Page:
arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
so no, as a disclaimer, i'm not good or anything. i only know a little bit. as a dancer, it's how i move anyway, all snakey, but i'm not like the belly dance king or anything. i can move, and make it look pretty belly dance esque. but learning how to REALLY belly dance is helping me get my *ahem* hip area more invloved in my dancing without looking like a dorky white guy at a nasty boody rubbin R&B concert trying to get some... convulsin an gyratin and people callin da ambulance...

but i'm finding that i am of a rare breed indeed... any other guys out there belly dance? any? at all?

it is soooo good for your spine!!!! and let's not forget they have a way better version of "the wave" than breakdancers...

anyway... here's a really cool site with some instruction links that has been helping me, if anyone's interested... my favorite so far is the "belly dance with boticelli" site.

belly dance instruction on the web

[ 01. January 2003, 16:13: Message edited by: arashi ]

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
panel skirt, yeah, with shorter panels front and back and longer panels at the sides (btl moves, got lots and lots of them), with the harem pants, and a armored belt, and a ceremonial armor vest/shirt with arm danglies and a cool necklace, and a leather and steel ceremonial helmet with my dreads poking out the top like a rooster, and a bump for my NEW BELLY DANCING SABRE . and pale abs stickin out with henna vinework with feathery accents and tribal faery patterns. that's what i think we're going for.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


Raphael96SILVER Member
old hand
899 posts
Location: New York City, USA


Posted:
Belly dancing is great!




Raph

arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
actually pele, ami's are cool but i REEEEEEEEEALLY like the chest circles with the knee bend/back dip embellishment, with the snake arms thrown in for good measure it becomes positively yummy. i think it's called a turkish or something. really flexes those abs and shows them off for the gals and it's like a backbend but i don't even have to bend backwards!
3/4 shimmies, with the turns, jesus.. how much fun is this?
one florentine is a 1/4 shimmy turn, two is a full, a snake hand means this and a wrist circle means that, for fugs sake, now i have soooo many "cues" to memorise! this is gonna get tough real quick... better go easy on the

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
So..um...Raph. When are you ganna dance for us?

Can I make a suggestion arashi? Lose some of the armor plating and lose the panels on the sides and I think you have a winner. Part of the point of the dance is to show your movements, especially on the top and the hips, and if you look at all bellydancers, not just tribal, the costumes are flowy or bendable and tight. even the jewelry, though metal, has give and sway to it. If you wear alot of metal plates, even the smaller size ones, you lose the effect of the nuances of the moves, which can seem drastic to the dancer but subtle to the audience.
Panel skirts, by definition, are a panel in front and one in back. With contrasting color harem pants the hips are INCREDIBLY ennunciated and the effect is tremendous. Putting panels on all four "quarters" of the hips hides them more than bringing them out and does nothing to accent them. But this is all from my experience of experimenting with such things. I make panel skirts if you need/want pieces or designs.

Most of the Turkish moves in Tribal are actually derrived from the Male folk dances because the movements are stronger. The female variations are very hip/pelvis heavy. Are you talking Turkish Drop? Time honored, zesty move. Always a pleaser.

Cues are alot. The fun thing is when it comes to recognizing one floreo from another. And then once you get past the 27 FCBD basics and start to really develope...you go into "yip and trills" which are vocal cues as well as made up cues for your troupe and such. It is really fun but it is alot of hard work and memorizing. I have a journal I keep of cues to moves so that I can keep them straight. And then you get all into workshops with people who have different moves with similar cues etc..and the fun continues..

Will you all be attending Rakahsa East(sp??) in October? We will be sharing the stage with Domba from what I am told, which is a dream and honor for me. AND it is my birthday weekend so I am looking to party! And I can not wait for some of the workshops being offered, way tasty!

Which reminds me, how do you like zils? I am not fond of them but at least the motion saves the wrist tendons from the strength of the proper c-hold for the hands.

