What did I do Friday night? I got my bag ready for Belly Boo Bash and ordered some pizza. Oh and I tried out the new Zuma's Revenge and am totally addicted. Oh and Jeff and I watched what we had recorded from Thursday night, which was The Mentalist and CSI.
You know that I love belly dance when I get up super duper early to go to a belly dance event... I was on the road earlier than I do normally for work! Mind you, I've done crazy times for work too... but I disgress...
So I took the flamenco workshop with Faten. It was super interesting. Unfortunately, there were too many turns for my weakened ankle so I had to sit for a portion of it. But the material that I got was really interesting. I think that my favorite part was the "shoe work." I've been inspired to stomp 'industrial/rivethead' style lately (and have found a few belly dance movements where it would totally work) so that's something that I can apply to my dance. Maybe for Gothalyptic next year? :D I really enjoyed also working off beat for some of the moves. It was totally different than belly dance yet related enough that it was a nice change of pacing for me. Speaking of pacing... those moves are executed faaaaaaaaaaast. Wowzher!
I had lunch with dear hubby at BW3. We enjoyed some nice food while I relaxed between workshops. And relaxed the ankle. Hugh!
The afternoon had Leila Gamal teach us about oriental dancing. I really like her approach to the moves and how they should be natural. That's something that I will hone in with my students. What I really appreciated is that Leila took the time to observe everyone individually and give advice on how to improve the moves. In my case, she gave me additional layers. I totally loved it! I didn't know that I could do all of that! And then, again, there was a good portion on spinning so I had to sit out and nurse that damn ankle. I wanted to dance that night! *sigh*
Between the workshop and when I got ready, we found a Starbucks and relaxed and talked about my upcoming Wild Talents character (RPG) while sipping on yummy pumpkin spice iced lattes... and we got some hot ones to go.
The performance went well... although there was a glitch with the music. Jeff was teasing me afterwards that that's why he had told me to enter through the other side: so that I would be close to the music should there be any glitch. Unfortunately (and supidly), I had planned to do a diagonal from the right side of the stage and felt like I would be too confused if I started on the other side. Silly, I know. Anyway, so to rectify the glitch with my music, I had to run across the stage. I purposefully decided to make it cute and silly so that there would be a higher contrast with the character that would go on stage once the music started. lol So, yes, I had to run across the stage again.
I'm happy to report that the stage fright is indeed gone. I guess that I'm a good candidate for hipnosis b/c I have found a few triggers that I use to get me into character in a snap (really... in a snap). That also helps with the stage fright. And, well, the piece was something that I needed to be fully committed too or else it would look odd. And I have to say that my dance friends Laura, Matthew, and Jae screaming that they love me and cheering me on before I hit the stage definitely helped! :D
I did my piece and I felt well connected with the music. There was one move that I had thought of using when I had heard the music often enough that moves were popping in my head but I had never practiced it as I was afraid that it would look too odd. Well, lo and behold, I ended up doing it on stage. Jeff noticed the hesitation b/c he said that I was not sharp enough on it. Anyway, I managed to veer from doing too much belly dance and exploring outside of filling every beat with something. I did have pauses. I was afraid that people would get bored but, no, it was fine. ;) We sometimes have a warped vision of what we're doing when we're performing. hehehe
I gotta say a big thank you again to Laura and Matthew. Not only did they give me compliments on my dance (thanks again, btw!) but they pinpointed items that worked for them. Like Matthew loves my belly rolls. And that one move that I said I thought would look funky on stage but ended up doing anyway, Laura really liked it. When she said that it was like a big BIG body wave, I realized that that's actually exactly what it is... and, well, it apparently worked for her. That's VERY useful feedback for me as it tells me what worked for them. Thanks guys!
Jennifer Rose told me that it's the best performance that she has seen of me. I know that she meant it. Last time that she saw me perform, we chatted about it and she gave me honest feedback... so I know that it's legit. ;)
Jeff noticed a few things, as usual. But those are details that can be fixed more or less easily. It's good to have someone who has seen almost all your performances help you out that way. He totally gives me constructive feedback. And, well, this time I received it extremely well b/c I felt good about the performance. ;)
Yesterday, we got up and joined Jen, Bill, Julius, and Jared to eat at Steak and Shake before going to see Surrogates. It was great to have also Ashley and Todd with us. :D That movie was really good! It was better than I had originally anticipated. Oh and Bruce Willis is still VERY hot.
Afterwards, we were supposed to run to Home Depot to get mats to redo the roof ring for the yurt but I was kidnapped by my kitty and she used her sleeping powers to make me fall asleep. Actually, at one point, I opened my eyes briefly and Jeff was also sleeping on the couch. I needed a lot of sleep and the kitty had missed me a lot so it was a rather long nap.
And then we watched the Colts game. The first quarter was interesting. We didn't know who was going to score first. And then Peyton and the offensive line opened the valve and it went downhill from there for the Cardinals.
And now I'm back at work where it's crazy. And I'm teaching veils tonight for the continuing class and we're doing the last touches for the RennFaire tonight as well. OPA!
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Comments I had received
From Matthew Hellrung: You were awesome and it is always a pleasure to see you perform.
From Jennifer Rose: Loved, loved, and still love your shimmies - your stage presence was fantastic - you totally owned the stage. Wish my solo wasn't such a train wreck...(I saw the tape - it was horrible) but at least Raqdoll looked solid & strong :-)
From me: Thanks for the compliments!
Btw, your solo wasn't a train wreck. Okay, it may not be your best performance but I still enjoyed it. There was a passion in your moves that matched the music very well
From Jennifer Rose: LOL! Most kind of you....now if you could please forget you ever saw it :-p
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