My Blog

Hit, wave, and roll - Funkifying your bellydance and bellydancifying your funk.

Rosanna — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:11:52 GMT

My first (and last for the forseeable future) dance workshop in the Bay Area. Hit, wave, and roll - How to funk-ify your bellydancing and applying bellydance technique to funk styles and hip hop. We will be going over how to utilize bellydance technique to create illusory effects in popping, contracting different muscle groups to create a hit, breaking down boogaloo rolls in bellydance terminology, and flipping arm waves inside and out. I will also be discussing different dance styles that are commonly performed with popping, and the distinction between popping and locking. Saturday July 18th 3-5pm $30 in advance, $35 at the door. City Dance Studios 10 Colton St San Francisco http://www.citydance.org/map/ To sign up, you can paypal me at cleoflaptra@gmail.com. Contact me for my snail mail address if you want to send a check (or you can try and find me in person).

Tribal Fest Recap!!!!!

Rosanna — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:00:49 GMT

So, I ended up having a blast at TF this year, I'm so glad I went. I got to perform twice, at the Friday afterparty with Amar and DJ Dragonfly (who was great). A big thanks to Amar for letting me dance. And, as a last minute fill in, I performed at 1:42 on Saturday afternoon. I already had my wig and makeup done, and got the call as I was driving over to the fest. I'm glad I followed the 4 Ps - Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance, so I did not have to go on stage like a half make up drag queen (NOT PRETTY). After which I got to relax for the entire weekend, hang out, and enjoy the dancing (AND SHOPPING!!). I was lucky enough to stay with a bunch of hot potters, so i had lots of great peeps to hang out with. Much better than last year when i knew only a few people. So hears my performance highlight list for this year. It reads pretty much like last year (scroll back to see)... 1. Zoe - Zoe's my favourite. Nuff said. 2. Unmata - They did a race car themed piece, which, was amazing. Makes me want to go home and work on choreography. 3. Tjarda (at the Friday afterparty) - by far the best flamenco-bellydance fusion I've seen, putting others (including TF teachers) to shame. 4. Colleena - I missed her fusion piece, but got to see her rajasthani piece with Patricia Passo's bata de cola. Fucking amazing. I've seen her fusion, Oddissi, but this was my favourite. 5. Asharah - Asharah has balls. Last year she did a very intense, aggressive piece which called for a lot of stage presence. This year she danced to a LIVE CELLIST. Never seen that before. I wish the sound was better, it didn't pick up the cello as well, but it was brilliant. 6. Damage Control/Bellydance Mafia (Choreo by Cera) - best, most innovative, intense choreography at TF. WTF are the rest of us doing? We needs to step that shit up. Honorable mentions!!! Other dancers I really enjoyed this weekend were: Kitiera (great choreo, killer technique), Carolina (trumpet fusion???), Daniela (from Florida, saw her last year, great slinky smooth style), Martina and her group from Vancouver (i'm so tired of derivative bellydance, these guys didn't dance like everybody else, definitely ones to watch). Hopefully I didn't miss anyone! Overall I think the performances were much better than last year. Or maybe I got better at averting my eyes to some onstage tragedies. In any case, It was a fantastic weekend. Oh, and there's a video of me on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H1ze_ZMBS8

I will not be performing at Tribal Fest.

Rosanna — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:21:53 GMT

So, the list is up and I am not one of the performers at Tribal Fest this year. I am completely heartbroken. I've been looking forward to this for a year, even more so when I decided that I would be moving back to Toronto in the summer. After everything that I've given up to try and make my mark on bellydancing, this was one of my last opportunities in SF. Mostly due to my financial situation, many other opportunities did not happen, but I was really counting on this one. At this point I'm considering not going. It's probably temporary cuz i'm feeling like ass, but to be honest, my priority was to promote myself, not to take classes or look at stuff I can't afford. Considering that, I think I'm in need of an attitude adjustment. Either I enjoy every moment of bellydancing and stop being so fucking critical, or I get the fuck out. I'm really really tired of the materialism and popularity contest that is involved in breaking into bellydancing. If I could only do this full time, I have SO much to offer and so much potential, but at a certain point, one needs to cut their losses and try and find other dreams to chase.

I came, I saw, I locked.

