Releasing the Year 2014

 

 

 

Happy New Year! It's that time of year again when I like to hit pause on the belly dance topics and focus on reviewing and releasing the year that has come to a close. I love the opportunity that the ending of one year and the impending start of the new year provides for taking time out for reflection and checking in with our own internal compass. It's an opportunity to see what worked well, and what didn't. It's a chance to wrap up the lessons that were learned and head into the promise of new beginnings and new opportunities. Yes, it's a magical time of year.

I started 2014, with this post about my goals for the year, which focused on my theme of "Triple G", with the "G" standing for grit, gratitude, and giving. Reflecting on the year, how did I do?

I was pretty gritty this year if I do say so myself. I completed my first half marathon, the Lululemon Seawheeze, and my first obstacle/mud run, the Warrior Dash.  I'm pretty proud and pleased to say that I smashed my own expectation of what I thought I could accomplish and finished my half marathon in under two hours!

 

I also worked hard on my giving goal. I had originally hoped to be a Girls on the Run Coach, but there ended up being too much time required during work hours that I couldn't participate. But instead I ended up joining the Board of Directors or Finance Committee for the non-profit organizations of Humanities Washington, Sixth Day Dance, and Fremont Abbey Arts. I'm honored to be working in this capacity for these organizations and loving all the opportunities this allows me to give back to my local community.

 

And finally, gratitude. I've been keeping a daily gratitude journal wherein I write two to three items specific to the day that I feel grateful for. This is a daily ritual I've come to love because it really puts me in a positive frame of mind and helps me focus on the blessings in my life.  This in turn puts me in a position to manifest and achieve my best possible life. Easy practice, powerful stuff.

 

My gratitude practice has been especially important to me this year, as I've had a really difficult year in some respects as well. I've been dealing with chronic health issues, as I discussed in this post. I am continuing to work toward a solution, and I am beyond ready to put these issues behind me and move forward into a year of radiant, vibrant health.

 

In regards to other things that occurred this year, I've also gotten back into ballet, as I blogged about in this post. And I got my first ever tattoo, which you can glimpse above! My tattoo is in Farsi and says "Dance when you're perfectly free", which is a line from a Rumi poem.

 

Our lives are ever-evolving and changing, and thus what receives our focus and energy is always shifting.  This dynamic energy was a factor in my life this year, as some of my originally intended goals didn't get my attention at all, and other goals ended up modified as the year went on.  I wrote approximately 50% of my intended non-fiction book, including the proposal, before deciding to table that project and write a novel instead. I'm already on the third chapter of the novel and have hopes to finish it by the end of 2015. I find that there's great peace of mind that comes from doing something that your heart knows you were meant to do, and I'm finding that spirit encompass my effort as I work on this novel.

 

I also didn't make it to Costa Rica this year, but the plane tickets are booked for March 2015.  Pure vida here I come! Instead my husband and I headed to Hawaii's Big Island where we scuba dived, hiked, kayaked, zip lined, swam and laid on the beach. The picture on the beach above is of myself and a sea turtle at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park.  My husband and I also did numerous weekend trips throughout the summer, including a lovely B&B in Walla Walla for wine tasting, and a stay in a treehouse in Fall City for our one-year wedding anniversary, the site of our wedding ceremony.

I also ended up reading a lot this year. I've always been an avid reader, but I really turned to books this year for solace and comfort on days when I wasn't feeling well.  My favorite fiction books that I read this year were Amy Tan's Valley of Amazement, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and Paula McLain's The Paris Wife.  For non-fiction books, I would recommend Barbara Sher's Refuse to Choose and Caroline Miller and Michael Frisch's Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide.

And as one final comment on the year, it turned out to be an epic year for concerts. I saw a total of 27 different bands, including Tool, The Pixies, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Alt-J, Bastille, MGMT, Weezer and Imagine Dragons. Holy moly, lucky me!

 

It's been a year of both triumph and hardship. In many ways, not the year I was expecting to have when it first started, but that's just the nature of life. As always, I encourage everyone to take time out for themselves to release and renew at this time of year. Tie your bow on the year and let it go. Goodbye 2014!



Ballet and Belly Dance

I've been immersing myself in ballet in recent months. After progressing to the point of putting on pointe shoes as a teenager, I abruptly stopped.  And now, almost 15 years later, I'm starting classes again. I'm all the way back in beginner, but loving it nonetheless. I've also been frequenting performances at the Pacific Northwest Ballet and reading Misty Copeland's autobiography, An Unlikely Ballerina. Copeland, pictured above, is famous in the ballet world for both being a prodigy and her skin color in a mostly white-dominated art form.  Additionally, over the last year she skyrocketed to household name status after her stint as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance and her incredible commercial for Under Armour. Top all this off, I've added in ballet-inspired workouts from the Ballet Beautiful series to my weekly fitness routine, likely making me an official ballerina junkie at this point.

All this recent ballet involvement has acted as a catalyst in getting me thinking about the links between ballet and belly dance, and reflecting on how there is a significant ballet influence in belly dance.  Let's take a look.

First, there was Badia Masabni.  As discussed in a post a few months ago, Masabni began incorporating Western elements, predominately ballet, as well as other Middle Eastern dance styles, with traditional Egyptian dancing.  She encouraged an uplifted carriage and trained dancers to lift and open their arms, like in ballet  She also taught her dancers to use more space on the stage, layering in enhanced traveling steps and footwork that borrowed from the ballet repertoire.  Masabani trained the famous dancers Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca in this style, who in turn carried forward these ballet elements, thus launching the modern age of belly dance.

