"Do it big, do it right, and do it with style" ~Fred Astaire

Good afternoon, Buenas tardes, Shalom, Bonjour!


Tons of work to do, today! That's what happens when you leave home during... well, a single day?! I can't believe how my life is currently busy: when I finish something, I can't even breathe for a minute before I've got something else to do. I love this activity, my present, my future, my projects, everything!

I realized yesterday that I've been practicing bellydance for a year now. And wow! What a great journey! I've already come to a point where I couldn't be grateful (and the word is weak) to my teachers for all the happiness they brought me! This space is for them :)

Asrar

First of all: Asrar. She has been my weekly teacher from the beginning, and I'm lucky to take lessons with such an enthusiastic, joyful and humble woman! She brings sparkles to my Fridays evening!!

Khalida @ Summertime Hafla

And there comes Khalida, this amazing dancer, great instructor and sweet person from Germany. She organizes regular workshops, invites various teachers with their own styles and passions, giving the students magnificent opportunities to learn!

Illan Rivière by Peter Zanniti

 



 I couldn't forget to thank Illan Rivière, from the bottom of my heart! Such a young dancer, but first of all such a breathtaking journey! He keeps a special place to me thanks to his creativity, his feeling, and last but not least thanks to his sweetness. Meeting him was absolutely fantastic, and his tips and vision of dancing are written with gold letters.

The reason of my absence, yesterday, was my participation at two workshops by Néphélée. She didn't only gave me my very first try with my favourite props -fan veils: she confirmed a fascination, and made all the dancers present at her second unexpected workshop live a deep moment, a real experience to cherish. 


I also was lucky to meet Johanna during my very first saidi lesson. Saidi is one of my favourite styles, and living such a nice course gave me will to learn about it more and more and more! 

Néphélée

And big thanks again to Feyrouz and her unforgettable dervish workshop, as well as Sonia Saida, who reconciled me with drums solo. 

Last but not least, I'm happy to have met so many great people during my course and workshops! That's why dancing is fantastic as well! :)

And special *mmmmuuuuuuuaaaaaaaahhhhhh* for my sweeties, Betül Efeoğlu and Johanna Najla: there should be far more women like you! :)))

 I hate blogspot for destroying the layout, sorry about the ugliness 

                                                

Flawless floorwork

Good morning everybody!

July is coming, schoolyear is over and my belly dancing course as well. I will miss this weekly meeting, but fortunately I planned to attend several workshops during the two months of holidays, plus I won't stop practising at my place, that's obvious! I am not the girl who will pretend that she 'learned everything thanks to dvd's': nothing could replace a real teacher, able to correct you and to make you focuse on personal weaknesses. Anyway instructional dvd's can be useful as well: I like them to learn new techniques, to broaden my sphere of action, to have an approach on something I didn't know, etc. For keeping July and August busy (or rather even more busy that they already are), I purchased "Flawless Floorwork" by Ruby.

I have always loved floorwork and I thought that it was a good opportunity to discover more about this pure art. As the cover says, it seems that floorwork tends to be considered 'inappropriate' by... wow, more dancers than I expected! I even read some accounts telling how this way of dancing was 'disgusting'. Why? I have no idea. Especially when we realize that floorwork is used in many fields, as the raks al shemodan -dance with a candelabrum which traditionally appears during weddings- or the zaar, this religious custom practiced in Ethiopia, Iran and all around the Middle East. See: floorwork is an integral part of (belly) dance, and nevertheless underestimated. For instance, knowing about its ban in Egypt (among other restrictions) sounds both sad and interesting to me. Here comes my main criticism about Ruby's dvd: I would have loved to hear more about the traditional aspect, when using floorwork is particularly beneficial and, on the contrary, when avoiding it is better or even required, etc. Ruby decided not to linger on this part. That's fine: I do not worry, I will find :)

This small lack of information appart, I must confess that I love this "Flawless Floorwork"! First of all, Ruby really is a great instructor: her explanations are simple and clear. She is conscious of the common mistakes and tries to tell us how to avoid them. We begin with a strengthening routine absolutely necessary before thinking about beginning the exercises themselves (but maybe a little bit too short: I don't think that every muscle required is trained. But well, we all know that a dvd won't work for you and is far from being self-sufficient).
The technical part with its descends and ascends is particularly well done! Once again, Ruby takes her time to explain the different moves properly, talking about the precautions, giving you safety tips (, avoiding the incredible -but dangerous!- Turkish drop, thanks heaven!),... I also appreciated a lot the fact that Ruby doesn't hesitate to give alternatives when a movement can be to difficult. Definitely, 'security' is the main word! Take your time to discover this chapter: sure it will give you new ideas to include to your performances!
 

