Well, here I am, sick again. I had to skip class last night and tonight. I'm frustrated, especially since I've had to miss a lot of Fonda's classes this year, but I'd rather stay home than be "that person" who spreads sickness to the rest of the class.
I just hope that I'm better by the weekend, so I can go to Jolie's community class to make up for last night, and go to troupe practice on Sunday!
Showing posts with label cutting class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cutting class. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
I am a wuss
Day 347 of practice.
It was 45 degrees and pouring rain, so I wussed out and skipped class tonight. A big part of me regrets it because I love Jolie and her classes, but that studio is SO cold, and I can't risk getting sick from it. Not when I have two performances this weekend. My husband is sick and I am trying really hard not to catch what he has.
I put my time at home to good use -- I've gotten a lot of work done on my new bra, although I am going to have to stitch like a fiend to have it done in time for this weekend. I also ran my solo twice and experimented with doing some things differently. I realized that the part I was coming in at was almost a minute into the song, which is too much for a 4 minute song so I will come in earlier. Still forgetting to emote! It's such a new thing for me, and I am worried that my attempts to convey the sense of menace in the song will just come across as me being stone-faced or something. Oh well. No one is paying me for this so they can't complain if they don't like it ;)
I also did some shimmies while I was doing the dishes, partially to practice but mostly to stay warm. I hate winter!!!
It was 45 degrees and pouring rain, so I wussed out and skipped class tonight. A big part of me regrets it because I love Jolie and her classes, but that studio is SO cold, and I can't risk getting sick from it. Not when I have two performances this weekend. My husband is sick and I am trying really hard not to catch what he has.
I put my time at home to good use -- I've gotten a lot of work done on my new bra, although I am going to have to stitch like a fiend to have it done in time for this weekend. I also ran my solo twice and experimented with doing some things differently. I realized that the part I was coming in at was almost a minute into the song, which is too much for a 4 minute song so I will come in earlier. Still forgetting to emote! It's such a new thing for me, and I am worried that my attempts to convey the sense of menace in the song will just come across as me being stone-faced or something. Oh well. No one is paying me for this so they can't complain if they don't like it ;)
I also did some shimmies while I was doing the dishes, partially to practice but mostly to stay warm. I hate winter!!!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
I am a lump
Day 333 of practice.
Today I gave into the urge to be a lump. I had a more lousy day and felt so bad mentally that I made myself feel bad physically, too. Even before today turned out to be worse than yesterday, I was feeling bad about my current state as a dancer. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like I really have not improved noticeably at anything at all lately. I don't think I'm practicing often enough or hard enough, and I've reached the point where I'm not getting better just from being in class.
Jolie's classes have been both good and bad for me -- I love the material and I'm learning a lot of new stuff, but I'm also a perfectionist so it frustrates me when I can't do something. I'm feeling pretty down on myself because I'm not doing as well in her classes as I would like. For that matter, I also haven't been feeling too awesome in my various ITS classes. Lot of issues with not feeling graceful, being off the beat, etc etc.
I want to be awesome and amazing and right now I feel strongly mediocre. And hooray, I asked for the opportunity to perform a solo in just over 2 weeks. I'd better find some self esteem fast.
Oh, and today's practice? Working on said solo. It's the one that Jolie helped me get started on during our private lesson and I feel like I am not capable of achieving the awesome ideas we had for it (both when working together, and then the separate ideas I came up with after another listen), and like I am basically doing the same stupid moves over and over again with no real emotional investment. On top of that I drilled layers over tic-toc shimmies, because that should be simple but I suck at it. And I stretched, because stretching is good.
Today I gave into the urge to be a lump. I had a more lousy day and felt so bad mentally that I made myself feel bad physically, too. Even before today turned out to be worse than yesterday, I was feeling bad about my current state as a dancer. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like I really have not improved noticeably at anything at all lately. I don't think I'm practicing often enough or hard enough, and I've reached the point where I'm not getting better just from being in class.
