Inspired to Inspire

With much anxiety and trepidation, I stepped into what was my very firtst bellydance "gig". I was anxious about what my former teacher was going to think, worried that I wasn't ready, seeking approval from my boyfriend, and ecstatcic about doing what I loved- once again- to "make a living". I have been fortunate, or perhaps I should say, brave and overly eager in finding jobs I enjoy. I am amazingly grateful for the opportunity to bellydance and get paid to do so, no less, for tribal fusion. I am overcome with the thought that I changed a few of the some odd 200,000 people perception of what belly dance is, and can be. More than once, we were leered at, sneered at, and even laughed at. But with the awfulness there were tenfold a smile, a look of pure shock and amazement, an excited giggle, and a child who just could not look away. The couples who appreciated the dance for more than something "sexy", compared to the many who's girlfriend/wife told their husbands to stop staring... there were arabic community who nodded with approval, who were excited merely to see parts of there culture being spread. There were the times I could tell people (perhaps they really didn't know) that could not put the dollar bill in my bra, and no, we are no strippers...we are bellydancers. There were times we were given ten dollar bill, Because we are bellydancers.

To my other Muses and cast, thank you so much for the wonderful times, thank you for every small smile in my direction,for the Awesomeness, because I was Dying to meet you, for carbonated pee, for every Amon Tobin song enjoyed, for oogling Rachel Brice, Sharing glitter, animal stories, and every other kindness you afforded me.

Columbus Day= Genocide Day, Slave Trade Day

Check out www.myspace.com/thecanaryeffect


School book descriptions of Christopher Columbus typically go something like this:

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a great explorer and seaman. Born in Genoa, in Italy, he sailed for the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. In 1492 Columbus made the historic voyage in which he reached the New World.

His motivation for seeking out a Western route to Asia is described this way:

Columbus sought honors and riches so that his descendants would be spared the poverty he faced as a child in Genoa.

and of course children are taught that he discovered the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba.

[The Young People’s Encyclopedia of the United States, Ed. William Shapiro, Millbrook Press, 1992]

Little mention is made of the people he found and what he did to them. More accurate (but still inadequate) depictions portray Columbus as a great sailor whose voyages preceded the regrettable conquest and slaughter of the indigenous. He may have opened the door for Cortes and Pizarro, but he was an unwitting pioneer; a hapless inaugurator of genocide.

A More Accurate Portrayal


Christopher ColumbusThe “Indians” Columbus found during his first voyage used bits of gold to adorn their ears. Anxious to repay his Spanish financiers and fulfill the promise of wealth he had made to Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus ordered the Arawak people to reveal the source of the gold. He took several prisoners and sailed on to Hispaniola, where bits of riverbed gold whetted their appetites. Using the planks of the Santa Maria, which had run aground, they built a fort where 39 sailors remained with orders to locate and stockpile gold.

The island natives “willingly traded everything they owned”, but two natives were killed when the Spaniards discovered the limits of their generosity. More prisoners were taken and brought back to Europe. Columbus wrote of “great mines of gold and other metals”; a complete fabrication. He pledged to bring Ferdinand and Isabella “as much gold as they need… and as many slaves as they ask.” Soon after returning from his first voyage, Columbus wrote to the Spanish Monarchs to report his findings:

“I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.”

His exaggerations and lies convinced the Monarchs to send 17 ships in 1495. On this second voyage, the Europeans abducted 1,500 Arawaks and selected the 500 healthiest to send back to Spain. Two hundred died en route. In this spirit Columbus wrote “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.”

Still unable to deliver on his promises of wealth, Columbus

“ordered all persons 14 years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death.”

There was no gold in sufficient quantities for the greedy sailors, so the Arawaks fled into the hills and were hunted and killed by the Spanish. They had no weapons to combat Columbus’ armored men, so many Arawaks committed suicide rather than face torture, enslavement, and murder. The pre-Columbian population of Hispaniola (roughly 250,000) was reduced to zero a century and a half later.

