Giving Zumba a Try

Recently, a friend of mine has lost a lot of weight and looks amazing after getting heavily involved in Zumba.  I was thoroughly impressed by her efforts, and I had heard a lot about the classes.

Basically, Zumba is a high-energy dance-based class.  Though most of the elements are from Latin dances like salsa, cumbia, and merengue, there is also hip-hop, samba, and a little "belly dance" (I'll get to this in a second).

I had a Groupon coupon for the Oak Square YMCA in Brighton, and there were several Zumba classes to choose from.  So, I tried one out, and I must admit that I had a lot of fun.

It really is just like dancing around.  While some of the transitions need your concentration and it probably helps if you have rhythm (or if you don't care whether or not you have rhythm), it's really what you make of it, and it can be really quite fun.  I find myself smiling through most of it.

You can definitely work up quite a sweat from all the dancing around, and I can see how someone can lose quite a bit of weight if they dedicate several workouts a week to this cardio class.

Now, while there isn't a lot of Middle Eastern-style dancing in the classes, there are definitely incorporations of it.  I feel bad whenever this part of the class comes up, mainly because I get a bit critical about the moves.

I, of all people, understand and value the fusion of belly dance with other styles of dance.  I'm not forgetting that I still want to somehow fuse traditional Filipino dance with belly dance.  But I think that the fusion is more impressive when parts of the different dances are still visible, recognizable, and respecting of the different styles.  That's just my personal style and take on the whole thing.

So, when the Zumba instructor says that we're incorporating belly dance into the moves and it reminds me more of bangara or doesn't feel like belly dance, I find myself really struggling with understanding what is happening and really struggling with the specific moves themselves.

On some level, I feel proud to be able to distinguish different versions of the dance.  But on another level, I feel like a jerk because I know I'm being too critical of an already-fusion style of working out.

I should just not care, and go with the flow.  I should just not think about it too much.

But then I become really aware that a lot of the other folks in the class are not necessarily as educated about belly dance.  The little bit of exposure they have in Zumba class isn't enough for them to really understand what raqs sharqi really is.  With all the misconceptions there are about Middle Eastern dance, I personally feel wary whenever something is called "belly dance" and it doesn't feel "right" to me.

This isn't to say that Zumba instructors are in the wrong.  I do think that more education needs to be done about Middle Eastern music and dance before people just go around identifying snake arms or hip hits as the "belly dance."  Perhaps there is just a line between fusion and...not fusion?  Here is an example on youtube of a Zumba/belly dance routine.

I don't know if I'm explaining it well enough.  I don't want to come off as really snobby about it.  Hopefully the fact that I keep going to Zumba classes will mean something.

I do think it's important to be aware of your biases before you go into a Zumba class or any other dance class, for that matter.  Otherwise, just have fun with it!

BARAKA: A Benefit for MataHari

Remember back at the end of May when I spoke about Meiver's Intensive Repertoire Class?  Well, there was a total of 3.5 months of intense work, learning, dancing, and feet aches.  It all culminated on Wednesday, August 18th, at the Multicultural Arts Center.

The ceiling of the MCAC

The stage, Pre-Show

Meiver has been working her tail off, with the help of some of her students, to organize an extremely successful event to benefit MataHari: Eye of the Day, a great social justice organization that works towards immigrant, refugee, and workers rights.

In my previous post about the choreographies, I talked about all the things I was learning and all the things that I could do better.  In this post, I want to talk more about the choreographies and about the experience of being in the show.

Being A-Part
To be honest, in the beginning, I didn't really know how major the show was going to be.  But as the months passed and more was revealed, I got more and more excited.  To be even more honest, a lot of my fellow dancers were extremely anxious about the show, but I felt more excited to be part of the show.

With at least 10 different people with at least 10 different schedules to coordinate, it was difficult to try to keep steady progress on learning all the choreographies.  Also, it being summer, there was a lot of summer traveling (as was the case with me).

