Merry Christmas Baby!

It may be a little late for a holiday greeting, but not too late to watch some of the fun we had last December at our year end show. It's become a little tradition of ours to include a special holiday belly dance number, and to give it all the serious creative energy we can put into one performance. Here's our nod at a truly, 'American Cabaret' number.

Enjoy, and don't forget our Spring season starts this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.!

If I must dance...

Here we are starting up a new year at Mirage. I think we're considering this the official 34th season. We don't know when in 1975 the first show was held but January seems a good time to turn the page and make it our anniversary. Each semester I'm in charge of booking guests at the show and normally do 2-4 guests in addition to the eight of us who perform regularly. We do about 8 shows each season, and have two official 'seasons' each year. Despite our long standing performance, it always seems that getting the first show booked is like pulling teeth, and despite my plans to have it take care of, I had one cancellation that I just couldn't seem to fill for our show this Thursday.

So tonight, I asked my intermediate students, if anyone was feeling brave enough to jump in and do an impromptu solo. Since they all love to have everything planned and choreographed in advance I wasn't surprised that no one took me up on the offer. It's nice to be prepared, but in my experience the ability to jump in with little or no notice is a great skill, and those who organize shows don't forget you! For example, for my second solo I was given a couple of hours of notice...really...not even time to wash my hair. I jumped at the opportunity because I was dying to be back on stage and it paid off in the end for me. A few months later I was asked to join Mirage and I really think my willingness paid off.

Fast forward to tonight, after I get home and open my emails. One of my students had sent me this (and she's only done one solo in her entire life...). For the record, I agreed with her first three conditions, and compromised on the fourth one. I told her she could have tap water with ice, and BBQ after the show...and she went for it. Now if all the other performers were only that easy to please!

OK, I've thought about it. If you really really really need another dancer on Thursday, I'll do it. It's 2009 - I need to take risks and do new things, right?? BUT! On the following conditions:

1. You put me at the end of the list so if anybody else wants to do it, they can.


2. I could dance to Lamma Bada, please? If I'm going to do some sort of improv, I know this song really well and would feel most comfortable with
   it.


3. Maybe I can borrow one of your green or blue veils? Pretty please? OK, this is less of a condition than a request - I only have one veil and it doesn't go with my awesome turquoise outfit. But if you decline this condition, I'll be forced to buy another veil, and really, worse things have happened.


4. My dressing room be filled with 200 white lilies, white pixie lights, 2 cases of premium champagne (no Korbel or anything like that), and a roasted camel stuffed with a roasted goat stuffed with a roasted pig stuffed with a roasted chicken stuffed with delicious oyster stuffing.

No room for a dance room

It's such a balancing act being a belly dancer (no jokes about swords now...). Although it is a major part of my life, it is not my entire life. Although it influences many things around me, where I go, who I see, how I dress, and how I live, it does not influence all of me. And so, at home, I always have that quandary where I try to make room for my dance things without them taking over the space.

I swear that when I buy a house it will have a room I can dedicate solely to my dancing. So many of my friends do that now and it's an enviable arrangement. In this space, in this house, I simply cannot afford a room that doesn't serve a dual purpose. My living room doubles as a practice space (yes, you can use the windows at night as mock mirrors), as well as a dining room...let alone it's regular purpose for living and lounging. My bedroom doubles as linen storage (under the bed, in the tiny closet recess) and a laundry room with it's entry way to the utility room and garage. My study serves as a work space, and costume storage and staging.

There are many aspects of this house that I love, with it's quirky floor plan and original hard wood floors. It's close to work and to downtown, I have a wonderful landlady, the rent is cheap (for this area), and it is quiet and quaint. The down side is the lack of room, closet and otherwise. The house was built in the 20's and the closets reflect that. On a scale of 1 to 10 on usable storage space, this house rates a 2-3, and for someone like myself who has such an active life it just sucks!

Each year I fight a constant battle of trying to clean out and reorganize my space to make everything fit. I go back and forth between the need for less things and the need for more space. This year, I've come to the conclusion that I need more things for storage and actually decided it may be time to buy another dresser for the bedroom. It may be a tight fit, but well worth the drawer space.

I'll have to find something small, yet roomy enough for all my fitness clothing. Clothing for workouts, yoga, martial arts and of course, belly dance (and I'm not talking costumes!). They all have different purposes and last night I felt like I had an epiphany when I realized that my biggest problem was not enough dedicated space for each grouping of clothing. If I do find a dresser that works, it will be the first time I have allowed the belly dance stuff to creep into another room of the house...and in this case a room with a decidedly Asian theme. We may be looking at breaking international boundaries (or at least design ones) when East meets East meets West.

Belly dance beats the c@#$ out of allergies

I know that I had willingly offered to teach class this past weekend, despite my original plans. However, I was quite a grump in the afternoon when I realized I wouldn't have a relaxing evening, but had to get up and off the couch and go teach. To say that I was less than enthused doesn't even hit the mark. I'll blame it mainly on my allergies which are really driving me crazy this past weekend. Never mind that I've been cleaning out closets and the utility room (double yuck), vacuuming rugs out on the driveway and all the while forgetting to take my allergy medicine. It couldn't be my fault that my nose is congested, running, itchy and sneezing. It wasn't my fault that I just wanted to lay on the couch all evening, right?

I grudgingly packed up my dance bag and headed out, trying all the while to mentally map out what I wanted to work on. I thought we may have a small class, but I wasn't completely sure. I've talked before about how much effort it is at times to go do dance events, but once you're there it is all worth it. Well, teaching is no exception to that rule. The closer I got to the studio the more uplifted I felt. Even if I had only one student out that night, I was excited and ready to start the year off.

This time last year, I had just started up my intermediate classes on a regular basis. We had a space to dance in that had many disadvantages and never really felt that warm and welcoming. I had picked that spot based on availability and proximity alone. After that location closed I had to look elsewhere and found the perfect new home. We have a beautiful, warm and charming dance space that is often filled with the excitement and enthusiasm of young girls and teenagers taking ballet, jazz and cheerleader classes. It's as girly as girly can get. And, on Sunday evenings we have the space all to ourselves, to behave more, hmmm womanly perhaps!

I had a nice full class, with one new student and one returning student that I haven't seen for months. We worked on incorporating breath and movement, improvisational dance, and a short choreography. We stretched, we shimmied, we butt-bounced and all the while, my nose and allergies behaved. Really, it was like Cinderella at the ball, except in my case I didn't lose the glass slipper at midnight but I did regain the stuffy nose after the evening ended. My prince may not be waiting tonight, but the Benadryl is!