I just got this from Sabrina, concerning belly dancing at the Middle East ( Read more... )

It seems to be the thing to be doing, so my 2009 in a handful of points:

• started 2009 with my foot still in pretty wretched shape, but by Feb or March the alcohol injections finally killed off that nerve in the ball of my foot, and slowly I've come to be able to count on my feet to be there for me once again.  I still have some resculpting to do ( ( Read more... )

( SYTYCD, not much here as I'm busy at work )

• Sissy continues to do well.  Her belly was shaved for her ultrasound, and so we can literally see her tummy starting to fill out again.  Ianto is chugging along too.  Both of them were frisky and affectionate this morning, which makes it awfully hard to go to work ;-)
• Why did I never before know how awesome foundation brushes are?  I bought one ( Read more... )

From today's American Cancer Society benefit in Salem, hosted by PURE and Phoenix Avathar. All improv, I only picked the music two weeks ago :)

Click to view

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Long weekend.  In sum:

• some amazing horse racing, in both the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby.  Though whoever texted me right after the Derby to comment on the race, don't ever do that again, as you shouldn't talk about race results before you are sure the other party has seen the race!  I appreciated that in the Derby broadcast there was ( Read more... )

Four hours with Ranya Renee have changed my dancing--performing at the workshop show and again today at a nursing home there was already a difference.  I feel like am breaking through to a new place, the butterfly starting to flex her wet cramped wings wondering what comes next, feeling how all these different new parts work together and becoming ( Read more... )

Took today off from work and I am very glad I did.  I slept about 12 hours last night.  On decongestants I feel nearly normal (though I am starting to get somewhat perturbed by how long this illness is lasting).  And I'm not anywhere near as sore today as I thought I would be, though dance class tonight will still be interesting.  As will be ( Read more... )

I do not believe there is a muscle in my body that does not ache and I have definitely set myself back in recovering from this plague, but it was entirely worth it!  As another dancer observed yesterday, Yousry's incorporating a lot more Modern Cairo style into his choreographies, while still maintaining that distinctive Yousry Sharif flair.  It's ( Read more... )

This looks amazing--it's just a rough cut of some of the footage from the upcoming documentary Aziza! about the history of Middle Eastern music and dance in Boston.

Aziza! is a new documentary profiling the history of belly dance in the Boston area as it has evolved and thrived in the social scene of the Lebanese, Armenian and Greek communities ( Read more... )