Middle Eastern dance workshops are not easy, mind you, but there is a sense of familiarity with them. I know how to shimmy, hip drop, and so on. I’ve been to enough that I know how my body handles them. Ballet workshops were completely foreign to me. However, I figure why not try one out? [...]

I spent the past few days perusing various message boards on ballet and found some interesting ideas on practice. Some beginning adult ballet dancers were advised not to practice by more veteran dancers/teachers. Why? The more experienced people felt that practicing can instill bad habits or poor technique ingrained in muscle memory; going to class [...]

I went to see Black Swan yesterday. Although it is a ballet movie, I thought a lot of it was applicable to art in general and life; I recommend that you see it, unless you cannot stomach some very vivid depiction of blood and violence (I had to turn my head a few times). The [...]

MassRaqs was an awesome event. My commitment to MassRaqs took more time than I had anticipated, but it was genuinely rewarding to see how much people enjoyed the weekend. I still feel good about whatever part I played in bringing something like this to New England. Friday night was a history review. It turns out [...]

My professional and dance life have been quite hectic lately. My professional life- well, soon I’ll reveal some news that has been good (it changes my plans for next semester), but it has been a little stressful. The waiting game. I have also been busy with getting things squared away from midterms. The midterm grades [...]

Bringing back weekly (or semi-weekly) reviews. During one of my bouts with cold/flu, I watched Combination Nation Vol 1: Belly Dance Instruction with America’s Hottest Performers. What is it? A DVD of combinations from dancers that are on the By Dancers, For Dancers series that Michelle Joyce puts out through Cheeky Girl Productions. The series [...]

Carrara Nour decided yesterday that we (or at least she)  begins her 90-day practice challenge. She started it off with a doozy- 4 hour practice. Not to be expected to be completed at once. I decided to see if I could fit in two 2-hour practices today. First practice, consisting of drills and zills, is [...]

I returned to Najmat’s dance class tonight. First time back in about 2 years. Some things never change, like a few of the same students are still there. Returning is strange, because there were definitely familiar faces but also new ones. It’s like a weird memory. The class was enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised that [...]

I spent yesterday sick. Coincidentally, right as I began administering the exam for my students, my nose began dripping like crazy. I came home yesterday and slept like crazy. Dance class (I was going to try drop in ballet tonight) is not in my best interest right now. However, I do plan on starting back [...]

Needing to fill my need of veil work, I picked up Fabulous Four Yard Veils with Shoshanna – Belly Dance. Shoshanna is of Arcata, CA; she is involved heavily with L.Rose Designs, since her mother is in charge of that. When I saw her last year for the Aida Nour show, she was very captivating. [...]