New Belly Dance Art

Come see my latest paintings!
You can get an in depth look by checking out my blog or just see the finished work in the gallery titled: Belly Dancers in my portfolio section
www.stephaniebolton.com

Interview with Tamalyn Dallal

I am illustrating a belly dance book and cataloging my process of creating this artwork on my blog www.maunaleamanor.blogspot.com
I hope you will come on over and participate in the weekly give-a-ways from my AWESOME sponsors, check out the interviews & participate with your own thoughts and comments.
Feel free to pass it on to your friends if you enjoy it!
I would love to meet the other dancers out there who are as interested as I am about learning more about Belly Dance!

ATS / Bollywood Improv tm Workshop on Big Island

Weekend Workshop Retreat
June 19 & 20, 2010 (Sat & Sun)

You will learn Basic American Tribal Style format & Bollywood Improv TM
with Katrina of Skin Deep in Seattle
she comes with 11 years of experience in teaching

$180.00
includes
-shared room & board (3 meals per day for each day)
-4 hours of instruction each day (total 8 hours)
-Saturday evening party where you get a chance to dance

Space is limited so please contact Stephanie: mauna.lea.studios@gmail.com if you are interested

Don't need a place to stay?
$120 for instruction only
-lunch included
-welcome to party

Can only make one day?
$80 for 4 hours only on either day
-lunch included that day

Non-island resident?
Please ask about travel packages, airfare included + rooms for longer stays
808 854-1270

I'm teaching a Belly Dance Class

Instructor: Stephanie Bolton
Fee: $35 for the month (4 classes)
Drop-in $10
**Drop in special: bring a new friend and you both can drop in for half price ($5 each)
February's theme: Bollywood/ Indian fusion belly dance
When: two great locations...

Thursdays beginning Feb. 4
upstairs at Island Naturals in Kona's Old Industrial Area
from 6-7pm

&

Fridays beginning Feb. 5
at Yoganics Studio in Kainaliu across from Oshima's
from 6[7pm

Contact: 808 854-1270
mauna.lea.studios@gmail.com

New Painting

This is a portrait of Zanbaka.
Check out www.zanbaka.com for more info on this dancer & be sure to order her Bellydance books- they are EXCELLENT!
They deal with a lot of the structural elements of designing your own dance practice, incorporating musicality and breaking down movements to their core muscle movements. You learn how to practice safely and how to create layers of intricate movement- develop control and muscle memory. Great for instructors who want a good base framework for teaching.
She goes through various approaches to teaching each concept so that every learner's style is appealed to (be it visual, thinkers, touch, etc.)
Useful diagrams & thorough descriptions, plus visualizations to help you make connections to difficult concepts in simple ways.
I really like her books a lot & feel like these are what the Bellydance community has been waiting for.
Seasoned veterans will learn useful information from these books.

Bellydance Party

So much fun! My instructor friend double booked herself this Saturday and asked me on Friday if I could fill in dancing/teaching at a private Bellydance party at one of her student's house.
The party was a blast, a hand full of lovely ladies all really fun & eager to shake it! I did a little demonstration & we formed a circle and had a little dancing session, played some games. I was a little nervous when the hostess wanted to use her own music and not the music I had practiced with before coming- but who says "no" to the birthday girl?
It all worked out fine and I think everyone really enjoyed it!
(I wish I had a picture!)

skewed perspectives?

So this Halloween I didn't bother coming up with any great costume, I just put on a bellydance outfit & went off to a block party downtown where just about every woman that walked by me was wearing (or hardly wearing I should say) skin tight impossibly short skirts (among other things), pasties on top, or cleavage baring or such sundry scandalous attire. I commented to my friends "Geez- Kona girls have sure gotten slutty haven't they?"
Everyone around me started doing the milk-snort sort of laugh implying not so subtly that I, myself, looked quite slutty.
I thought about it for a minute and supposed that even though sporting a 20 pound bra and several skirts & belts, my midriff revealed and skantily clad upper half could suggest a somewhat slutty exterior.
Funny how after belly dancing for years and having a deeply felt respect for the dance could prevent me from acknowledging the reality that most bellydance attire is, in fact, rather racy. It is just so dignified and elegant and tasteful in my mind that I hardly view it as such.

Sometimes ya just gotta put your foot in your mouth.

But you can judge for yourself- do you think my costume was slutty?

Dum-tek-Dum-Dum-har-har

These are from (where there are millions more)
drumcircles.net/drumjokes.html

Some of these are stupid but some of them are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny!
(And well worth remembering next time you wanna raz your drummer- hehe)

Billy: Mommy! I want to be a drummer when I grow up! Mommy: Now, Billy. You know you can't do both. (HA!)

What do you call a doumbek player with a credit card? Married.


What is the difference between a drummer and a pizza? A pizza can feed a family of 4.

What's the difference between a drummer and a percussionist. "Oh, about three hundred dollars a week," (hmmmmmmm.)

Why are these drummer jokes so simple? So bass players will understand them! (ahem)

How can you tell if there's a drummer at the door? The knocking speeds up. (yawn.)

How many drummers does it take to screw in a light bulb? - 100 1 to screw in the light bulb and 99 to say how much better Neil Peart could have done it. (I should have cut this one)

What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? Homeless and without a car. (actually, from personal experience...it's the lead singer-not the drummer)

What do you say to a drummer in a three-piece suit? "Will the defendant please rise..." (almost funny)

How is a drum solo like a sneeze? You can tell it's coming, but you can't do anything about it. (well...ok)

Which is larger...a doumbek or conga drum? They're both the same size; dumbeks just look smaller because a doumbek player's head is bigger.

What's the difference between a doumbek and a jack-hammer? A jack-hammer only repeats itself 10 times a second.

What's black and brown and looks good on a doumbek player? A Doberman

What do you call a beautiful woman on a doumbek player's arm? A tattoo.

What's the similarity between a doumbek player and a philosopher? They both perceive time as an abstract concept.

What do you get if you drop a doumbek off the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Applause.

What is the difference between an onion and a doumbek? Nobody cries if you chop up a doumbek.

What has eight legs and flies? Four doumbek players. (Lord of the flies)

What is the ultimate sincere compliment you can pay a doumbek player? "Nice tooth."

What do you call 500 doumbeks at the bottom of the Mediterranean Ocean? A good start.

What has 24 legs and three teeth? The front row at a doumbek workshop.

What do you call a hundred doumbeks up to their rims in sand? Not enough sand.

Why is the doumbek more popular than the bowed psaltery? There's more room for drugs.

What do you call a doumbek player with half a brain? Gifted.

Why is a dead armadillo in the road more tragic than a dead doumbek player? The armadillo was on its way to a gig.

You know you want one...

Click the link below to see more!
www.etsy.com/shop.php

Cigarette/Money case with artwork by Stephanie Bolton.

This case is spring-loaded and very durable.
Case is large enough to hold a full pack of cigarettes without crushing them but small enough to fit in back pocket of your jeans!
Great for keeping your cards & cash, making it easy to switch handbags in a flash.
I keep my library card, driver's license, credit cards, bank cards & business cards clipped into one side and my stamps, club cards, & cash clipped into the other side. The clips keep items secure so they don't fall out when you open your case.

Ask me about custom orders- I can put personal artwork just for you on your case. They make great gifts!

Cairo Time

Too Cool- movie set in Cairo coming out soon.
I heard there is even a bellydancer in the party scene... not sure if she will be dancing but a dancer none-the-less (be a pity if she isn't)

Anyway- if anyone wants to meet me at the movies: let me know!