Congrats on the Sabre. I am in love with mine, and have been. In fact I am in a wedding this Friday (for one of the members of my troupe) and we are each balancing our swords on our heads as we walk down the aisle. Much fun to be had, just please don't balance it on your chin. It is the dumbest looking thing...sorry...pet peeve. Wait til you move up to water urns and candleabras. Start working up your neck muscles now.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
mmmm, turkish drops (drool)
well, i'm thinking in layers. the armor would be more like a vest jacket that i could take off. more for eating and transfer tricks, flamenco stuff (someday), and probably even nonbelly chains, whip, and nunchaku, and also for effect (hopefully it will just plain look good). then next i've got the tight shirt or bare under it for all the belly dancing.
i'm sure you're right about the panel skirt, too... but i at least wanna try and see how it looks, man i really have a narrow waist, 30 inches, (though my obliques are getting bigger thanks to mya's and shimmies) and i think it might help to put _something_ else out there! tassles, cowries, etc., even some pieces of plate mail to match with the rest... but i will definitely make it so i can cut off the sides easily. actually you are right, it would look smaller. but see, i'm mixing in other styles, too, not just belly. mostly it's to account for my chains, with btl moves. i could do two layers, one with side panels underneath the 2nd layer panel skirt, and i could just take the sides off during belly and velcro them in for the other stuff.
been mixing together poi, whip, machete, and staff moves in with my new sabre... along with some cool dancey sword moves that i picked up at a fencing competition recently thanks to raphael96's coming to town... then layering them on top of some belly flore turns, wow am i having fun... wish i could show you! people at the spin jam tonight just got that staring glaze...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


Raphael96SILVER Member
old hand
899 posts
Location: New York City, USA


Posted:
quote:
Originally posted by Pele:
So..um...Raph. When are you ganna dance for us?
When pigs fly and there is pork in the trees!

I'm a fencer, not a dancer.

Raph

DJ DantanaBRONZE Member
veteran
1,495 posts
Location: Stillwater, Ok. USA


Posted:
saber

I saw one in a shop the other day.... a little wicking down the back and it would be perfect... nice wide blade to reflect the fire...

we eat and we drink and we smoke and we try!


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Raph, is there a problem with multitasking in your world? Why not do both?

DJ..When you bellydance with a sword, the wicking goes down the blade instead of the back because the back is usually balancing on a body part. But yes, Sabers are a nice fire sword, but when the wicking goes down the back, reflection looks good for all of 10 secs before heat corrosion and smokey deposits kick in, ya know? Too bad metal doesn't come in shiny and non-effected by piddely things like heat and flame! How is your dancing coming along? Dio wants me to come teach you, without grossing everyone out.

arashi, I mix fire with bellydance, flamenco (trained long ago in that), african, spanish, hip-hop and modern and have for awhile and I must admit, I still have no idea where you are coming from with the extreme costumes. Personally, and I am sure it is different for everyone, layers make me feel bulky and I know that no matter what I am doing I do not feel comfortable in them while performing, which is why I show my belly in Tribal, even though I do not have one worthy of showing. I tend to wear costumes that are super versitile. For me, and again this is purely a personal choice, not only do I want the audience to see the movements of my body with the tools as they flow together (hopefully) but I want to see that in a performer as well. I have seen fire performers laden with armor (leather and metal) and it looks awkward, in my opinion. But as I said, try it as it is really a personal taste. I am curious as to how it will all work out.


As for the panel skirt, sure try it, but 4 panels doesn't make you look bigger ...it hides your hips so the movements aren't ennunciated, which is why two panels and contrasting harem pants are suggested as the burst of color from the pattern of the panel really makes your hips stand out. if you want side danglies, here is where chainmaille comes in (try making it into tassles), or cowry shells, cotton tassles dipped into retardent or even beaded fringe holds up well (and I am working on a way to make that into good tassles). Lots of options for non-flamable danglies that ennunciated rather than hide. Again, in my very humble opinion, your best bet is a bead fringe with cowry shell accent because they don't get tangled in the chains/staves/ropes/fans/torches ...you get the idea.

