Fire & Gold Performances

Lately I've been posting a lot about my solo performances, so I wanted to take a moment and let you know that of course I'm still dancing with these beautiful ladies! You have at least two upcoming opportunities to watch us perform:

First, this Thursday is Open Stage at Sky Bar. Not only is this an awesome event, but we will be debuting our latest choreography which has been in the works for quite some time.

Second is August 31st, when we will be dancing at Plaza de Anaya for the gala show as part of the Fall Intensive. This will be a big F&G/SFOF collaboration number, and there will be a lot of other great dancers performing, including the workshop instructors, WildCard.

If that seems like not a lot of performances, well, August is usually a pretty dead month in AZ! It's unbearably hot still, but everybody is getting back to school, so there's just not a lot of energy to go around for dancing. I think things are going to pick up significantly in the Fall! Remember to keep an eye on the Upcoming Performances sidebar on this blog!

I bought nail polish on Etsy!

Somehow, although I love nail polish and I love shopping on Etsy, I hadn't yet combined those two things. I guess it was because there was so much nail polish that I could buy in the store, without paying shipping, so I went for instant gratification. I bookmarked a few shops but hadn't gotten around to ordering any yet... until Literary Lacquers released their Anne of Green Gables line, and I saw that it included a yummy emerald green holographic glitter, which was exactly what I needed in my life.

I really love the concept behind Literary Lacquers, which is nail polish inspired by favorite books. Oddly enough, I've never actually read any of the books that inspire her collections, but I'm sure eventually she'll have to have a Lord of the Rings or American Gods collection, right?

I bought Green Gables and I took the time last night to give myself a really good manicure. I buffed my nails, did a base coat, let it dry between every coat, and finished it with a top coat. The result is a really smooth, really shiny and sparkly nail.

So far I'm really impressed with the quality. The color went on smoothly and so far has held up to numerous hand-washings and chores and even bathing all of my makeup brushes and my manicure still looks pristine. The color is a little sheer, it took three coats for me to get a mostly-opaque application, but it looked good at two coats too, just not as intense as I wanted.

But is it good for bellydancers? Oh yes. It would be perfect to match a sparkly cab costume made with holographic fabric or adorned with holographic sequins (check her shop for other shades of holographic glitter if you're not a green girl like me). For those of us who are more tribal-inclined, it obviously won't go with darker costumes or a more traditional ATS-inspired costume, but it would be great with a bright green costume and especially fun if you're performing at a faerie festival or other fantasy event. I just held it up against my green Flip'N Tribal belt and it looks great with the green-dyed lace.

My apologies for the poorly-lit picture, by the way. I was going to go take a nice one out in the sunshine so you could fully appreciate the holographic glitter effect, but then a monsoon blew in. Such is life in Tucson!

Wait, that's not my music!

 

I mentioned briefly on Monday that there were some sound system problems at Saturday's show. This glitch led to a couple of dancers swapping songs, and another dancer having to provide her back-up copy. It left me thinking about what a dancer should do when she steps on stage and the wrong music starts.

1. Keep calm! No matter what sort of music problem you have (wrong music, sound system goes out mid-performance, CD starts skipping), put on your professional face and deal with it in the best way possible.

2. You can dance to whatever is playing, but there can be a couple of pitfalls in this. Obviously, if you're now performing to someone else's music, that means she then has to decide whether to dance to your music (which she might not like), or whether she wants to dance to her song and risk the audience being bored. Also, you might find yourself dancing to something that totally doesn't work with your costume, your prop, or your dance style.

3. Be flexible! In a perfect world, when there's a music problem you'll have a backup and everything will be fine. But maybe you forgot your backup, or the sound system doesn't want to play it. When that happens, be willing to dance to something else. This is why it's good to build strong improv skills!

4. That said, it's OK to insist on dancing to your song if it's at all possible. Whether you do improv or choreography, chances are that in the weeks leading up to the show you've been practicing this piece very hard. You've chosen your costume to match the mood of the music. You did your hair and makeup to fit the personality you want to express. Maybe you're using a prop and there's moments in the music where you can show off the really cool new tricks you've been working on. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do what you had planned to do, and you shouldn't feel bad about saying "No thank you, I don't want to dance to this other song, please try to play my back-up copy."

And now, a few ways to avoid musical pitfalls:

• Did I mention that you should always have a backup? Maybe two? I try to remember to bring my iPod to every gig, and sometimes I'll also have an extra CD copy. Or two.
• Remember to check your music before you leave for the gig. Double-check that the CD burned properly. Edited to add: A clever reader pointed out that you should not just test it in your computer, but in the least-reliable CD player you have access to, because if it will play in that, it will play at the show.
• Always pay attention to the music requirements for a gig. I know we'd all prefer to just be able to send in an mp3 and be done with it, but some gigs want the music on CD, and may even want a CD with that song and that song only on it.
• When sending digital music, make sure that it's in a format they can actually play. You don't want to accidentally send a song that can only be played on your iTunes, for instance.
•  Always. Have. A. Backup. But maybe also have a backup plan. For instance, if someone else is dancing to your song, have a different song you can perform to instead.

A couple of exciting performance announcements!

Thank you Sam for taking this great shot of my performance in Bisbee!

If you've already looked at my Upcoming Performances sidebar since I updated it yesterday than these announcements are not a surprise to you. For that matter, I've also already announced them both on Facebook. But I wanted to make sure to keep shouting them from the rooftops.

