Thank you to all of my students, teachers, fellow dancers, bandmates, and performance clients who made 2013 so great! Special thanks to my dance partners Felicia and Kenna, student show co-host Chaya, and all of my fabulous students for always being inspirational and supportive. Here are some highlights from the past year: Teaching * Taught some incredible students on a wide range of topics including Dance Composition for Bellydancers, Layering Techniques, Skirt Fusion, Prepare to Meet Your Dum, Songs Every Bellydancer Should know, Folk and Social Dances, Improvisation with Veils and more! * Taught at Amity Alize's Raq On Shimmyathon in NH * Coached Laura and Emily's first duet- they were fabulous and have since done many other great duets! * Cheered as Melissa, Christina, Jessica, Faith, Lisa, and Victoria grew as soloists * Taught a workshop as the featured guest at the Wedding Collaborative's Hot Inn Here event * Taught at several wonderful bachelorette parties * Taught at Shalimar's Souk in CT Studying * Took workshops and private lessons from Artemis Mourat, Rosa Noreen, Aslahan, Irina Akulenko, Tamalyn Dalal, Ankara Rose, and Amity Alize on a range of topics from Turkish Romani to waltz fan veil and Celtic fusion * Attended the Southern Vermont Dance Festival where I tried Chinese Fan Dance, Waltz, Bollywood, Tango, Swing, and Flamenco * Did private lessons with Shifah on Turkish spoons, and Kenna on sword dance Performance * Danced for a variety of private events including weddings, Vashti banquets, birthday parties, haflas, and other parties * Collaborated with my Manavi bandmates, wonderful dance partners Felicia Malachite and Kenna, the Crescent Dancers, Jericha, Christina, and the Sisters of the Moon dance troupe on a variety of performances * Co-hosted two fantastic student showcases with my partner in crime Chaya Leia * Started dancing with Kenna at her super fun Vaudeville themed Goddess Lounge show * Did a guest appearance with the Crescent Dancers at my mentor Shifah's birthday celebration show * Headlined at the Marco Polo and the Cairo Cabaret showcases Other * Did fun photoshoots with Huong Phan and Keith Harmon Snow * Hosted the third annual student secret habibi gift exchange * Received my first two pieces of fan art! * Attended live performances by fabulous musicians including Charbel Rouhana, the Shaheen brothers, the Dunya Ensemble, and more * Had a new promotional video made by Hummingbird Videography * Was invited to be on the Board of Advisors for Jericha Senyak's Museum of Joy * My dance partner, Felicia, and student show partner, Chaya, each gave birth to their first child! ..and Ahead to 2014
I'm looking forward to another year working with my favorite dancers and musicians, teaching my fantastic students, and performing at beautiful celebrations!
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Class Attire – L Rose Designs is the best place to get custom made cholis and workout pants. Music- A dancer can never have too much music and there is such a rich variety to choose from. Here are some of my favorite albums from a range of styles. DVDs- DVD's can help guide at home practice and teach new techniques.
Feeling Crafty or Shopping for a Dancer Who Likes to Sew? Crocheted Zill Mufflers- Zill mufflers help to keep down the volume of zills so dancers can practice without disturbing the neighbors. Instructions to crochet them are available for free here. Veils- Veils are easy to make if you have a serger. Just buy a 3 yard length of light weight polyester chiffon (as floaty and light as you can find), serge a 3 yard by 45" rectangle, and you're done!
1. Acquire 2 velvet hipscarves. (I've tried the chiffon, but the chiffon takes a lot more work because of the material. It is not very forgiving when it is cut. If you do decide to use the chiffon, make sure you use plenty of Fray-Check.) 2. Place the hipscarves on your hips to see where they line up. You'll want to make sure there's a small gap (about an inch) because once you start dancing, I find that it stretches out a bit (or the knot loosens up) and tends to fall off. Pin the hipscarves together where they overlap. I like to make sure to pin them together at the part where the ties start. 3. Take off the hipscarves and inspect the lines. Sometimes, there are extra decorations and you'll want to line them up as much as possible. The idea here is to make it look like one single hipscarf, not two. 4. I hand stitch these because the area is so small that it would take longer to pull out the sewing machine. a.) Typically, I like to do a basic stitch just under the upper band because it doesn't show as much and will still allow for the coins to move around. b.) Then, I do a quick whip-stitch on the top to help keep things looking neat and tidy (the only bits that I want flopping around are the coins!) Click for larger images and captions: 5. Carefully, remove two of the ties so that you are left with just the normal 2 ties. I try to cut right under the coins so there is no extra velvet hanging out. Save the ties to a make a matching headband! 6. Inspect to ensure that everything is the way you want it to look. It's best to find out now while you still have everything out. Try it on, make sure it's not going anywhere.
