Getting Back On the Wagon: And Falling Off Again.

It has been two weeks since I started this blog. I should be about 12 posts in. I'm not. This is the hard thing about getting back on the wagon; you probably fall off a few times. It's discouraging.

Household illness, seasons changing and impending big life changes mean my cozy little home has had a difficult two weeks. Not alot of time or energy for dancing though. It seems dancing always falls by the wayside. Three sickdays in a row aside, it has been alot harder than I remember to fit dancing into my daily life.

I used to dance around the house all the time. It seems like dancing is no longer the norm for me, though. A positive note; I finally have a space just to dance in. After being in our new apartment almost two months the spare room is finally clean, organized and has had a whole wall adorned with my old, out of use bellydance items. It's like my own little private sanctuary. This room also being the place where we store our guitars, it kind of looks like Stevie Nicks threw up in my spare room. But I love it.

Today I begin teaching again. A 2 person private class and I could not be more excited. Hopefully I will find inspiration once more to get back to my dancing. I will report how things go tomorrow.

Happy dancing and don't be afraid to climb back on the wagon!
Elena

Day One: No Pain, No Gain!

I came up with the idea for this laying in bed on Sunday night. I have no regular instructor at the moment. I have been bellydancing for nine and a half years. I am not going to be pompous, I am out of shape, and my technique has gone down. A year and a half ago when dancing almost everyday I was pretty good, or so I think. I started teaching a couple of years ago and loved it. But where I was teaching closed eventually, and Durant, Oklahoma is not too keen on bellydancing. I kept giving the occasional private lesson. Then I got busy. I was cast in 7 shows in one year during school. Sleeping was on the forefront of my mind. Not how many hours can I practice today. I still danced around the house. But no real practice. I am finally able and oh so willing to spend an hour every day practicing. I realised, last night (Finally!) that while dvds are great, I can structure my own practice. So here it is. My daily log. If anyone's reading this leave me a comment so I know you're there! Jump in and follow a practice! But this is for me. Heeeeeeereeeeeeeee I goooooooooo!!!!!

Monday, October 24, 2011
Hips, Chest and Veil

Started about 10:15 post Paranormal Activity 3 viewing. Nothing like some nice drills to make you not think about creepiness. :)

Hips
1.) Lift and Drop (Bounces)
2.) Drop w/ Kick
3.) Ups and Downs
4.) Twist
5.) 4 points- slides tuck and pop
- Extra- Basic Egyptian

Notes- Did 50 total on each side. Alternated speed on Ups and Downs, first half slow , second half fast, on balls of the feet holding a two pound weight in each hand.

Chest
1.) Slides
2.) Lift and Drops
3.) Standard Square
4.) Zoe Jakes' style square
5.) Zoe Jakes' style Diagonal Square
-Extra- Head Slide

Notes- Abs got cramp. :) Love Zoe's method of "cleaning up" squares on her instructional dvd Killer Drillz, so I brought them into my practice. Head Slides have nothing to do with your chest, but I wanted them!

Veil
1.) Around the World
2.) Whirlpool
3.) S- Single
4.) S- Double
5.) Butterfly

Notes- Arms hurt. Only made it through 5 Around the Worlds. 25 of each previous move. Ow. :) It's a good burn.

So the idea is I pick what to drill every day- two body sections(hips and chest) or skill set (turns, shimmies, layers) add a prop (veil, zills, saiidi stick) then pick 5 moves from each section . I then do each move 25-50 times each. After finishing that I put on at least one upbeat and one slow song and improv all moves in, or do one song per section. AFTER that I then get to do a dvd, work on choreography or take a nap!

Didn't make it to putting music on and improving today. Maybe tomorrow. :)

Happy Dancing and Sweet Dreams!
Elena

To Dance Is To Breathe

I am a dancer. That is all there is to it. I do not look like the typical "Dancer". I am 5'2.5" tall. I am not a size 0. But dancing is what over 50% of my dreams are made of. What I think of when I look out a window. Hear music. Or see fireflies bobbing through a field as I lay watching the stars dance in the ethers in the arms of my love. Dancing is me.

I started dancing at age 3 in ballet class. Now, most little girls go through phases where they want to be a ballerina. I REALLY wanted to be a ballerina. I practiced and practiced. One day though, I realised as much as I practiced I was 15 years old in a tiny Oklahoma town. I rehearsed to VHS tapes in my living room. I had a ballet barre, but no real instruction besides what I had taught myself and two years way back when with Ballet Arkansas. I had won no competitions, done no internships and for heaven's sake I had boobs! I wasn't going to be a professional ballet dancer. I kept dancing, though. I still loved ballet. Until several injuries later and a bad car wreck. Then I faced another hard truth. My body in no way wanted me doing pointe. And so I quit. I physically was unable and with no instructor support was by now mentally unable, even to do basic floorwork.

This, however, is not the sob story of a wannabe ballet dancer. Or an actress. This is the story of a little girl. A little girl whose parents, as white and upper middle class as you could get, had very culturally diverse interests. The little girl's parents loved her very much, and took her with them almost everywhere they went. And every May the little girl's parents went to the Greek Food Festival in Little Rock, Arkansas, their then home. And there, the little girl saw a woman. The most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had olive skin, dark hair, radiated joy and light, and wore a green costume. She was a Bellydancer. The little girl watched her, mesmerized, and thought to herself "That will be me one day."

And the little girl grew up. She did ballet. She had no opportunity to be like the beautiful woman. Until one day at 13 she came across a VHS of twin bellydancers. She bought it for her mother, for her birthday, because her mother had always loved bellydancers too. The VHS ended up sitting unused in its box, though. Then one day that summer, the little girl put the VHS in. And started learning the moves. And kept learning and kept learning, with books and videos, because lets face it, you don't really want to flash the fact around that you kinda like bellydancing around in a small Oklahoma town, much less can you find an instructor. She Googled and Youtubed. Alot. Then there she was, finally taking workshops with some of the most amazing dancers. But only for small periods of time. Days. Then she would go home. Back to her solitary dancer life.

She discovered that this was the dance she longed to do. This was the dance that never left her feeling like she was not good enough, or too fat. This dance left her feeling beautiful. Happy. Good even when she was bad. This was unsurpassed by anything; ballet, her other major creative outlet and college major; acting, nothing measured up to the feeling of bellydance. Until she met the love of her life, but that's another story for another time.

Bellydance was to her a beautiful lady, her other mother, her breath, her life. Even after a year of "being too busy" here she is. Back because she can't live without it.

The little girl is me. This is my story. This is my path back to my lady. This is my journey. Please hop on for the ride.

Ahlan Wa Sahlan

Elena