This week in the Belly Dance 101 Class we worked on the ATS and ITS slow move, the Torso Twist, and the fast move known as the Turkish (with an optional shimmy overlay). Check out the fantastic teachers in the videos below for at home practice.
Torso Twist as shown by Nawal Doucette
Turkish as shown by Tribal Moon Belly Dance
As always, these videos are for you personal at home practice. It is a good chance to see how other dancers interpret and teach the moves. If you have any questions please let me know!
Arianna
Friday, February 6, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
My Most Beautiful Partner
It has been a minute since I updated this blog with a personal dance post. Now I am updating it with a sad one.
Yesterday, I lost my most beautiful dance partner. And I my family is mourning.
When we picked her up, Freja sat calmly in my hands. The previous owner was actually in shock at how still she was. I held her the whole way back to Poor Sam's trailer. She was beautiful. About a year old and just barely four feet. I was in awe of how dainty and feminine she was. She was a perfect embodiment of her Norse Goddess namesake. We placed her cage in Poor Sam's living room. Bosco, our hound dog, was incredibly interested for all of 5 minutes.
Yesterday, I lost my most beautiful dance partner. And I my family is mourning.
My husband and I were the proud owners of a beautiful California King Snake, Freja. She was albino, giving her a gorgeous yellow and lavender striped pattern. In 2007, I was a bartender. A regular came in one day and offered me her snake. Free of charge, cage included. See for her, Freja was too "active" and, to be honest, she was. The girl wanted her to go to someone that could devote more time to her. Since I was a dancer, she knew that Poor Sam and I would be perfect.
When we picked her up, Freja sat calmly in my hands. The previous owner was actually in shock at how still she was. I held her the whole way back to Poor Sam's trailer. She was beautiful. About a year old and just barely four feet. I was in awe of how dainty and feminine she was. She was a perfect embodiment of her Norse Goddess namesake. We placed her cage in Poor Sam's living room. Bosco, our hound dog, was incredibly interested for all of 5 minutes.
As I got used to her, I was even more in awe of her power. I watched her crush a mouse's ribcage against the glass of her cage. Still whenever I held her, she snuggled. She never constricted me, just flexed against my skin. This was something that she only did to me, not Sam, I'm not sure why. She would crawl down the sleeve of my shirt to stay warm as we watched TV. She curled in and out of my pony tail and secured herself on my head. Once, while I was studying, she even curled up in the warmth of the blankets and went to sleep at my feet.
It took many years before I felt comfortable with dancing with her in public. I didn't want to stress
her out. But when a Gothic themed hafla was in the line up for my troupe, I knew it was time. There were a lot of things I should have done differently with my performance. I wore the worst head piece and probably should have done a better job with the choreography. Still, Freja was a shining star. She handled the dance and then the inquiring eyes afterwards beautifully. Everyone complimented us on the our dance. After that, we never really had the opportunity to dance again, in public. However, the living room was always our stage.
Reptiles have a much more basic brain than mammals do. Therefore, scientists don't believe they can feel emotion, like mammals can. I could understand this. The bond that I had with Freja was never as intimate as the bond I have with Layla, our dog. Still, as she sat in my lap, I could feel her contentment. She could relax and be peaceful while coiled in my hand. That was all that I needed.
A few months ago, she started eating less. We had been through this before and we chalked it up to the winter months and her instinct to hibernate. It was not until about two months later that we realized she had a problem. I went in to check on her and saw that the mouse she had been fed, had been regurgitated. I instantly began research and then found a vet in our town that specializes in reptiles. We got advice, and decided to wait another week and try one more feeding, with a smaller mouse.
The same result.
We took her into the vet and discovered that she had worms. A lot of worms. I was devasted. How does a snake get worms? Apparently, it is entirely likely that she was born with them. They take an incredibly long time to develop in a snake's basic digestive system. The vet gave her a de-wormer and told us what to look for. Two days later, we found what we knew would be a pile of worms that had exited her body. She was drinking again and, although severely underweight, she was starting to look much better. We fed our now ravenous snake.
The same result, 3 days later. By now, even Layla was aware of the snakes illness. It was actually her who alerted me to the regurgiated mouse in face. My dog was worried about her slinky sister, who had been here before her even (My dog is really a human in a fur suit). We waited, and tried again, with the same result. Another trip to the vet, another round of de-wormer. But since she still looked better, we were hopeful.
The vet informed us that because of her age (almost 9), that she might not recover. Still, we knew that our girl was resilient. We began hand feeding her a soup of bearded dragon pellets (vet's orders) so that she could continue to get nutrients. We were instructed to do this every few days until she could hold down a mouse. We tried to feed her once, she wouldn't eat. We tried again a few days later, she wouldn't eat. We hand fed her with the syringe one last time on Monday evening.
Reptiles have a much more basic brain than mammals do. Therefore, scientists don't believe they can feel emotion, like mammals can. I could understand this. The bond that I had with Freja was never as intimate as the bond I have with Layla, our dog. Still, as she sat in my lap, I could feel her contentment. She could relax and be peaceful while coiled in my hand. That was all that I needed.
