Kyria's journal

With a bit of a break between day 1 and 2 due to health, However, I did get back into it.

Day 3
I was still chewing on the material from Fluid Tribal bellydance with Fayzah. This time I decided to start with the warm up. Unfortunately it was a warm up aimed at superfit twenty year old dancers. It included a whole lot of crunches, some squats, stretches that weren't held long enough for me and so on. I did a quick run through of the tribal basic moves and then moved on to the choreography. I had been stalling this part because the choreography is daunting.

The choreography is 1.16 minute long. The choreography explanation is 8.04 minutes long. I kid you not.

My rule of thumb for creating and learning choreography is that it takes roughly one our per minute of intermediate/advanced choreography to create the basic framework. It then takes three hours to get the framework solid in your body for one minute of choreography. It takes roughly five more hours of practice per minute of choreography to make it smooth and polished. Compared to the other teachers in my area, I am pretty fast with creating and learning choreography.

I did the choregraphy section and paused after every combination, practiced a couple of times, then moved on. At this pace it took me roughly 30 minutes to go through this section. It is a fun tribal choreography and contains some of the moves she explained in the earlier sections BUT I can't get it to work for me. Oriental dancer says 'no'. Instead I jotted down the moves I really liked and created my own practice flow, which is roughly four times slower and a hell of a lot more fun.

I then started on the preparation of my Zambra Mora class and worked on the hand-out. My search took me to Old Bhuz and it was fabulous. In depth threads on dance styles, remember those? Say all you want about facebook but facebook is impossible for searching and retrieving information. We're basically just yapping at each other in groups now with the memory of a goldfish.

Day 4
I planned on dancing but I didn't. Instead I continued on my hand-out for Zambra Mora, created a playlist with music for the class and then decided to make a new free hand-out for circle skirts. It took me three hours, using material from my 2007 costuming book combined with new insights on costuming and what a useful format would be. I then continued to write out the chapters of my Bellydance skirts e-book (in Dutch) that I plan to release later this year. It will contain at least ten extensive how-to's on bellydance skirts and in total will be roughly 50 pages. This is a follow up of my grand masterplan to not rewrite my costuming book, but instead make smaller (wahahaha!) seperate publications for online sales. The freebie turned out pretty good and if I can work some more this week on the rest of the patterns I might send out the newsletter in January announcing the release date, probably start of March 2015. I need products that I can sell during the expected time that I won't be teaching/performing next year if I get pregnant again.

Day 5
I dug through my dvd collection and found some real gems. I started with Jenna's Bellydance, the next level. It is a WDNY dvd so quality is good and this dvd is more my style so easier to work with.

The warm up works for me and I did the three drill sections for a total of 35 minutes. I stopped at the choreography section and instead put on steady music to drill the combinations I wrote down from the fluid fusion dvd. The moves are growing on me and hav an Indian flavor to them. If I continue drilling these, I will put them in my new intermediates choreography, to give them something to chew on. Looking at Fayzah's website, she has dropped bellydancing and is now into futuristic streetdance stuff. I dare you to watch her trailer. It contains dancing octopussy, fire breathing, headstands and a windows phone commercial

I am failing miserably on replyhazy's challenge to take a prisitine BD instructional dvd out of shrinkwrap every month, view it and write a review on LJ.On the bright side, through LJ I was reminded about the alignment dvd's so I bought a basic kit with a book and two dvds to improve the alignment in my feet and 'down there'.

The interwebz is making me procrastinate. 

The workshop with Yasmina from Caïro was a pleasant suprise at the Raqs Congress. She's a beautiful dancer, both from the inside as the outside. I purchased the "Journey of desire' dvd from her and I finally had the time to watch it. First of all, I think this dvd is amazing. When I watched it, I felt like it transported me back to Caior. Even though I've been there for a couple of days, I could almost feel the dry heat and microscopic dust. I have to admire for what Yasmina is trying to convey: how she came to Caïro and made it as a professional dancer, but also the hurdles that she (and all foreign dancers) have to take if they want to perform in Egypt.

