It Ain't Easy Being Broke

[shanmonster]

I found out Carolena Nericcio of Fat Chance Belly Dance will be giving a workshop next year in Toronto. This made me all wriggly with excitement, but when I inquired about the cost, I deflated about as quickly as a balloon making out with a porcupine. For fifteen hours of instruction, I'd be paying something along the lines of $650. Plus tax, of course.

This seems to be about the going rate for all of the intensive workshops offered around here. Who can afford this shit? Aren't dancers supposed to be poor and starving (or maybe that's just me)?

So I'll make do with my DVDs and with training with students of students of the Big Name dancers. Not that I have any problems with learning from those students, but really, it'd be awfully nice to study for more than three hours with someone like Carolena.

Meh, I say. MEH!

And now, before I go be a vampire for the night, here are a couple of links. Enjoy!

Atomix - Full of Love, Full of Wonder: This artist has balls.

Double-Jointed: This is hypermobility. I don't envy him the joint pain he's pretty much guaranteed to suffer a couple of years down the road. Ouchies.

Comments

[firelie.livejournal.com]

God, my bones were aching just watching him. I used to be double jointed when I was little, but not THAT loose. That's just sick.

[lickthefrog.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I feel the same way about the cost. If I had an income I'd be there and I may even try to help you, but alas, that is way too much for me.... correction Way to fuckin' much. I've known about her coming for awhile. You're lucky you weren't in Toronto when it was announced!!! Oh the cat fighting!! I won't go into detail, but it was so bad that many prominat TO dancers no longer go onto Raks Toronto listing.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Why would there be cat-fighting over her coming to Toronto? That doesn't even make sense to me, unless some of the dancers have some sort of personal vendetta against Carolena or something. Weird.

Email me, if you don't want to air it publicly. Heh....

[lickthefrog.livejournal.com]

no, it's nothing agianst Carolena, it was just how things were dealt with her and some Canadian guests and there was some mud slung about how you should and should not pay/treat guests and such.

[mysteryelfx.livejournal.com]

Is that Canadian dollars? That's RIDICULOUS! Week long seminars in NYC are around $500 for 25-30 hours of instruction. That's outrageous. It's not like she invented the moves. Only stylized them for Tribal style.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yes. Canadian dollars, although that's really not terribly different from US dollars, right now. Even if she had invented them, I think that's a lot of money.

[real-bethy.livejournal.com]

Why is it called "Fat Chance Belly Dance"?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

When they started dancing, they'd occasionally get smart-asses saying, "Why don't you come dance for me?" in that sexual, condescending way.

Their answer was "Fat chance."

So that's what they named the troupe....

[real-bethy.livejournal.com]

That's immensely clever...I like it!!! I hope you have fun in Toronto today with your dancing and Lush party!:)

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

I always thought those sorts of seminars were for
bored soccer moms who got their husbands to pay
for them. Or am I wrong?

I don't envy him the joint pain he's pretty much guaranteed to suffer

I think it's more likely his entire body will just
melt into a big pile of goo. That masque really adds
to the freaky rutterkin feel of the whole thing.
Blegh.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Maybe that is who goes to those seminars. If so, it's such a waste. They shouldn't be there to relieve boredom, but to provide additional dance education to serious dancers and students.

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

I'm with you; I'm already wincing at the price of the conference, even if Carolena WERE still in it, which she's not. I certainly can't afford both; unless I find a good job really soon I won't be able to afford *either*. Blargh.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I can't afford the conference, either.

There aren't such things as bursaries/scholarships for workshops around here, are there? In the Maritimes, there is a Middle Eastern dance association which provides scholarships to each of its sponsored workshops. I never won one, but at least the opportunity was there.

[zoe-serious.livejournal.com]

Carolena will not be at the conference... but Audra is brining her in September and has already signed the contract and Carloena will be bringing Tribal Pura which I believe is a two day workshop and evening gala and usually one or two of the FCBD girls come with her!

so never fear! you can have some FCBD in a smaller environment where it's all her.

and now that I've typed this I'm hoping that $630 wasn't the price quoted by Audra, but I can't believe it would be since Suhalia, Sharon and Ansuya were all much less then that.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

That's what she told me as a rough estimate.

[zoe-serious.livejournal.com]

ahhh it's changed. For a bit Carolena was NOT going to do the General Skills and was quite adament about not doing it (in the summer I emailed Carolena directly asking her to do the General skills not just Pura for some of the reasons Audra outlined and Carolena had said no GSI is only for SF). So, obviously since then Audra has convinced her otherwise, or Carlena changed her mind.

It is very pricey though, but with a limit to 20 students that kicks ass. I know that the GSI is sold out in SF until June and it would be sold out further then that but Carolena hasn't scheduled more. Someone asked on tribe.net why GSI hasn't been advertisted on the FCBD site and Carolena stated that it's because it's already sold out months in advance from direct students in current classes requesting to be in the GSI.

Freak body and a mask

[doyce.livejournal.com]

The mask was creepier than the double jointedness.

Re: Freak body and a mask

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

It certainly does add a certain grotesque, heeby-jeeby quality, yes.

[water-of-fire.livejournal.com]

Oh God. I'm not going to tell you what I pay for an hour of instruction with one of Carolena's students (and Carolena checks me in for class). Is there a hell of a lot of bitchy in-fighting in the bellydancing world? And wtf? I know none of this.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Bitchy in-fighting happens in every world, including the belly dance one. It is soooo tedious.