Rosanna — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:16:13 GMT

Since January I've been taking locking classes at City Dance Studios in SF. I've been interested in learning how to lock for a few years now, but haven't really been able to figure it out. Bellydance always kinda took priority. But, I figured I'd sign up for the 10 week session, bite the $$$ bullet, and finally get my lock down. Thursday night we had our performance at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. I was really happy with how it went. Learning a new dance form is NOT easy, particularly when you're so comfortable with another form. Definitely makes you eat some humble pie! But I had a great time, the other dancers were great to work with and the teacher was one of the best I've had from the hip hop family of dances.

Oh. My. God. I am overwhelmed with gay...

Rosanna — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:04:54 GMT

How did I not hear about this???? I really need to talk to my gay best friend more... http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/rupauls_drag_race/series.jhtml Its the gayest thing since Project Runway!! Eeeeeeeee!

Look familiar?

Rosanna — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:45:23 GMT

Yup, I'm the new face of Geisha Moth! Myself and the lovely ladies of Unmata modeled the 2009 GM wear for photographer Michael Baxter. So far only a few photos have been released, but there is more to come! There will also be a video of me in GM wear on youtube, I think in May coinciding with Tribal Fest. I can't spill the beans on some of the new designs, but y'all are in for some treats! Let me just say what a pleasure it was to work with both Mothy and Michael. Both are total pros and know how to bring out the best in a girl! Mothy is also one of the hardest working people in the bellydance business. Not only does she crank out an astounding array of fantastic garb, she also takes great care of her customers (and models!), and donates to charity! Very very admirable.

Got Etsy??

Rosanna — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:45:34 GMT

I do!!!! Finally!!! Because I am TOTALLY not busy enough already, I've started to make stuff to sell...right now there's only a wine and black halter top and black and plaid frilly belts. All of these I've made for myself and liked them so much I figured someone else might want them too! Less than 3 will ever be made in these fabrics, so once they're gone, they're gone. I will also be adding handknit opera gloves, I love SF capris, and my velvet frilly chaps. And maybe some vests. And some wool cloches. And maybe some other stuff. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5669102

Tribal Fusion Faire video!

Rosanna — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:43:53 GMT

I finally uploaded my video from TFF. I gave up trying to find a functioning, free video editor for my mac (i don't have imovie). I was going to cut out the long intro (sorry). But they camera guys still fucked up and missed the first part of my piece. I do have another video, but you couldn't hear the music (again, I couldn't fix it). So this is as good as it gets! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km22Ai2mPlo

Celebrating 1 year in SF

Rosanna — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:36:27 GMT

I know this is a bit belated because my last post hasn't been in 6 months, and my anniversary in SF was on November 12th, BUT better late than never. I guess I should try and give a run down of everything that i've done in the past 6 months, but I will stick to the highlights. - bellydancing at Opulent Temple at Burning Man. I never improvise but I was instructed to do a "semi-traditional" piece and had no time to choreograph it. I also forgot to pull out. Sooooooo, I winged it. I was pretty happy with the results (though i don't think i could watch a video) and apparently ppl thought it was choreo anyway. - bellydancing at Love Fest in SF City Hall (where the photo is taken). Love Fest was great. It was gi-normous, I couldn't believe how many ppl were there. Mostly under 18, but still. The performance was on the grand staircase in city hall, which looked nice, but the sound was TERRIBLE. Kinda ruined the effect, but I at least I got this amazing photo (see above). - dancing at Suhaila's Christmas Party. - Tribal Fusion Faire. A smaller, more chill version of Tribal Fest. It was great, great, great. I got to meet bellydancers from around the world and got to hang out with some of my dance idols. Including, smoking while laying down in Amy Sigil's lap. I was beside myself. Laura (of Laura and Bonnie) called me the love child of Frederique and Kami Liddle. Which I am totally totally cool with. I also got to meet Melodia (who apparently lives in Marin now!) and Geisha Moth. I'll be posting my vid soon. I'm totally totally inspired and encouraged by this past weekend and am looking forward to competing in the Breakthrough Fusion competition on Jan. 4th, as well as at Tribal Fest in May. It also looks like I'll be starting with Damage Control Dance Theater in February. Woohooo! I really needed this encouragement. The past year has been hard, with a lot of very intense ups and downs. There were many many times where I was about $10 away from having to move home. But, thanks to a few special people and my 5 jobs, I've managed to stay. Hip hip! Oh, I look SLIGHTLY disheveled in the photo because the photographer took this LITERALLY 2 seconds after I got offstage.