Content Overview The DVD consists of a warm up, isolation drills, isolation practice flow, combinations, and a cool down. Sara faces the camera standing at an angle so that the view from the back is reflected in the mirror. The mirrors aren't full length so you can't see her feet but it doesn't detract from the instruction since the transitions are all fairly stationary. All instruction is done via voice overs. Basic isolations such as chest circles and undulations are assumed for the warm up but broken down in the isolation drills section. There are 6 combinations, each consisting of 2-4 moves done back to back to work on the transitions between them. Sara does a great job of showing the movements from front and side views and drills each side evenly for movements which can be done on the right or left. Each combination is broken down and then drilled at 3 speeds. For each of the three speeds the combination is done at half time and full time (so in effect it gets practiced at 6 speeds). Combinations 1-4 are later added together as a practice flow to show how to transition between them. The flows aren't drilled as long as the individual combinations and are presented at only one speed. While the flows were enjoyable I ended up wishing that they were drilled for a little longer. Combinations 5-6 involve movement layering and are more difficult then combinations 1-4. In addition to the regular chapters of the DVD, Sara has included 4 shorter practice play lists. I thought this was a really great addition. Each play list is about 20-30 minutes long and these would be perfect for when you can only fit in a short practice. They each have a warm up, cool down, and a few of the combination drills. They allow you to do a short self contained practice which would make it more likely for dancers to do a complete practice session then if you had to click through the menu to do each of those sections separately. I know how hard it is to have discipline when doing DVDs and for myself I would be likely to skip warm up or cool down, or to get distracted by something when going to switch between menu items and stop practicing, so I appreciate that this was included. Who would get the most from this DVD? The video description recommends it for dancers at the advanced beginner level and I completely agree. Advanced beginners who are looking to smooth out their movement transitions or learn new Fusion style combinations will get the most from this content although I think intermediate and advanced dancers would enjoy the exercises as well. The isolations used are broken down so that beginners could use the DVD as well, but I think dancers who have some background in basic isolations will get the most out of the entirety of the instruction on this DVD; true beginners might end up slightly overwhelmed especially with the layering combinations. If you are a dancer who specializes in another style but want to work on Fusion combinations and stylizations I think this DVD is an excellent choice for cross training. This is what I was hoping to use it for and have found it to be a perfect fit. Overall- 4 zills up! Disclosure: I received this DVD as a review copy from Sara. A few years ago I was teaching a cane class where the students had a wide range of heights. We decided to make our own canes for the student showcase. I cut dowels down to the length each student needed so that we could have a cane making party after class one night. One of the students happened to make hula hoops and taught us how to wrap the canes. It was really fun and an affordable way to ensure that students of different heights could easily get a cane that would work for them. In a recent Bhuz thread I was discussing how we made our canes and it seemed like a useful thing to write a tutorial on. Enjoy! Acquiring and Preparing the Cane For making my canes I use wooden dowels from my local hardware store. There are many different diameters to choose from and often a few types of wood as well. Test the various types out in the store (being careful not to hit anything!) to find what will work best for you. Different wood types are more or less dense and heavy so find one that feels like it will be light enough not to stress your wrist. The wood type of mine wasn't labeled but I chose the lightest wood available. I like 1/2” diameter canes, but you can go smaller or larger as you prefer. The standard dowel size is usually 48” long so it will need to be cut down to a usable cane length. Most hardware stores will cut them down for you if you need. If you aren't sure how long you want it have it cut a bit long, test it out, and cut down more as needed. If you have the dowel cut down at the store keep the end they cut off in case you want to try practice wrapping before wrapping your cane. I like my canes to be 38” long, which is the same length I wear in trumpet skirts so that may be a good way to roughly estimate length. I have a miter box and saw at home so I just bought the dowels and cut them down at home. Sand down the ends of the cane before starting to wrap it. Choosing Tape For this cane I used leftover silver metallic hula hoop tape from when we made the class canes. It is 3/4” wide. The larger the width the less times you will be need wrap it around. I think that 3/4" or 1” wide tape would be ideal. 1/2” may be too small, but could be used for adding an accent color if you wanted to make a two tone cane. Hula hoop tapes are available in lots of fun finishes and colors such as holographic, prism, and metallic which makes it easy to match a variety of costumes and create a fun and unique cane. To determine how much tape you will need you can use this handy formula: L=(π*D*C)/(W-O) where, L=length of tape D=diameter of cane C=cane length W=width of tape O= overlap length per wrap This will give you the minimum amount of tape you will need since you will need an extra few inches to cover the ends and more to account for any mistakes or practice wrapping you want to try. Wrapping the Cane
