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So I've spent some more time with Rachel Brice's Serpentine DVD. As I mentioned before, it's a ton of material so it is taking a while to wade through it all. Rachel has posted sample practice schedules to help tackle the material and develop a structured practice that makes sense.

Anyway, this review is supposed to be about the drilling, so let's move on.

Shimmy Drill. You'd think shimmying for thirteen minutes straight would be boring and tiring, but no. It's all fun all the time. Lots of work with layers over standard big shimmies, but also 3/4 on the up and on the down, vibrations, and choo-choos.

Leg Strengthening Drills. Like the Shimmy Drill, this is a great full-body warm-up. There are simple, easy to follow movements that build upon each other to create a short combination, followed by some deep level changes.

Isolations. Honestly, I was underwhelmed by this portion of the DVD. I don't think the drills are long enough to be particularly beneficial. And I say that as someon who has an extremely short attention span when it comes to drilling! However, I did like the use of multiple foot patterns with each isolation. I just wish it was longer because it takes a while for my brain to shut up so my body can just do what it's supposed to.
There's not much explanation on how to execute the movements, which I suppose is fine for more experienced dancers, except that even I was confused by nuances such as the two "different" kind of chest lifts. Also, having two troupemates dealing with shoulder/upper body alignment made me hesitant to go full-force into the big shoulder isolations.

In conclusion:
Overall, I am a huge fan of Serpentine. I have a pretty strong personal practice of yoga and dance, but I do still like to use DVDs, especially if I'm in a creative rut or if there is something particular I want to work on. I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of this one because it has so much content but they are in segments short enough to insert into a longer practice. I am crazy about the shimmy drill. I've used the yoga as a warm up and as a cool down several times already. Seriously, this is probably the safest yoga practice I've seen on any DVD (including the yoga DVDs I've seen!) and it is a really nice pace for any part of the practice.

I would not recommend it to an absolute beginner because there is just not enough detailed instruction on how to execute basic moves safely and effectively. For someone who has some experience and body awareness, I think this DVD set is an excellent resource.

Where have I been? Buying a house! My awesome parents decided to give me a chunk of change and tell me to get busy buying a house while the interest rates are good. So I spent March - May looking, hoping and freaking out about ever finding a home I liked and could afford. And then I found one! The buying process was tough but I had a great Realtor and a supportive cast of friends, some of whom helped us move this past weekend (THANK YOU!).

Some things I wanted in a house were wood floors for dancing, with the bonus of having space to hula hoop indoors. OK, and radiator heat, a nice big front porch, and a kitchen that was either spacious or open to a dining area. Well, I got all of it! And not only is the living room large, it's large enough to be our interior performing space for the Inappropriate Hafla, if need be! The house is a foursquare, and at some point the wall between the living and dining room was taken out so it's one big room. I mean, not immense but a nice size for a hundred year old house in a leafy urban neighborhood, without being some huge, hard-to-heat, space-wasted-on-two-people kind of place. Here is a picture, with the foyer and front door behind and to the left of the camera, looking down the space to the fireplace that was added in the mid-1970s. Blogger is being a PIA, but you can see the first set of pictures over here.

So now I'm living in a house full of boxes and Very Concerned Cats, but eventually that will clear out and I'll be back to practicing and classes. This weekend I'll be taking my third workshop with Ali of n.o.madic tribal (and maybe an ATS workshop with Megha money and time permitting), and I need to get back to my classes, and there is a hafla to plan. To the dancing!

Lyra & I representing Kallisti Tribal at Shems's hafla on Saturday, July 10th. Shems put on a great show and I was super impressed by the caliber of her students. They did a fantastic job! It was a real treat to see such a great lineup of cabaret dancers since I spend most of my time out and about in the tribal scene.

I just got Rachel Brice's new DVD, Serpentine. It's two discs and a ton of material so I will have to write up my review in several installments.

Today I did the yoga portions: Yoga for Bellydancing (about 30 minutes), Yoga for Backbending (about 15 minutes), and the Finishing Yoga Practice (about 20 minutes). I also watched the backbending lecture.

I know I'm biased but I think yoga is an excellent complement to bellydance. I warm up with yoga, I take yoga breaks when I'm practicing dance, and I cool down with yoga. That being said, I'm generally not a fan of yoga in bellydance DVDs and workshops. Most bellydance teachers are not yoga instructors, and in a workshop situation, if there is a large crowd, there's just no way to get around to everyone to see that everyone is safe. Also, not everyone who dances is into yoga, and they might not want to be paying for yoga when they signed up for a dance program. However, Rachel Brice is also a yoga instructor, and in fact, the yoga is a fundamental part of this DVD, so she gets a pass on my judgement on yoga in dance DVDs.