Rosanna at Tribal Fest 2008 video

Rosanna — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:47:32 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/v/mqG-7DNB1No&hl=en&fs=1http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=mqG-7DNB1No

Colleena and FCBD

Rosanna — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:25:32 GMT

In case you didn't, FCBD put on a show in SF called Devotion, featuring themselves, Devyani, and Colleena Shakti. They also hosted specialty workshops with all the dancers at their studio, FOR ONLY $15!! I took advantage of this and took Collena's intro to Odissi. I was very impressed with her teaching, very clear, well thought out, and very very informative. Not only is her dancing inspirational, but also her dedication and approach to dancing. Bellydancers could stand to learn alot from how other dance forms approach dance education. I'd definitely recommend taking a class with her (even if you're not into indian dance), as well as supporting her by purchasing the amazing jewellry she brings from India every year. The Devotion show was pretty interesting. It was held in an EXTREMELY small and hot space, but intimacey is nice. I'm not religious or spiritual, so I wasn't really into the theme of the show (which held throughout the dancing and performance). I enjoyed Collena's performance in particular. To be honest I'm not really into ATS, though I did enjoy both Devyani and FCBD. I really like the simplicity and coordination of Devyani's costumes (white, gold, red, and oranges), sometimes it can be a little too kaleidoscopey.

Unmata and Zoe in Sac

Rosanna — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:01:43 GMT

Took a bit of a road trip to Sacramento for their monthly second saturday art walk. Not to partake in the schmoozing arteeests, but to check out Zoe who was performing with the Unmata ladies (+guests) outside of their studio. Haven't I had enough of Zoe and Amy? No, no I haven't. It was such a cool show. It was just outside on the sidewalk on a carpet in front of 50ppl or so sitting on the grass, cars, or lawnchairs. It was also nice to see Zoe a little more relaxed. I think I actually prefer watching her dance with less adornment. Definitely allows for a lot more freedom of movement. Unmata also did their set from TF again, which was GREAT. It was a pretty long show, with Verbatim, classes, and students doing multiple pieces. A few of them also did a fire performance at the end too. Amy not only did a flaming pot (which i TOTALLY have to learn), and a flaming whip and skipping rope (not at the same time). Yay!

Tribal Fest!!!!!!!! (wooooo) and BDSS auditions (booooo)

