I was browsing through YouTube and found a link to "Indian Tribal Fusion". I wasn't particularly impressed by that video, but followed a few more links to see what this style was all about. I then came across Irina Akulenko dancing Indian fusion.
I no nothing of Indian dancing, except that it is intertwined with religion and has very strict rules that must be followed. Fusion dance has only 1 rule (in my mind); honour the art forms and cultures you are fusing. This is the first time I've seen Indian tribal fusion and as I have no knowledge of Indian dance I can't really comment on any issues with appropriation, but I do think her performance is moving and soulful.

It's (nearly the end of) February! That means it's Zills Appreciation Month. I can't possibly let that slip by without doing at least one post on zills.
My latest zill choreography is coming along nicely. We have a large variety of dancers at different levels learning it, so we are taking it very slowly.
What excites me about this choreography is how dynamic the zill patterns are. In the past, we've always danced with a repetitive pattern, with breaks and accents when the music dictates. This time round I'm changing up the patterns as the body movements and the music inspire me to. I'm growing in my zilling and my choreographing!
And grow we must! Stagnation is a very real dilemma in every art form. If you are not challenging yourself, you cannot grow as an artist. Even the best of the best need to have new challenges in order to continue to be the best. You don't want to watch a beautiful dancer only perform the same 3 dances (or ones that look pretty much the same) over and over for years.

Here is a snippet from last weeks practice. We often video ourselves so that we can see where we need work, where we are out of sync, etc... The first thing that struck me in this video was our flappy arms. We will be working on that tomorrow night.

On the weekend we did our 3rd ever Princess Jasmine birthday party. We had about 15 little princesses in shimmy belts, dancing the "Princess Jasmine" dance (a very easy combo repeated to the movie's title song).
Little girls (and boys) love the movie "Aladdin" (Disney, 1992), and these opportunities should be used to enlighten both the young children and their parents at the parties. How many opportunities do you get to expose a group of children, from a Westernised society, to Arabic or Middle Eastern dance/culture? With the current ugliness happening in the world, I think it's important to expose young people to many different cultures and teach them about the differences and similarities. It's only through true education (not fear-mongering, biased education) that we can banish these fears of "the other".

I find it very interesting that in a society (South African) that not only doesn't understand belly dance but believes it to be inappropriate, we are finding parents that are not just willing but excited to have belly dancers at their young children's birthday parties. My hope is that people are becoming more educated, willing to learn, and open to new experiences. That is how I see these Princess Jasmine parties, an opportunity to expose young people to belly dance and educate them about the art form it truly is.

Day 21: My 2017 Belly Dance Goal/s

This is the last day in the 21 day challenge. It took me a lot longer than 21 days, but I still finished it!

This year I'd really like to get a qualification in belly dance. I don't know how important it is to have a piece of paper that says you can dance or teach, but I guess it's always good to have one just in case. I say this because I've met and know of many dancers with qualifications, yet they aren't great dancers and they really aren't good teachers either; and some dancers that are absolutely stunning and teach well, yet have no qualification but years of experience and an extensive knowledge of the body and dance
I would like to do Keti Sharif's A-Z Bellydance, but I'm struggling to find time for training with homeschooling 2 kids and having to keep my end of the studio running. So I'm not sure at what point I'll be getting my syllabus and finding time to train.
I would also like to get more known the South African belly dance community. I am going to the East London festival (where I will be giving an zills workshop), Miss Belly Dance South Africa in Johannesburg (not to compete for the title), and the Theatrical Oriental Dance Festival in Cape Town.
For our studio, I would like to grow it more; both in the classes and the performance sides of the company. Gigs were scarce last year, so getting more clients for parties and events is one of our goals.
We are also trying a few new things, such as monthly workshops, mixed level choreographies and a new formats for each class. We always try to stay dynamic and change things up to find what works best for each class and the individuals in it.

Day 20: Shimmy Video!!

This was taken by my husband a few years back.

Day 19: I Love Belly Dance Because...

I love belly dance because it gives me space to be me. I can use my body to express my soul and release myself.
I can share my passion and create a safe environment for women to nurture themselves, simply through teaching them this art form.
I love that belly dance can bring about such positive change in not only my, but my students and friends lives.
I can nurture my body with exercise designed for my body.
I can entertain people with my flawed body and be beautiful. I can share my enjoyment with my audience. I also love being able to dress up in sparkles and beautiful materials.
I love learning about the different cultures and dances from the different regions.
I have and will continue to become more aware of culture and cultural differences. I have and will continue to honour those cultures and cultural differences as best I can.
Through belly dance I have become more socially aware and I have changed immensely.
I love belly dance because it's beautiful, it's nurturing, and it makes us better people.