After a traditional combinations' part (accessible to various levels), we benefit from a nice extras section where Ruby offers us a nice full body warm up, designed to be done with your stage outfit, with the precautions involved. We also have a costume tutorial to avoid wardrobe malfunctions. Nothing is worst than a dancer doing floorwork with an inappropriate costume, I think that everybody is aware of that! Now we know how to prevent this kind of problems!
Finally we watch Ruby in a lovely performance, where she includes a great floorwork part, of course!

I am not disappointed by my purchase: sure that it will complete my holidays with even more belly dance and challenges, happy news! So if you do not know how to begin with floorwork, this dvd is for you too: there you will have good advice enough to practice without harming you!




Lot of work to do today, and once again, I've been too talkative! Do not hesitate to share your opinion on floorwork, your good / bad experiences with dvd's, whatever you want: I am always interested in widenning my knowledges and experience :))
And, oh yes, sorry about the last picture: I don't use to put pics of myself on my blog, but I love this one (despite the crappy background), me practising and happy to do so! :))

Wish you a bright day!!

An Eznak Ya Maalem

Good afternoon!

I won't be long today: just want to put some words before passing my daily exam. God knows how I hate this period, and the awful year I have spent doesn't help to hold on until the end. But projects do! Mainly of mine are about belly dance, does it sound surprising?
Workshops, festivals, galas, great artists and discoveries: that is exactly what I like! Plus I have something else in mind: two lessons left and the year is over for belly dance as well, so I have to keep projects in mind to train again, again and again. This year, we learned a lot of techniques, and three different choregraphies. I am not used to improvisation, and I have never try to let my creativity speak. So I feel that time has come to do so.

Rola Saad

I have found a lovely song to help me: "An Eznak Ya Maalem" by the Lebanese pop star Rola Saad. I know that it isn't judicious to talk about ideas before it is done, but you know, it really doesn't matter: it isn't original, as many dancers gave their own interpretation so far, plus all I wish is to be able to prepare about 3 minutes of dancing, nothing else :) And only if I am satisfied with the result I will post it, but not sure yet.
Whatever. I love this song for the kinky mood. According to the lyrics, the girl singing is someone proud and confident, who knows how attractive she is and likes to use her charm, but doesn't want to lose her independence and freedom. Everything that I am not, actually! That is why I need to dance on this one!

I won't tell you more about my love life, but trust me: I am not as self-assured as a lot of people believe, and I often regret my kindness. Well, I try to take good care on myself anyway ;-) Reaching my new goal will be a way to laugh at myself and my naïvety, and then I will eventually be able to make fun of the few who tried to bring me down. Oh, I am not into vengeance: derision is far better, and at least I won't use my energy for something which isn't worth it.

I have plenty of different ideas in mind! I can't wait to have more time to gather them! Sure I will have a lot of fun!! :))

Have an aaaaawesoooome day!!! xoxos!

Bellyladies Night

Good morniiiiiiinnnggg!!!

Remember, several weeks ago, I wrote an enthusiastic article about an event, Le Week-End de la Danse Orientale: http://gloomy-san.blogspot.com/2012/03/le-week-end-de-la-danse-orientale.html (in French only, I know: my apologies! I will try to avoid French as much as possible but as it is my mother tongue, you won't escape it).

This event took place this weekend. At first I really wanted to attend some workshops (saidi, Bellywood, chaabi,... God, I no longer knew where to look), but unfortunately, I finally had no time enough to lose a whole day, because of my student's life and the future examinations. That's why I decided to attend the show: Bellyladies Night. I will not talk about every single performances; I hope you will content yourselves with those which made a deep impression on me.

The dancing evening began with Maëlle, who immediatly seduced everybody with her smile -and with her magnificent white outfit too, yes. Her dynamic performance was ideal to get into the swim of things. Nevertheless a weakness, only in my opinion: I appreciate raks el asaya with saidi, but the cane isn't a prop that I appreciate that much when it is included to a raks al sharki performance.

