] |
I've signed myself up for a workshop on "2-7 veils" with Leyla Jouvana at Jewel of Yorkshire in April. It includes taking a look at the Dance of Ishtar, reputed to be the origin of the 'dance of the 7 veils'.
Obviously this means I'm going to need 7 matching veils! So I've ordered 7 semi-circular chiffon veils in various shades of purple. I did manage to find a site where they are not too expensive, which is good because I had to pay with paypal and I don't have a paypal account, so I now owe my other half! Now I just need to hope that they arrive in time for me to familiarise myself with the way that they move, and also that they are good enough quality. |
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| Sunday class |
[Jan. 20th, 2008|08:24 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
Another long day of dancing, only just fit to be dancing again after a pretty nasty cold this week, so 3 classes in one day was quite ambitious, but I managed it!
First class this morning had me wondering if I was going to make it all the way through as I was feeling weak after about half an hour, but I pushed through it and kept going. Candi pushed us quite hard in the first class. We did a fair bit of work on the haggela (still don't know how you're supposed to spell that! I've seen it written in about 5 different ways on various sites!)we also covered quite a lot on other types of shimmy. There was a new girl there and this was a really hard class for a complete newbie! She seemed to enjoy it though and she's signed up for the workshop next week.
The second class was more finger cymbal work, starting with the patterns we learned last week and progressing onto improving tone and creating different sounds from the cymbals as well as keeping the arms and hands in a natural dancing position while playing. Following this we went on to the debke dance that we began work on last week. It seemed to come a lot easier this week, we had no real problems following Candi's lead and turning the basic steps into a potential opening sequence. Next time we're going to work on some more variations.
Candi brought some khaleegi dresses that she bought in Cairo to class today too. We're planning on developing a khaleegi dance to perform later this year, and the workshop next week is on khaleegi technique too. So I thought I'd better get myself one of the dresses (and that decision had noting to do with the fact that there was a gorgeous burgundy one among those Candi had brought, oh no!) So I'm now the proud owner of a gorgeous khaleegi dress :)
The third class this afternoon worked largely on accents. Starting with technique we went over the bum-squeeze accents from last week and added a few more, particularly upper body accents using stomach pops and chest lifts. Next we started using these accents while dancing. Candi encourages us all to develop our own dance style and stage personality, but she also shows us how to dance in the current 'fashion'. In this case we were learning how to use accents not just in the obvious places, but also to add interest to melodic sections of the music. We danced through a fun shaabi piece a few times, practising the accents (as well as trying to remember all the arm positioning from last week!) it was fun to actually turn all of the things that we've been learning into my own dance, but I still think I've got a long way to go before my solo dancing goes beyond a hafla dance-floor! |
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| Back with a vengeance! |
[Jan. 13th, 2008|09:13 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
Back to Sunday classes today, also a second set of advanced classes run by Candi on Sunday afternoons, so today was quite full of dancing!
First session this morning was the usual practice session, going over a lot of basic moves and travelling moves. It's amazing how much Candi can squeeze into 1 hour! We covered hip hits, double hip hits, hip circles, chest circles, figure eights, hip-drops, shimmies and forward & back all in the first session! I love these sessions, Candi just has a way of making everything seem easy, and turning even the warm-up into a dance, so you can't tell when the warm-up ends and the dance instruction begins!
Second session was in 2 parts - the first half hour was spent working on finger cymbals. I'm dreadful with cymbals, but I love playing them and would really love to improve. The problem is that when I practice at home I try to play the standard longa rhythm along to a song, and I get lost so many times that I get frustrated and give up! And that's even before I try dancing and playing at the same time! Today though, Candi took us through it at a really gentle pace, starting with playing only on the beat, then dancing a basic movement at the same time. Next we played twice as fast, then added a basic dance move in time with the beat, then we began playing in short bursts of 3, 5 or 7 at double speed, then doing that whilest keeping up a basic dance move. Eventually we moved onto the longa rhythm, and I found it a little easier to 'dance' and play this time, although I still find that I lose the beat after a little while and have to stop for a second and find it again, but I'm definately getting better. Now I have a structure to follow in my cymbal practice at home :)
The second part was a new type of dance to me - debke. It's sort of oriental line-dancing and it involves standing in a line holding hands and all dancing in time. The particular dance step that we were learning today also involves learning to dance to a count of 6, even though the music is playing to a count of 8, so every other step combination feels a little weird as you don't finish on the accented beat. I think we managed quite well though, and I can see that it would be a fun dance for a troupe to do.
