I’m taking a class with Shadia of Boston again. She is going through Arabic-style finger cymbals, which is the perfect time for me to try to get better at the one-hole sagat. Finger cymbal playing has been an interesting experience for me, because I play left hand dominant (most people play right hand dominant) and [...]

I recently decided that I will start filming my dance practice once a week. While I enjoy the improv challenge forcing me to practice, I think the performance factor really is what pushes me. At this point, for many reasons, regular performance is not very possible so filming myself for personal review I think will [...]

Alia Thabit created a 90 Day “Dance Party” with the goal being you do improv 20 minutes a day for 90 days. It’s a terrific idea and good motivator to practice. Because I’ll be without regular classes this fall, I look forward to taking part in this. I feel like I’ve made considerable progress with [...]

A dear friend gave me a beautiful Akai Silk veil that measures about 4 yards. For someone who is 4’10, the veil length is a challenge. Three yard veils are no problem, but the extra yard is a bit different to work with. Often times, the ends of the veil are dragging unless I’m moving [...]

Despite finals having end for me about 2 weeks ago, life hasn’t stopped. We’re still in midst of hiring process that will hopefully be over soon. I haven’t had quite as much time for research-related things as a result. My goals are to complete my comprehensive exams in the course of the next month and [...]

Recently I began to incorporate 5-10 min. of practice on various dance things in my day. Ideally, I’d give myself an hour but well, time is a precious commodity. I figure the short practice can easily turn into a long practice and if it doesn’t, I don’t feel discouraged. So yesterday was veil, today is [...]

While I started off this vacation with a lot of ambition, I eventually scaled back to something more reasonable. More reasonable being: Get back into doing ballet regularly Start attending my Middle Eastern dance class with Najmat Clean and reorganize apartment Fix padding in shamadan Organize computers Complete dissertation proposal’s intro and lit review sections [...]

My main goal this summer that is not academic is to re-start Bharatanatyam. I’ve been hesitant to announce that I have been on hiatus for several months. My former class, for many reasons, was not working out, and I’ve decided to move on to a different school and class. It was a difficult decision, because [...]

Today I met with my surrogate advisor (a person who works in the engineering department with lots of physics ties) again to discuss dissertation stuff. Basically, coming up with a topic that I can complete within four years that is strong research. My actual advisor is very intelligent and helpful, but what I want to [...]

Since summer 2010, I’ve been sporadically dancing in ballet slippers. Although barefoot is my favorite, I like them sometimes, for when I don’t want my feet to get dirty or when it’s cold or just when we’re doing a bunch of turns. Once broken in, they are remarkably comfortable and I love how my particular [...]