Image: I don't know the artist. This image has tens of thousands of pins on pinterest and I could not trace it back to it's original source. Sorry.

Day 18: My Favourite Me Dance Style

I'm still working on finding what my style is exactly. I know it's fusion, but exactly what kind of fusion remains to be explored.

Here's a video of my latest solo.

Day 17: My Dream Costume

One day I'd like to find a professional costume that actually fits me properly. That's the real dream!

Back in 2009, Tenille Lindeque-Joshua had this stunning emerald green costume. The skirt looked like a ball gown. I don't remember the the rest of it, but it was all peacock colours and that skirt really stuck out for me.

My dream dress exists in my head. That skirt, peacock colours, beautiful jewels and it fits properly.

Day 16: My Belly Dance BFF/s

I have a close group of belly dance BFFs. We are friends outside of the art form too.
I don't have a photo with all of us together, so I'll have to do multiple.

My "inner circle" members are Melanie, Termare and Karla. Joining the circle now are Ruthie and Melissa (pretty sure our trip to East London in May will cement things in).

Wings (not that you can see their faces): Termare, Melanie
Veils (not that you can see the veils): Ruthie, Karla
Sword (not that you can see that either): Me

We took this photo on our way to Purple Belly Bus last year. We sent the picture to Ruthie as part as an in-house joke. We had told her the night before we would be having a Threesome in the car.

Melanie, Termare, Me

My current "inner circle". Taken at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
Karla, Me, Termare, Mel

My biggest BFF is Melanie of course. We are such different people but we are tight.

TODF2016 Hafla.

P.S. Whenever we take selfies or group photos, we usually do one (or the first few) with nice smiles and then another (bunch) with silly faces.

Day 14: My Belly Dance Class Selfie

We took this last night after Advanced and before my fusion choreography practice.

Front row left to right: Ruthie, me, Melanie
Back row left to right: Melissa, Karla

I'll have to skip day 14 and come back to it (I need to take a selfie still).

Day 15: My Favourite Choreography.

This is hard!
I'm busy with a new fusion choreography and I don't have any clips of it. I think it's going to be a good one. When it's finished and been filmed I will share it with you.

Right now, my favourite already done choreography is my zills trio. We all like it and it's gotten some very good feedback from dancers who have seen us performing it. Once again, I don't have a video of it. The first time we performed it, the videographer did such a poor job that it's unusable, and the videos from Purple Belly Bus and the Theatrical Oriental Dance Festival are not available yet.

So look forward to seeing those film clips in the future!

Image: The only picture I have of us performing my zills.

Day 12: My Favourite Prop

If you count zills as a prop (I know some don't) then that would be my favourite. I also enjoy balancing things on my head, so swords and trays are also high up on my list (I haven't had the opportunity to try shamadan).

I don't seem to gravitate towards flowing props; like veils, wings and fan veils. This is why I am trying to expand and challenge myself this year, by creating a veil and double veil mixed choreography.

I did enjoy cane stick when we learnt it many years ago but I haven't been drawn to create a choreography for it.

So... What's my favourite prop? Zills on my fingers and metal on my head!

Day 11: My Favourite Dance Quote

I'm not a person for inspirational quotes and motivational posters.

I don't have any dance quotes that are inspirational.
I don't have any dance quotes to motivate.
I don't have any dance quotes than are humorous.
I don't have any dance quotes that speak underlying truths.
I don't have any dance quotes from famous dancers.
I don't have any dance quotes about the love of dance.
I don't have any dance quotes that are anecdotal.

The only thing I can give you, is something my late teacher, Janka Kliment, used to say a lot in class...

"Again"

Day 10: My Biggest Fan

I've never really thought about fans.

The word "fan" is short for "fanatic", which is a person who has an excessive zeal for a cause or belief. While "fanatic" is used more for people into a political cause or religious belief, "fan" is used for people obsessed with a celebrity.

I'm not a celebrity and I don't think anyone is obsessed about me (except for my kids, but that's not abnormal for 5 year olds). So that means we are looking at a more toned down level of fan. Basically, someone who supports you and encourages you.

In that case my biggest fan is probably Melanie. She is always there, encouraging and rooting for me.

Day 9: In My Dance Bag

It's no secret that my zills stay in my handbag, which goes everywhere with me. You never know, I might be shopping and suddenly need them.

In my dance bag is usually a shimmy belt, a scarf without coins, a veil or 2, water, a snack, my dance shoes, dance diary, pen, and jersey in case it's cold after class.

My dance bag is different to my gig bag. That has safety pins, makeup, some form of shimmer or glitter, spare everything! and business cards, added to the dance bag.