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I'm soooo tired, and I don't know why! This morning's metals class went well. I made yet another pair of earrings, this time with abalone shell and reticulated silver, and I got most of a garnet necklace made. I love it when my class time is productive. Then, I rushed home for lunch and a change of clothes. After all, I was to dance at 1:00.
I showed up in coin bra, silver pants, black and silver skirt, and black leather tribal belt with my music in hand and a surly![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
f00dave in tow. When I got there, another local Oriental dancer--Stacy--was about to perform. She has fabulous costumes. I covet them immensely! Today's shiny blue number was a sparkly Egyptian bedlah set, although I've seen her wear mostly Turkish bedlah in the past. Some day, I'll get me one of those Turkish sparklies....
I didn't get to watch her too much, because I was feverishly getting my coat off and Hermes dance sandals on, all while fielding questions from curious onlookers and show organizers. I got to watch the tail end of Stacy's performance. Her dance is technically superb. Her isolations are crisp, and the layering is very well done. But somehow, she rarely looks like she's enjoying herself. Every now and then, the crowd may give a sudden burst of applause, and that's when her guard slips and a terrific smile suffuses her face. But then it's gone again, and she becomes stony-faced--almost angry--although her music is very upbeat. Maybe she just needs more cheers....
For whatever reason, I was up on stage immediately after her. I prefer it when the organizers space out similar acts a bit more, but I gave it a go. My zilling was off today. I caught myself wincing during a particulary rhythm-impaird moment. Yikes. I'm not sure what was up with that, but underwhelming percussion aside, the dance went pretty smoothly.
The audience was pretty strange, though. The Farmers' Market was absolutely swarming with people, but few seemed particularly interested in the entertainment. Instead, they seemed to be milling about aimlessly, with neutral visages. Those that were watching were equally bland. They sat politely, no expression touching their faces, then clapped politely when the dancing was through. Nonetheless, there were a few people who were loving every minute of it, so I directed my dancing toward them. For example, one Middle Eastern woman with a toddler wore a grin so big it must have hurt her face.
Afterwards, I went home, completely sapped of energy. At 6:30, it was time to dance again. I'm not sure where everyone went this week, but I had less than half of my usual contingent in class. Maybe they were tired, too. Last night's class, however, was even bigger than ever. Go figure.
I don't know where I got the energy to finish tonight's class, but I did it. We covered snake arms, figure 8s of hips, hip raises, hip drops, shoulder ripples, shoulder shimmies, and knee and thigh shimmies. They also did many of these movements while travelling. I can't get over how fast my students are progressing with their snake arms. They've only been doing it two weeks, and they look like pros. And the hip isolations are going much more smoothly than in the past, too.
One of my students, while doing arm ripples tonight, wore a very dour expression. I came up to her and said, "Smile!" She grinned for a moment, then went back to her severe expression.
"Belly dance is a mysterious dance," she said, "Not a happy one."
Hmm....
I really wonder where my students get their black-and-white ideas about dance. A couple of years ago, I had another student who refused to dance to sorrowful music, because "belly dance is always a happy dance."
And here I thought dance was just a form of expression, like writing, where you could make it fit whatever theme you liked.
I guess I'm wrong.
I showed up in coin bra, silver pants, black and silver skirt, and black leather tribal belt with my music in hand and a surly
f00dave in tow. When I got there, another local Oriental dancer--Stacy--was about to perform. She has fabulous costumes. I covet them immensely! Today's shiny blue number was a sparkly Egyptian bedlah set, although I've seen her wear mostly Turkish bedlah in the past. Some day, I'll get me one of those Turkish sparklies....I didn't get to watch her too much, because I was feverishly getting my coat off and Hermes dance sandals on, all while fielding questions from curious onlookers and show organizers. I got to watch the tail end of Stacy's performance. Her dance is technically superb. Her isolations are crisp, and the layering is very well done. But somehow, she rarely looks like she's enjoying herself. Every now and then, the crowd may give a sudden burst of applause, and that's when her guard slips and a terrific smile suffuses her face. But then it's gone again, and she becomes stony-faced--almost angry--although her music is very upbeat. Maybe she just needs more cheers....
For whatever reason, I was up on stage immediately after her. I prefer it when the organizers space out similar acts a bit more, but I gave it a go. My zilling was off today. I caught myself wincing during a particulary rhythm-impaird moment. Yikes. I'm not sure what was up with that, but underwhelming percussion aside, the dance went pretty smoothly.
The audience was pretty strange, though. The Farmers' Market was absolutely swarming with people, but few seemed particularly interested in the entertainment. Instead, they seemed to be milling about aimlessly, with neutral visages. Those that were watching were equally bland. They sat politely, no expression touching their faces, then clapped politely when the dancing was through. Nonetheless, there were a few people who were loving every minute of it, so I directed my dancing toward them. For example, one Middle Eastern woman with a toddler wore a grin so big it must have hurt her face.
Afterwards, I went home, completely sapped of energy. At 6:30, it was time to dance again. I'm not sure where everyone went this week, but I had less than half of my usual contingent in class. Maybe they were tired, too. Last night's class, however, was even bigger than ever. Go figure.
I don't know where I got the energy to finish tonight's class, but I did it. We covered snake arms, figure 8s of hips, hip raises, hip drops, shoulder ripples, shoulder shimmies, and knee and thigh shimmies. They also did many of these movements while travelling. I can't get over how fast my students are progressing with their snake arms. They've only been doing it two weeks, and they look like pros. And the hip isolations are going much more smoothly than in the past, too.
One of my students, while doing arm ripples tonight, wore a very dour expression. I came up to her and said, "Smile!" She grinned for a moment, then went back to her severe expression.
"Belly dance is a mysterious dance," she said, "Not a happy one."
Hmm....
I really wonder where my students get their black-and-white ideas about dance. A couple of years ago, I had another student who refused to dance to sorrowful music, because "belly dance is always a happy dance."
And here I thought dance was just a form of expression, like writing, where you could make it fit whatever theme you liked.
I guess I'm wrong.