Start by covering both ends. Take an inch or two of hula tape and place it over each end then smooth it down and fold the edges where it overlaps. Wrap another piece of tape all the way around the top to secure down the piece you just used to cover the end. Make sure to do both ends so that once you get to the end of wrapping you will already have that bottom end covered. Now start your wrap with the tape at a diagonal. As you go you want to have the tape overlap the previous wrapped section by about 1/4”. To get the tape to lay smoothly unroll a few inches of tape and hold it tightly to the side then slowly rotate the cane so the tape is applied evenly and unroll more tape slowly as needed. If the tape starts to pucker or gets an air bubble just unwrap that section of cane and redo it. I found the tape I used was easy to unwrap and still sticky enough to hold even if I needed to redo sections. Try to keep a constant amount of overlap on each rotation of the tape. Once the cane is completely wrapped, look it over and press down any sections that need to be smoothed out. Now your cane is ready for dancing! Preparing the Base Measure how long and wide you would like your headband to be. I made mine to stop just behind my ears. I also wanted a wider surface on the top in case I use it for sword balancing. My dance partner Felicia made me a beautiful headpiece for a sword dance we perform and she lined it with fleece which completely alleviated the head pain swords can cause for me. Cut the fleece in the shape you want to the measurements you just made and hold it up to see if it looks the way you want. This will be the base for the rest of the headpiece. Your headband may need darts in the back to help it conform to your head and not stick up in the back. Cut cover fabric with about a ½ inch seam allowance to cover the fleece. I used brocade for mine and serged the edge of the cover fabric first. Pin the cover fabric to the fleece and sew around the edges. This step can be done on a machine but I prefer hand sewing so mine was hand sewn. Preparing the Flower I found a long stemmed fake flower at Michaels that matched my headpiece fabric and costume perfectly. The flower is usually just held to the stem by a short piece of plastic that comes from the center piece of the flower so the stem can just be popped off. The plastic bit that held the stem on won't allow the flower to lay flat against the headpiece and we are going to switch out the center for something more sparkly anyways, so pop the center part of the flower out as well. Now you have the petals remaining. The centerpiece is usually the only thing holding the layers of petals together so you will want to sew the petals together before attaching the new centerpiece. When the petals are sewn together attach the new centerpiece. Pendants or brooches work well for this, but you could also use store bought or homemade appliques. My costume is black and teal and I found a black rhinestone pendant in the shape of a flower to go with my teal flower. I'm pretty excited about it. Adding Fasteners Cut two pieces of ribbon long enough that they will overlap the headband by ½ inch and still be long enough to tie under your hair. Sew these to the two end points of the headband. I used satin ribbon for mine, but it is a bit slippery. I might try organza next time. Depending on your cover fabric you can also use hemmed strips of that fabric as ties. When Felicia first taught me to dance with a sword, one of my fears was not that the sword would slip off my head but that the sword would be perfectly balanced on my headband and the whole darn thing would slide off the back of my head with the sword on it. Felicia taught me that using hair clips sewn inside the headband would ensure that did not happen and sure enough it hasn't. So I recommend adding two hair clips in addition to the ties for extra security. They are positioned one on each side of the headband facing so that when you push it back from your forehead they latch to your hair. I chose teal ones for mine and got them at Target. I know they won't show, but I like knowing that they match anyways. Assembling and Embellishing Now all that is left to do it attach the flower. Try your headpiece on to decide on flower placement. I put mine slightly above my left ear. Jericha uses hot glue to affix hers, but I sewed mine. Add beads or any other decorations you want and then you are done. I ended up beading mine following the paisley pattern of the fabric. It will mean that it is not usable for sword balancing, but it added a little extra sparkle. My skirt dance students used this tutorial to make their headpieces for the Dancing into the Light student showcase. Here are some photos.