Rosanna — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:00:36 GMT

Well, I finally made it to Tribal Fest! It was an interesting experience let me tell you. It was awesome, but there were some things that were unexpected. First off, let me tell you who was awesome: Asharah - my favourite soloist of the weekend. Seriously seriously phenomenal. I knew she was a solid dancer, but i've never seen her throw it down like that! She definitely showed what gothic bellydance should be, in comparison to some of the other really tragic (not in the good gothy way) acts of the weekend. Check out her solo at: http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=bvgzRKIPShM Vicki Virk and Dholrhythms - another standout. It is so freaking hard to get groups to be insync, and they totally were. I've never seen bhangra really performed before, and now I totally get why people are so into. I don't think I'll run out and take lessons, but these guys were phenomenal. If your not into bhangra, go see them. Daniela - never heard of her before I saw that she was teaching at TF8. While I didn't get to take her class, she is a top notch dancer. Its such a pleasure watching GOOD dancers. They don't need tricks, gimmicks or themes, its just beautiful to watch. Solstice - featuring Sera (I think of East Coast Tribal?), never seen or heard of them before. Definitely influence by Urban Tribal, with a similar minimal/powerful aesthetic. While UT was less inspiring this year than i had hoped, these guys were great. I think UT is moving into more esoteric forms of dance which is aesthetically and conceptually out of reach for the average bellydance crowd. While I certainly appreciate that, I'm just more of a fan of intense, moving, dance. Solstice was rock solid, everyone was together, they had great music, great choreography, I'd totally recommend checking them out. Zoe - what can I say? I wished she did a solo for the entire Indigo set. Seriously. I was disappointed with the lack of dancing by the Indigo. The were hilarious and entertaining, but I want dancing!!!! I also enjoyed: Unmata, Collena Shakti, my new friend Mariana from Brazil, Habi'Ru, and FatChance. So yeah, now for the bad news. I've seen some bad bellydance in my days, but wow, there was some CRRRRRRAP. At this festival, anybody can perform, so I'm pretty lenient about people who are obvious beginners, we all have to start somewhere. But I do have say that there was both crappy bellydaning and crappy-performances-where-there-was-no-actual-bellydance. For one, I was shocked with how little tribal or tribal fusion there was. The fest has turned more into a "do whatever the fuck you want and call it bellydance." While I like doing weird shit, I STILL HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF SOMETHING TRIBAL IN THERE SOMEWHERE. Not even some kind of tribally arms, nothing. Not even tribal fusion fused with something else. On top of this many acts had not technique. In a few cases, there was actually no more bellydancing than a handfull of strategically place attempts at undulations. I'm not going to name names, but I will say that there were a lot of "gothic" performances that seriously blew. Can I make a plea for people to work on their bellydancing instead of just using a gimmick as an excuse not to dance? I was also quite disappointed with the shopping. I was expecting a ton of stuff, but there really wasn't more than 20 vendors or so. I am getting pickier about what I buy, but I actually didn't end up buying anything. I was hoping to find something that I fell completely in love with , but I didn't. Well, there were these earrings....but yeah, not that much awesome stuff, I gotta say. Am I a jaded bellydancer or what?? And now, BDSS auditions. So crazy me, after doing Jills workshop, working 2 days, going to tribal fest (where i got no sleep because my tent was next to a highway), driving back at 1am, and having to run to Walgreens at 9am to print photos, I flew down to LA Sunday morning to audition. And, well, things didn't go so well for me that day. I had to wait an hour for a rental car, which turned out to have no air conditioning but i didn't have time to complain, I ended up only having an hour to get ready (which is NOT enough), didn't warm up. And then the choreography didn't go that well. First off, Moria taught incorrectly the first few times, then Sam had to try and correct, and then they had to try and agree on how it was supposed to go. And then we did it to music 4 times. I thought that was our chance to remember the choreo to perform it. But no, that was our performance. I can't believe how stupid I was. I mean, I know you're performing as soon as you walk in the door, i KNOW that. But I was assuming it was similar to other auditions where you get to hear the music a few time before performing. Rarely are you expected to perform without doing it to the music first. But, that's my fault. Totally totally my fault. I put all my energy into memorizing the chore (which turns out wasn't that important). Granted, I could have performed it solo after, but well, I didn't have the chance. I couldn't even do my solo, which was the entire point of wearing my costume. So I think that may have worked against me. While my costuming was unique, I didn't look like part of the Indigo. And I danced in heels. And my belt fell apart. So yes, I was very disappointed, mostly because I didn't get to solo. But, it may be worth trying again because I know they didn't get to see my best.

Jill Parker Workshop

Rosanna — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:13:04 GMT

Thank GOD I have internet back. I've done a ton o shit the past few weeks and wanted to write a nice long review of each. Here we go... So, the weekend before Tribal Fest, I took a 3 day intensive with Jill Parker in SF. Apparently it was the first one she has organized and offered herself (as opposed to being hired by others). It seems odd that such an important person in the bellydance scene doesn't have much of a presence her in SF. There are only a few classes offered, and Ultra Gypsy is currently on hiatus (for an extended period). Apparently Jill has had some health issues and has been taking it easy for the past little while, but is looking to start offering regular intensives. It really goes to show how much effort is needed to go into starting a bellydance business. Although Jill has 20+ years of bellydancing under her belt, as both an original member and instructor at FatChance, as well as, well, starting Tribal Fusion, she doesn't have anywhere near the established business that Suhaila has. Suhaila has been dancing longer, but she only started her dance school back in the 90s after being overseas. By then Jill was already well known in the SF dance community. Just goes to show how much of ones popularity depends on how popular YOU MAKE YOURSELF. Yes of course it takes talent, but I am coming to realize that if I want to be anywhere near a professional dancer, you have to market market market yourself to death. I've been trying to do this, dancing everywhere I can, having a website, business cards. But what else? No one knows me here so thats a bit of a challenge. It seems as if this will take years....Anyway, back to Jill's workshop.... The workshop covered a bit of everything: we did some yoga, some lectures, combos, choreography, improv, and dance history. My body was a complete mess after 2 months of working 6-7 days a week, so NOTHING was working. Aside from that, compared to Suhaila's classes, it was a pretty easy pace. I know that I shouldn't really expect to be challenged to much anymore in workshops. It was of course geared to more the beg-intermediate level, which was more suited to the people in the class. I did get a few things out of it: I was particularly interested in the Tunisian stuff which she taught us. There is no Tunisian taught in Toronto and I have had no exposure to it. I'm going to look into some videos and classes on it as it looks pretty sick. However, I'm kinda over learning "moves." Jill, being central to both the formation of tribal and tribal fusion, has inspired many many people. But, that means other people have emulated her moves and style, so that they no longer seem original (but of course, she was the originator!). Also, knowing "moves" doesn't make you a bellydancer. Sure they help, but I'd rather be focusing on drilling or choreography. We also did a few exercises where we had to come up with a choreography using the moves she taught us in a different way. I guess that's the first step in looking outside the box, but you're still relying on a very set vocabulary. Also, I'm so into my own choreography it was hard for me to have to do a collaborative combo. I really wanted to learn more about Jill's choreography process, as I know she has a lot to offer there, but we just didn't have time. One thing that was surprising was how Jill emphasized classic bellydance from Egypt. I didn't realize what a great Egyptian/Cabaret dancer she is. I don't know anybody else that can so easily do any style of bellydance. She's not just a tribal or tribal fusion dancer, but also can look very classic. That is SOOOO rare in tribal. This of course was not new to me, but it was to many other ppl in the class. Another unexpected component of the workshop was talking about bellydance as therapy. Not really what I'm looking for, but JIll (and the other students) had some interesting things to say about it and I'm sure it could help out a lot of people. Probably the highlight of the workshop was watching Jill dance. She is bellydance history. You can see her foundations in FatChance, but you can also see how the Indigo and many other tribal fusion dancers have developed out of her troupe. She makes it look effortless, easy, and gracefull, which are much harder to achieve than layering pelvic locks with figure 8s.