This afternoon we started with arms. My arms are awful, I tend to forget that I have them, so the more practice I have with concentrating on them, then better! We were practising 'making shapes' by always being concious of the shape your entire body makes as you dance, so although the movement is in your hips, your hands and arms need to be in a suitable position to either frame the move (showing arms), complement the move (balancing arms) or stay out of the way of the move (posing arms). We also did a little work on actually dancing with your arms. Then your hips should be still, but you should still make sure that you're standing in a definate pose, and haven't just stopped however you were standing in order to wave your arms about a bit!
After that we moved onto accents, largely of the type that involve a lot of buttock clenching! We've also been set homework! We must practice the buttock clenching, preferably by doing an 'accented walk' to ensure that we clench both sides equally and don't end up with one super-buff bum cheek and one wobbly one because we've only drilled one side! I can see this leading to a few embarassing moments when I think I'm alone in the lab but it turns out I'm not...
In other news, I've finally dug out my cheque book and filled out my Jewel of Yorkshire workshop request form. Tomorrow I will buy a stamp and post it :) |
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| First classes of the year |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|12:26 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | good | ] |
Today saw my first dance sessions of 2008. I entirely failed to practise over xmas and new year, and I could really feel that today!
Cis took us through a fairly gentle session, partly the 'ease us back in', and partly because she was struggling with a really bad cold.
We did a fair bit of shimmying to get us properly warmed up as it was freezing in the hall today! Also spent a bit of time checking posture, going over hip-circles and a bit of free-dancing. I felt stiff and my body didn't appear to want to do things that I know it's capable of, I had to keep conciously checking my posture because it's gone totally after a 2 week break (feels like so much longer!) Felt much better for having gone and started back on the road to finding my flexibility and isolation again!
Afterwards we went to the Boomshanka practise where we spent the whole session practising cues. I think this will take a lot more work, it really does show up the differences in how people dance, everyone needs to dance in time, and you really need to keep you hands still when you're not signalling something! Had a lot of fun though, I look forward to doing more work on this.
Now I just need to get my JOY form sent off and get practising again! |
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| Belated update... |
[Nov. 16th, 2007|07:40 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
We have started practicing for our 'project'!
After class on Thursday we met up at Cis's and started working through the choreography that she's been working on (based on long discussions and drunken dvd watching at Whitby).
It's fast, but I think with a bit of determination and quite a lot of practice we can do it :) Just need to work on my flash-turns! |
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| Tribal |
[Nov. 9th, 2007|07:24 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | happy | ] |
Yesterday being Thursday I pootled off to my regular class at 7pm. 1 hour of Egyptian style technique.
We concentrated on Shimmies and Camels. There were a couple of newbies in, so we worked all the way from the absolute basics of the move, and then spent about 15 minutes for each move with the music on and everyone practicing at their own level. I've been dancing long enough and practicing hard enough that the basic moves aren't a problem anymore, so I was working on traveling, layering and practicing the 'making shapes' advice that Candi gave us on Sunday. Cis usually works her way around the class when she has practice music on and helps anyone with problems they might be having. When she got to me she told me off for being clever because I was layering a camel over a hip-shimmy :)
After class Cis asked if I wanted to go with her to the Boomshanka choreography practice, so I zoomed off for another hour of dancing.
See that there deep end? See me stood looking at it? See Ruth who leads the choreography sessions throwing me in? I got there and was told 'Right, no warm-up, straight in, we're doing Galvanize.' and we went right into a full run-through of a choreography that I've seen these girls perform once, and never tried myself, ever! We went through it 3 times, and I'd just about got it by then, then we moved onto a different choreography! I've forgotten most of both of them now, but I've been practicing the few step-combos that I can remember at least. Fortunately they're both fairly simple choreographies, so hopefully after a few weeks I'll have a better idea of what's going on! Lots of fun though :) |
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| Too much of a good thing |
[Nov. 4th, 2007|06:04 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | exhausted | ] |
Might be a long one...