Bartolome de las Casas, a priest in the conquest of Cuba who owned a plantation, eventually renounced the Spanish-wrought bloodshed. In his multi-volume History of the Indies, de las Casas described the enslavement of natives to work the Spanish gold mines:

“After each six or eights months’ work in the mines, which was the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting, up to a third of the men died.”

The killing and attrition labor of native people continued as Columbus had started it. Over the next five centuries, Europeans carried the genocide to its rational conclusion; reducing the indigenous population of the New World to a fraction of its pre-Columbian total and allowing but a vestige of native culture to survive.

Spilt Milk?


Zinn’s A People’s History
of the United StatesWhy mire ourselves in self-loathing over past crimes that are not our own? In the words of Howard Zinn, whose A People’s History of the United States is my primary source for this writing

“My point is not that we must… condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality… Those tears, that anger, cast into the past, deplete our moral energy for the present.”

Regret is a useless emotion. There is a larger lesson that must be applied in the future:

“The treatment of heroes (Columbus) and their victims (the Arawaks)–the quiet acceptance of conquest and murder in the name of progress–is only one aspect of a certain approach to history, in which the past is told from the point of view of governments, conquerors, diplomats, leaders.”

It has been said that history is written by the winners, but this is a flawed and dangerous opinion. It is imperative that we try to see the voyage of Columbus through the eyes of the Arawaks “to the limited extent that any one person, however he or she strains, can ’see’ history from the standpoint of others.” As Zinn quotes Albert Camus, “it is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners”.

Do this now! Seriously!

Was this a mistake on Google's part!?!


1- Go to www.Google.com

2- Type in "Failure " and click Search

3- Look at it the first listing and laugh at what comes up first

4- Tell other people before the people at Google Fix it

I'm Under Attack

Ever here on nasty little ghost ants? Apparently they like to nest in things like my Harry Potter books, hair straightner, and espresso maching....swarms of them, seriously creepy!

Taking a minute...

Most of the time, I am a liberal anti war hippie. Mostly when I'm thinking about the war thats going on right now...it's hard for me not to be. I cannot imagine the anguish the familes of those who have suffered for the Bush Administration....to die for your country is supposed to be a beautiful thing, protecting the land and people you hold dear. But what if your not protecting them? What if your life, so precious, is wasted? So I took a good long minute to think about all those men in Iraq, dying with so much regret and it's almost unbearalble. Then I took a minute to think about all wars, not just the U.S., and all the people who have sacrificed their lives for the "greater good".

My god, I hope the Hindu religon is the right one.

Spirt of the Tribes

I've had such a wonderful and eye opening experience this past weekend. These were my first workshops ever, and I'm so grateful for all the wonderful insight and wisdom, ( not to mention dance moves) that I've learned from such amazing instructors from around the world. Hearing things like " The pain you feel in your body is simply the change, changing towards growth, towards something whole"- Colleena(India) and "Spinning is one of the joyful feelings in dance, a true connection with the earth" . The calm and grace of that woman is something to truly strive for and admire... hearing the stories of days in the desert with snakecharmers and dancers who stomp the sand are something I will never forget, and is such amazing imagery I can use in my own dance when I sometimes want to escape from this modern world. Oh and Domba....what can I say? I'm at home adding a thousand Bollywood movies to my Netflix account! How fun they were! Kafif was especially cool, I've never even seen and Persian dance, much less Uzebekastan so that exposure was just amazing and being able to take something from that and learn was even better. Jill Parker was smooth and funny, her moves were jazzy and well, cool. Mira Betz was killer in performance and in class. I'd never even thought of the challeges she presented and will be adding them to my normal practice scheduale. "Always challenge yourself, always push to break that limit" "Really try to use your brain" lol...
Oh and her drum solo costume was to die for. Both shows were mind blowing especially Xenobia and Riz with that crazy fire sutff! I was so sure she had burned her hip, thankfully not though!! Desert Sin was something to see, and the Japanese girls were amazing. Also the Bacuda arts Bellydancer's costume made me literally drool! Shopping was amazing I'll most likely be in some finacial trrouble soon, but oh well at least I can wear tons of kuchi whilst eating my bread and drinking water...
I had and beautiful time and I loved dancing with all you amazing ladies at the parties, looking forward to next year.

