Starting the New Year Awesome!

In this final day of 2010, I can honestly say I'm excited to move on to bigger and better things.

I've been pushing myself to do better at my own business, just by doing more outreach and doing more of the teleconference trainings.  Because of the dedication I felt to my own business, I feel like things have gone quite well.

I gained 2 new team members, and I officially have a Siren and a Satyr.  I've increased my number of average parties.  I've had several parties from friends' recommendations.  And the other day, I had someone email the Home Office requesting me specifically.

I feel like things are just going to get better and better!

To add to the success that I'm seeing in my business, I'm going to have the opportunity to volunteer as a sex educator at a local high school through a sex education nonprofit.  I'm extremely excited about this opportunity!

Though, I will admit that I'm a bit nervous.  But when I was meeting with the founder of the organization and going over the lesson plan, I suddenly realize, "Dude, I know this stuff."  I will do some brushing up on my sex ed facts, but the one thing that I do know extremely well is how to be with teenagers.

It will be interesting to have this mash-up of my two worlds, especially considering that I will dive in head first in the first week of January - which will then lead to Athena's January Sales Meeting and Holiday Party Weekend.

I do think it's going to be a fabulous 2011, if this first week has anything to say about it.

Meiver's Intense Intensive Repertoire Classes

For the past month, I have participated in an intense set of classes that have pushed my skill level and my bank account.  But it's been completely worth it.

Meiver, one of the top teachers/performers sent out the word in late April about a set of intensive repertoire classes in which we would learn 4 different choreographies, with the possibility of performing them in different events.  I knew I needed to participate.  While I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by my schedule, I wanted to push myself to try new styles and teachers.

The 4 choreographies we were learning were Saiidi, Khaleegy, Modern Oriental, and Fan Veil.  I want to talk about my personal challenges and strengths in these choreographies, and hope that I will improve by the time we will be performing.

Saiidi
Challenges:  With the Saiidi, I have to really practice my can twirling skills.  Though I've learned a little bit about how to use the cane, I haven't tried to do an entire dance with it.  In the tiny space we were practicing in, it was somewhat difficult to feel confident about twirling, and there were definitely a few bumps that happened along the way.  I've also needed to work on perfecting the details in the dance.

Strenghts:  I feel fairly confident about this choreography.  I've manged to pick up the steps relatively quickly.  I even bought my first ever Saidi dress!

Saidi habibi

Khaleegy
Challenges:  The Khaleegy is probably going to be a bit challenging for me overall.  Though I was able to purchase a thobe, it's not one of the best qualities and I'm finding myself tripping a bit on the beads.  But the most challenging part is the spinning.  Oh my goodness...the spinning.  I know that I need to practice my spotting, and then I really need to understand the mechanics of head spinning.

Strengths:  I really want to do well at this dance, or at least survive the spinning, mainly because then I know that I've reached a higher level. Also, the dance is so fun!  Regardless of the spinning, the dance with the thobes is beautiful!  It's really fun just to watch the costume move.

Modern Oriental
Challenges:  I need to work on the transitions between sections. I know that I've focused so much on the choreography and less on the little details, like pointing my toes or how my hands are.  I'm also working on getting a costume for this dance as well.

Strengths:  The high-paced Modern Oriental is another beautiful dance.  With so many of us in the room at times, I still feel that I'm able to appreciate the look of it while we're practicing.  Again, this is another dance where I feel like I've been able to grasp the choreography.

Fan Veil
Challenges:  In general, we need to really work on the actual choreography.  I definitely need to practice using them, as it's a completely new tool for me.  Specifically, I need to work on my left arm.

Strengths:  It's so PRETTY!  I mean, I can't get over how amazingly gorgeous the fan veils themselves are.  But then you make them move along with the dancers, and it just blows my mind!  It took me a while to get a hold of my own personal fan veils from Fairy Cove Silks, as there was some problem getting a hold of my information.  But, I love them!

Prettyyyy!

Though the month has gone by, we haven't finished learning all of the choreography, since we're all comprised of different levels and need to work a bit on the finer details.  Luckily, we all want to work on perfecting the dances as this is such a great opportunity.  Groups of us are working together, with lots of help from one of the students, and are hopeful that we will be ready to learn more when practice sessions with Meiver resume.