( Friday )
( Saturday )
( Sunday )
So another dance-intensive weekend, only this time I'm feeling decidedly washed-out at the end of it. I suspect this may be due to some evil virus or other picked up on my holiday to the seaside, or it may be due to the darker nights and colder days. Next weekend will be a lot lighter on the dancing and I shall take advantage of the rest! |
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| Whitby |
[Nov. 1st, 2007|03:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | pleased | ] |
I'm back from my holiday in Whitby. Hardly Bellydance central you might think, and mostly you'd be right, but not entirely!
OK, so the holiday was mostly about the goths and the food, but there was always going to be a hint of bellydance at least, in the form of a shopping trip to Gutsy Ginger's Eastern Bazaar.
Actually, it transpired that my most expensive purchase of the weekend came from Gingers. I went in there looking for henna paste, incense and a few accessories, and I came out with an outfit (and the henna, incence, bracelets, necklaces, bindi, a belt...)
The outfit consists of a skirt and bra-top. The top is incidental, it comes with the skirt, but the skirt is gorgeous. 3 layers of black chiffon, the bottom layer is circular, but split all the way up one side, the second layer is long crennelations (no idea how else to describe that!) and the top layer is 2 short triangular tabs, 1 front and 1 back. The top 2 layers are embroidered with loads of red sequins and white beads, and there's a 2 inch wide band of beading all around the top with a few bead & coin dangles. Best of all, there was only 1 and it was in my size!!!
The music playing in Gingers was fantastic too, so I took a note of the CD she was playing and I've ordered it for myself from Amazon this morning.
Also spent some of the weekend watching bellydance DVDs, sketching out a few ideas for a goth-fusion choreography and costume, and bellydancing to dreadful 80's cheese at Laughtons.
Several of us noted that we weren't the only bellydancers there this year either, there were hints all around us of a growing number of goth-bellydancers; an increased profusion of kuchi jewelery, head scarves with indian bells on, belts with extra dangly-bits... I'm expecting Gothla to be very crowded next year! |
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| JoY |
[Oct. 15th, 2007|05:40 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
I've written an enormous write-up of my weekend at JoY under my other name here.
To this I'm going to add a few more thoughts about my own abilities and progression.
Having rather reservedly chosen only level 1 - 2 workshops for this JoY I've realised that my dancing has now progressed to the point where technique workshops on Egyptian technique need to be a bit more challenging. I'm pleased by this, but also a little disappointed that I didn't anticipate this when I originally booked the workshops or I would have chosen something different as my first class, and possibly my second. I don't think I'd have changed Sundays classes however, as the Gypsy style was new to me so a beginner/improver level workshop was fine for this, and personally I'd love to end every bellydance event with an hour of yoga to stretch out!
So next time I'll be picking level 3 (intermediate) classes as much as possible.
I'm beginning to wonder at what point I'll be able to handle a level 4 workshop. Certainly not yet! But since I will be attending at least a couple of advanced technique classes and other workshops between now and April, plus my normal classes and practice at home, will I be able to handle more by then? Would it be so bad if I picked a class that was beyond my abilities if it meant that I had to really push myself and might learn even faster?
Also, what exactly is meant by 'Beginner', 'Improver', 'Intermediate' and 'Advanced'? Because this seems to vary depending on who you talk to and who is teaching. Certainly Shirley Lewis' idea of beginner/improver is very different from Khaled's! How do you know which would be best for you? How do you judge your own ability?
I struggle with this last one especially. I know that everyone learns at a different rate, and I also know that I learn fast, but I learn concepts fast, that doesn't mean that because I understand how a move is done that my body can execute that move to perfection. In fact it's quite the opposite, there are some moves that my body simply refuses to make in the way that I know they should be made. I also know that the only way to fix this is to practice, practice and practice! However, I also find that the more I practice, the more I find fault with what my body is doing so that in the end I am always convinced that I can do it, but it's not quite right.