As August 18th drew closer, there were many things we all needed to work on in terms of the choreography and details.  But I truly believed that we would rock the show.  I believed that my classmates would do their best.  I believe that all of Meiver's and our hard work would pay off.

I know that I haven't been part of a show of this level since my undergrad days and the Queer Fashion Show.  There was perhaps less makeup back then, but there was definitely more glitter now.  But the stress seemed to be about the same.

Glitter provided by Sassy Sparkles.

Speaking purely from my own personal experiences, I know how difficult it can be to coordinate so many people, regardless of availability, regardless or experience, regardless of commitment.  From the talents shows with 3rd through 8th graders to coordinating a single dance with 20 members, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.  I couldn't help but feel empathetic to Meiver's workload.  But still, I had confidence about the show.

On some level, I felt bad that I wasn't able to connect with some of my fellow dancers on how stressed they were feeling about the dances.  I was more concerned about the costuming, as I had already spent so much money that I didn't have, and there were some unforeseen last minute changes.  But overall, I was feeling really positive about the show itself and our abilities to produce a great one.

Modern Oriental
As the opening number to the entire show, it was fabulous.  Personally, the technique was perhaps the most challenging to me.  Aside from remembering my posture, I had to remember how to hold my hands a different way then I'm used to, point my toes to hide my heel, and remember the various transitions.  It was a challenging piece.  But even though I wasn't in the audience, I'm sure it was such a glorious way to open the show.

"Sahra" by Bassil Moubayyed

This dance is a perfect example of how an ensemble of dancers should look on the stage.  Though some of the aspects of the dance are influenced by the ballet, I felt like this choreography was something you would see the Bellydance Superstars performing.

There were times when I would practice the choreography in my head and I would get distracted by wondering how one even designs something like that dance.  Making sure the right groups of people or even one person would end up in the correct spot, going from point A to point B, who turns in which direction.  The dance-math is making my head hurt!  But kudos to Meiver for such a gem of a piece.

My Solo
Holy quick costume change, Batman!  Thank you to Ma'isah, Aleksie, and my other classmates for helping me with my super fast costume change!  My solo was the 3rd act of the evening, and I had to get my outfit and my zills ready.

I was sweating so much from the first piece and from changing, that I carried a little napkin with me backstage and behind the wings, and left it in a corner where I would be able to grab it later.  But I continued to sweat throughout my entire performance!  Later, the boyfriend told me that he couldn't tell that I was sweating, which was a relief.

I look so at ease for sweating so much!

Actually, the boyfriend told me that I looked so comfortable and confident during this performance, and later Meiver tells me that her roommates and boyfriend said I make it look so pleasant.  I honestly feel speechless about those compliments.

I know that I was happy to see some of my fellow Amira Jamal classmates and my boyfriend in the audience. In a way, I was dancing for them, in true balady fashion (this was the "Balady ala Accordion" that I danced to during Amira Jamal's student recital in May).  Perhaps this was why I felt so confident even through my sweating.

Fan Veil
Well, I'll be honest here.  I felt like I was a sausage being squeezed into its casing, but it was just that I was so hot and sticky and trying to fit into a body suit that my butt was too big for.  Don't get me wrong.  I think in the end we all looked pretty darn awesome!  But I did have my doubts, and I was just nervous that I would make this piece not look good.  But hot damn, did we look awesome.

Hot Fan Veil Action

I absolutely loved this piece.  The music, the fan veils, the choreography.  I don't know if anyone was tripping out in the audience from the beauty of the veils, but I know I was having my own personal hallucinogenic trip being part of it.  I can't wait to see it on video.

I realized, however, that the choreography and the technique went hand in hand.  If you were unfamiliar with the fan veils, the choreography would not be as strong.  It was somewhat impinging on us as the dancers to really get comfortable with fan veils.

As I have already loved the veil, loving the fan veils was just too easy.  Whenever the kitties were asleep, I would sneak in a practice session with my fan veils.  Learning the technique felt more like play than anything else.  I'm eager to find some fan veil tutorial DVD's to further my education.