Right now I am working on my inverted snake arms. Because of the inflexibility of the elbow in this direction they are a bit more challenging to get smoothe but look cool because of added dimension. The foot crawl with snake arms and head slides is also challenging to get smoothe, only because it is supposed to be absolutely fluid with no bumpyness to it, which can be hard with a foot crawl. I love the challenge.

BTW...I love the idea of vine on the tummy. Having it go with the musculature creates such a nice illusion of exaggerated movement that is always tasty. Very nice. Then again, my henna is almost always in vines on me. I have this thing for vines that I just can't explain.

So, is your group going to be amongst the lineage of tatooed ones someday? Everyone in my troupe has at least one, most of us more and we get them commented on alot, especially those peices that somehow seem to work with the dance. Just curious as to if you have explored that part of tribal, and have you come up with your dots and lines yet?

[ 10. July 2003, 03:19: Message edited by: Pele ]

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
are you kidding? i'm the only (old school) one without tummy tattoos
sage has them (everywhere and) on her lower back, spiderweb like wrapping fluer de lume (sp?)(heck is that even the right word?) design, and zarah has (everywhere and) bonelike tribal vines wrapped around her waist. baru has (everywhere and) a huge belly piece that goes all the way up to her chest. me, i'm going with more of the tribal faery vine work, it will be a little psychedelic but mostly vine-like. passionflower or grape. maybe some bugs settled on it, a slightly dark dragonfly or two then there's the upper back wings...

also when i say plate i don't mean ARMOR really, more like ceremonial slightly armored fabric, think african or israeli small cut out plates, that are shaped and patterned, there would be very little overlapping, and the metal would be riveted to an underlayer of leather. more like art nouveau vinework/ribbons cut out in metal, with perhaps the shoulders and a fencing collar built up to a more armorlike area, but still light and minimal, thin steel maybe even nickel or aluminum. ever see strictly ballroom? like the vest he is wearing in the end, sort of solid but still moveable. but hey, these are still ideas. (i need MANLINESS, i'm trying to get hit on less by all the male pigs out there, those gay guys are shameless! and i'm so straight you could use my ass to draw blueprints.)

and yes i'm scrapping the panel sides, maybe just thin strips of a light (striped ) cloth trailing down the side of the thighs... what i want is something to flare out when i spin, but not get in the way of my chains. so i can't make the front and back panels too big, lots of the btl turns/btb btl turns would totally be screwed. the girls will be wearing skirts, and i want to blend in as much as i can for the group stuff.

luckily i've been doing snakearms for years, in my own style of liquid, so i have a _pretty_ decent inverted snake arm. you mean with the elbow down, right? but doing the crawl with the head slide and foot work is hard! i like those inverteds with the fire bowls in the hands, that i do. and the "teacup" moves are great too, now if i could just memorise all those flore turns with the arabesques i'll be rockin
last night i was teaching my belly teacher tashar poi stuff and i had so much fun... she's been cramming all this belly stuff down my throat, i finally got to get her back , showing her my isolation exercises for poi moves... she was sweating by the end of it! feel the burn muwahaha!

Rakahsa East? haven't heard of it. (tashar has been telling us a lot about pennsic, though.) i'll look it up, if it's not too far maybe i could just fly there for a quick jaunt. halloween is both my birthday and our annual big fire show day, many many many hundreds come each year so october's usually pretty busy for me. but i'd love to see you do your thing!

santana, really, how's it coming? you've been lurking a bit

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Inverted is elbow side of amr aimed down but giant sized snake arms don't look fluid enough for me. I do them with candle dance, fans, etc...but I still want them better...always more fluid, you know?

Rakhasa East is in New Jersey. It is the biggest gathering of Bellydancers in the country. It takes place over the course of one weekend (around the 16th of Oct) and consists of nothing but continual performances, workshops and vending. It is a bellydancers wet dream. The best teach there and it is really incredible, and affordable, at $10 to get in! I think Rakhasa West happens in the spring sometime. I'll have to double check. When I get more info I'll pass it on to you. It is exactly one month before Motion Fest East and I think around the same weekend as the Pheonix Rising Fest so there is alot going on for me, but I am making time to do Rakahsa, it is soooo worth it!