Further down the rabbit hole

Rosanna — Sat, 03 May 2008 06:14:08 GMT

My life is insane. I am now working 3 jobs (the 4th catering job has disappeared), looking for work (averaging 1-3 interviews per week), looking for an apartment, going to dance class, going to yoga, choreographing, practicing, and performing. At least I get fed at 2 of my jobs (the other lets me eat at my desk), or otherwise it wouldn't happen. Hopefully either my environmental consulting or bellydance career takes off because this is nuts. That being said, my potential productivity is much greater than I previously thought. However, the downside is (other than not having a social life), that i get sick. Like last week. Kinda puts a damper on my desperate ability to make money, and my dancing. Nevertheless, I managed to pull out 2 (yes 2) new choreographies for my first performance at Baxatalo Drom on Friday. Other than needing to puke at the end of my second set, I think it went over pretty well (though it certainly didn't feel that great...). I was lucky enough to have 2 friends of mine come and see it, and I got to meet Susan Frankovitch and her husband as well as a few ex-UG members. All in all a very good time. I really shouldn't have been as nervous as a I was, but what can I say! I'm a small town girl in a big city (at least bellydance wise). I also got a chance to perform at Cafe Bellie on Sunday which was a total treat. Ashkenaz is a great venue, and the dancing was great. A very diverse group of talented people performed. I was please to meet Amy Luna and Kathleen Crowley (as well as the rest of Saidi). And just because I do not have enough to do, I've decided to change one of the pieces that I planned to do for TF. Its already choreographed, I've just never performed it. The Flapper Fusion stuff that I do has been going over pretty well in SF and I think the slow number just won't have the same impact at TF.

Cleopatra in chocolate

Rosanna — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:51:17 GMT

I realize I hadn't posted in ages, and not only that, I don't have any current photos! I do have however, a picture of Cleopatra carved in chocolate from a recent catering gig that I did. I figure that's bellydance-y enough! So lesse, what have I been up to? I've basically just been taking classes at Suhaila's. I'm quite broke, so i've had to limit myself to classes. Having unlimited funds, I'd def be taking a class a day. Unfortunately, that's not the case. But, I've been enjoying taking some Level 3 classes. I haven't mastered Level 2 yet, but since i can take both, why not? I've actually surprised myself by how much of the layering I can do. Standing still that is. With footwork its a different story! I'd really like to take a Level 2 weeklong at some point, I think that would def put me over the edge and be able to get my Level 2 certification. Hopefully I can do that in October, after getting my Level 1 in August. That's the plan anyway! I went to the Unmata fundraiser for their trip to Taiwan. It was quite awesome. Amy's gf Reagan was hosting, and did a bang up job. Unmata, of course, was amazing. They did a veil piece which was pretty impressive (and unusual for a tribal group). The Hot Pot student group Verbatim was also great, you could def see Amy's influence. I was also quite impressed by Susan Frankovich and Cera. I despite my insane work schedule, I managed to make it to Rakkasah on Saturday. I got to see Amaya, Jim Boz, Suhaila's Repertoire Company, Mesmera, Suzanna Del Vecchio, and Oreet. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the festival. The pros were great of course, but I gotta say, I got kinda tired of the same pop and egyptian classics over and over again. I gotta say, I would have liked to have seen more variety. I was also kinda disappointed with the vending, but happy that I only spent $14!!! I'm glad I went, but I didn't need to come back on Sunday. So, I've decided that I'll audition for BDSS at LARaqs in May. This leaves me 7 weeks to prep! Given that I'm now working 2 jobs, 6 days a week, it'll be a lotta work, but I need to put in some serious practicing. I should make some kinda practice plan...