Annamma @ Spectacle Magic Orient

Who talks about Bellywood workshop insinuates the presence of a show in the colours of India. God knows how I love this country, its various dances, music and so on. So I of course waited for this moment with a growing impatience. And it didn't disappointed me! Raised in a masterly fashion by Annamma, the duet Uma & Annamma flung us in this Asian country with their interpretation of the famous song "Kannodu Kanbathellam", taken from the movie "Jeans" and originally played by Aishwarya Rai. These ladies were the first to fill my eyes with tears, but I couldn't tell you if it was out of melancholy or happiness. Both, I guess.

And suddenly happened the disappointment: I couldn't wait to see the gorgeous Belgian dancer Artemisia, but her passage was purely and simply cancelled. If I understood well, I think that she suffers from a knee pain. Shame on me, but health above all! It is only a question of time.

The next huge surprise was Jamila and her wild saidi on "El Baston". Saidi is one of my favourite styles, and I keep telling that I absolutely need to try! You know what? I've just found my teacher! No kidding, Jamila was absolutely impressive, and she spread as much cheerfulness as saidi asks. Wow, I wanted this moment to last longer!

The first part ended with Fatima and her students. With the girls, we dived in the depths of the Moroccan folklore. While watching them, I remembered some people who told me how chaabi was boring, in their opinion. Personally, I just wanted to slip a kaftan on to rejoin the circle. Amazing Fatima!

Fatima and her students @ Prague

The star of our evening, Farah, introduced the second part, catching every single heart in the audience. What could I say? This heightened feminity, this precision, this touching interpretation, not counting this formidable stage presence and the particular contact with the public, every good elements were gathered together to make the best of these -short- seven minutes. Farah is what we call a GREAT dancer!

Farah Bakkali

To watch her performance, just click on the following symbol: *

The show needed another belly dancer to continue, and we all knew how the challenge was major.
But Asrar brilliantly accomplished the mission! Firstly, she decided not to present another classic act, but favoured a gypsy atmosphere, very different from everything else in the Night. No need to say that it was to her advantage! I was glad to see her for another obvious reason: a student is always delighted to support her teacher, right? According to our lessons, I was sure that this moment would be filled with joie de vivre, and you know what? I was right!
Here is the link to her performance: *

After that, the lovely Johanna seduces her and the Wicked Mystic offered us our tribal fusion time, but my next true favourite was the Cie Zellidjah and their saidi -yes, another one- which gave us the will of jumping at the opportunity to stand up and dance! Once again, I realized how Jamila is excellent! I'll try to attend her workshop in July, if I find the favour of time :)

Asrar @ Bellydancer of the World 2011
© Ayman Shoala

To conclude, this event was absolutely worth coming, even without the wonderful Artemisia: great dancers, various performances enough, nice place (fortunately easy to find) and friendly atmosphere.
Congratulations to Zahra & the artists, teachers, everyone who made it possible!

As Zahra said: "See you next year, inchallah!"

Please notice that the pictures are neither mine, nor taken from the Bellyladies Night. If you are the author and you want me to remove your work, let me know: it will please me to follow your requierements.

“You need talent, luck, and persistence. Pick any two.”

Orit Maftsir

It seems like belly dance is becoming more and more popular, and guys, I am delighted about it! The problem comes when people -mainly girls- believe that this art is limited by shaking your bottom and wearing beautiful outfits. I recently had an “argument” (actually I still don’t understand why this chick became so upset, I don’t think I was rude) with someone, who calls herself an amateur, but holds on to perform on stage with professionals (with the awesome band Myrath from Tunisia, clandestine advertising, “Helloooooo”). When you have nothing to do on the stage, don’t go on the stage, that’s all. There is a time for everything, but first, you have to practice, practice and practice again. Normal, no?
I totally agree when people keep telling that belly dance is about feelings. Actually I confess that I tend to prefer dancers less experimented technically and who are able to give me a fright rather than the contrary. But focusing on feelings absolutely doesn’t mean that the technical aspect is forgotten.

When students first begin to learn belly dance, teachers often focus on technique: the correct way to do a hip lift, the correct way to do a shimmy, the correct way to isolate a hip circle, the best way to produce a fluid undulation, the correct way to layer a shimmy on top of other moves. Of course, technique is important. Bad technique can look sloppy or even cause injury. But technique alone is not enough. Dance is an art form, and art is all about expression, emotion, soul, and spirit.  © Shira

 There is too much to discover, too much to learn from belly dance (its history included) that it deeply saddened me to notice how some maniacs (duh, it sounds less rude in French, sorry!) take it easy. Art should be respected, and focusing on a beautiful outfit doesn’t make you a dancer. Remember that Isis wings never look fabulous if you can’t handle them!
You don’t need to become the next Samia Gamal, the next Dina, the next Orit Maftsir (the fabulous dancer on the pic, isn’t she gorgeous?), Rachel Brice or whatever: just respect.

