Belly dancing in the news today.

The local news (KCAL channel 9) covered an International belly dancing competition in Egypt. Evidently it’s open only to foreigners. When asked why, one of the Egyptian dancers said, “It’s our dance and if we entered we would win”. They did show one woman who was larger than average, but not without sticking in the blurb that the dance is for all sizes. They never say that when a skinny woman dances. At any rate, they showed blips of 7 or 8 dancers. The interviewer said that costumes cost from $100 to $1000. I’m wondering just what a $100 costume would look like. I haven’t seen a $100 costume worth buying in about 20 years. I didn’t quite catch the name of the winner, but they said she was from the USA. It sounded like Hakura. Maybe I can Google it up. There were over 1200 dancers entered. P.S. Nothing on Google yet. Did anyone catch who the winner was?

A rare back view of me. 

I have to stop worrying about what the neighbors think. When you need to practice, you need to practice. 

My favorite half-circle veil. Taken with the automatic timer on my digital camera. 

Coming soon.

The Cairo Carnivale is in Glendale this year (same location as last year).

Cairo Carnivale is coming soon!

Coming soon

Cairo Carnivale is in June!

Sewing Tip: Lining Bra Cups

Take the fabric you plan on lining the bra cups with and rub it against your skin. If it is scratchy or stiff, pick something else. Some dancers like corduroy, saying it doesn't slide around and feels comfortable. Whatever you use should absorb sweat, and be washable. I like to use flannel. You may want to avoid slippery things like silk or satin, because you don't want the contents of your bra shifting around too much. I recommend something that is at least 50% cotton.

Sewing Tip: testing fabric washability

When you get your new fabric, before you do anything else, cut off a 8"x8" square and wash it and dry it in whatever way you are planning to wash and dry your costume. Check for shrinkage. Some rayons will disintegrate in the wash. One foil lame' print I tried washed just fine, but when I dried it, all the foil disappeared leaving an ugly blotchy gray on the black fabric. Unfortunately I didn't test it first; the skirt I made out of it was ruined.

Test for color fastness: Take a cup of hot water, dip the scrap ,trim, or beads into it, lay on white paper, and see if it bleeds color. Remember, most cottons from India are not color-fast. When you sweat, the dye can get on your skin and leave patches of color. My dance teacher once made a gorgeous costume of pink beads her mom had given her. She started to sweat and had long rivulets of pink running down her body and skirts. All those hours of work wasted too.

Cairo Carnivale Belly Dance Festival in June

If you are in S. California, here's your big chance to see great dancers, shop in luscious costume displays, and eat, drink and be merry. All the details are at http://www.mecda.org. They also have some activities for children. Read the details carefully...the workshops and evening shows require seperate purchases.

My favorite veil. 

Pilates

Yesterday I picked up a hot little book on Pilates for a meer $3.00 from Michael's craft store. After thumbing through the photos, I once again confirmed that in all my years of modern and jazz dance, all the stretches I learned were either Pilates or Yoga. And now that I have the handy little book I can show my students just how to do the moves. For every 2 hour college level dance class, the first 45 minutes were Pilates. I can't believe I used to do 90 minutes of Pilates every single day! My boyfriend asked what was wrong with me that I couldn't do that now, and I said "Um, I'm 47 now, not 22." He didn't think that was a good reason, and that kind of goaded me to make a bigger effort. We'll see. The age factor isn't everything but you can't just ignore it either.

Valentine's Day

VALENTINE'S DAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

B for belly dancers

You know, everything Oprah touches turns to gold. Love her or hate her, she gets results.
She also has O Groups, and I started one called Belly Dancers Boot Camp. Hoping other bbw belly dancers will join us. Our emphasis isn't on weight loss but rather on fitness and being your personal best. Hope some of you will join me over there on that group. If this link doesn't get you to the front door, all her O groups are listed alphabetically. We are under the Boot Camp section, under B for Belly Dancers.


http://boards.oprah.com/WebX?13@241.qjbcbYaUV8G.742489@.f06e1e4/1

I made a marquee

Belly Dancers do it with Finesse!

Festival in SLO for tribal dancers.

I just found out that on Dec. 18 there will be a tribal belly dance festival in San Luis Obispo. That's 300 miles from me, but I was going up there to do a children's show on Dec. 19 so this is going to work out really well. Rachel Brice is supposed to be there as well, so I'll get to see what all the hubbub is about. I cruised her site at www.rachelbrice.com. It looks like she has the belly dance career I always wanted. The event will be at the Vet's Hall.

Veilwork Tips and How to remember steps

I just added a new page to my website that covers veils and steps and some other goodies. http://www.spiralcharms.com/bellydancing.htm

Tough to decide sometimes.

They say that athletes make the worse patients. They won't stay off of injuries long enough to let them heal properly.
So for once I'm going to let my head rule my heart. I'm staying off my bad knee today because I know a 2 hour class tonight would kill my efforts to let it heal this week. My two students are too new to go through class with verbal directions. I feel bad that I had to cancel though. Still better to skip one class than to do permanent damage.

Mirror Mirror

In dance, your body is your intrument. So for this exercise, you take off everything and stand in front of a mirror. For once, the goal isn't to look for flaws...it's to look for your best features. Do you have a long neck? Doe shaped eyes? Pretty feet? Sensuous curves? Sparkling eyes? A beautiful smile? Great skin? Write down your 10 best features.
Remember, one man's flaw is another man's asset.
Now, when you go costume shopping, look for items that bring out those features. Pick colors that make your eyes twinkle. Pick fabrics that make you feel glamorous. If you like your curves, pick fabrics that cling to them. If you don't like your curves, pick a fabric that will skim over them.
And try not to get locked into wearing only two colors. We do that by habit, then we feel like we look the same in everything. Get wild once in a while and grab that chartruese scarf or those fushia earrings.

Nutrition and leg cramps.

Do you suffer from leg cramps during the night? One cause can be lack of potassium. Many foods are rich in potassium. Bananas are one of the easiest ways to get more potassium into your diet.

Knitting on giant needles.

Posted by Hello