Thank you to all of my students, teachers, fellow dancers, bandmates, and performance clients who made 2012 so great! Special thanks to my dance partner Felicia, student show co-host Chaya, and Jericha Senyak for always being inspirational and supportive. Here are some highlights from the past year: Teaching * Taught some incredible students on a wide range of topics including Songs Every Bellydancer Should Know (both Turkish and Arabic), Vintage Oriental Skills: Floorwork & Zills, Prepare to Meet Your Dum, Expressive Elegance, Vibrant Veil and more * Jericha and I co-coached Mary on her first solo * Coached Christina on her first solo performance, Pat & Jamie on their first duet, Sophia on her first live music performance * Began teaching at Studio Helix in Northampton * Taught at several wonderful bachelorette parties Studying * Took workshops from Ruby Beh, Artemis Mourat, Elena Lentini, Asharah, Shifah, Donna Mejia, and Amity Alize on a range of topics from Turkish and Romani to Tribal Fusion and prop work * Worked on Tribal Fusion stylization in private lessons with the incredible Jericha Senyak * Took Nadira Jamal's amazing Rock the Routine online course * Hosted my mentor Shifah for a workshop on Body Awareness and Emotional Expression Performances * Performed at a wide variety of private events including high school graduation parties, birthdays, Vashti banquets, poetry readings, bachelorette parties, and more * Had my first experience with theatrical bellydance in the Otherworld performance co-hosted by Manavi and SHOW Circus * Co-hosted 2 fantastic student showcases with my partner in crime Chaya Leia * Collaborated with my Manavi bandmates, wonderful dance partner Felicia Malachite, and the Sisters of the Moon dance troupe on a variety of performances Other * Restored the beautiful green Bella which was formerly Sandra's * Attended the Creative Economy Summit hosted by Fostering Art & Culture * Manavi made our first studio recordings * Hosted the second annual student Secret Habibi * Was invited to join the Crescent Dancers- they are some of my dance idols but unfortunately scheduling issues mean that I could not accept the offer at this time * Was honored to watch Donna Mejia's MFA thesis presentation at Smith College * Attended live performance by fabulous musicians Charbel Rouhana, the Shaheen brothers, Karim Nagi, and more ...and Ahead to 2013
I'm looking forward to another year working with my favorite dancers and musicians, teaching my fantastic students, and performing at beautiful celebrations! Looking for the perfect gift for a belly dancer? Here are my recommendations for music, DVDs, and more! The Gift of Dance Bellydance classes are fun and rewarding, allowing you to gain a new skill set, develop an appreciation of Middle Eastern dance, music, and culture, and meet new friends. Class registrations with optional hip scarf and zill bag gift sets can be purchased here. Gift certificates are available if you are registering someone as a gift. General gift certificates are available as well and allow the student to choose their own combination of classes, private lessons, or workshops and use it anytime throughout the year.
For at home practice Music- A dancer can never have too much music and there is such a rich variety to choose from. Here are some of my favorite albums from a range of styles. DVDs- DVD's can help guide at home practice and teach new techniques.
Feeling Crafty or Know a Dancer Who Likes to Sew?