The story
the dvd starts with pictures of the english home where Yasmina grew up with Yasmina's voice telling us that at age fifteen she didn't want to be a professional dancer. So how did she end up in Caïro? I won't go into much detail, but the dvd touches several subjects that dancers are interested in, mainly:
- why do dancers want to dance in Egypt?
-what is the magical thing that Egyptian dancers have and foreigners don't?
-your own orchestra: how Yasmina treats hers, and the responsibility that comes with it.
-costumes (includes interviews with several costume designers like Amira El Kattan and Beata Cifuentes stating that:'if you're not good at dance, at least look good'.
-short bit about saidi including cute performance
-a totally weird bit about driving your car in Caïro that goes into a sort of shaabi/arabic MTV danceclip in a garage with Yasmina in a purple wig and disco costume.
-About the golden age of bellydance, belly dance movies and how they're still attractive after five decades. Followed by a golden era clip
-also : what happens if you get a permit and want to perform? Includes interviews with two agents, footage of Yasmina practicing back in 1995 with choreographer.

Interlaced is the story of a foreign dancer that tells us about the paperwork she has to go through to be allowed to dance.

Some things that annoyed me:
-no menu, so hard to flip through
-wonderful dancing, but the editing in several clips is very hectic
-the car driving part in Caïro doesn't fit well into the storyline and the fast forward footage of driving through Caïro is nice, but too long

I absolutely love this dvd and will probably watch it many times over. Also very nice to show to students if you want to explain the feeling that is attached to raqs sharqi in Egypt and most Arabic countries. While I was watching, Jeoffrey stoped and watched some parts with me. I tried to explain how raqs sharqi has the ability to touch all Egyptians and he ahd a hard time believing this. It's a strange concept to us, western people, how a whole country can cry when they hear a classic Oum Kolthoum song, or see a dancer express the music without doing visually complex stuff.

For future reference, I found interesting links about the dvd and about dancing in Caïro as a foreigner:
gilded serpent review
Meissoun - when the lights go out
how to get a dancingpermit in Egypt
sabirye- working in the middle-east
bellylorna - a scottish bellydancer in Caïro

I bought this dvd second hand from a fellow bhuzzer.Keti Sharif is well know in the BD community for her A to Z bellydance series, in which she has a combination for every letter of the alfabet.

There are two options on this dvd: either follow the complete work-out, or pick one of the three sessions. The lay-out is basic and the dvd doesn't contain extra's like a performance, bio or trailers for her other dvd's. There is no substantial warming up, though she starts slowly and with several stretches. The first part is belly dance based and uses several of her A-Z combinations. I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner, because the instruction is minimal while the combinations are not basic 4 by 4 combo's. Her way of choreographing is interesting and I like her combo's, but if you'r not used to it you'll have to stumble through it the first 3-5 times.

The second part is salsa based and uses salsa steps, square steps and a kick/walk combination. It keeps you moving, but there's a lot of repetition in here. Probably a good thing, because she's also using several BD combo's from the first part.

The third part is calld 'shape' and is based on indi-fusion. It appears to me that it's mostly BD moves, not a lot of typical indan or bollywood moves. This part slows down with stretches, some more A-Z combinations and an impromptu sunsalute.

What I like about this dvd:
-Keti Sharf has a nice voice and gives little instruction, so you're forced to follow along to understand her moves
-her choreo's are fun, easy to remember and easy to incorporate into your dance
-there's a clear distinction between the BD and salsa part
-the production and sound quality is high
-she has her own work-out music with ME rythms and sounds in it and she really dances to the music
-it gets your blood pumping

What I didn't like:
-sometimes a block fades out while they're in the middle of a combination. annoying.
-the third part didn't use Indian fusion moves and didn't get me into shape.
-if you're adding a yoga piece, tell people to have a yogamat ready
-it's very repetitive at times, especially the square step and g-combo
-there is no introduction or disclaimer while this dvd is obvious meant for dancers with experience in oriental/salsa dance

In short:
I would recommend this dvd to dancers who would like to get a taste of Keti's A-z system and want a work-out for inbetween. DOn't expect weight training, it's more like aerobics. I think 39 USD is a lot for what this dvd has to offer. Buy it second hand or go for her a-z combo dvd if you're looking for an instructional dvd. I'm curious about her A-Z program, but it's way to expensive to purchase new. I'm waiting around untill someone sells their copy :)

www.worlddanceaerobics.com
www.ketisharif.com

I've been watching three bellydance dvd's today:' That's Hot!', ' lights, camera, bellydance' and 'shake it up!'.

