2011 Goals - Mid-Year Review

Well, the 6th month of the year is upon us.   It's time to take a look at how I'm doing at my goals thus far.


Let's start from the beginning, shall we?


1.  Be better about practicing at home or outside of class.
Hmm...well, I've definitely done a little bit of practicing, but not nearly enough.  With taking on bootcamp on days when I also have dance class, it's definitely not easy to motivate to practice outside of those times.  However, I did win a bunch of DVD's in a raffle, so that is some extra motivation.

2.  Save enough money to attend all the workshops I want to attend this year.
Alright, well, I've definitely failed at this one, though for the most part it was out of my hands.  I did get a chance to go to Shimmies though I worked as  the stage manager for the show, and Faten Salema in April which was a great deal.  Mohammed Shahin's workshop was cancelled due to insufficient venue space.
Katia has a workshop in June, which I'm still a bit hesitant about because of my lack of funds.  But I know I will have enough for Katia's Retreat in July.  MassRaqs is in September, but I don't know if I'll be taking the workshops since I'll be working the event.   Since I do finally have some job opportunities, I'm hoping that I will have enough for Katia's workshop and Retreat.  But I also hope to continue with Najmat, and I plan on continuing with Amar Gamal.

3.  Technique:  Work on my spins and my shimmies.
Luckily, we have some spins in Amar Gamal's choreography, so I get to work on my spotting there.  It's tough to do it in my apartment with the kitties running around.  But I'm still working on it!
As far as my shimmies, I feel like they come and go.  I need to work on all my shimmies, from the earthier ones to the vibration.  I usually do a bit of shimmy practice before bootcamp as a way to warm up while no one is there yet.  I might also check out some more DVD's on shimmies, especially Amar Gamal's shimmy DVD.

4.  Props:  Work on fan veil and Isis wings.
I got me a pair of Isis wings! Yay!  But I just gotta practice with them.  Again, this is really dependent on me taking time to actually get out there and practice.

5.  Buy a new costume before the year is over, and take 2 dresses to Shadia to turn into dance costumes.
I'm hoping that the second half of the year will prove to be much more fruitful in terms of my cash, so that I can at least give 1 dress to Shadia.  But otherwise, this one is on hold until the finances are in better shape.


I've definitely slacked a bit on these goals.  But, it's good to get some perspective while checking in about these goals.  Now, it's time to refocus and get on it.

Faten Salama's Al-Massraweya Workshop

On Saturday, April 30th, I went with a friend to a workshop hosted by Za-Beth that featured Faten Salama, a wonderful Native Egyptian Master Instructor.

Faten presented her Al-Massraweya Workshop, which not only featured the basics of certain styles but also a historical background to the dances.  I felt like the workshop moved so quickly, and we really could have spent much more time on each of the topics she taught.

We started with Nubian, which is from the southern part of Egypt and Sudan.  She stressed the importance of knowing the history of the dance, especially since Egypt and Sudan were basically the same country hundreds of years ago.  This dance style was quite earthy and is similar to Khaleegy, but it seems more appropriate to perform it with a group since it is folkloric.

We then did a little bit of cane in a more Ghawazee style.  It's actually quite interesting to me that this style has come up for me quite a bit in the past couple of months.  In one of Amira Jamal's classes we focused on cane, Amina Goodyear's class focused on cane, and now Faten taught us more of the basic Awalim style of using the cane.  While most people think about doing tricks with the cane, it's really about mimicking the male posture and pride.  Whereas, with the Saidi style of using the cane is a lot more playful.

After a bit of a lunch break, we returned to learn more about Melaya Leff.  I had realized that I totally had a more appropriate veil, but I just didn't pack it!  Still, practicing some of the moves she taught us with a silk veil helped, though the feel of it would be completely different with a heavier Melaya.  It was fun trying to wrap ourselves in the Melaya and then twirling it in our hands.  Melaya is such a playful dance!  I could definitely learn more about it.

Throughout the workshop, Faten would play various styles of music including pop music and would dance to them while we followed her.  It was an absolute pleasure watching her dance, and I could feel myself feeling absolutely joyful as we danced along with her.  I realized that we probably should have stayed for the show just to watch her dance, but the night ended up going in a completely different direction.

I really feel like each section of the workshop could have lasted much longer.  It was unfortunate that the day went by as quickly as it did.  Also, the space was a bit too small for the large amount of workshop participants.  We had to be careful with our canes and our Melayas, just to make sure we didn't smack someone in the face.  Hopefully, she will come around again and will have an even bigger space.

I'm definitely inspired to learn more about the styles she introduced to us.  And clearly, I need to think about using the cane a lot more, since that's what the belly dance universe seems to be trying to tell me.

Faten Salama Workshop and Participants
 It's a bit blurry..but there were a lot of pictures being taken,
and I didn't want to force it.