Other Fun Things
Preparing Materials Thread your needle and cut four pieces elastic down to about an inch longer then needed to wrap around your finger. Two of the elastic pieces are for your thumb zills so be sure to measure those by the circumference of your thumb and the other two by the circumference of your middle finger. If you want you can use different colored elastic or thread for the finger and thumb zills. This can help you tell which is which if you need to put on your zills quickly. Next, put each of the pieces of elastic through a zill so the two ends of the elastic are on the top sides of the zills. If they are on the bottom side it will be harder to sew into the bell of the zill. Also, having the sewn part in the bell can affect the way they are played since the more elastic is on the underside the more likely you are to hit the elastic when playing the zills, thereby accidentally muting them on some hits. Measure and Pin Hold the zill and elastic around your finger and pin it to mark where it feels like a good fit. Take it off and overlap the elastic by 1/4-3/4” and cut off the excess as needed. This is how it will get sewn down so try it on again and do a little hand shimmy to check if it will be secure. You want them to be tight enough that they won't fall off (or go flying off as a zill rocket) but not so tight that they become uncomfortable. Sewing Your zills are now comfortably adjusted and pinned in place with the elastic overlapping. Sew the elastic around the perimeter of the overlap. Try them all on, if everything feels comfortable and secure then you are good to go. Now its time to practice your zill drills and dancing! The zills seen in this post are by Saroyan Mastercrafts. You can get them here. The cute squirrel pouch is handmade by Marcia Furman. You can get one here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CinamonSquirrel.
I am overdue for an update on this project. I have been busy co-producing the spring student showcase and starting a new class session and I need to catch up on my costuming. However, since I decided to wear the Bella for the student show there is now further progress to report! Bra For the photoshoot I had worn the bra safety pinned as a halter since the straps were too short to do anything else with it. A halter just won't work for performance though, it is too uncomfortable. For performance I prefer x-back. The best way to make this into an x-back would be to remove the current straps and make new ones, however with the show deadline approaching and organizing requiring the majority of my attention I ended up doing the quicker solution of making extensions for the current straps so they would be long enough to attach to the back straps. If you recall from the previous posts the back straps also needed work. One of them disintegrated and fell off and while the other one was fine it was too skinny for my taste. I like straps with a little more oomph. The side straps of the Bella are all one piece with the cups and the part right next to the cups is fine on both sides so I decided to take a strip of grosgrain, cover it with green velvet, and then attach it to the inside of the current straps. For both sides to be symmetrical I had to cut off part of the non-disintegrated strap so it would match the one that had fallen apart. It is scary to cut into a Bella but it went well and no beads were lost. I was booked solid before the show (I taught over 60 classes, private lessons, and rehearsals but who is counting?!) so I had my talented boyfriend cover the 4 new strap pieces with green velvet for me and I attached them. There wasn't time to bead them before the show so that still needs to happen but they are comfortable and supportive and I was able to wear the costume. The cups also needed a bit of work since the cutouts were too scandalous on me and I didn't want to worry about costume malfunctions. I had leftover fabric that matches my skin tone from making a slip for my coral costume last year so I used pieces of that to cover the bra cutouts. I think it worked really well; the fabric is opaque and I am much more comfortable now that I don't need to worry about costume malfunctions. I started lining the cups with the final green lining fabric as well but only managed to finish one before the show. Skirts
I didn't succeed in finding a new skirt on Bhuz so I decided to go with the green circle skirt I have. It needed an underskirt so the day before the show I went out and bought gold satin to make a skirt that would brighten up the costume and bring out the gold accent beads in the fringe. I cut the fabric and made the skirt that night, but when I tried it on under the green skirt it just didn't look right (the green skirt is a little short on me so the gold stuck out under it). Luckily reversing the situation and wearing the gold one on top looked perfect. I still feel like the skirts are a little plain in comparison to the epic beadwork on the bedlah so I plan to add gold holographic sequin trim. The chiffon sleeves that came with the costume had gold holo sequin trim and I have cutout the fabric for new sleeves and added this type of sequin trim to them so I think it will tie the costume together better to add trim to the skirt as well. More Work to be Done The bra straps need beading, the bra and belt both need new lining, the skirt will get sequin trim, and the chiffon armbands and wristlets still need to be finished. |
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