Have you done the neck rolls with the saber? Powerful moves when palm receiving it. The thing with combining the moves is having to be particular. The hilt should ALWAYS be on the left and the hands should NEVER touch the blade edge...big taboo that I saw someone break recently and it looked sooo sloppy. Adjusting the moves to include this takes some finesse but it neat. I am trying to get from a sword figure 8 to a neck wrap to cloud pushing to a hip balance smoothely. From there the balanced seated positions and a head to belly flick with flutter and roll I think would be a really lovely presentation. What do you think?

as far as Tat's, I know that Sage and them had tat's but I also wasn't sure how many were in your group, and whether or not you are getting dance specific ones. Some groups get their tats and work in a hidden group tat into the design that everyone in the troupe has. I like the idea but right now I am the only one in my group with a tat that can accomodate such a concept. Is this troupe an extension of your fire troupe then or seperate?

And...have you looked into veil work or double veil work? Oh so similar to poi, flags and such....and double veil with a barrel roll and windmill turn is really incredible. Yummy!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
well, first i should say that we are like a herd of cats, this tribal dance thing will hopefully pull us closer together. group tats like that would be too much commitment at this stage. we're more like solo artists who collaborate sometimes, we each have ourr own careers. anyways i wanna go join this cool troupe in NY i keep hearing about but seriously, there's people/circuses in other parts of the country i work with too.
sword/neck rolls, tried them a total of... twice now. the sword keeps wanting to tilt back and forth! but i'll get it, just takes practice practice practice. OOPS been doing the hilt on the right, FUX PAS i guess. but i'm right handed and that's just what i've been doing. good thing i found out early! thanks!

quote:
I am trying to get from a sword figure 8 to a neck wrap to cloud pushing to a hip balance smoothely. From there the balanced seated positions and a head to belly flick with flutter and roll I think would be a really lovely presentation. What do you think?


sounds imcredible, i think i have a lot of work to do... now i know how people feel when i talk about airwraps... only had my sword for a few days, still haven't even tried the hip balance thing yet... (runs upstairs)

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


Raphael96SILVER Member
old hand
899 posts
Location: New York City, USA


Posted:
quote:
Originally posted by Pele:
Raph, is there a problem with multitasking in your world? Why not do both?
I just don't move that way. I prefer to watch girls who have that kind of control then trying to do it myself.

Raph

PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
arashi..I'm stupid and when I typed that last night I had just gotten in from rehearsals and was tired (and thinking in terms of this way and that way, not right left )...the right, the hilt goes on the right.....sorry!

My big issue with neck wrapping is not grabbing the blade. Still working that through. My theory on the whole thing is that it takes practice and patience, and while patience is a virtue, I am not very virtuous!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
bumping this cause i'm sick of searching through the boards to find it...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
We are going to try American Tribal Bellydance which is more earthy

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Ive done a little belly dance, bit of sword stuff and a little firepoi but havent seen the firesword dancing work before. Sounds an absolutely fabulous combination. Tell me more

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


Raphael96SILVER Member
old hand
899 posts
Location: New York City, USA


Posted:
belly dancing rocks!

I can't wait to see more at Pennsic.

Raph

DentrassiGOLD Member
ZORT!
3,045 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
ive got a belly, but it cant dance too well. it can wobble quite effectively, and can expand to a remarkable size. does that count?

"Here kitty kitty...." - Schroedinger.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
gnor, in Perth there is an American Tribal Style group that teach. I'll check on the name and get back to you. Anyway, later this year I will be visiting New Zealand and Aus, and have been asked to do some workshops in American Fusion Bellydance while I am there. I will let you know if/when I end up in Perth!