The whole month, I've felt like I'm learning so much about myself as a dancer.  I know I have so much more to learn, but I'm feeling very proud of myself for stretching out of my comfort zone and getting more involved in the dance.  I will hopefully be doing more with this group and performing at larger shows as a troupe.

Morocco Workshop - Presented by Za-Beth

So much is happening in the world of belly dance!  It's great when I'm able to fit things into my schedule and expand my repertoire.

The day after my birthday, after about 4.5 hours of sleep after a night of karaoke, I drove up to Woburn to attend a workshop by Morocco, a raqs sharqi legend.  Dancing for more than 50 years, Morocco is not only a master of the dance, but also a historian and researcher of the dance.  Though she's based in New York (and you can hear it in her accent), she's internationally known and sought after for her knowledge and work.

On April 24th, Za-Beth hosted another weekends worth of workshops and shows.  Though I wasn't able to attend the entire weekend, I was more than delighted to partake in my first workshop with Morocco.

Right off the bat, I thought she was hilarious!!!  Definitely strongly opinionated, but really had me chuckling in the back with her double entendres and .  She also offered quite a big of insight, including not calling figure 8's "figure 8's" in Arabic countries, since their number 8 is like an upside down V.  Also, she's very against calling the dance "belly dance," especially since it uses so many more body parts.  She prefers the term "Oriental Dance" since that is the direct translation of "raqs sharqi."

She taught us 2 dances that day.  The first dance was to "A la Kefek," a song about a guy seeing a girl and saying, "Have it any way you like it."  This dance was very high energy, but also very fun.

I liked that it was relatively simple, meaning that it didn't need to have so many innovative moves to be entertaining and interesting.  She also had a lot of symmetry, and spoke of using the arms to frame and direct the audiences eyes to what they "should be looking at."

Morocco in red, teaching us some moves.

The second half of the day's dance was to Georges Lammam's "Ahlam," which usually has a taxim introduction, but Morocco cut it to use only the part when the drums come on.  Some of us in the class recognized the song since Amira Jamal will use it during her class.  The song is beautiful!  I could feel the music and knew that it showed in my expression.

She spoke during this instruction about being careful not to use our chests in the camel movement.  Camels are basically lower body undulations, and being that Oriental dance is characterized by the body isolations, it is important not to ruin the integrity of the camel by involving the upper half.

The Master and her Students

I must say that it was an honor to be taught by such an important figure in American belly dance history.  It was even more of an honor to know that she, turning 70 that weekend, also had a dirty sense of humor!

Morocco and me!

Overall, it was a great birthday weekend!  Truly a treat for me to have this opportunity to learn some more skills from such a wonderful woman.

Rambling Thoughts about Sexual Health and an MSW

I've posted a little bit about this before.  But, now I feel like I've done quite a bit more research about what I can do.

Earlier this month, I attended a panel hosted by Harvard University on Sexual Health Careers.  I admit that I felt like a college student, especially once I realized that the target audience was students who were looking into careers.

Well, shoot, I've got a career.  In fact, I've got two careers.  Now, I'm trying to figure out how to expand and blend my careers!

It was great to hear from the different panelists, who ranged from HIV Researchers, to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, to Sexologist Megan Andelloux.  While it was great to hear about all the exciting things that were happening in the world of sexual health, I hadn't gotten what I wanted necessarily.

After the panel, I spoke with Megan, asking her about the possibilities of getting a sex ed certificate and she pointed me in the direction of the Executive Director of Partners in Sex Education.  Partners in Sex Education is another small non profit that works specifically with adolescents about sexual health and healthy relationships.  I was super excited to meet the ED of this organization!  I'm definitely planning on nurturing this contact.

Otherwise, I think I might try to attend a certification program through Planned Parenthood just to further my education.

Then, there are times when I think about sexual health in the Philippines and Filipino American communities.  I know that there's lack of education in all arenas, but perhaps especially in such a Christian-based country like the Philippines.

I've dreamed of providing educational opportunities at the sari-sari stores that dot the neighborhoods in the Philippines.  I've even done a bit of research to find organizations that might already be doing the work.  Not an easy thing to find, necessarily.

