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