I love Amy Sigil

Rosanna — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:39:37 GMT

So I've been taking classes with Amy Sigil at SSSD, where she's doing a 6 week course. I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan. Her choreography is INSANELY good. None of this 4 to the right, 4 to the left bullshit that the rest of us do. Her combos are completely unique and inspired, with few if any repeats. Sometimes I can't even understand what she heard in the music to make her come up with those moves. Now, I think I'm pretty good at coming up with unique, creative choreographies, but this totally pushes me to take it to the next level. She also showed up this class choreography to a Primus song. OMG!!!! It was THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER!!! Why don't other classes do that???? Seriously!! Amy's stuff also doesn't take itself too seriously and just has a whole helluva lotta fun. And she plays the RAVIEST drum and bass in class ever. In other news, I had a private lesson last week with my OTHER favourite bellydancer. And we're doing another this week. Yayayayay! And, I took a Level 3 Master class with Suhaila. This is a taste of some of the things that she had us do: - undulation with mayas and ext hip circles - backwards fig 8 with interior hip circles and chest lifts - alternating pelvic pyramids and squares with chest drops Insane eh? I was impressed that i could do the int hip circles with bk fig 8s, but then the chest lifts didn't really work. And I couldn't walk half time with it. Bugger!

Website!!!

Rosanna — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:52:25 GMT

I have a website!!! http://www.cleoflaptra.com

Back to work!!

Rosanna — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:00:59 GMT

After having a relaxing 2 week break, I'm back in SF. I have renewed drive not only for finding a job, but also for bellydancing! I guess this would be an appropriate space for listing my bellydance goals for 2008: 1. Refine Suhaila Level 2 technique and start taking Level 3 2. Flutters - tighter, faster, and layered with other movements 3. Turkish Drops 4. Back bends 5. Splits - still.....trying..... 6. Finger cymbals 7. Practice Yoga 3 times/week 8. Practice other dance styles: popping, locking, tutting, ethiopian 9. Make a website 10. Perform more Well, that should be pretty simple! To start myself off I attended an FCBD orientation with Carolena Nerriccio Saturday morning. Aren't we adorable?????

Indigo at Amnesia

Rosanna — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:56:50 GMT

So things have been going pretty well dance wise (unlike job wise!). Mostly I've been taking Level 2s and Folkloric Fusion, which have been great. Last weekend I also got a chance to take Level 1 and 2 with Wendy at Fat Chance! Let's just say my group improv needs a little work. It's been awhile since i've been scared of improving, but when you've never done group improv before, its a little intimidating! Everyone was very forgiving though. The classes were great, we played finger cymbals the entire time. Definitely realized that I need even MORE work on my posture. Sunday was Suhaila's Christmas party at Montero's and I busted out my Flapper costume and did my choreography to That's a Plenty. I tweaked it a bit since I performed it at the last Dark Side in the summer. It seemed to go over pretty well - both Suhaila (!!!) and Ansuya (!!!!!!!!!) loved it, which I'll take as a good thing! After that I ran off to see the Indigo and Brass Menagerie at Amnesia. Rachel and Mardi did some classic pieces, which of course are always amazing. Brass Menagerie were AMAZING. I fucking love them. I really can't say enough good things! Also, a modern/ballet trio called the Three Rivers did a choreo to one of there songs which was unbelievable. I also enjoyed Liz Strong's piece, but I was most impressed by Mira Betz. She combines complete technical mastery with a languid sensuality. Most dancers only accomplish one of the two, but Mira does both. Highly highly recommended for anyone doing tribal fusion or cabaret bellydance.