Jolie's classes have been both good and bad for me -- I love the material and I'm learning a lot of new stuff, but I'm also a perfectionist so it frustrates me when I can't do something. I'm feeling pretty down on myself because I'm not doing as well in her classes as I would like. For that matter, I also haven't been feeling too awesome in my various ITS classes. Lot of issues with not feeling graceful, being off the beat, etc etc.
I want to be awesome and amazing and right now I feel strongly mediocre. And hooray, I asked for the opportunity to perform a solo in just over 2 weeks. I'd better find some self esteem fast.
Oh, and today's practice? Working on said solo. It's the one that Jolie helped me get started on during our private lesson and I feel like I am not capable of achieving the awesome ideas we had for it (both when working together, and then the separate ideas I came up with after another listen), and like I am basically doing the same stupid moves over and over again with no real emotional investment. On top of that I drilled layers over tic-toc shimmies, because that should be simple but I suck at it. And I stretched, because stretching is good.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
New stuff
Day 319 of practice.
Well, I didn't make it to class tonight. It was a pretty crazy messed-up day, with my husband doing homework ALL DAY (he's still doing it now, at 12:10am), and my brother and I taking a trip to Marana in his big ol' truck to get my mirror from my friend Helen. I have a mirror! For practicing! In my house! I feel like a real dancer now.
My brother also brought me a pair of glow fans. There are definite perks to being related to one of the fabricators at Fire Mecca! I am super excited about my bright green LED fans and the possibility of doing fire fan tricks at indoor venues. Now I just need to learn how to use fire fans.
Practice was a lot of stretching and some isolations. I feel like now that my energy is coming back, I have some serious fun practice ahead of me. I want to start working on new solos! And drill the heck out of my zills and my Anaya moves, and play with the things Jolie has been teaching me.
Well, I didn't make it to class tonight. It was a pretty crazy messed-up day, with my husband doing homework ALL DAY (he's still doing it now, at 12:10am), and my brother and I taking a trip to Marana in his big ol' truck to get my mirror from my friend Helen. I have a mirror! For practicing! In my house! I feel like a real dancer now.
My brother also brought me a pair of glow fans. There are definite perks to being related to one of the fabricators at Fire Mecca! I am super excited about my bright green LED fans and the possibility of doing fire fan tricks at indoor venues. Now I just need to learn how to use fire fans.
Practice was a lot of stretching and some isolations. I feel like now that my energy is coming back, I have some serious fun practice ahead of me. I want to start working on new solos! And drill the heck out of my zills and my Anaya moves, and play with the things Jolie has been teaching me.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Missing more classes
Days 313 and 314 of practice.
What a frustrating week it is shaping up to be. Had to skip class yesterday because I was still not feeling great and we had some errands to run in order to get our furnace up and running. Then today, Amanda was running late due to practice, so we would have already been late to class... Then there was an accident along the route from my house to the freeway, so we had to detour through town, where we hit tons of traffic, only to find that the freeway itself was completely backed up. By the time we made it to Tempe the first class of the night would have been over, and since we're not doing the last class, we were looking at a 4 hour round trip for only one hour-long class. The decision was quickly made to return to my house for practice.
On the bright side, we got some very good practice, going over several advanced moves, doing some zills, working on some slow. So the night wasn't a total wash, and now we're not out until late like we would have been. But still, it's frustrating to have to miss so many classes this month!
What a frustrating week it is shaping up to be. Had to skip class yesterday because I was still not feeling great and we had some errands to run in order to get our furnace up and running. Then today, Amanda was running late due to practice, so we would have already been late to class... Then there was an accident along the route from my house to the freeway, so we had to detour through town, where we hit tons of traffic, only to find that the freeway itself was completely backed up. By the time we made it to Tempe the first class of the night would have been over, and since we're not doing the last class, we were looking at a 4 hour round trip for only one hour-long class. The decision was quickly made to return to my house for practice.
