Should I Practice? A Helpful Chart.

Mm Mm Monday - Everyday Looper

This one has been among my favorites on YouTube for a few years. I love that this guy just whips this stuff up in realtime with an iPhone!  It does make me think about dance (yes really!). He makes it look so effortless. But you know for a fact that it took hours...days...weeks...YEARS for this guy to hone each skill he displays in this video. He didn't just mess around a little bit here and there, he has honed his musical ear, voice, and use of this tool/instrument to create this humble little video. Do you practice enough to make your art look this effortless? He is inspiring!

FAQ Spotlight: When do I get to perform?

When I was a new student, I was absolutely rabid for any new information on bellydance. I was always digging around for new details about the styles I was studying, the classes I was taking, and the teachers I was studying with (or hoped to one day study with). I know a lot of you reading this blog are the same way--you just love reading about the dance, and learning all you can in your time both in and outside of class!

It was in this spirit that I started my FAQ section on my website. I knew other dancers are just like me, and are eager to read up on various topics having to do with the dance. There is a lot to cover, but I tried to focus my questions and answers on the same topics I wondered about when I was first learning. It makes for a long FAQ, though, and it can be hard to find time to dig through it all. So I am going to occasionally post a blog entry featuring one of the FAQ topics I think you may enjoy reading. I welcome any thoughts or feedback on these topics--I am still that same eager student who loves to study and discuss all the angles of this incredible dance form!

When do I get to perform?

Performing is an exciting way to bring the joy you feel in dancing to an audience--I have been a performer all my life and can definitely vouch for what a rewarding experience it can be to take to the stage. However, it is by no means a requirement, nor is it even a "natural progression" that every dancer should one day perform. Many students are quite happy to confine their dancing to class and/or their living room, and never perform for the public, and that is absolutely fine.

Discipline: Forming Good Habits

Here follows some rambling about making this year a better year, this decade a better decade, through new habits...

Okay confession time: I have never been a very disciplined person. To be honest, and this is maybe gonna sound haughty, but as I was growing up, most things I was presented with came pretty naturally to me. Whatever I put my mind to, mentally or physically, I managed to do at least passably well. I had really fabulous parents who were always encouraging me and making new opportunities available to me, and in return I tended to deliver on those opportunities with awards, certificates, and good grades. But frankly, so long as I was delivering on the expectations put before me, nobody took a look at how it was that I was achieving what I was achieving. Nobody was looking at the habits I was forming. Namely: almost none. I didn't have to study much to get A's and B's. I didn't practice as much as I could for my choir performances, my clarinet solos, or roles in plays, but managed to know my lines and put on a decent show. So who was going to raise a fuss?

While I was above average, I wasn't really pushing myself to the upper limits I was capable of. It was easier to occupy a space below or outside of my greatest potential, rather than do the extra work to really achieve all I was capable of. This acceptable mediocrity was the timbre of my life's pursuits, and it bled into my habits in my everyday life as I grew to adulthood. The house is "clean enough"; it's not like anyone is coming over today. My organization of my files is fine; I can find everything if I dig for a little while. Sure I have some free time right now, but I have enough clean clothes to get me through the week, so that pile of laundry can wait. And the list goes on. But frankly, those little things start to pile up and weigh on you over time. I can attest, it is a demoralizing feeling to look around and realize that for the longest time you haven't cared enough to do a few little things that would have made such a difference in your attitude and your daily experiences.

So today when I look around at my life, I want more for myself! I want to be more proactive. I want to take those little extra steps daily that build into long-term gains. I have the potential to achieve more than I currently have, in my domestic life, my business, and my creative outlets. So why is it so hard to motivate myself to make change, even tiny little ones? Because I haven't established habits which support the basic structure I imagine for my ideal life. I am out of practice with regard to how to set up a system of support for MYSELF. How did I get to 35 and not have these skills? I look back and see that I was always doing just enough, but never all that I was capable of. This year is a year to jump on the motivation train and finally step up and defend myself against myself. It's time to make some new habits. It's time to be more disciplined.

A student's epiphany...

I have students who drive quite a distance to study with me--a fact I find speaks more to their dedication to the dance than any special skill I have in my teaching bag of tricks. A handful drive as much as an hour and a half to come to class every week, and I just want to squeeze the bejeezus out of them for their commitment and enthusiasm! Kat is one such student, and is even more remarkable than most. Not only does she drive so far (often alone now that some of her friends she used to commute with have conflicts and can't come to class each week any longer); but she has overcome some incredible struggles with her health as well, culminating in a kidney transplant about a year ago, from which she is recovering beautifully and is healthier and stronger than ever, I am pleased to report! Combined with many dance and life commitments in her own town, I don't get to see her as often as I used to, which is our loss. Kat has an incredible energy that everyone in the room can feel--to meet Kat is to love her, truly--always with a smile, a positive word, a hug, a laugh.