Jill Parker!! Fat Chance!!

Rosanna — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:51:14 GMT

I really need to come up with better titles for my blog entries. I mean, the names do kind of speak for themselves, but they could use a bit more creativity. Anyway, last week I got a chance to take a class with Jill Parker at ODC just up on Shotwell (within walking distance from my house!). Let me just say, that girl knows how to dress. Not sure if she does anything for a "day job", but she walked into class decked out in heels, makeup, tight jeans, and various other slamming accessories. The class was fun, I definitely need to work on my super slow glute shimmies, as they were pretty pathetic. We also did various other partner/ATS inspired combos which were pretty cool. I also got to buy some makeup off of her. Yay! More Suhaila of course this week. On Thursday things just weren't really happening for me. Couldn't do as many situps or squats, or any of the combos I can usually do. Then again, we were doing chasses with pelvic squares with finger cymbals, so i'm not TOOO upset about that. I'm thinking that soon I'll start trying to go to Level 3 on Tuesdays. I can do some of the more complicated layering so I think I should start to work on expanding my repertoire. I saw them practicing undulates with pelvic squares, which, mindbogglingly enough, can actually work. Sunday I got to visit FCBD Studio for their Student Salon. I was quite impressed by their students, as well as by the paraphenalia that is spread around the studio. I had to leave early to go to work so I had to miss the company performance. Ah well.

Baxtalo Drom

Rosanna — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:03:15 GMT

First, a recap of the past few days. Wednesday, I took another class with Kitiera on gypsy fusion. My zylling is almost back in style, and i'm definitley feeling more comfortable in classes. She played a great song by Rachid Taha called En Retard, which is definitely top of my list right now. It has a great dancehall rhythm to it. Thursday, was Thanksgiving for all those Canadians who aren't in the know. I took this opportunity to completely ignore my medically imposed diet and have 4 pieces of pie. It was TOTALLY worth it. I did nothing except eat, drink, talk, and watch movies. What was I doing in San Francisco again? Oh yeah... I picked up a sweet yoga mat from Lululemon, as I left my old one in Toronto. Gave it a test run on Friday with Rodney Yee's Intermediate Yoga dvd, which I've done a few times before. I definitely saw a lot of improvement with all the yoga I was doing in Toronto. It wasn't as hard to completely the entire practice. Plus my hand stands and forearm stands were much better. I can almost balance in forearm stand! Yay! I still hate shoulder stand though. My least favourite part of Ashtanga practice. I really like this dvd as it includes a lot of stuff that i need to work on, balancing poses, inverted poses, back bending, and all the triangle stuff which REALLY helps with my rope-tight hamstrings. I still have yet to find my perfect yoga practice, I guess maybe I should start creating my own? So....best of all, Friday night I went to Amnesia for Baxtalo Drom. YAY! The opening band wasn't so great, they played turkish stuff with a very Early Music kinda feel, read=boring. The vaudivillian performer was also lame. As much as i've been into body modification, I'm just not that into a guy stuffing a knife up his nose. Not my bag. The DJs however, were fucking great. They were this swiss couple called Gypsy Soundsystem. The first song that they played was this balkan drum and bass song, which was really really sick. Definitely check them out if you get a chance. Then, there was Zoe. Ahhhhhh Zoe! Honestly my favourite bellydancer. While Rachel is the classic tribal fusion bellydancer, Zoe does all this weird new crazy shit that you think wouldn't look good, but somehow she turns it into this amazing work of art. Seriously. And she has the best fucking flutters I've ever seen. DROOOL. Anyway, I'm really really sorry not to have photos, I didn't want to take flash ones during the performance. I do however have some video (without sound). I'm sure she doesn't want them up on youtube, but I do have 3 short clips, so if you give me a shout, maybe we can work something out. This morning, surprisingly conscious after drinking WAY too much last night, I schlepped it out to El Cerrito for Jamila. Boy I'm glad i did! Another great class! I decided that i was going to challenge myself and half way through class I started playing all the rhythms on the left hand instead of the right. Took me a while, but it actually started to work. It certainly comes in handy because my right hand just gets way too tired. I also figured that if I'm going to have to do the rhythms on both sides for Level 3, I might as well do it now as opposed to later when my right hand is WAY stronger. Cheers.

