The Inner Dancer taught me how to Dance Like a Queen!

This weekend I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Samantha, aka The Inner Dancer, aka winner of the pro soloist category in 2013's Belly Dance Queen competition. I interact with Samantha on Facebook via her "Leave It On The Dance Floor" group and had seen her dance at Club Bellydance, but this was the first time I had the chance to study with her and she did not disappoint!


I signed up for the Dance Like a Queen workshop which was about the mental and emotional aspects of dance rather than physical technique. I really love classes that dig down into things like motivation and stage presence and dance persona and how you approach dance, and this covered all of those things. I feel like in the long run, this sort of workshop stays with me and has more impact on my personal dance journey than learning physical technique, which is harder to properly absorb in two hours.

It's hard to describe this workshop. It was a very personal process, with a lot of self-evaluation, group interaction, and really thinking about, well, how we think about dance. I feel like overall, the theme was about having a healthy view of where you are in dance and a good idea of where you want to go and how you're going to get there. It's about not seeing yourself as two separate people (AJ the regular person and Sophia Ravenna the dancer), but as one person who feels pretty good about herself and is able to bring a genuine expression of who she is to the dance floor. It's about intertwining your personal development with your dance practice.

As it turns out, one of the things that I love about Samantha as a dancer, teacher and person is that she thinks that technique and emotion are equally important. She knows that the really amazing dancers are the people who have both of those, and she wants to train people to bring it all to the dance floor. I'll have a couple of opinion posts in the near future that expand on my feelings on the topic, but let's just say that it always makes me happy when someone else backs up my opinion that you have to work hard and bring authenticity of emotion to your dance, too.

What really stood out to me about this workshop specifically was that my classmates ranged from really new beginners to established pros and teachers, and it seemed like everyone was getting at least a little something out of it. It's rare to be in a really good all-levels workshop.

I'd definitely recommend this workshop to just about anyone who is serious about dance, but especially those who are looking to go pro, who feel like they've got an unhealthy relationship with dance (for instance, carrying around a lot of negativity about where you are or what you can't do), or those looking to really dig deeper into how they think about themselves as a dancer.

Are those e.l.f. palettes any good?

 We've all seen these at Target or other department stores, right? The super-affordable e.l.f palettes with their really intense colors. I'd heard that they were actually not bad, so at only $6 I decided to take a chance and pick up the Little Black Beauty Book "night edition."

Look at those colors! You'll have to forgive me for not hand-swatching them, but it would have to go all the way up to my elbow at the very least. I like this palette because it has a great range of colors running from light to dark, plenty of neutrals, some mattes and some sparkles. The individual pans are pretty small, but hey, it's $6.

I'm a bit iffy on the packaging. It's cute, compact, and easy to carry, but it doesn't always close securely. If you want to just throw this in your purse, I'd wrap some ribbon or elastic around it or maybe tape it closed, just to be on the safe side. The outside color is actually very much like a thinner version of a hardback book cover. It dents and scratches very easily, so it won't stay pretty, but again, it only cost $6, so what do you expect?

On Tuesday I decided to do a nice daytime look with two colors from the palette, a nice soft bronze and medium green. It held up for two hours of dance and some shopping and driving around. This is actually how it looked at the end of the night. Not bad!

But we're here to talk about its suitability for performance makeup, so how about a look at some of the more vibrant colors?

Yeah! Colors! Turquoise, green, and blue, with a light shimmery neutral along my brow bone. I was surprised by how well-pigmented these brights were. I'd just like to point out that I managed to put together a better emerald eye look with this cheap department store palette than with the much more expensive Sephora eye shadows I bought earlier this year.

Sorry about the up-the-nose shot. That's all eyeshadow from this palette, including using the green as liner. Well, I did add just a touch of some sparkly UD shadow over the teal because I wanted some glitter. There's also some green mascara, because hey, why not wear green mascara for daytime wear? It's just sitting there in my train case, I might as well use it.

Despite using primer potion and makeup-setting spray, I did have some color loss after two hours of dance class, but most of the color was still there. I like these colors enough that I'm going to try again, maybe apply a little more and pat it in better, or try it wet.