Please note that I am not myself a professional:I practice and do my best. But belly dance has always been my favourite style, with all its varieties, its history, its evolution, everything! And I feel quite sad when neophytes has an erroneous vision of belly dance just because of negligence.

Le Week-End de la Danse Orientale

http://www.worldbellydanceday.be/

Moi qui croisais les doigts autant que possible pour avoir l'occasion d'assister à ce genre d'évènement, j'ai eu une excellente surprise pas plus tard qu'hier soir! Je sais, c'est scandaleux, mais je connais tellement peu mon propre pays que j'en oublie ce qu'il s'y passe. Enfin, par chance, ce fameux week-end consacré à la danse oriental n'est pas terminé: j'ai encore le temps de tout prévoir! Je suis tellement, tellement, tellement heureuse!!!!

Qui dit week-end oriental dit prestations et concours, naturellement, mais aussi -et surtout, de mon point de vue personnel- stages. Et les stages proposés ici sont suffisamment variés pour que chaque amateur et amoureux y trouve son compte! Du baladi au tribal, en passant par le chaabi ou encore par le bellywood, difficile de se mettre en tête qu'il faut se résoudre à faire des choix!

http://www.worldbellydanceday.be/

Comme j'ai décidé de me limiter impérativement à 3 stages, il ne me reste plus qu'à faire mes choix. Seule certitude: le stage Bellywood. Depuis que j'ai découvert la magie de Bollywood, avec ses couleurs, ses danses extraordinaires et ses morceaux merveilleux, il me tarde d'y goûter moi-même! Alors un mélange entre la danse orientale, si chère à mon coeur, et le fabuleux Bollywood? Il n'est même pas question un instant de même imaginer laisser passer cette occasion!

Bellywood mis à part, a priori, je me dirigeais vers le Raks el Assaya (duquel je suis tombée amoureuse en regardant danser la prodigieuse Orit Maftsir *) et le Chaabi. Sauf que... à mon avis, ça me ferait trop de nouveaux styles à peine effleurés en peu de temps, et ça serait dommage de perdre ce qui aura été appris ces jours-là. Donc plutôt que le Chaabi, je pensais privilégier les sagattes, cette fameuse tradition qui tend doucement à se perdre. Wait and see, comme disent les anglophones :)

En attendant, la perspective suffit à me combler de bonheur! 2012 promet d'être une année exceptionnelle, j'en suis tellement heureuse! Sur ce, bonne soirée à tous, et à bientôt!

Ah oui, et si naturellement quelqu'un parmi les lecteurs est également intéressé par le week-end en question, qu'il me fasse signe! :) Cheers!

I want to fly

Good evening!

Hope you're well, dear readers and passers-by!

Very obvious subject today: it would be impossible to create a blog without talking about one of my biggest love, belly dance. I guess that everyone of you already knows that dancers use a lot of different props, from the well-known veil (of course) to the Shamadan (I'll certainly talk about this one later, but meanwhile have a look here if you don't remember what it is: *). Personally, those who know me don't ignore that I am totally obsessed with fans veils! Whatever they look like - a raging sandstorm, the dancing fire or the ocean waves-, they bring this particular feeling of freedom, just like the different natural elements that they remind.

© www.debbiescraftroom.com/

Discovering more about their origin and how they became used for belly dance is quite difficult. But the story often tells that they come from Chinese fans -also called koi fans, because of the koi fish's movements *, important accessories for classical Chinese dancers. These appears in China in about 1900 (even before, according to various authorities), but had a real rebirth in the seventies, thanks to folk dances. The veil became then longer and longer, simple matter of aesthetics.

Bozenka

At the beginning of the years 2000, fans began to be seen in belly dancing -especially in the USA, where more and more Chinese dancing performances took place-, via tribal and fusion belly dances. It was then added to the "traditional" style, to bring a brand new inspiration, and therefore, giving more possibilities to vary.

Here are different videos, feel free to watch some of my favourite performances:

http://youtu.be/JIy68-kPEMc
http://youtu.be/mY2Rwlt5Ud0
http://youtu.be/tvmfK9diZUw
http://youtu.be/GegqU1wz2xw

Have a good viewing!