Then of course there's the undeniable influence of Mahmoud Reda.  A classically trained dancer and gymnast himself, Reda continued along the same lines as Masabni, fusing classical ballet moves and stylistic influences into traditional Egyptian folk dances.  Reda's influence and crossover effect has been dramatic in defining modern belly dance for future generations of dancers through his choreographies, movies, and training of belly dancers, including Dina and Randa Kamel.

So yes, what we think of as belly dance or raqs sharqi, has elements of ballet and other Western dances as well.  When belly dancers hold their hands with the thumb and middle finger extending toward each other, that's ballet.  When belly dancers extend the leg behind the body in an arabesque, that's ballet.  When belly dancers open the chest and extend the arms to the side in a relaxed second positions, that's ballet.  When belly dancers spin across the stage in a modified version of a chaine, that's ballet.

I know that there are some in the belly dance community who don't care for the mention of ballet and belly dance in the same sentences, and don't believe that there has been crossover in this regard. However, when I view both dances, I personally think that the influence is undeniable. It don't think that by acknowledging these observations that it anyway detracts from the distinct art form that is belly dance.  Nor do I believe that comparisons rob raqs sharqi of its unique nature.  And I don't believe that by discussing correlations and connections it means that belly dance has somehow been "adulterated" by Western culture. On the other hand, I am also not saying that the two dances styles are identical twins, or that belly dance is ballet's little sister  They certainly are not.  But do they share certain aspects? Yes, I believe so. Like most art across time and space, influences from other countries and cultures creep in.

Belly dance ever has been, and ever will be, a changing landscape of moves and movements.  Like it or not, is a shifting, evolving, and growing art form, with new fusion influences and elements being added and experimented with every day.  I think it's best just to enjoy the ride.

Photo Credit: Misty Copeland, calendar photo shoot

Cross-Training for Belly Dance

Ready to take your dance to the next level? Do you have a desire to deepen your body awareness, strengthen your muscles, and shape your overall physique? Then mixing some cross-training into your weekly dance practice might be just the thing for you. What is cross-training?  Cross-training can be just about any other type of dance, sport, or movement.  But if you really want to sync up your exercise with direct benefits to your belly dance practice, you'll want to keep reading for my list of recommended forms of dance and exercise for belly dancers.

Ballet: There is a great deal of cross-over in movements and posture between belly dance and ballet.  Don't believe me? Read my last blog post on Badia Masabni to discover how she fused the two dance forms to create modern belly dance.  Ballet classes will lift your posture, promote grace and fluidity, increase flexibility, and tone major muscle groups. I take weekly ballet classes at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and I recommend in-person instruction.  However, there are also two at-home DVD options from the Cheeky Girls DVD line, Ballet for Belly Dancers with Brianna and Ballet Blast with Sherena, that are tailored specifically for belly dancers.

Yoga: A big component of any dance style is flexibility. Want to slide down into the splits while balancing your shamadan? Then regular stretching needs to be on the menu. Yoga is a great low-impact way to enhance flexibility while building muscle tone.  Plus, there is also the added benefit of working on connecting movement to breath, a key component of performing.  These days yoga comes in a variety of forms: vinyasa, Bikram, hatha, heated, cardio-fusion, restorative, and kundalini to name a few. Just about anyone kind find the yoga class that appeals to them. If you can't find a yoga studio you like near you, I would recommend the DVDs Daily Energy - Vinyasa Flow Yoga by Shiva Rea for a more traditional approach to yoga, or Yoga Inferno by Jillian Michaels for a yoga-cardio fusion approach.

Barre: A fusion of ballet, pilates, and isometric strength training, the right barre class will have your muscles literally shaking before it's over. You will see and feel the difference.  I've tried most of the major chains and Pure Barre is my favorite.  Classes can be a bit pricey, so if you are looking for an at-home option, I like Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled with Andrea Rogers, which infuses a bit more ballet and cardio than most studio classes.

Other Forms of Dance: Ballet deserved it's own category because it's so fundamentally related to belly dance.  But that being said, just about any other style of dance will aid your belly dance, as it will increase your mind-body connection and promote the development of muscle control and emotional expression.  A few other styles in particular to consider delving into are jazz for rhythm and choreography, modern for level changes and extensions, lyrical for turns and emotional gravitas, burlesque for saucy and sassy stage presence, hip hop for intensifying pops and locks, and samba and other Latin dances for footwork and hip articulation.

Pilates: Is another fine-toning based movement approach that combines strengthening and stretching, and was developed predominately with dancers in mind.  Pilates can be done on a mat, or with the assistance of a reformer machine.  Another great option for preparing your body to execute belly dance technique.

Those are my top cross-training recommendations for belly dancers.  However, whether your personal cross-training choice is on this list or not ultimately doesn't matter. The most important thing is to love and move your body every day.  Dance and sweat it out goddesses!

Photo Credit: Unknown

Visualize, Embody, Transform

Countless times it's been said that a picture's worth a thousand words. Amazing images keep falling into my lap this month. Images that inspire and uplift me. Images that make me want to create, dance, and transform. I am compelled to share.

All images speak differently to each viewer. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What do the images below say to you? How can you envelop them into your life and your dance this month?

Do you want to embody flowing grace?

Abandon your sense of self and completely surrender?

Dance on air like a fantasy creature?

Speak your truth and aim for the heart?

Be reborn as a goddess?



Be sure to follow me on Pinterest (link to the right) for more amazing imagery.