Taking it's toll.....

I had my private lesson this evening- my last lesson before the two weeks of greed and gluttony that is the Christmas period! I was really looking forward to it, I love my private lesson, as I have said before, getting the one-to-one attention is really amazing.

However, I started to feel a bit queasy and mildly faint so I had to have a short time out half way through..... I was so annoyed with myself, but it was the last remnants of my blasted cold that was rearing its ugly head! I used to faint a reasonable amount as a teen so am well rehearsed at feeling a faint coming on! :-)

Anyway... we focused on camels and backwards camels (that's not the real name, I don't know the proper name..)- you know when roll the belly and the hips back into your body- the other way around to the camel... I love working these muscles and I think these 'moves' look particularly ace, so I like to practice them, although I'm sure there will be a little bit of a muscle ache tomorrow! I am managing to get lower and lower whilst doing these 'moves', we also concentrated on leaning back a little bit more- a recipe for some inelegant wobbling on my part!

I am going to practice these 'moves' over the Christmas holiday because I think my lack of fitness and muscle strength are really holding me back at the moment so hopefully repetition will help me regain some proper strength- plus I love the feeling of having good core power- makes things much easier (even walking down the stairs of a moving bus in London town!) and you just feel a bit more indestructible when dancing and in life!

Anyway, I am away to pack my things for the return to the parents for Christmas.....I am of course packing my jingle-jangle belt to help me practice :-)

Bellydance on the tely!

I was watching Sunday morning TV (!) and in an episode of the American 'How to Look Good Naked' (which I didn't really think was as good as Gok!) they had the lady featured in the show take a bellydance class with Jillina from Bellydance Superstars! Very cool. The lady had had two children and was uncomfortable with her belly, and they had her take the class to gain confidence in herself, her belly and her femininity.

Although it was only a short bit of the programme, I thought it was worth mentioning!

I'm back!

I have had the most awful couple of months- swine flu, normal cold and essay madness!! This has all resulted in me neglecting you all- I apologise.

So, I am now (almost) healthy and back dancing and I have to say, getting back into shape is going to take a while! Oh my days, I had a private lesson last Tuesday and the class today and I am suffering, but it is totally worth it, love the feeling of being fit and feeling like you can dance really well and you will try anything because you feel so good. I am therefore, holding on to this thought whilst undergoing the struggle back to fitness!

Today's lesson was good, less in the class than usual because of the Christmas period, but when there's less people you get a chance to check yourself out properly in the mirror, although sometimes I find this uncomfortable (does anyone else feel weird checking themselves out?), it is important if you want to improve!! We did more advanced dances which was a challenge for me, but I love seeing what is possible if you work hard enough. Two little ones came to the class with their auntie (who is a regular) today, I think they were 9-ish and 11-ish- they were amazing, totally working it and moving like they'd been belly dancing their entire (admittedly, very short) lives. I love it!

We practiced travelling today as well, I think many belly dancers I see don't seem to use the space they are given very well, and I love swishing and spinning around so this is totally up my street! We focused mainly on the grapevine with spins in a line going around the studio, following out amazing dancing queen of a teacher- I could do this all day! I really, really love leaning into the corners and really using the core to control your body, balance and the belly. You can really feel it working away! Yes, I am weird, and I like feeling the work-out burn.

I am looking forward to practicing over the Christmas period, if I can stop eating all the goodies long enough! I have one more private lesson on Tuesday before I head to my parents for Christmas....I will be keeping you up to date more regularly from now on, I promise!

We're back!

We had our first bellydance lesson back after the summer break on Saturday, and it was GREAT to be back. It was great to catch up with everyone,but most of all it was great to get back to dancing!

Everyone was so excited to be back the energy in the studio was amazing, and our teacher played some of the new songs she brought back from her visit home to Morocco, they went down really, really well. Our class is all about the traditional Arabic music rather than the pop-Arabic music which always surprises our teacher, but I personally think the sound is just so much richer and it allows you (well, me anyway!) to get into 'character' a lot easier and I think I dance better too.