The yoga instruction is excellent, and all the practices are gentle enough to be appropriate to a beginning level yogi, with the exception of Urdva Danurasana (Upward Bow/Wheel) in the backbend portion, and even that is given as an advanced option. The postures throughout the practices are excellent for building strength and mobility in the shoulders and upper back, which is essential for developing stamina for the posture of tribal style. For that reason alone, I'd absolutely recommend these practices for my students who struggle with posture. In addition, she did many variations of Salambasana (locust), which, in my opinion, is one of the best asanas for your back because it safely works the the muscles while building flexibility at the same time. The finishing practice has lots of love for the lower back, which felt fantastic after working on some intense backbends.

On to the backbending portion: As I mentioned, the backbending lecture, while short, was informative and clearly presented, stressing again the importance of upper back flexibility. I feel like the backbending yoga practice could have been a bit longer, but I felt sufficiently warmed up to tackle combination 4 to the "Whisper Hungarian in my Ear" choreography which includes moving to the floor for "The Zipper" (a floorwork layback), and a rise up to standing in this twisty-layback thing. The instruction in the choreography was okay, but I would not recommend attempting it if you are unfamiliar with the zipper. For floorwork training, working one-on-one with a teacher is best, barring that, working with a partner and the FCBD Floorwork DVD would be better than trying to puzzle it out with the brief instruction on the Serpentine DVD.

Overall, I'm really happy with this DVD already. I'm especially looking forward to the drills because that is the one thing I struggle with in my own practice because I totally get bored with myself. I need someone to make me keep going, even if it's just through a screen!

I'm excited to announce a new session of classes!

Fundamentals of American Tribal Style Bellydance
Wednesdays 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
NEW 6-week session begins Wednesday, July 21st
$84 session
$17 drop-in
B.Funk Dance Studios
10291 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042

Registration and details.

I've had several people contact me recently with interest in ATS bellydance classes. I'm happy to say that I will be offering classes in Columbia, MD starting in late July or early August. Please contact me if you would like to be notified when the time and location have been confirmed.

In yesterday's post I said, "I think it's totally normal to suck at meditation, and if you think that you suck at it, you're probably doing it right."

Allow me to clarify.

If you have ever "tried to meditate" you might have had (or still are having) the same experience as me. I sit. Immediately there is a barrage of thoughts. I mean, I live with my own head all day, and here I am, trapped with only myself and my thoughts. It's bad enough sometimes to live with yourself just in a normal situation, but then to subject yourself to an onslaught starring every thought, inclination, regret, and wondering you've had all day or ever. On a good day, it can be tiring, and on a bad day it can be downright painful. Please tell me this has happened to you.

Turns out, all those super annoying thoughts that crop up are just fits of tension releasing. You can't get down to the root of yourself, or your spiritual connection (or whatever it is to you personally) without disposing of all the mind junk. I am reminded of when I was working through the book The Artist's Way, where there is a practice of writing three pages every morning of whatever comes to mind. Just like that, I'm in a place where I think of meditation as kind of a cosmic brain dump.

Actually, maybe it's more of like a cosmic recycling program. All these weird random thoughts that crop up, "Did I say the right thing?... What am I supposed to do next?... My ear itches... I wonder whatever happened to that person I knew once... Man I feel stupid... " and on and on... those aren't thoughts I need anymore. They're not part of me. They don't define me, and in fact I need to just toss them to get down to my most me-ness. And as I shrug them off and surrender them in meditation, God (or your inner self, or higher power, or whatever works for you) can refashion them and hand them back to me if there is any truth lurking within, or simply take away the clutter so I have more clarity.

I'd like to think that even if I don't have a life altering spiritual epiphany during my seated meditation, I am still "cleaning the glass" so that when I am looking out at a situation, I can, as Erich says, "have the bravery to do what your inner wisdom is suggesting."

Wow, I'm flying high after a weekend with Erich Schiffmann at Yogaville. This was a big deal for me because I have wanted to study with Erich ever since I was introduced to his book during my teacher training in 2008, and also because in nearly ten years of practicing yoga, I've never taken a retreat or stayed at an ashram.

The workshop was “Essentials of Freedom Style Yoga.” However, Freedom Style is a non-style in that there is no technique except for the using meditation as a channel to express your practice. In Erich's Freeform classes, there is meditation, some preparation through some asanas that he leads, and then he cuts you loose to do your own thing, then more meditation.