I feel like these colors probably wouldn't hold up well to dancing all night, and they probably aren't intense enough for big stage makeup, but if you're just doing a single number at a hafla or recital, you'll be really happy with these. You could probably even use them for a restaurant gig if you're not prone to sweaty-face. I'd definitely recommend this palette to the newbie dancer who hasn't previously worn colorful makeup and doesn't want to spend a fortune at Sephora or the MAC counter. It would also be perfect for those days when you want to experiment with some of the crazy looks you see on-line... there's enough different colors to play with, and then when you figure out a look you want to use for the big stage, you can go out and buy more expensive, hardier versions of the colors.

Back on Datura Online!

I let my Datura Online subscription lapse back before Tribal Fest, because my credit card on file expired and I hadn't been using the videos very often, so it made sense to let it go dormant for a bit. However, with my current focus on practicing more, more, MORE it seemed like a good idea to turn it back in and take advantage of all the great new videos.

It's still too hot during the day for me to want to buckle down for one of the hour-plus videos, but luckily DO has a lot of shorter options, too. I decided that I'd try Henna's "The Cairo 8" video because I've been wanting to learn some more Egyptian stylization, and at 16 minutes long it was just right to round out my practice after I did my solo for Saturday and some zills.

This popular move which dates back to the Golden Age of bellydance is broken down into components, then put together, then drilled at slow and fast speeds, and is done on the right and the left, then together. There's also a variation with a hip drop, and Henna demonstrates how a couple of Golden Age dancers did it and explains what sort of music you'll often see it used with. I was able to keep up with the slow drills, but I'm definitely going to have to revisit the video several times until I can do it up to speed!

I like having a short video that focuses on a single move. It's a good way to be able to really drill something specific, learn it inside and out, and build it into your muscle memory. Plus when it's less than 20 minutes, it's really easy to work it into your day between other things and get a little targeted dance practice.

10,000 Hours

Another beautiful shot from my photoshoot with Liora K.

 

Have you heard the widely-touted saying that it takes 10,000 hours to master something? I've been thinking about it lately because I've been chafing about the lack of home practice lately. We're in the grips of a hot, humid summer and my home is so warm some days that practicing makes me feel sick, like literally queasy. But as the temperatures are slowly creeping down into the 90s instead of the 100s, I've been working practice back into my schedule, sometimes at night when it's a little more bearable. I've got my eye on being able to dance for hours every day (well, 6 days a week, gotta give my muscles a break), whether or not I have class.

 

When my husband I discussed this concept a few months ago, he said he thought it would be cool to figure out how many hours I'd already put into dance. But even coming up with a rough estimate would be difficult, as I'd have to look at the past 5 years and estimate how many hours of class I was taking per week each year. Ugh. If I calculate it at all, I might choose a start date other than when I started taking dance classes -- either when I started my Year of Practice challenge, or when I started studying with Jolie (if we want to assume that I'm trying to master tribal fusion, and not just general bellydance).

 

This week, not counting home practice, I'm going to spend 10 hours between ballet class, bellydance class, troupe practice, a private lesson, and a workshop. Plus I'm performing Saturday night. If every week was like that, that would mean 520 hours a year, which means it would take about 19 and a quarter years to master bellydance, at which point I would be in my early 50s. Clearly I need to practice more. 

The Perfectionism Spectrum

Last week I posted this quote on my Facebook fan page to spark some discussion: "Perfection is an interesting idea, but I don't think it should have a place of honor in the creative process." – Sasha Soukup


I was surprised to find that a lot of people agreed with Soukup, because I actually strongly disagree. I have perfectionist tendencies, not to the point of OCD, but I always strive to be as close to perfect as I can. This ethic leads to me practicing a lot, taking extra lessons, getting professional help to learn about makeup and costuming, reading up on dance etiquette and so much more. I realized that my opinion on perfection was more than I could put in a Facebook comment and I needed to make a blog post about it.