Vortexs

As a child I had read and heard a few things about Time Travel that baffeled me. Or alluded perhaps, is a better choice for words. In my teens I think I thought to deeply upon the matters of existence and time trave and perhaps drove myself a bit mad...all for the good though. But I think I've taken my own spin on time travel- heh through bellydance. I think I've always felt something bigger connecting when I dance, its so odd. I like to think of it as all the past dancers around, feeling your footsteps as they grapevine their way through the earth. I was on a stage with my teacher, and also her teacher and it was like three generations of things that have past down so many many generations before this. A man, woman, child can die. An idea cannot.

Sponteneity

Lots of belly dance related things going on shortly, for which I am very excited. Tampa Bay bellydance showcase, my first performance on a stage. (With bellydance anyway) Then Rachel Brice is coming for a show (the workshops sold out :( then the Renn faire, and Spirit of the Tribes which I may have to go it alone.... I hope to learn and grow alot in the next few months.

Updates and such....

I've had a busy month and a few more ahead of me! I finally went to see the BDSS, which can be summed up for me by Dondi's review of the show on Gildedserpent.com. We had the same feelings about all of things, one of them is Ansuya being absoulutely mesmerizing! I went to Borders earlier in the day and watched Ansuya, Zoe, Kami, and PJ perform their own solos and two group numbers. I'm glad I went to that I had a chance to see them close up and to see some solo's, stuff I couldn't see at the show. Plus the opportunity to talk to Ansuya for a few minutes longer than I would have if I only went to the show. Brian (my boyfriend) was terribly nervous about meeting Ansuya and taking a picture with her (he's so in love, teehee!) it was soooo cute. Who could not be in awe after seeing her dance though, she has so much pressence. Ok I'm babbling. I had a great time at the show though and I'm glad Cerice and Mashati were there to answer all of my annoying questions. lol. I'm glad I got to meet Jillina (her video was the first bellydance vid I ever did) she was super nice and funny and I'm really suprised she talked to me for as long as she did. I also got to meet my Asian Sensation idol Sharon Kihara who was totally sweaty when I hugged her and told me so, to which I replied "I'm never washing my arms" heehee. She also gave me a kiss after I told her how inspirational her solo was. But it really was. There are alot of people out there who get dogged for being Rachel Brice wannabe's and copycats, but Sharon really does her own thing in the Tribal Fusion category not the "Rachel Brice" category. It was great to see a tribal fusion dancer who is an individual. I'm a fan of Tribal Fusion and Sharon dancing was very enlightening to see.

My legs hurt alot from stregth training but I still cannot do a pretty lay back or backbend. I'm glad Bal Fajar had a few performances to look forward to I think it will really drive the troupe to work harder on Paradise Lost. I'm stressing a little over money though, with a new troupe costume on the way, paying for festival, troupe and classes, I may have to live off of LongHorn scraps for a bit...sigh. Income tax return will at least pay for my classes. But's its all going to be worth it cause we are gonna look sooo fly.

Oh and I ate dinner with Mira Nair, director of films Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra, Missisipi Masala and other greats. She was amazing. A beautiful speaker full of insight and great advice for Brian, who also makes beautiful films. This month was just full of inspiration.
Peace.

Life is never regretable

I had a fantastic day off today. Attended a 4 hour practice for Bal Fajar and loved every second of it. I like to see the progression and I think we are all doing really well. I cant wait untill we are out there performing everyone is just going to be blown away...I'm so grateful to have such awesome teachers who donate their time to us and give us these great choreographys. What a beautiful day...