On the bright side, we got some very good practice, going over several advanced moves, doing some zills, working on some slow. So the night wasn't a total wash, and now we're not out until late like we would have been. But still, it's frustrating to have to miss so many classes this month!
Monday, November 7, 2011
One more day off
Day 311 of practice.
I had originally planned to go to class today, but I'm still coughing and rundown, and it is really COLD outside, so I decided to stay home and huddle under a blanket with a giant mug of rum-spiked hot cranberry cider. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer so I should be able to go to class.
Did some gentle practice at home, working on my mayas, rib taxims, and Turkish Rom finger snapping. As it turns out, that last one scares one of my dogs away. She's scared of the silliest things.
I had originally planned to go to class today, but I'm still coughing and rundown, and it is really COLD outside, so I decided to stay home and huddle under a blanket with a giant mug of rum-spiked hot cranberry cider. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer so I should be able to go to class.
Did some gentle practice at home, working on my mayas, rib taxims, and Turkish Rom finger snapping. As it turns out, that last one scares one of my dogs away. She's scared of the silliest things.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Shimmies and mayas and blog posts
Day 208 of practice.
I skipped class tonight, because I was feeling rundown and dehydrated and really not up to an hour and a half at the hot, hot Dance Loft. Instead I stayed home and practiced shimmies and mayas. Another unexciting practice, but at least I'm working on things that need work. It's hard to get excited about practice when you're rundown and it's hot, after all.
However, I can get excited about the fact that my friend Aquariann asked me to write a guest post over at her blog, in honor of the fact that National Dance Day is this weekend. Click here to read it!
I skipped class tonight, because I was feeling rundown and dehydrated and really not up to an hour and a half at the hot, hot Dance Loft. Instead I stayed home and practiced shimmies and mayas. Another unexciting practice, but at least I'm working on things that need work. It's hard to get excited about practice when you're rundown and it's hot, after all.
However, I can get excited about the fact that my friend Aquariann asked me to write a guest post over at her blog, in honor of the fact that National Dance Day is this weekend. Click here to read it!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Costume Closet
If there's one thing this blog needs more of, it's pictures. Here's one of my costume closet! There are a few things in there that belong to my husband, but most of it is mine. Some of it will hopefully go away when we have a costume swap meet here in Tucson (maybe this month?). I made some unwise costume purchases when I was a young dancer, and now I have a lot of things I'll never wear, taking up valuable space that could be occupied by dance pants.
I had to skip class due to timing issues and continued malaise (although I am better today than yesterday), so instead I practiced some skirt moves and more hand and arm drills. I am determined to have beautiful, fluid, boneless-looking arms some day! Also, as part of skirt practice I did lots of spins with spotting and I seem to be getting better with that. Oh, and as part of my warm up I did my layered shimmy homework. It was definitely a multi-faceted practice.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
No Contest
Day 82 of practice.
I will not be dancing in the contest at the Renaissance Faire. The powers that be (ie, whoever is in charge of the Facebook account) decided to not only not address our concerns, but to delete our posts. They also informed all of the people who wanted their kids to get a chance to compete that it was an 18+ contest only. Since the Faire has had other contests for kids, it seems pretty clear that they're trying to send a message that belly dance is Adult Entertainment, and that's not cool.
Normally I'm not really a kid person, but in this case I feel bad for the little girls who are being denied the chance to get up and shake their little coin scarves and feel like a jingly princess, or show off what they've been learning in their youth belly dance classes. Ren Faire is supposed to be a family-friendly event (you know, despite all the beer, and the wenches with the overflowing bodices, and the numerous shows with the "Loose Canon" designation warning of adult content), so you'd think they'd be all about giving belly dance the family-friendly image that most BD communities are striving for.