As I was mulling over the topic, I came up with the idea of the Perfectionism Spectrum. I don't feel like the quest for perfection is an all or nothing deal. I think that there's a very wide range and that most people fall somewhere in the middle rather than to one extreme or the other. 

At the lowest end is what I would call the "Eh, Good Enough!" people. These are the sort of people who shrug off problems with their work by saying "The audience will never know the difference" or "It's handmade it's supposed to have flaws!" or "You're not paying me enough for me to work harder on this." Now, there are times when it's valid to say any of these. Sometimes there are problems that are beyond your control and you need to just accept them. But it is not cool to have this attitude all the time and use it to slack off on things like practicing hard when you have a show coming up, or trimming all the threads on your new costume or behaving professionally at a gig. I think you can tell that I don't have a lot of patience for this sort of person.


At the highest end of the spectrum are the "It's Never Good Enough!" people. These are the sort of people who create beautiful work but never share it with the world because it's not perfect yet. This is the author who constantly revises their first chapter and never moves on in the story, the dancer who comes to class every week and practices hard but never performs because she doesn't dance like a superstar yet, the painter who doesn't think his work is worthy of hanging in a gallery. I feel bad for these people because they have something beautiful but they never think it's good enough to share with the world.


I try to maintain a happy relationship with perfection. I strive for it, knowing that it is impossible to be perfect all the time. However, I do think that through hard work, it's possible to achieve moments of perfection. Surely as a dancer you've felt it, when you do exactly the right move to the very best of your abilities, and you hit the note right where you wanted to, and you caught the audience's eye, and you were feeling the music so hard, and it was.... perfect. I know that I will never have a performance that is a string of perfect moments. But I do know that I can achieve perfect moments, and if I have just one or two in a solo and the rest of the time I am doing really well, then the over-all impression is going to be that I did an amazing job.


So yes, I do think that perfection should have a place of honor in the creative process. Why wouldn't I want to strive for a perfect 3/4 shimmy or Arabesque? Why wouldn't I want to know my song inside and out so that I can hit the perfect accents and truly feel the music? I think that it is possible to have a healthy approach to perfection, and that artists in any medium can strive for perfect moments in their work.

Please feel free to share your opinion in my comments section, I enjoy a lively discussion!

Sephora Impulse Buys

 Have I admitted yet that I come from a family that self-medicates through retail therapy? For at least three generations of my Mom's side, when we're feeling down we shop. But it doesn't just have to be sadness, sometimes it's 100 degrees out and your house is not sufficiently cool and you're bored of sweating at the computer, so you drag your husband off to the mall to enjoy some air conditioning and window shopping. Then you're like "Well let's go to Sephora because I want to see if they have the new UD lipstick" and then when they don't, you just wander around because you want to buy something. Let's pretend that I only bought these two somethings and that there's not also a little bag full of nail polish minis (in my defense, they were only a dollar each).

Did you know that Sephora is clearing out their entire Sephora by OPI line of nail polish? I'm curious to see what they replace it with. I really wanted to buy about a zillion colors, but I settled for "Is She For Reel?" which my husband pointed out. See, there was a reason to drag him along, his eye is caught by different things than mine. I go for the same greens that I already have three variations of, and he notices the super-sparkly silver with iridescent micro-glitter. It's hard to describe this color, it's kind of like... magical pyrite. Does that make sense? How about... silver titanium coated drusy? Maybe? Well anyway, I totally recommend going to your local Sephora to see if it's still in-stock, or ordering on-line, because this color is sweet. You know those weekends when you have multiple gigs and each one has a totally different colored costume? Well, this is the super-sparkly neutral that will go with all of them. I'm wearing two coats and it actually looks more opaque in person than it does in the picture.

 Now, what is this interesting little bottle and why is it purple instead of green? Have I been replaced by an alien pod person? Would I tell you if I was? Stop worrying about that and go check out Light Storm Liquid Shadow. It's shiny! This is the Smoked Grape color which isn't on the website, oddly enough.

 LOOK AT HOW SHINY IT IS! It has this amazing shimmery color-shift effect. You can see why I had to buy it even though it doesn't come in green. Of the three colors available, Chris and I felt that Smoked Grape had the best shine and color shift (yes, my man is confident enough in his masculinity to offer an opinion on purple eyeshadow).

