Mm Mm Monday - Gypsy Moor Dancers

The Gypsy Moor Dancers were the precursor, if you will, to Hahbi 'Ru. Created by Mish Mish (the original Bay Area Mish Mish), one of the notable members was future Hahbi'Ru director John Compton. There's a story there, which I am not the one to tell, but later John left to create his own group, as we well know, and many of the same songs and dances were to be part of their iconic repertoire. Case and point, this video with their traditional procession followed by an old beloved song and dance, Jamilo.

Student Spotlight - Shannon!

Name: Shannon or "Shan"
Age: 25
Profession: CNA and student nurse (hopefully RN soon!)
Hobbies: This is the stuff I do when I'm not in class, studying, in clinical's, or working, right? Uh... generally sleep. When I can. Hopefully I get to do that again soon. Other than that, I'm trying to learn how to hula hoop -- it's... going. And I try to play with a heavy camera sometimes...

How long have you been studying bellydance: I started in May(ish) last year, and took a (2-3 session long?) hiatus while adjusting to school, but I am happily back in the mix!

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

To be honest, I don't have a distinct moment where I remember seeing it; I had seen a couple of routines when I was little that were LOOSELY based on belly dance, to one degree or another, but nothing like ATS in the least. ATS arrived only after I googled "Bellydance classes Seattle" one evening (on a whim), but once I fell into that rabbit hole, the take away from the youtube videos was "They look like they're having a blast", and that totally sold me.

Waiting on the Weight - holding ourselves back for "someday"

Seems about 75% of the time when I am chatting women up about what I do, their first reaction is "Oh, I would love to do that!" followed by "Maybe when I lose a few pounds I'll join up..." It may be even more than 75% of the time, I am being generous. I always tell them that joining a dance class is a great way to either lose those pounds OR learn to love yourself without needing to lose any weight. I give a brief elevator spiel about how in my classes, bellydance is about strength, empowerment, and confidence. You don't necessarily walk in with it, but my job is to make sure you walk out with it!

My yoga friends are well familiar with the similar phenomenon of "I can't take yoga. I'm not flexible!" Why is this sentiment so prevalent? Why do we set so many plans on the "some day" shelf, placing barriers between what we're doing now or where we are now, and what we want to do and where we want to be?

Just this week a friend posted a link to this article on seibellaboudoir.com, which explores this idea from her experience as a boudoir photographer.

"Women have a habit of putting their lives on hold because of their weight.  If they’re a size 16, they want to be a size 12.  If they’re a size 12, they want to be a size 8.  They promise themselves that they’ll have the courage to approach a guy at a bar, or wear a bikini to the beach, or finally wear that skimpy red dress that “doesn’t fit quite right”."

What do we perceive the benefit of this delay to be? In fact, the delay is only going to make reaching your goals that much more difficult. After all, if you started playing guitar a year ago, this year you would have a year of experience playing guitar! But if you keep saying you'll start next week...

So what are you waiting for? Have you always wanted to try a bellydance class? Then start TODAY!  If you're in Seattle, then I hope you will come try a class with me at Deep Roots Dance. But if you live in another city, guaranteed there is a class somewhere near you. Find it, and for goodness sake, stop waiting and GO!

Mm Mm Monday - Nawar Troupe Slovenia

These ladies SELL the sass. So joyful, so committed to their movement, their energy was completely infectious. All the way from Slovenia, I present to you: Nawar and their Saidi and Iraqi folk dance.

Fabulous Friday - Starlight in Her Hair