Busy Season!

Dancing at Sky Bar, one of the many places you'll see me performing this Spring

 

We have two busy seasons here in Arizona: Spring and Fall. Bookending our harsh Summer, each of these seasons is about a month and a half to two months long, and organizers cram in as many events as possible to take advantage of the beautiful days when people actually want to be outside. This leads to a lot of schedule juggling for belly dancers and other entertainers, as we try to balance the events that we're scheduled to perform at and the events we'd like to attend as spectators.

I've just updated my upcoming performances side bar, and you can see that in addition to our regular appearances at Sky Bar, Fire & Gold Belly Dance will be dancing at the Festival of Books and the Pima County Fair. That's awesome! But what you don't see is the list of events that I'll be attending as an audience member... I've got Wild Wild West Con this weekend, a couple of trips out to Ren Faire with different people, The Body Love Conference, maybe a little get-away with my husband, and a whole stack of events that I've had to turn down due to scheduling conflicts. Seriously, I've turned down 4 events in Tucson this weekend due to already having tickets for WWWC.

All of this AND I'm waiting to hear back about my Tribal Fest performance application! In fact, I should probably be practicing for all of these gigs instead of blogging about them.

Lost in Bead-Land

It's that time again! The gem shows have hit Tucson, and I am shopping and working and socializing alllll the time. If you thought that closing my jewelry business would mean an end to my gem show days, you were wrong. I still love beads and making jewelry, and I still love seeing my beading friends. Plus I can find awesome supplies for my costumes, and jewelry to match my costumes.

Today I'm helping set up our booth for the week, and I'll be busy vending until Sunday, when we then have to tear everything back down again and make it fit in the back of the truck. It's always an adventure! Luckily I don't have to figure out how to make things fit, I just have to follow instructions.

Anyway, the blog will be pretty quiet this week, but next week it's going to be nose to the grind stone with DANCE!

No beauty blog today!

Thanks to Liora K, now I have the perfect filler image for when I write about makeup. Sweet!

Anyway, no beauty blog today. I have to get ready for a party at our house this weekend, and finish gathering supplies for the new costume. This means my Friday is pretty jam-packed, and when given the choice between doing my makeup and actually having some good dance practice, I of course chose dance!

I will try to make up for it by having a super duper GLITTER EXTRAVAGANZA next week, because I have a few different brands of glitter (at least half a dozen?) and I think it's time to review them all. Are you excited? I know you're excited.

Busy week

Unless something crops up at the last minute, the party on the 8th was my last gig this month -- three performances in the space of a week and then none for the rest of the month, not an unusual turn of events. But the lack of gigs doesn't mean a lack of work. There's always something going on behind the scenes! Here's what I've been working on lately:

1. Classes and troupe practice! We're back to a regular schedule which means I am in class 4-5 hours a week. Troupe practice got moved to Weds nights and it feels really weird to have my Mondays free! Will I fill them with something else? Time will tell.

2. Getting ready for TRIBAL FEST!!!! I bought my plane ticket to SFO. I can't wait! I'll be rooming with my friend Fonda, who is excited to be with me for my first ever TF. It's going to be so awesome to take so many workshops, see so many friends, make new friends, shop, and dance dance dance.

3. Furthering my career. I just had a great private lesson with Jolie where we worked on some of my goals. She always gives such insightful, useful feedback.

4. Preparing for future performances. I may not have anything else this month, but March's Open Stage is right around the corner and I have a few other shows I'm looking forward to.

5. Getting into shape. Now that the weather is warming up (well, it was, until it decided to SNOW all day yesterday), my husband and I have started jogging again. I want to get a lot of jogs in now before it gets too hot in the Summer! Plus classes this week have been pretty hard and heavy, so I am feeling it in my muscles and I like the way it feels.

6. Making jewelry. Part of my Tribal Fest funding strategy involves sharing a booth with my brother at Wild Wild West Con next month. My steampunk jewelry selection is looking pretty skimpy, so I've been making new things right and left.

7. Blogging! Ok, not as much as I normally blog, but I'm trying. Check back tomorrow for another cosmetics review!

Gem showing!

Just a quick note apologizing for the lack of updates... Since Tuesday I have been working at one of the many gem shows that invades Tucson during February. I'll be working until Sunday. Regular blogging should resume on Monday or Tuesday, depending on how tired I am!

I've managed to squeeze in two great performances during this week, so I look forward to talking about those and reviewing some more makeup and featuring some vendors and all those things I've been wanting to do with my blog.

