I'm Still Alive and Shimmying

OH NO!!!
It seems I've disappeared yet again!
Good news is? I'm back and hopefully here to stay. College kinda caught up with me and I was too busy to do much of anything. Well. Except bellydance. But I'm alive :D
I'm actually doing quite well in my beginner's class, my teacher thinks I should go up to intermediate but 1) I have car and the beginning class is really the only time my mom can take me.
2) I'm scared I won't keep up.

BUT I've bought a couple of beginner DVDs So I can practice.
I've got Neon's Instant bellydancer and Jenna's Basics and Beyond. I plan to drill the heck out of it so I can be fully prepared to take on the next level (while still attending class of course)

ALSO great news, Club Bellydance is coming to my city in March so I will get to go to my first bellydance show, which I'm immensely excited for! I get to see one of my Tribal Fusion Idols, Moria. She has a really unique way of dancing that I really haven't seen before and am stoked to see in person!
So hopefully this year, I won't fall off the map... again.
I'll do my best to keep people posted on what's going on in my life :P

Oh and Here's Moria :D I've never seen someone use a bagpipe in a fusion dance... but I like it.

Day 149- Review of the College Class; Passion vs. Technicality

REVIEW OF THE COLLEGE CLASS!

So this is a little stick on for the free BD college class I tried! Overall I thought it was pretty good for what it was worth (free; hour and a half of one's time). The girl's were pretty experienced (nothing like Amy though) and were excited to teach.
I really wish they had a better curriculum, better organization, and better teamwork. No student wants their teachers to be discussing how to break down a move, it makes the teacher look amateurish... Which they were clearly not.
A couple of the moves they did were for probably more advanced students and not for beginners. Something that bothered me more and more as the class progressed. I did however like how they came to each person and asked if they needed help and to show them the moves to make sure they were doing it properly.

Another thing I found to my distaste was how every girl seemed to idolize Shakira. I asked a girl near me who her favorite bellydancer was and she was like "Shakira! Who else? What about you?" I told her, "Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara are among my favorite tribal dancers. Fifi Abdou, Aziza, Ansuya, (etc.)
are more of the Cabaret Style that I like."

She looked at me like I had 5 heads.

Don't get me wrong I love Shakira. She's cool and modern and uses bellydancing in her act.... But she's not a bellydancer. I also wasn't a fan of the teachers promoting it either: "You all are gonna dance like Shakira!"
They did however win me back over when I looked at their facebook page and they did have videos of cabaret dancers (legit) and tribal dancers.
Maybe that whole review was just my bellydance diva coming out?? : /

I also made a friend, who I'm currently spamming her Youtube videos of my favorite dancers in hopes that she finds a style and dancer that she likes!

Which leads me to my next point. I was looking at Bellydance Forums and came across the Inspiration thread. Someone said that Sadie inspired them (no surprise there). I also sent a video to my friend also with 3 others and she immediately loved Sadie as well because of her technical ability.

I admit I was the same way when I first fell in love with Bellydance, but as I watched more videos, I was less and less inspired by Sadie's videos. Her videos, honestly, were a downer because I was so convinced that I'd never be that good and could never perform.
I also noticed that while her body was full of expression, her face lacked a lot, as a Forum user said (Aw I love Sadie - But she's so expressionless in the face :/)

 A face, I realized, can make or break a dance.

Example:

Zoe Jakes dance at Tribal Fest 8. You can skip to 1:13 if you don't want to see the "Animal Trouble" part... though it is quite funny. She lifts her eyes at 1:47 (ish) and that's her move and I got chills. She's so focused and has this energy about her, but she's such a comedian. I never got that from Sadie, I don't know what she's like: She's neither playful nor serious.

I also look note from the forum user and checked out her current inspiration, Alla Kushnir, and might I say she is INSPIRATIONAL! 

While she may not be as technically great as Sadie, her passion far outweighs that and makes me want to emulate her.

She inspires me to move!

 

Enjoy this beautiful choreography from a passionate dancer!

-Kestrel

Day 141 Bellydance Classes from Hell

So today marks my first OFFICIAL Bellydance class!!! Yay! (does hip shimmy)
It was a TON of fun and I absolutely adore my teacher Amy, who is hilarious and a sweet woman. She completely erased my bad experience of a previous intructor.

Enter: The Bellydance horror story from HELL.

Here in my city we have around 4-5 places where you can receive classes. I went to one of the places because I google searched it and saw that classes were 10 dollars. I was like "okay" and went to the next class. There the lady proceeded to tell me that classes were not 10 but in fact 15 if you were new, but if you paid 30 you can get 3 classes. I went "okay" and forked over 30 dollars. The phone rang, and she ignored me for around 10 minutes chatting on the phone and whips out a cigarette and start smoking while I awkwardly piddled around the small "studio" (it was originally a house).

She finally got off the phone and said class was about to start and that she was the teacher and that it was "highly recommended" (it seemed like she hinted at required) for me to get a hips scarf for the next class and to order with her since anywhere else's delivery would probably take too long (or heaven forbid, it being cheap). I asked how much, and she said $50. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I only had the $30 with me so I couldn't buy anything else.

Then there was the class. She poked and prodded at me and kept telling me I didn't have the "shape" to be a bellydancer and kept criticizing everything without really giving any instruction.
Class finished and I felt very defeated. Bellydance was supposed to be liberating, right?