A few months ago, she started eating less. We had been through this before and we chalked it up to the winter months and her instinct to hibernate. It was not until about two months later that we realized she had a problem. I went in to check on her and saw that the mouse she had been fed, had been regurgitated. I instantly began research and then found a vet in our town that specializes in reptiles. We got advice, and decided to wait another week and try one more feeding, with a smaller mouse.
The same result.
We took her into the vet and discovered that she had worms. A lot of worms. I was devasted. How does a snake get worms? Apparently, it is entirely likely that she was born with them. They take an incredibly long time to develop in a snake's basic digestive system. The vet gave her a de-wormer and told us what to look for. Two days later, we found what we knew would be a pile of worms that had exited her body. She was drinking again and, although severely underweight, she was starting to look much better. We fed our now ravenous snake.
The same result, 3 days later. By now, even Layla was aware of the snakes illness. It was actually her who alerted me to the regurgiated mouse in face. My dog was worried about her slinky sister, who had been here before her even (My dog is really a human in a fur suit). We waited, and tried again, with the same result. Another trip to the vet, another round of de-wormer. But since she still looked better, we were hopeful.
The vet informed us that because of her age (almost 9), that she might not recover. Still, we knew that our girl was resilient. We began hand feeding her a soup of bearded dragon pellets (vet's orders) so that she could continue to get nutrients. We were instructed to do this every few days until she could hold down a mouse. We tried to feed her once, she wouldn't eat. We tried again a few days later, she wouldn't eat. We hand fed her with the syringe one last time on Monday evening.
Yesterday, Tuesday, I went in to check on her. She was coiled up in her cage, her head under the bowl. I scratched the top of the cage to let her know I was there. No movement. I tried again, sometimes it takes her a minute to wake up. No movement. I tapped the glass. No movement. I unlocked the lid and reached in. I brushed her side. Her skin and muscles moved under my finger.
My dance partner did not.
My dance partner did not.
I had discovered her probably about an hour after she had passed. Rigamortis had not completely set in. I calmly put her lid back on the cage and locked it. I called Sam, though he was at work. He called back.
I cried.
I cried.
Sam came come around 11:00. He got her pillowcase, and slowly lifted my beautiful girl from her cage. I cried again. He was sad too. Even though we were prepared for this, it didn't make it any easier. Layla came and sniffed the box we placed her in. Her cage was put in the back of Sam's truck to be thrown away. It will be a while before we get another snake, and we want to have a fresh cage when we do. We bury her today. She was approximately 9 years old, and had grown to just over 5 feet.
Good Night, sweet, slinky, beautiful girl. I miss you already and I'll dance with you in my dreams.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Double Back and Double Back with Variation
We've been working on Double Backs, and variations of.
Double Back
Double Back With Variation
See you in class!
Arianna
Double Back
Double Back With Variation
See you in class!
Arianna
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Reach and Sit and the 3/4 Shimmy
It's fast moves today ladies. Here are some lovely videos of the "Reach and Sit" and the "3/4 Shimmy"
Carolena herself teaches us the
Reach and Sit
And the lovely Seba, of Wild Card Belly Dance has a great video for the
3/4 Shimmy
Carolena herself teaches us the
Reach and Sit
And the lovely Seba, of Wild Card Belly Dance has a great video for the
3/4 Shimmy
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Awesome Slow Improv from Florida Tribal
I have been a fan of Florida Tribal Belly Dance out of Orlando for many years. I really look up to Lacey and I've had the privilege of taking some workshops and lectures from her (she couldn't pick me up of out lineup...yet ;) ). I've modeled some of what my troupe does, off of her troupe's practices.
I thought I'd share this amazing slow improv done by Lacey and Jessica. It is beautifully done, in my opinion. I love the fusion elements of it. I love how they move around each other as they perform their turns and how the "front" changes as they move back in forth between leader and follower. Here is the link! Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diHL46QqpSE#t=115
I thought I'd share this amazing slow improv done by Lacey and Jessica. It is beautifully done, in my opinion. I love the fusion elements of it. I love how they move around each other as they perform their turns and how the "front" changes as they move back in forth between leader and follower. Here is the link! Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diHL46QqpSE#t=115
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tribal Style Slow Drills
Hello Again ladies,
Below is a link to my slow drills playlist on my youtube account. These will help you with your tribal style slow drills in your daily practice! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. And as always...Happy Dancing!
Slow Drills
Arianna
Below is a link to my slow drills playlist on my youtube account. These will help you with your tribal style slow drills in your daily practice! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. And as always...Happy Dancing!
Slow Drills
Arianna
Tribal Style Fast Drills
Hello ladies!
This link takes you to a playlist on my youtube account. All of these videos on the playlist will hlep you drill your moves if you are interested in tribal style improvisation. They'll also just help you in your daily practice! Enjoy it!
Fast Drill Playlist
This link takes you to a playlist on my youtube account. All of these videos on the playlist will hlep you drill your moves if you are interested in tribal style improvisation. They'll also just help you in your daily practice! Enjoy it!
Fast Drill Playlist
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