Busiest Weekend

Those are sculptures of straight jackets hanging from the ceiling of the restaurant where I was having dinner after Club Bellydance... with the five members of Bellydance Superstars who are part of the tour, along with their road crew, Ava Fleming (who hosted the Phoenix Club Bellydance show), some of the other local performers, and a couple other audience members. And that is one reason why the busiest weekend was also the awesomest weekend.

(Side note: I had to steal this picture from Jolie's FB, because I left my phone in the car and couldn't take my own straight jacket sculpture pictures)

My weekend of busy awesomeness was not originally going to be anything too spectacular. I was going to vend at Yasmina's Bellydance Swap Meet, take a fan veil workshop, maybe have some dinner, and then go home. But a month or so ago Jolie asked if I would like to assist Skirt Full Of Fire at a gig up in Phoenix that night, because I had expressed some interest in doing some ride-alongs to learn more about the business side of dance. Since I was already going to be up there for the swap meet, this was perfect! So my plan became swap meet, workshop, assist at gig, maybe sleep over, then go home.

Then Club Bellydance was going to be in town on the 20th and I was torn on whether to go or not. After all, did I want to spend the entire weekend in Phoenix? But when the local performers were announced, I knew I had to go. Not only was Jolie performing, but so were my former teachers Anaya Tribal, so I really had to go make some noise for the ladies who have shaped my dance career (plus the rest of the line-up was pretty impressive). This meant that my plan was now swap meet, workshop, assist at gig, sleep over, Club Bellydance, maybe a quick late dinner after, go home.

I'll write separate posts about the swap meet and the pro gig, as each needs some things said about it and I don't want this to turn into a disjointed novel, but they were both good experiences for their own reasons, and I had a really good time on Saturday.

If you haven't been to a Club Bellydance show before, it's split into two parts. The first half consists of local performers who auditioned to be part of the show. This time around the judges had chosen a really great mix of soloists and troupes, tribal and cabaret. A really great mix of styles. Since it's pick-your-own-seating, I grabbed front and center, because why not? Besides, Fonda and I sat in the front row at my first Club Bellydance show, so I'd like to make it a tradition. I enjoyed the heck out of the first half of the show and was really glad that I went. It was incredibly inspiring and really a good time.

So during intermission I'm posting on  FB about how great the event is, when Jolie texts me from backstage and asks me if I want to go do dinner after with Sabah and the others. I played it cool in my response with a simple "Love to!" and meanwhile texted my husband going "Omgomgomgomg." I was going to get to hang out with the cool kids!

And that was about when I started thinking about the importance of making good decisions in life. If I hadn't decided to ask Jolie for the opportunity to help out with some pro gigs, and if I hadn't decided to spend the entire weekend up in Phoenix so I could see Club Bellydance, I would not have been in the position to get asked to the post-show dinner. By stepping out of my comfort zone with working to go pro, I had set myself up to go down a path that would lead to hanging out with a lot of dancers who I really admire. I think this is good inspiration to keep pushing myself!

As for the dinner itself, it was a lot of fun. I was between Sabrina and Ava. I spent most of the dinner being my usual shy, quiet self, just soaking up the conversation, but when Sabrina busted out her phone to show pictures of her cat and snakes, I came out of my shell a bit. I can always talk pets with everyone (thank goodness photographs no longer set off my snake phobia!). And I talked restaurants with Ava, who had picked the super-cool AZ88 as a place that could accommodate 17 hungry dancers and dance-related people at 10:30 on a Sunday night.

It was really, really awesome to meet all of the dancers and see how sweet and funny they are off-stage, and it was also nice to be reminded that while superstars may be far better dancers than I am, just like me they miss their pets when they travel.

Oh, and next time Club Bellydance comes through? I'm going to audition. Talk about pushing myself!

Loving what I do

Duke Standberry snapped this picture of the ladies of Skirt Full of Fire and Fire & Gold Belly Dance* after filming for Walk on the Wild Side with Cat, a show that airs on the local Access TV channel. We're not sure yet when it will air, and then when it will be available on-line, but I'll keep you all updated on that.

Saturday was a hugely busy day. First I went to the Community Class, then my husband and I grabbed a delicious lunch (this is my usual Saturday now, as I really want to support the merchants on 4th Avenue during the construction that is going on downtown). Once we got home I had to get ready for my outdoor photo shoot! It was 100+ degrees and windy, so it was challenging to stay glamorous. Then I had to change into my troupe costume in the park bathroom (yuck!) and touch up my makeup and hair in the car (don't worry, my husband was driving) so I could be ready to be on TV with the troupe! The whole TV filming thing took a couple of hours. All told, I put in the equivalent of a full day's work into my dance career!