Most memorable awful performances:
-Kaya and Sadie dressed up in white feather boas including the white feather headdress, doing extremely huge pelvic moves. It'll take a while before this is out of my system
- meleha doing an oriental fantasy number in a catsuit with ski-pant feet and a black and gold lace thong and triangle bra tied on top of it. Too much 1001 night fabtasy, higly artistic floorwork without any depth in emotion. Why the thong?
-kaya doing the 'seduce the sultan act' with a dressed up guy in the background sitting on pillows and smoking a shisha. Loved the sleeves on her crop top. Hated her adult movie faces.
-bellydancer on speed doing cane dance. I like cane dance when done well, but this was just too much of everything.

what I liked:
-some of the duo dances where nice to watch, they match well when it comes to dance style, though I rather watch a dancer with smaller and more controlled moves. I like the hat-dance thing they did, very cabaret.
-ava fleming showed her amazing muscle control, but I think the music was added out of sync.
-Sadie has good technique and nice flwoing arms
-there are some great drum solo's on these dvd's.

Hate to say it, but my armwork is a bit like that of Kaya. ai. Right now it's a bit between Samia Gamal (she could get away with it, I can't) and kaya (I'd like to keep my arms up, but somehow they always go down). Need. more. practice. I'm going to tape some choreo's next teusday, some of which aren't finished yet, because I like to keep things open when performing.

Music:
Adana- turkish folk, upbeat song
Mouna- arabian classic, everything goes style wise (Egyptian would be best, but GP likes a mix of everything)
zay al asal

Sometimes it seems like the weight of the world is pressing on your shoulders all the time. How come that it can be so hard to find the energy for stuff that you love to do?

This is a good week, because I seem to have boundless energy. It might be because it's the week that I'm not taking the pil, I have to start saturday with a new strip. I got up early yesterday to prepare my class, print the bills for the health center, work, went to class and did 40 minutes of pilates afterwards.

I woke up feeling thouroughly worked out. I wish I did this more often! I did Aziza's practice companion this morning for the first time. I love her drills and her shimmy drill is to die for. It made me think about what I want to incorporate in my dayly drills and what I want to achieve. There are two performances on it that I also really enjoyed. She's such a beautiful woman and has a very 'real' feel to it. I like Jillina for her technique, but her stage pressence is obviously highly polished. Aziza shows her audience a part of herself when performing (and when teaching) that really pulls you into the music.

I've watched Awalim Dance company- Yalla! Yalla!

very nice dvd, good quality footage of live performances on a renaissance fair. It's clear to see why they choose Awalim, I think they recently changed their style a little but kept the name. Tribal troupe with very inventive floorpatterns and changes. They do like to shout the arabic words that they know very often, wether it suits the moment or not (like Habibi, yalla, salam aleikum and aiwa!)

Other dvd: Gypsy Caravan technique part 6

I'm not fond of the overal impression of Gypsy Caravan: I like to see dancers that project a bit of passion on stage. Most of the time they look like they're bored when dancing. This dvd is excellent quality evn if it costs you 40 dollars. It includes several movements and combinations from Indian and Spanish dance to spice up your tribal repetoir, and it certainly does spice it up! Paullette Rees-Denise is a goo teacher and explains every move whil another troupe memeber performs the move from different angles. Nice studio, well dressed dancers. One note: does being a tribal dancer mean that you don't need to shave your armpit or wear a bra that provides support? This was slightly distracting at times. Backless choli's are great when your breast are young and perky, but it's distracting when you are well endowed or gravity has a grip on you.

Mile Copeland, the tribal dancer.
As found on Sharon kihara's fanpage:
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/988/f0d/988f0db1-f19c-4b4a-9589-f4c67b3aec7d

I viewed the American Bellydancer documentary twice now, once from the corner of my eyes with ikaiya , the second time with my full attention. Funny bts:
-Jillina imitating the other BDSS when they're on a break in a restaurant
-Rachel brice telling to the camera that she's been a cabaret dancer for 10 years (OMG!)
-Suhaila in a heated discussion, going: 'everytime it's like: you're a bellydancer? nice body, nice tits!'
-the police officer showing her carboot with her uniform on one side and her bellydance gear on the other side, ready to serve the community.