First, for my local people you have the chance to come see me perform at Petra Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Lounge here in Tucson. This event will be held on August 10th at 7pm. The headliner is current USA Belly Dance Queen Samantha, but the show will also feature several excellent dancers from the Tucson and Phoenix area. There's no cover charge but if you come please support Petra by having a delicious dinner while you're there!

Second, my very first out-of-state performance! I will be dancing on the festival stage at the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive on September 5th. My time slot is 6:03 but the show could be running late or early so if you really want to see me, I'd say you'd be best off getting your seat at around 5:30.

I'm excited about both of these opportunities and I hope I'll see some of you there. 

Beat The Heat Retreat Was Neat!

The entrance to the school where the retreat was held

I am back from Bisbee! I had a wonderful weekend down there. Aside from all the dancing stuff that I'll get to in a minute, Bisbee itself is a cute town, the weather was perfect, and I had fun exploring, shopping, and eating at local restaurants. While a normal person might buy a t-shirts as a souvenir, or perhaps even spring for some Bisbee turquoise, I came home with tea and a vintage dragon bracelet. But enough about that, let's talk about the retreat itself!

Location: Bisbee is not only cute, but the downtown area is very compact, so everything was within walking distance. We parked on Friday and didn't get in our car again until it was time to leave. Very convenient! The school was just around the corner from Hotel San Ramon where I was staying. It's a pretty neat building, although our "classroom" was kind of more of a hallway and didn't have much by way of mirrors. The show was also held here, in an adorable little theater. There was a huge pile of cushions to make the hard wooden chairs comfy.

Workshops: At only $5 for each 1 hour workshop, this was a really affordable event. I took Dawn's shimmy workshop, where we went over some basic shimmies, learned a quick drum solo just for fun, and did walking shimmy drills. Later, I took Mahin's bellydance anatomy workshop, where I learned some great new-to-me stretches. On Sunday morning, I attended Rajani's face and hands lecture, which was held during the mimosa breakfast. I learned some good tips on emoting, and also which hand gestures might be offensive depending on the culture of your audience.

Shopping: There was a small selection of vendors from across AZ. Just enough to provide a nice selection, but few enough that I didn't break the budget shopping. There were costumes, props, jewelry, accessories, soap, costuming supplies and more. Because the vendors were located in the main lobby, it was really easy to shop during the break between workshops.

Show: A great variety of performers! Things ran pretty much on time despite a major problem with the sound system which lead to difficulties making sure that everyone performed to the right music. A couple of dancers ended up performing improv to each other's music before things got straightened out. Because it was a small event with a casual atmosphere, the performers were allowed to be in the audience when they weren't on stage, so I was able to enjoy the entire show -- a rare treat! I really enjoyed the chance to see some old and new favorite dancers on stage.

Food: Lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday were provided for all attendees (and there was enough food that we could even bring spouses along). I was concerned that lunch might be puny sandwiches or something, but it turned out to be fresh-baked pita, home-made hummus in two flavors, and a mini salad bar. Top it all off with fruit waters and home-made cookies. YUM! Breakfast was a dessert bar and mimosa fixings.

Over all: For a first year event organized by two people in two different towns, this went really smoothly. The whole thing had a really fun, relaxed vibe, like we were all just hanging out but there happened to be workshops, vending and a show going on, too. There's already talk of having it again next year, with a few changes, and I'm looking forward to going back.  

Under the Weather

This picture really makes me giggle.

 

Why are you seeing a picture of a dancing dryad instead of a cosmetics review? Well, this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally and physically, and has ended with me fighting off a minor health issue. So while I have a ton of new products waiting to be reviewed, I am not feeling particularly presentable at the moment.

 

I have a performance Saturday night down in Bisbee, so let's hope that next week's Beauty Blogging for Bellydancers isn't titled "Products to cover up your sick-face and make you look remotely human for the stage."

 

Speaking of Bisbee, check back here on Monday for my review/recap of the Beat the Heat Bellydance Retreat. I'm looking forward to a weekend of dance, fun, friends, and even a little time with my husband. 

Do It Yourself

Purty close-up of one of my first bra projects

 

When I was first thinking of trying bellydance back in the late 90s, I remember that my Mom found a website called "Learn to Dance, Learn to Sew." As far as I can tell, it doesn't exist anymore, but that catchy and accurate title has stuck in my head for all these years. The two really do go hand-in-hand.

 

Of course, you don't have to sew as a dancer. I know plenty of dancers who buy all of their costumes, either off-the-rack or paying a designer to make it for them. But there's a certain satisfaction that comes from making something yourself. The bra above is very distinctly "me", from the brown and green color scheme to the trim that I bought on vacation in NY to the coins given to me by my first dance teacher. The Swarovski sequins on the trim? I added those myself. I bought the sequins at my gem show job. The green stone dangles? From a necklace I cut apart.

 

Doing it yourself is not without its hazards, however. For instance, I poke myself with needles and pins quite a bit. And while before, I just hoarded beads and jewelry making supplies, now I'm amassing piles of fabric, saris, trim, appliques, Turkoman buttons and whatever else I think I can work into a costume. I have a backlog of costuming projects that will keep me busy for the rest of the year, and only one of them is a troupe project, the rest is just stuff that I want to make.

I'm working on a gorgeous olivine bra and belt set now... I'll post some in-progress pictures soon!