Considering that the Philippine government has taken an anti-contraception stance AND anti-abortion stance, and they've removed sex ed from schools, what if parents were being taught how to speak with their kids about sexual health?  But not just that, also about healthy relationships and healthy bodies?

It's fun to dream of doing that kind of work in the Philippines.  It's something I would definitely consider.  If I could just spread some of that knowledge to others, it would feel really quite satisfying.

"Advanced Technology" from xkcd.com

 

Nadira Jamal Improvisation Workshops

The really awesome thing about the belly dance community is how connected it is.  I have the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful dancers and teachers, and learning tons from them!

As I've been taking classes with Amira Jamal since I moved to Boston, I've been able to learn from many dancers who I consider masters.  Recently, one of Amira's students who's moved on to teaching her own classes and producing instructional DVD's, came back to class to share some of her knowledge.

Nadira Jamal gave two workshops during our scheduled classes on Monday, one on March 22nd and the second on April 5th.  She, with her wicked smaht engineering brain, has taken the frightening idea of improvisation and breaks it down into workable bits.

Her video series, Improvisation Tooklit, is a great guide for anyone who feels nervous about getting on the dance floor without a set and choreographed routine.  Though there currently two DVD's, she's working on completing the set of 5 to make master improvisers in all of us dancers.

The workshops she brought to us were a shortened version of the two DVD's.  I must admit that I was a bit nervous!  Though we've done quite a bit of improvisation in Amira Jama's classes (just putting on music and moving on the dance floor), I was worried that I might not be able to hold on to what she taught us.

But she started right away with building up our confidence and dance self-esteem.  She reminded us that we should not only have fun and enjoy the dance, but that we also have the ability to remember specific moves if we are having fun.  And, even if we can only remember 3 or 4 moves, there are so many bits one can add to the dance (like level changes, moving around the floor, angles, arm movements, timing, etc.), that even the same movements can have a different effect.

I was excited to be part of these workshops.  Though I'm not a professional like many of my classmates or like Nadira, I can at least fake it til I make it.

I now feel much more comfortable with improvisation, though I'm sure I'll always be a little bit nervous about performing.  Also, I feel like this comfortability with improvisation would greatly aid in choreographing, as one can take the moves from improvising and reuse them.

Diana Tarkhan Workshop - Hosted by Najmat

On Saturday, April 3rd, Najmat hosted Diana Tarkhan at the Green Street Studios in Central Square, Cambridge, Mass.

Diana Tarkhan is one of the premiere Egyptian-style dancers, teachers, and choreographers.  She came all the way from Cairo, Egypt, to teach a class of 27 eager and excited New England dancers.

Truth be told, I had minimal exposure to her.  I had seen a video here and there on You Tube, but I didn't know much else.  After seeing that Najmat was offering a workshop from her, I knew that I needed to sign up.  The way I see it, you want to get as much exposure and experiences from different teachers if you want to continue evolving your technique as a dancer.  And if you can learn from Masters, even better!

Saturday was a gorgeous day!  It was the warmest it had been in a long time here in Boston.  So, all the dancers present were pretty much predisposed to enjoy themselves.  But being taught by the delightful Diana Tarkhan just heightened the feeling.

Room full o'bellies

Diana led us through some techniques that were characteristic of Egyptian-style "Oriental" dance.  She focused on the "in's" and "out's" of the hip, which came more from knee movements than from the hip.  We moved around a lot, practicing the "in's" and "out's" with different variations.

In's and outs!

She also led us through some variations on entrance movements, and taught us a combination of moves.  Overall, it was pretty exhausting (not to mention that I went to pilates in the morning!)!  It was nice and warm in the room, and all us ladies were sweating quite a bit.  But Diana's energy and smiley disposition kept us all excited and motivated.

Personally, I felt super energized to be around so many wonderful dancers and teachers.  Though I've been taking classes for so many years, I know I have so much more to learn from the professionals around me.  I always feel very encouraged and new after I'm around the raqs sharqi community.

Diana Tarkhan and me!
Photo courtesy of Najmat

Beautiful (and tired) dancers!
Photo courtesy of Najmat

Shimmies for a Cure Quatro - Workshops and Hafli

I feel like I've gone through a long hiatus of belly dancing.  Though it's mainly been a time and money issue, I knew that I needed to push through some of the stress and continue dancing.  So, I've been continuing classes with Amira Jamal on Mondays, as well as with Najmat on Tuesdays.