I got a chance to try out my new veil when we did out little solo 30 seconds- it worked a treat! It's a lovely deep purple colour which matches my belt, so it's a breakthrough for me that I actually match and look half decent! I love using a veil, it's so feminine and it can make simple moves look so elegant, and it also adds a little bit of mystery which every woman has to love! It went really well today but that is definitely not always the case- sometimes it goes VERY wrong and I get all caught up in it, but it's definitely something I want to improve on because it just looks so elegant.

We also did a bit of group choreography, I ended up trying to think of things to do because my group weren't exactly forthcoming with ideas, the final little dance was nothing at all to write home about but at least no-one messed up. I have real problems thinking up interesting things to do for the group choreography, I suppose I don't have that great an imagination. I definitely want to work on it, because I can't be in the worse group every week! The ideas just don't seem to come to me that quickly!

Anyway, all in all it was a great lesson back and I loved seeing everyone again! Saturday is the only group lesson I am going to be able to take this year, normally I would go on Monday's as well, but I have university on Monday evenings this year.... I am very sad about this but, I suppose I will have to live with it!

Video of Natacha Atlas concert!

Some lovely person has posted their video of Natacha Atlas dancing at the concert I went to on Monday. I am posting it here so you can all see; a) her wonderful dancing and b) the beautiful dress!

No-one has posted any of her singing yet, but if they do, I'll let you know.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD_wsEMQ5CI

First Private Lesson!

I had my first private bellydance lesson last night after work. I was very nervous even though I know my teacher, I was still anxious about dancing in front of her because she is such an amazing dancer and I have a great deal of respect for her.

We danced for the entire hour almost non-stop, and it was great! Being able to see her feet, knees, belly and arms so close up it really helped me understand where the movement comes from and what bits of the body and which muscles are used, I really felt after the hour that I had a better understanding of bellydance, and well, the mechanics of it all, I suppose.

We danced to a lot of new music as my teacher has recently returned from a holiday in Morocco with armfuls of CDs so that was also great! We also danced to a really fun Nancy Ajram song, Mashy Haddi (you can find it on You Tube!), it's not what I would call traditional bellydance music but it was a lot of fun as it is about a guy who thinks he's all that and that you would be lucky to be with him, but Nancy tells him the truth!

I had a lot of fun despite being nervous at the beginning, the private class was a lot more of an intense learning experience which I really like, although I will still go to the communal classes because it's great to dance with all the ladies, I love the great sense of sisterhood!

Anyway, I have a lot of practising to do as I have a private lesson next week as well, and as we all know 'practice makes perfect'....maybe!

Natacha Atlas!

I went to see Natacha Atlas last night at Union Chapel in North London with a friend - it was amazing! For those of your who aren't familiar with Natacha, she is a beautiful singer who sings in Arabic, French, English and last night in Spanish too! I believe the genre is called 'world music' - but that seems a bit of an odd label...

I was introduced to Natacha Atlas by my belly dance teacher as we do a dance to it during some of our lessons, that song is called Kidda - it's a great but sad song, so you get an opportunity to try and convey the sadness with the movement. I haven't quite mastered that yet, but those who have look pretty amazing!

Last night Natacha sang a number of songs from her newest album Ana Hina with her wonderful band - the tabla player was simply amazing, he did an awesome solo that had people in raptures! Natacha's voice is so special; so clear and pure that I think it would almost be impossible not to be mesmerised. I enjoy the softer, down tempo songs but I love the big upbeat (lots of tabla) songs that make you want to get up and shimmy, AND Natacha did! Towards the end of the show she got up and belly danced for a few minutes, she can move really, really well, I was so impressed.

She was also wearing a pretty cool outfit, and I want one because it was so fun! It was a shiny gold leopard print dress with a slit up the leg and amazing sleeves that hung down, and it was all trimmed in gold sparkle! What more can a girl want!?

It was a great night, and it was pretty packed out too, so lots of people feeling the love for Natacha!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I hope it will be of interest as I begin learning how to belly dance. I am so looking forward to getting better and better at this wonderful form of dance.

I already have some favourites! My most favourite is Aziza who is not only a great dancer but an amazing performer. Sadie is also a favourite of mine, as well as Randa Kamel - but as I said, I'm only starting out, so I am positive the list will grow and grow!

Thank you for reading!