Khaleegy
The most difficult thing about this piece was trying to slip bracelets on my wrists.  I have huge hands, so I don't ever wear bracelets since it hurts to put them on and take them off.  There were many hilarious jokes about using lube to make it easier on me when I was getting ready.  I just braved getting my hands scraped by the bracelets, and in the end it was fine.

I was really nervous about all the spinning.  I didn't know how my body would react.  Originally, this was going to be the final piece, but the acts were moved around a bit, and this was our second to last dance.  I was hoping that if something were to go wrong, I would at least not need to dance again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dance.  I felt like my timing had been off during all of the practices, but during the show I knew what I was doing.  This was another song I would play over and over on my Zune while riding the T.  My neck wasn't sore the next day, nor was I ridiculously dizzy after all the hair spinning.

Photo by Jonathan Williams

In that picture above, that's the moment we've just concluded all the hair spinning, dropping down to the floor, and picking our hair back up.  I was definitely sending messages to my brain and my inner ears to chill.  Again, this is another video I can't wait to watch.

Saiidi
This dance, perhaps the most polished one, was the finale of the show.  We had our nicely spray-painted canes, our bedlahs, and our smiles.  No one dropped a cane, no one hurt someone else with a cane, no one got left behind.

This was the choreography that I felt very confident about, though my can twirling needed some practice in the beginning.  Whenever I would walk to practice with my cane, I would twirl down the street, of course making sure that no bystanders would be affected.

Working together in our pod

For me, ending with the saiidi made me feel like we owned that stage.  We had been working so hard in the past several months that we deserved to wave our big sticks in victory.  Of course, this isn't to say that the other performers hadn't worked as hard.  But some of us had 4 or 5 costume changes!

We had an amazing show, and each and every one of us danced our hearts out.  Backstage, amidst all the chaos, there was a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter.  On stage, we tried our best to bring Meiver's vision to an audience in awe.

I'm a true believe that you make your situations what you want them to be.  This particular situation was just exhilaratingly inspiring, and I'm proud to have been part of it.

Video: "Yearning" with Fan Veil

On August 6th, I participated once again in the Quarry Hill Talent Show that is the precursor to the All Night Costume Dance Party.  This event, in it's 27th or 28th year, originally started as a birthday celebration, but grew to be a reunion of the kids who grew up there as well as an all-around summer celebration.

I took the opportunity to perform there 2 years ago as a way to get used to dancing in a public arena, especially where the audience was made mainly of other dancers.  It's been a great experience for me, as I am free to explore new things without too much pressure.  It's a Talent Show, and one that is mainly for fun!

This was my first time using fan veils in a performance.  Since I've been participating in an intense repertory class with Meiver, I've come to really love the fan veils.  I need to practice with them a bit more and learn some more techniques, but it's just so much fun to play with.

Originally, I was planning to dance to "Miserlou," a song popularized by Dick Dale in his surf guitar style, though its roots come from deeper in history.  But, I just was having a hard time working through the song with the fan veils.  I felt that they needed more drama associated with them.  I decided on "Yearning," by Raul Ferrando, another popular song among dancers.  The drama and the beauty that I associate with the fan veils really come through in that song.

So, here is a video of my performance taken by one of my friends.  Enjoy!

Visiting the Homelands

In July, a friend of mine and I went to Greece to celebrate being single at 28 years old.

In honor of the company namesake, I made it a point to wear my Goddess tank with pride.

Athena's Goddess

I couldn't even imagine how the Parthenon was constructed.  I'm sure there's a Discovery Channel special dedicated to how it was done.  But standing in the greatness that was the marble slabs, even amidst the reconstruction work, felt awe-inspiring.

Considering that Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom, I felt so proud to be part of a company that focuses on spreading knowledge about yourself, your body, and what works in relationships.

Greece was awesome! If you would like to read all about it, visit my personal blog.