It was a great day, though. I am excited about the photos and the show, I had a wonderful time working with SFOF and F&G (as always), and I got to wear some exciting new makeup and hair accessories. I'm feeling more and more like a professional. I may not be making a living at this, but I treat it like my job and do my best to present a professional image, and demonstrate an admirable work ethic. Dance is one of those things where you get back what you put into it. I am pouring my heart, soul, and hours of my time into it, and in return I am gaining respect, happiness, and new opportunities.

*I personally feel that when we work together, we should be called Skirt Full of Fire and Gold. I'm pretty sure such a skirt would have to be made of Kevlar.

Still kicking

I have really fallen off of the blogging wagon. Between my recent house-sitting adventures, my hatred of Blogger's new design, and the total lack of interaction from my readers (yeah, I said it!), I have not really felt a lot of enthusiasm for blogging lately. Don't worry, it's not just you guys, my jewelry blog hasn't been updated in over 3 weeks.

Anyway, I'm still keeping a really busy class and troupe practice schedule. I actually had to skip the second class tonight because I was just too worn out. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight, because I really need to practice for my two upcoming shows. I've barely worked on my solo for the Open Stage on Thurs. Of course, I also haven't received confirmation that I have a spot in the show, so there's that.

In the meantime, I'm daydreaming about future solos, new costumes, and going to Tribal Fest next year. I have $40 in my Tribal Fest fund, hooray!

Always doing something!

Don't let the quiet around here fool you into thinking that I'm not a busy, busy dancer! Friday is the only day this past week when I didn't do anything dance-related, and that was because my dog had minor surgery and spent the night recovering from anaesthesia while sprawled out in my lap.

Yesterday I didn't dance, but I did go to BreakOut to see their Street Fair show (well, part of it... lunch was a SNAFU!). Not only were the junior and senior troupes amazing dancers, but I got to watch Jolie do an entirely improv number in her sparkly purple costume. She's such an inspiration on how to own the song and the crowd. Oh, did I mention that it was totally improv because she had never heard the song before? I'm in awe of dancers who can pull out an amazing show to unfamiliar music. Bravo!

Today I also haven't danced yet (but I will!), however I spent a couple of hours at a joint meeting of our local belly dance community group SABDA and the AZ chapter of MECDA. It's so important to be an active member of the community if you're even remotely serious about dance! Otherwise you'll never know what events are going on and where to see people perform and who is teaching what. I really liked the fact that today, most of the members of the MECDA board came down to give a presentation and answer our questions. We want to have a better connection with the Phoenix community and AZ as a whole.

Also there were Lebanese sugar cookies which are delicious.

Keeping up

I am just so busy lately! Between my dance life and my daily life, it feels like I'm juggling all sorts of things. There is pretty much not a single day where I don't have some sort of specific obligation. I know this is normal for a lot of people but not for me. I'm trying to adjust to it, but as an introvert it's a little weird for me to be around other people almost every single day.

Anyway, yesterday and today were both troupe practices today. TTBDC worked on some sword and veil numbers, as well as picking out more music to build some full set lists. Fire and Gold gained 3 new members, who had to be caught up to speed on the choreography. This meant that our formation had to be rearranged, with irritated me for no good reason. I was USED to where I was standing, and then I had to MOVE! The indignity! I need to work on not being irritated about silly little stuff in dance.

This post probably makes me sound pretty lame, but it's true. I am not really the cool, collected person I'd like you all to think I am! I'm a work in progress and sometimes I have stupid problems like wanting to sit at home alone on my couch instead of seeing people, or not wanting to make changes to how I was already doing things. I should really be writing this stuff in my private dance journal instead so I could maintain my facade of awesomeness!

Happy Hostess

I've been busy playing hostess for my wonderful mother-in-law this week, so I've been lax in my blogging duties. However, I have been keeping busy as a dancer. On Monday we went to Ren Faire and I danced at the drum jam at the end of the day. On Tuesday I went to class. On Wednesday I took my MIL to Fonda's beginner tribal class, which consisted of the two of us and my Mom, so much fun! Then tonight I performed a solo at the Open Stage and then we went to Plush to see the RAW Artists show, which Jolie was dancing in.

It's good to be able to keep up with my classes and performances while having a guest -- it helps that my MIL is incredibly supportive of my dancing. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had to spend a week sharing my house with someone who disapproved of what I do!

Anyway, time for sleep and lots of it.