Thankfully we were wearing our all-black costumes for Open Stage last night, so I had the perfect opportunity to get purple on my eyes. I think this color wears really well on my skin tone. I did a smokey eye with my favorite almost-black MAC eyeshadow, a cool purple I found in one of my UD palettes, and then some NYX glitter to keep it from looking too bruise-y. Add some black gel liner and some black mascara, plus a little maroon liner under the eye (not visible here due to lashes) and I'm good to go! Style note: Sometimes if you wear purple eyeshadow and red lipstick, it either clashes weirdly or looks too Red Hat Lady-ish, so I forewent my usual red and instead applied the light metallic plummy color from one of my Blast Flipsticks (hahahaha) and dabbed it with a bit of the same glitter as my eyes to tie it together. I think it was a good choice.

Oh yeah. I guess I should actually review the product and talk about application! It comes with a fuzzy wand applicator like some lip glosses. I put it on my lid with that and then blended it out with my eye. Of course I applied it over my trusty UD Primer Potion and then used a little UD makeup setting spray to hold everything in place. I am happy to say that at the end of the night, after several hours of wear, a lot of dancing and some sweating, it still looked great! It had not collected in my crease at all, and the color had not faded.

I am giving this a strong recommendation for my fellow dancers! It looks great, it's easy to apply, and it wears well! Those of you who wear a lot of purple or pink will really love this specific color. I think I'm going to go pick up the Caramel Cream as well because while it has less color-shift it's still pretty shiny and would go well with a couple of costumes I've got in the works. Also, if you love green like I do, please join me in lobbying Sephora to make this product available in either a green-gold shift or a green-blue shift inspired by jewel beetle elytra. That would make my life complete!

Cross-training: Ballet

I needed a ballet picture for this post so I went to The Commons on Flickr and found this. Wow!

Valentina Blinova in L'Oiseau de feu [The Firebird], Ballets Russes, Sydney, 1936-1937 / Max Dupain

 

I went to my first ever ballet class yesterday. I've been meaning to go for months and months. It's something that my teacher Jolie has been encouraging me to do to improve my belly dance. But as I've confessed before on this blog, I am very nervous about doing new things. So every week I'd say "I should go to Beginner Adult Ballet on Thursday" and when Thursday rolled around, I'd make an excuse not to... too tired, not feeling well, want to laze around the house with my husband because he's had a stressful week at work. Well, now there's Beginner/Intermediate Ballet on Mondays, so I made myself go. I found out about it yesterday, so I had no time to make excuses.

 

Being in ballet class was totally different from being in bellydance class. Most of the class was spent doing exercises at the barre. The teacher Christy would explain what we were going to do and then watch us do it, rather than leading, which meant I spent a lot of time putting my ITS peripheral vision to use to "follow" the students who seemed to know what the heck they were doing. On the other hand, since Christy wasn't leading, she was walking around the room giving corrections, and she was very nice and encouraging about it.

 

I probably should have gone to a straight-up beginner class rather than a beg/int one, because there seemed to be a definite expectation that the students already knew basic ballet terms and had some familiarity with what they were supposed to be doing. This meant that some things that we already do in bellydance class made sense to me, and others I just kind of stumbled along and hoped no one was looking at me. There was also a bit of material that is pretty difficult for a newbie, such as pirouettes (which we do sometimes in bellydance but I still suck at) and some fast jumping.

 

That said, since Monday at 4:30 is a pretty convenient time for me to go to class, and since I like a challenge, I think I might keep throwing myself into the deep end. Besides, we did exercises to Star Wars music, so my inner nerd was pleased even while my inner dance critic was crying "we're so BAD AT THIS!!!"

 

By the way, speaking of my inner dance critic, I have a message for it: Of course we're bad at ballet. We're new to it. We were bad at ITS when we started, and we were bad at Tribal Fusion when we started. Everything has a learning curve, so just shut up and be patient.

EDIT: I have no idea what Blogger has done to this post. What a mess.