Dentrassi...ummmm...it's a start!

arashi...what have you been working on and what costume did you decide on? I am, as we speak, taking a break from beading for the tassles I am making for a new costume piece. I am also rechoreographing some routines, giving them a bit more flavah. We (one of the girls in the troupe and I) just performed at the New York Institute of Dance and Education. Standing ovation. Not bad since we had only been rehearsing one of the choreographies we reworked since 3 that day and we took the stage at 8pm, taking one hour for transit and two for getting into gear. We were sooooo excited!
Okay...just had to share!
Been neglecting fire sooooo much for dancing lately, and it needs to change as I have a fire only show on Sat night! Ahhhhh!

Hugs and happy shimmies to all!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
funny you should ask. our first belly troupe show is this saturday *gasp* less than a week away! still working on the costume... for now i will just have a really cool panel skirt, a new pair of japanesse hakama, a skin tight midriff shirt, and lots of cool afghani jewelry embellishing all. we're going skin freindly this time around, for lack of costumery
we are not doing improv performance yet, just choreographed belly routines that look fairly tribal in style, same basic movements. but aside from that, arabics, (the dreaded) turkish shimmies (man that's a lot of moving to do in one little beat ), maya drops, taxim rises, flore turns, shimmies, snake walks, chest embellishments, even a couple of backbends, lots of line changes and patterns, weaving and such, and some west african moves, along with some indian stuff too. we are all so excited, it's just like being newbies again! man i'm tired...
haven't _even_ had time to practice my stilt dancing solo... *where did i put those things?!?!*
sage will be at pennsic, in the lost girls camp. but i will not be attending, getting the bus ready for burning man will pretty much eat up the rest of my month. AND any money that i may make for the next god knows how long.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
i am also happy to say that my backbends, while not perfect or anything, are coming along quite nicely thanks though i am much better at them while on the floor...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!

just saw the "belly dance superstars" on tour with lollapalooza. an absolute must see. 10 of the sweetest, sexiest gals in the whole wide world.
so, now, pele, which ones are your friends? i'm not to good with names but a brief description would suffice, i'm guessing the tall, long brown haired cabaret dancer, and maybe the choreographer? anways i'm going to bed i'll write more soon...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
There is one that looks spanish and one that looks asian. They are from Bellyqueen and are part of the Desert Roses. I have studied with Jillina.

All are amazing....I could only dream of being a fraction of how good they are!

SO................how did your show go?????? You touched on doing it but never followed through! Ack!

We are having dissent amongst the ranks in our troupe and I am thinking of going solo for a bit, or looking for a new troupe. Though we are working on innovation things, which is cool so...
I dunno...*le sigh*

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
now, the asian one i remember... keishi. such a sweetie, and cute! spanish? there were two or three that could fit that description. jilliana- was she the one doing all the barrel turns, big eyes, one of the more advanced in the crew, did a veil dance? meeeow. i was in heaven! course i was busy doing my makeup and costumery (so were they), so i couldn't really hang out too much. but i sure wanted to strap myself to the top of that bus!!!

the show went really well, everybody said they loved it... i got lots of pretty girls telling me i did great, i could start a thread to go with yours now, called "on being the sexy one" it's nice to not be the "sweet" one anymore... of course we were all really picky and were totally unhappy with every single missed cue and accidental extra beat of shimmy here and there... we can't wait to build on the choreography some more, make it better... hopefully i won't forget it all by the time i get back from BM! (that's burning man, not bowel movement)

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
SO glad to hear it! I know what BM is silly! But if you do too many belly rolls you end up with the other one!

Everyone around here is getting set for Rakkasah now. There is so much new choreography flying around. We are currently doing a fusion of two of the most unlikely styles of dance with the most unlikely style of music...but I think it will be really cool in the end. To perform at Rakkasah takes essentially 3 full numbers. We are doing one folky inspired but *really* upbeat. One taqsim/toxim garunteed to take your breath away and your blood to rush elsewhere! And the combo one that will just (hopefully) get people laughing. I love that the movements in Bellydance can be combined with any style really.

Oh and I took the yummiest workshop with Ranya..who I just adore anyway. She taught this sassy fan choreography that is laced with spanish influence but is primarily middle eastern. It is something that can be done really theatrically and has some of the most elaborate turn and lock-drop sequences. Oh My GODS!!!!!!!!! Two full body rotations in less than 1 beat...it is amazing!