Suhaila! Zoe! Rose!

Rosanna — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:23:57 GMT

So on Monday night I took the Dance Movement class at SSSD with Geena (who was very cute). She did this one move in warmup which completely flabbergasted me. In straddle sit, you actually lift you alternate lifting each leg off the floor (still in straddle position). It's supposed to improve your inner leg strength. I couldn't even get my legs an inch off the floor. Seriously, that's going to take a long freakin time. Overall, I definitely need to work on my basic ballet barre stuff. Why do tendus have to be so fucking hard? Yeesh. I think though, that this class may be a little basic for me. I think it may be worth my while just to find some beginner ballet classes in the mission. Those tend to be really fucking hard anyway. Suhaila was back from Toronto (yay!), so she taught tonights Level 2. Needless to say there were about 3 times as many people as there was last week. I guess it was pelvic square week (FUCK), because we did alternating pelvic squares...all...class... Ok, the usual directions I can do. Chasses, ok, pas de bourres, ok, but alternating chasse and pdb with a turn?? I'll have to work on that one. I gotta a pic with her too. She looks great, I look CRAZY. Rose Harden from Ultra Gypsy was also there tonight. Turns out her and ZOE JAKES (!!!!!!!!) are performing at Amnesia on Friday, which is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM ME!!! This is also the big reason why I moved to San Fran. I finally get to watch my favourite bellydancers regularly at very reasonable prices. SWEEEEEEEET.

Hot Yoga Hell

Rosanna — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:11:31 GMT

So yesterday I decided that I should try out the Hot Yoga (Bikram) studio that was just up the street, considering I didn't have any other dance classes planned. I've never done hot yoga before, but I figured that I'm intense kinda person when it comes to physical activity. And, I do like being nice and warm during class, such as in the summer in Toronto. I guess I max out at about 30C. I think 40.5 C is just a little too fucking hot! In addition, the only air you got was hot, no nice fresh breeze. My earrings got so hot I had to take them out! And it stunk. Like old moldy feet. Seriously, one of the most unpleasant experiences of my entire life. I love yoga, but I'm never doing Bikram again. I don't care if I paid 30$ for 30 days all you can bikram. It's not worth it. I'll stick with building my own body heat in Ashtanga. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikram_Yoga In contrast to my nightmarish experience on Friday, my class on Saturday morning with Jamila Salimpour was fantastic. I freaking love the women. She has so much energy and enthusiasm and knowledge about bellydancing its amazing. In contrast to the other classes at Suhaila's studio, you get to relax and dance, not just drill drill drill. The moves are all from her format, very classic old school bellydancing, very similar to what is used a lot in ATS. Plus, we got to play fun finger cymbal rhythms as well! Back when I used to play in Samba Elegua we would make up crazy rhythms and teach it to each other just by listening, so this is right up my ally. The counting method that she uses doesn't work as well for me compared to just picking it up by ear. After that, I went back downtown to the Mission to check out the Fat Chance Studio. I had missed the Level 1 and 2 classes for the day, but I got to check out the "Resource Center" and watch a class taught by Carolena, with live music by Helm. I got to meet Christina (I think that's her name, the lady with the great blonde dreads), who was super friendly and helpful. Overall a very good day! I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, I may just do touristy things. I do know what I'm NOT doing though!!!

Friday

Rosanna — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:24:42 GMT

Well last night I took the plunge and took 2 classes at Suhaila's. The first was a Level 2 with Andrea, and then a Persian Folkloric Fusion with Nadia. Well, Andrea's level 2 was a lot more challenging than the one on Tuesday! Our warmup included 60 pushups (including those insane star ones), 300 situps (including the lower ab ones with your feet up to the ceiling), and at least 200 squats. I consider myself to be in decent shape, particularly being able to do 30 man pushups, but this was insane. I felt much better with the drilling than I did on Tuesday. Yes, my full time pelvic locks over pas de bourrees (with chasses and turns) are back! So yes, Level 2 is where it's at for me for now. Nadia's Persian class was ok. We did some finger cymbal stuff at the beginning which was nice. Persian dance is pretty, but a little simplistic for me I think. It was a nice, relatively relaxed class compared to the Level 2 though! So today I think I'm going to drag my sore body to some hot yoga. I was thinking I should take a day to recover, but that's not why i'm here right? Tomorrow morning I'm going to go to Jamila's class out in El Cerrito for some serious zilling.