Anyway, enough about that. Practice! I skipped The Dance Loft tonight (so much for my extra zill training!) because my husband had a really bad day at work, so I felt like I should enjoy a nice relaxed dinner and evening with him, rather than scarfing down my meal and rushing off to class and coming home sweaty. So instead I had a nice chunk of practice at home, and I got some work done on my solo and played my zills. The zills are definitely better -- I didn't feel rushed at all, and I only screwed up during the transitional parts of a combo with lots of quick arm switching. And the breakthrough I had yesterday regarding my solo seems to be sticking. I won't be ready to perform it tomorrow, but things are looking good for next week!
I will not be dancing in the contest at the Renaissance Faire. The powers that be (ie, whoever is in charge of the Facebook account) decided to not only not address our concerns, but to delete our posts. They also informed all of the people who wanted their kids to get a chance to compete that it was an 18+ contest only. Since the Faire has had other contests for kids, it seems pretty clear that they're trying to send a message that belly dance is Adult Entertainment, and that's not cool.
Normally I'm not really a kid person, but in this case I feel bad for the little girls who are being denied the chance to get up and shake their little coin scarves and feel like a jingly princess, or show off what they've been learning in their youth belly dance classes. Ren Faire is supposed to be a family-friendly event (you know, despite all the beer, and the wenches with the overflowing bodices, and the numerous shows with the "Loose Canon" designation warning of adult content), so you'd think they'd be all about giving belly dance the family-friendly image that most BD communities are striving for.
Anyway, enough about that. Practice! I skipped The Dance Loft tonight (so much for my extra zill training!) because my husband had a really bad day at work, so I felt like I should enjoy a nice relaxed dinner and evening with him, rather than scarfing down my meal and rushing off to class and coming home sweaty. So instead I had a nice chunk of practice at home, and I got some work done on my solo and played my zills. The zills are definitely better -- I didn't feel rushed at all, and I only screwed up during the transitional parts of a combo with lots of quick arm switching. And the breakthrough I had yesterday regarding my solo seems to be sticking. I won't be ready to perform it tomorrow, but things are looking good for next week!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bleh
Day 54 of practice.
To be perfectly honest, I don't feel like dancing today. I'm not in a good mood, I'm not feeling particularly optimistic about my dance future (or other elements of my future either, for that matter), and this goal to dance for 30 minutes every day feels like a silly, superfluous thing, especially when I've been fudging it so much lately. I couldn't even muster up the enthusiasm to actually dance, even with quiet music, but I was tired of doing belly rolls, so I'm dancing in my chair to some very quiet Beats Antique. I'm only doing it because my husband practically forced me to. I'm sure later, I'll thank him for not letting me throw my goal away, but right now I'd rather be in my warm bed.
And why do I need practice at home? Because once again, life kept me from being able to go to the Dance Loft. You'd think that going to classes at a studio 5 minutes away would be easier than driving an hour and a half to Tempe, but no. Thursday has already been consecrated as Dance Class Day, observed constantly unless I am sick, or working gem show, or out of town, or class has been canceled. But Wednesday is a newcomer to the schedule, still prone to being thrown off course. But no more. I think I'll get a stack of frozen entrees to keep in the freezer, and if it looks like dinner plans will interfere with my ability to get to class, I'll just nuke something and then be on my merry way.
If I am going to keep doing this thing, I need to be firmer about saying "No, I need to dance." Also, instead of wasting time waiting for other people to be ready to proceed with plans, I should dance while I wait.
(In short, other people ruin my plans because I let them. Also, I want to go to bed instead of doing isolations while I type)
To be perfectly honest, I don't feel like dancing today. I'm not in a good mood, I'm not feeling particularly optimistic about my dance future (or other elements of my future either, for that matter), and this goal to dance for 30 minutes every day feels like a silly, superfluous thing, especially when I've been fudging it so much lately. I couldn't even muster up the enthusiasm to actually dance, even with quiet music, but I was tired of doing belly rolls, so I'm dancing in my chair to some very quiet Beats Antique. I'm only doing it because my husband practically forced me to. I'm sure later, I'll thank him for not letting me throw my goal away, but right now I'd rather be in my warm bed.