Months go by, I started working with DVDs and forgetting I actually had a class. I still didn't go back to try to reclaim any money, I didn't see it as worth it.

Then today I went to Amy and we worked together in a beginner's class. It was only me and another student. We drilled simple moves, going at all speeds and... I was actually having fun! I was learning moves the right way and actually loving it!

It was crazy!

After class, as I was taking notes about moves and such, I hesitantly asked about her knowledge of the previous instructor. She politely replied that she had a "reputation" and I promptly told her the gist of my experience. She was super classy about it also, she didn't slander her name only that they had issues.

Another thing that I absolutely enjoyed was that she named each and every instructor and gave an unbiased opinion of their teaching styles, (which was immensely helpful) and recommended (unlike the other instructor) that I try to get a couple different teachers because that's how one learns.

I look forward to the next class and already found a free class for tomorrow :) Hopefully that'll be great!
Wish me luck!
-Kestrel

Day 59- Closing a Door and Opening a New One

So last Friday was the last day of my high school career (aside from Graduation and all that jazz)
Also yesterday was the last day of my first job.
I got fired.

Yup. Seems the Fates wanted to wrap up everything all into one. SO I am now jobless and school-less.
Look on the bright side, I have a lot more free time on my hands.

I'm not trying to downplay me getting fired. Yes it was wrong but I think I was more a victim on the system rather than negligence.
Start from the beginning? Ok.
So we have this policy that if you want to give away a shift that you (and the person you're giving that shift away to) have to sign a paper and give it to one of the managers. No big deal right?
BUT this must all be done the day before and handed to the managers in their hand.
It's all very last minute and not really put together.
The person who I was giving my shift to actually maxed out her hours already for working part time (35 hours) I also gave her the sheet to give the manager, so I thought I was covered.

I wasn't.

Long story short, I was fired because it's policy for a "No-call No show"
I don't blame anyone but the stupid system.
So now I just have to find another job. Preferably a waitressing job at a restaurant.
Wish me Luck!

Day 50- Bitter Disappointments

I feel like I'm wasting my time.
Not in the bellydance sense or anything... or the yoga sense.... I'm going great in those fields. I don't even know what I'm talking about

Maybe I should start over. or as "over" as I can since I took a vow not to delete or change anything on my blog (except for spell check so one could understand me)

I'm not going to NYC for college (too expensive), but instead going to a shit little community college... fun fun.
I can't quit my job because it supposed to be financially on the rise. I as going to get a new one I swear.

My precious project of henna-ing for Relay for Life was cancelled due to inclimate weather and we had a 20 minute notice to vacate the facilities.

All this bitching needs a good side though right?
There is!
I found another major in college that I really like, Exercise fitness, and with it I can be a personal trainer among other things.  I plan on getting my Zumba license ASAP. AND Relay for Life is being held again in my town this Friday.... unfortunately it's on the day of my Drama Banquet... But I might not go because of lack of motivation.

My life is actually pretty good right now, things finally seems to be lining up perfectly. I actually am getting a handle on high school life, finding the right friends, making good choices.
Only bad thing is that there's 5 days left.

Is that how the rest of my life is going to be like? Finally figuring things out a second before the end?
Man I hope not.

Maybe I should stop trying to "figure things out" and try to figure myself out. If that makes any sense at all...

My friend got a tattoo today and that got me thinking about my future ink. I've been wanting it for a while now, but was always afraid if it would affect my job, or the future.... like what if I won't like it anymore etc.
But I think it's a keeper, still... I think I'll let it marinate for a while longer.

In yet other news. Finally like a guy and he's going out of state for college. Oh joy.

But let's end on a good note. A Bellydancer who is all tatted up but won't let that stop her:

Rachel Brice!



Day 19- Respect

Okay, so today there was an "incident" where a person I knew, who is more acquaintance than friend (she's nice but I don't know her that well), found out that another girl (her friend actually) cheated with her boyfriend...

Not explaining this well am I? Person A (my friend) is dating person B... Person B hooks up with person C, person A's friend. Yeah. All three are friends of mine, or at least people I consider friends and hang out with.  Person C's excuse? "oh... she's not my good friend"

REALLY?!?!?

Wow. Even I would do that to my worst enemy. I may hate a person's actions, but I still have respect enough for them as a person. I wouldn't debase myself so much as to become "The Other Woman"

How this all relates to bellydance?

It's all about respecting yourself and others. A bellydancer in good standing wouldn't undercut another by gossiping about other's "poor" skills nor would they try to steal anothers' job or business deal by offering a cheaper price.
If they're new in town then would see where they stand in the Bellydance community rather than barging in and taking over.
Good bellydancers give constructive criticism, not hateful trash talk.
One should also respect oneself and present oneself in a light that encourages good publicity (there IS bad publicity you know).
EXAMPLE Sadie and her scandals that have surfaced: the Taxi Cab Confessions (I shudder when I remember that and promptly feel nauseous) and that Kama Sutra show that got her banned from a BD affair.

I dunno... but it seems I just needed to say this. I shouldn't have to but it needs to be said, unfortunately.

"Love thy Neighbor and thyself"
And this way of life should extend to all aspects of your day.

Okay. Getting off my soapbox now.