But this past weekend, on March 27th, I was able to participate in the Shimmies for a Cure Quatro workshops and hafli.

Shimmies!

Baseema Moirae and *Samantha* are an organizing super team!  It was truly an eventful and awesome day, and really a great way to get more fully involved in the art form.  All of the funds went toward one of the organizer's involvement in the PanMass Challenge, which is a cycling event that benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

I had the pleasure to take part in 4 fabulous workshops from 4 master teachers.

Lots of ladies taking workshops!

Bolly Bellies with Jesi
Jesi is awesome!  Super high energy and funny, she lead us through an intro course in Bollywood style dance. It was a great way to warm up in a somewhat chilly room.  We all sported our flounciest skirts and tried to keep up with her fast-paced choreography.  Though we were only given an hour with her, Jesi was able to teach us all of the steps.  Granted, it was difficult to get every step perfect, but she really helped us feel the energy and drama that's associated with the popular Bollywood movies.

Raq Like and Egyptian with Najmat
Oh, Najmat.  I love this woman!  As one of my current belly dance teachers, she really knows how to help you hone in your technique.  We worked on a set of moves that really worked on our posture and muscle control, as Egyptian style is generally more controlled.  We worked on large hip circles, figure 8's, and pops.  And just when your body is starting to feel pain from all the repetition, she switches to the other side.  And then she puts a shimmy on top of it!  She really proves that practice makes perfect.

Balkan Beat Box à la Melina with Melina
Melina, from the Daughters of Rhea, got us to be silly and have fun with her choreography.  A mix of Turkish, Greek, and plain old good times, the choreography had us all laughing and enjoying ourselves.  Though we weren't able to get through all of the choreography she had planned for us, she seemed to mainly focus on feeling ownership over our bodies and our style, no matter how silly it may look to others.  I must admit that I had a really fun time during her workshop, and finished the workshop with a little bounce in my step.

Techniques for Stage Presence and Performance with Ela Rogers
Ela is one of the premiere tribal performers in New England.  She asked us to stand in a circle, and for each of us to walk around the inside and make eye contact with every other person.  Then, we were to stand in the middle, turn our head to look at one person then follow with turning our bodies.  Eye contact is so important in performance.  So it was interesting to see who really made eye contact with every single person, who skipped people, who took really quick glances, and who was able to linger.  We also worked on a short combination that helped us use what we learned about eye contact.

Goodness!   I would most definitely love to take a class or workshop with all of those fabulous ladies again!  Four hours worth of workshops later, I'm feeling pumped to do some shopping (which I did...a LOT of!) and watch some of my favorites light up the dance floor.

Sidebar:  Oh, the shopping!  But the one item I do want to highlight is the new Sassy Sparkles Eye Kandy color created in honor of this event.  With a name created by one of the dancers and voted on by the guests, "I Dream of Gaia" (gold, green, and brown) premiered at the Shimmies for a Cure Quatro.

I Dream of Gaia

Below are the "good" shots that I got of the performances.  It was difficult, I must say, without a fancy schmancy camera.  I tried not to use my flash so as not to blind the dancers, but I unfortunately didn't get the best pictures possible nor was I able to get decent pictures of all the performances.

Nepenthe, dancing to Mashaal

*Samantha*, tribal hip-hop fusion

Jemileh Nour, my gorgeous friend dancing for the first time in 2 years

Jesi, bringing down the house with her bhangra

Badriya al-Badi'a, an ode to the OG Egyptian dancers

Najmat, her moves and beautiful costume speaks for itself

Nikki, one of Boston's Best balancing a sword

Troupe Moirae, jazzy fusion

Melina, balancing a sword on a dagger in her mouth, yo!

Aepril Schaile, the Snow Queen graces us with her presence

Ela Rogers, closing the evening with a memorable performance

I feel absolutely blessed to have been a part of the Shimmies for a Cure day.  I'm feeling inspired not only by the wonderful talent I was surrounded by, but by the amazing community that was able to raise close to $4000 for the PanMass Challenge!

Congratulations to Baseema and *Samantha* for another top notch Shimmies for a Cure!