Anyway....I babble...
Congrats my friend and I hope the inspiration continues. I am also thankful they are using scu wonderful women on that tour because Bellydance has been in the media alot lately and it is more often than not represented by people who are less than able but look like Barbie in sequins. Nothing gets to me more than that! Yay!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
yeah that's REALLY funny cause every time we get to the belly roll part of our rehearsals sage runs off to the potty and comes back with a big grin so it's not just her...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
well, pele, here's a small part of the top half of my costume, without the makeup, lots more head decorations, and a few necklace and wrist frills. (actuall this is me after quite a few hours of belly dancing to really good music.) there'll be a better photo of the whole thing someday. okay there's not much in this picture but really the necklace is the cool thing, it's a great piece, i wish i had a better photo for you, it has lapus and red glass inlays. i am so loving my costume, i can't wait to show you a good pic, but this'll have to do for now...

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EDITED_BY: arashi (1135851017)

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Can I make a couple of suggestions? Spray bleach a pattern into the black top to give it more texture, and a few more coins over lapping, mix it up with more shells.
You have a KUCHI!!!!! I love Kuchi necklaces/chokers. Mine is lapis with multi-colored glass. They are so fabulous. And if/when something goes wrong or you want a change up...they break down into great individual pieces for other costume pieces!

We are currently choreographing our pieces for Rakkasah. One of them is a very "The peasants rejoice" folk inspired dance. The other two are nothing I can explain...except to say..we are fusion and these prove it!

As per my prodding we are doing the day-glo gypsy thing, cause I want to get away from dark and earth tone tribal, which is nice but now overdone for my taste. We are a colorful group so we want to be colorful in presentation. (to give you a hint, I have neon-orange fishnets worked into my costume! )

I'll post when we get photo's! Yay!
I want to see a whole one too when you are done...

And btw..the story about Sage and bellyrolls cracked me up!

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
yes, i agree, the shirt does look a bit bare in this pic. usually there's a few more chains hanging down that sort of "fill in " the large black field of the shirt. is it okay, as far as authenticity, to bleach? i guess it would make it moreso as long as it's light, to keep it more of a fabric textural thing... as far as the coins on the bottom, i wasn't sure how to layer in another row of coin ribbon without making it too busy. when i get more money i may even put a row of horizontal cowry ribboning to fill in the bottom above the coins. just wait til you see my pants, belt, and panel skirt! you will rub yo thang on the computer screen with delight!

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


arashiPooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx


Posted:
abs are still burning from practice tonight...
been doing belly dance specific workouts and weight training. i tell ya, the hardest obstacle for me is really getting the fronts of my chest and shoulders flexible enough to do snake arms and seaweeds properly, shoulders down, for a while without killing myself. been spending lots of time in doorways ubbtickled and in my hot tub ubbrollsmile
just learned "oomi" (sp?) correct form... i had seen a dancer do it, and tried just copying it, but i was taking the roll movement from the hip bones rather than the center of the you know what area rolleyes and now they look even better, esp. after doing a couple of "sideways belly rolls" and flutters rolleyes. man you should see my flutters biggrin i ruv'em! but it's hard to do a flutter as a guy and not feel a bit silly. i did my first largish crowd belly/sabre solo at our halloween show, five hundreds at least, and when i did the flutter some girls went "ooh!" and some guys went "whaaa?" and i swear my face must've turned beet red redface
Pele-been working on doing flutters while holding breath, then doing some quick "breath of fire" type breathing while still fluttering to catch some air, and then continuing the flutter with held breath. tashar says she think it's not good to try to breathe and flutter together, but i wonder, is it just bad form, or detrimental? i'd like to think that it's okay to just catch a quick breath and keep it going the whole while. what do you think?
how's your group doing, still working with them?
just wanted to say, still at it, working every day, even found the drive to pick up my poi again, cause we start filming for the training video weavesmiley soon and i swear my poi form has gone to crap. umm

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.


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