And why do I need practice at home? Because once again, life kept me from being able to go to the Dance Loft. You'd think that going to classes at a studio 5 minutes away would be easier than driving an hour and a half to Tempe, but no. Thursday has already been consecrated as Dance Class Day, observed constantly unless I am sick, or working gem show, or out of town, or class has been canceled. But Wednesday is a newcomer to the schedule, still prone to being thrown off course. But no more. I think I'll get a stack of frozen entrees to keep in the freezer, and if it looks like dinner plans will interfere with my ability to get to class, I'll just nuke something and then be on my merry way.
If I am going to keep doing this thing, I need to be firmer about saying "No, I need to dance." Also, instead of wasting time waiting for other people to be ready to proceed with plans, I should dance while I wait.
(In short, other people ruin my plans because I let them. Also, I want to go to bed instead of doing isolations while I type)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
No class again
Day 47 of practice.
I was supposed to go to class at the Dance Loft tonight, but dinner ran too late and then I was too full to dance. I usually do dinner early on class nights for just these reasons, but it was out of my control today. I might miss next week as well, due to my house guest... but March is looking good for uninterrupted dance class bliss.
Practice tonight was more of the usual. No fun or amazing breakthroughs, and I continue to frustrate myself with the Airplane combo. No combo should be that long! And it somehow makes me forget to do hip drops. I'll just have to keep at it until I finally get it.
I was supposed to go to class at the Dance Loft tonight, but dinner ran too late and then I was too full to dance. I usually do dinner early on class nights for just these reasons, but it was out of my control today. I might miss next week as well, due to my house guest... but March is looking good for uninterrupted dance class bliss.
Practice tonight was more of the usual. No fun or amazing breakthroughs, and I continue to frustrate myself with the Airplane combo. No combo should be that long! And it somehow makes me forget to do hip drops. I'll just have to keep at it until I finally get it.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
I skipped class!
Day 40 of practice.
I skipped class at The Dance Loft tonight. My usual teacher Fonda was out, and was going to have a substitute. The substitute is a lady named Brandye, another friend of mine, who I've seen dance and think highly of. But then Brandye got sick and called in a substitute substitute, someone who I'm pretty sure I don't know, and my natural shyness kicked in. Shyness and laziness combined, I suppose.
Instead, I watched some of Serpentine, Rachel Brice's new DVD. I want to start doing some of the drills, but tonight the gaming group is meeting at our house, and I didn't want to be messing around with new drills, and thus making a fool of myself, while people might be tromping through my living room. Friday seems like a good day to dive into them!
Of course I practiced too! In addition to my breakfast shimmies and undulations, I did some Anaya Tribal fast and slow, some veil practice, and some solo practice. For my solo, I let me hair down and tried some playful hair-tosses and other hair play. Lots of fun! Some day I'll feel comfortable enough with it to actually throw it into a performance -- just not when the weather is this dry. Can you say "static"?
I skipped class at The Dance Loft tonight. My usual teacher Fonda was out, and was going to have a substitute. The substitute is a lady named Brandye, another friend of mine, who I've seen dance and think highly of. But then Brandye got sick and called in a substitute substitute, someone who I'm pretty sure I don't know, and my natural shyness kicked in. Shyness and laziness combined, I suppose.
Instead, I watched some of Serpentine, Rachel Brice's new DVD. I want to start doing some of the drills, but tonight the gaming group is meeting at our house, and I didn't want to be messing around with new drills, and thus making a fool of myself, while people might be tromping through my living room. Friday seems like a good day to dive into them!
Of course I practiced too! In addition to my breakfast shimmies and undulations, I did some Anaya Tribal fast and slow, some veil practice, and some solo practice. For my solo, I let me hair down and tried some playful hair-tosses and other hair play. Lots of fun! Some day I'll feel comfortable enough with it to actually throw it into a performance -- just not when the weather is this dry. Can you say "static"?
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