I look around me at class and I try to guage which people in the room are at about my level (does everyone do this, or am I just immensely vain or something?) On Thursdays I see more people who know less than I do about the background of the dance, the ways that moves can be combined etc, but who's bodies just seem to obey their minds commands so much better than mine does. On Sundays I see a lot of people who know much more than me, but who are quite a bit older or don't practice so often and their bodies are losing the ability to move than mine has. So where on the improver/intemediate/advanced scale do they fall? Is it in your knowledge and understanding of the dance, in your ability to move to perfection, or in a combination of both?
Either way, after this weekend I think I'm better than I thought I was, but not nearly as good as I'd like to be! |
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| And now it's nearly time for... |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|08:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | good | ] |
JoY!!!
I can't believe it's the middle of October already!
On Friday I shall be heading off to Saltaire for another series of workshops and performances which hopefully will be just as exciting, informative and fun as those in March.
I'm booked in on 4 workshops - "A sense of Timing", "Hypnotic Hips & Shimmies", "Romany Gypsy" and "Yoga for Bellydance". They're all sold out, so I'm glad I booked them early! There are a few other workshops that I'd like to do too (Notably "Fly with Isis Wings" with Candi, "Practice = Perfect" with Tine Valois and "1001 Steps & Drops" with Seetha. However, I'm hoping that if enough of the Sheffield crowd sulk and pout and flutter our eyelashes then maybe Candi will run her Wings workshop again for us closer to home. Also, Practice = Perfect is on at the same time as Romany Gypsy, and I can't do both at once!)
Last time I was exhausted by lunch time on the Sunday, so I was very restrained and didn't book the last workshop of the day. I can rest and have a last browse of the stalls before I go home instead!
I missed class on Sunday last week as I was exhausted and feeling rather fragile with a nasty cold. I'm hoping the last stubborn vestiges of this evil infection will have cleared my system by this weekend... |
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| Back to class |
[Sep. 6th, 2007|11:08 pm] |
Over the summer there have been no classes on Sundays, and although there have been classes on Thursdays, mostly they have been fairly light-hearted affairs with only a few people present. We've played with props quite a bit, it's nice to have the opportunity to play with Isis wings, as there just isn't space in my house!
Today was the first 'proper' class of the new term, and Cis really made us work! We covered haggala, camels and arm-work. I was pleased to discover that my practice to Ariellah's dvd is starting to pay off, and I made it thorough the whole arm workout without flagging. I also made an attempt to layer my camel over a shimmy, which allegedly was sucessful, although I'm certain that was more luck than ablity!
The BADA classes start up again this Sunday, so I'll be back to my regular 2 classes a week. This will be good, as I feel like I've become very lazy over the summer, and there's only 5 weeks to JoY, so I need to get back into shape! |
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| Shopping! |
[Aug. 19th, 2007|11:52 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
Winging their graceful way to me right now are 2 new bellydance CDs and 2 new DVDs.
Me and my credit card spent a while browsing Aladdins Cave yesterday. It's not a pass-time that I make a habit of because it can get very expensive! Especially as I've already ordered myself a bunch of yoga goodies this month too, but I don't have any more bellydance activities planned until JOY in October, so this can be my mid-summer splurge!
I've ordered One Thousand and One Nights, which I've been after for a while, and Sawdust, which has just come out. I've also ordered BellyQueen and Showtime!, just because they looked like they might be interesting.
I've also started following my Ariellah DVD (Bellydance and Yoga Conditioning), although I'm finding it hard. I think that's rather the point though, drilling is only effective if you find it difficult at first! On Friday I followed the full yoga 'warm up' then completed the first upper-body isolation drills. By then I was exhausted (still recovering from evil infection), but I think that if I follow the yoga workout and just that first section of drills maybe 3 or 4 times a week for a month, I should have great arms and chest isolations by the end of it! Then I can start adding in the first set of hip isolation drills too. Today I shall follow the same section and make a real effort to do the same every other day. |
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