In a way, this is how I have practiced yoga from the beginning. Actually, I can't see why you wouldn't practice yoga this way. I did yoga from DVDs and books and making stuff up on my own, and only dabbled in classes until I got really serious about working toward teacher training. It was only then that I got all these new rules about how to do yoga and how to teach it. I was struck by one of my friends who had brought her book for Erich to sign, had NO written in big letters on the page for fish pose because our teachers had said we should never teach that one. Really? Never? Another attendee said that a superstar yogi had said “there is no reason to ever do pigeon.” Really? Never? Those kind of decrees really frustrated me in teacher training, and continue to frustrate me now. I also get cranky when people ask me what kind of yoga I teach because I don't identify with any particular school of yoga. I pick and choose things that resonate with me. It was so encouraging to hear from Erich that this is a perfectly valid approach to practicing and teaching. I feel like I also got some insight into how I can continue to cultivate my practice by following my own inclinations. I'm on the right track.

At the same time, it was a very challenging workshop because at the core of Erich's teachings is meditation, and frankly, I suck at seated meditation. There, I said it. This warrants a post of it's own, so for now I will say that I think it's totally normal to suck at meditation, and if you think that you suck at it, you're probably doing it right. So yeah. I need to work on that with more discipline since I intend to continue doing yoga the way I am doing it.

In addition to the amazing lectures by Erich, his asana sequences are just … magical. I hope that after thirty more years of yoga I can offer sequences like that. He also a world-class hugger made extra fun because he is so very large. This weekend was so very good for me. I'll follow up with at least one more post about meditation and about my experience of staying at the ashram. Good times. While I can't wait to study with Erich again, I'm also feeling refreshed and ready to grow my practice in other ways, too.

If you want to hear Erich's teachings for yourself, he has a bunch of talks available on his website!

Naima totally reminded me that we picked a day for our 4th Annual Inappropriate Hafla! It will be Labor Day weekend on Saturday September 4th. We wanted it to be over the summer but August is full of Pennsic, Charm City Tribal, Bellypalooza and Amel Tafsout, July is full of Tribal Synergy workshops and vacations, and June was just too close to everything else. Hopefully we'll have a good turn out, considering it's a holiday weekend. Also, we may have a new venue. We all LOVE Lyra's big yard but the possible new venue has an indoor performance space option if the weather turns against us.


So, dancers, start your engines! What craziness will you bring to the table this time?

Yesterday I headed down to the southern part of our state to attend Troupe 'Hip'notic's annual Summer Solstice Hafla. The Hafla is a gathering of dancers, friends and family who get together to socialize, perform, and welcome in the summer months (which for many of us are dance intense!). Kallisti was not dancing, though Flissy performed with her other troupe Verve Tribal (a fun ATS piece to a Gogol Bordello song). We saw all sorts of dancing, different styles and skill levels, as the idea is for everyone to get together and have fun and enjoy themselves. There as an after party at Becca's house, with dance talk and good food and cute dogs and Becca's awesome new dance studio. The only problem is that 'Hip'notic is based 1 1/5 hours away from where I live, so we don't get do hang out more often.

As the show started I had this realization that I would not have wanted to be anywhere in the world at that moment but there, at that hafla, watching those dancers and hanging out with people I love. I had this sudden overwhelming feeling of being so fortunate to be doing what I am doing with the people I am doing it with. I was incredibly peaceful. Dance can be stressful. I worry about doing a good job, learning new things, finding the time and money to do what I want, trying to get people to appreciate what we do. Sometimes the fact that most of the dance scene is "for dancers, by dancers" can be frustrating when you wish a wider audience would take note of what's going on. Not that I don't like that aspect of belly dance! No, I love it, but sometimes it can be annoying.

At that moment yesterday, though, I was perfectly happy to be a part of one area belly dance scene at one of our regular local events, cheering on the dancers, being inspired and entertained. Seeing beautiful people dressed up in their gorgeous costumes, having a good time doing something they love? Isn't that a sight we should see more often?

I recently stumbled upon a wonderful post by Tribal Fusion bellydancer, Rachel Brice.

There are very few rules in Tribal Fusion, but in my humble opinion the one constant is that the dancer or group is versed in American Tribal Style as taught by Carolena Nericcio. Her stylistic approach to existing vocabulary, her theatrical approach to costuming, and the incredible invention of group improvisation, has allowed infinite variations that all have one thing in common: powerful presentation.

I'm so glad that she made this statement. There are so many dancers labeling themselves as "Tribal Fusion" who have no trace of tribal in their dance. Maybe some of them have never even studied ATS. I know that there are fiercely dedicated students and performers of ATS that will preserve the integrity of the dance, but I am often disappointed when I see performances deviate so far from the format, and even more saddened when I see "professional" performers lacking in tribal technique. I know this might make me sound like a "tribal curmudgeon" especially when I leave a performance unenthused, but it's just that when I see an artist or show billed as Tribal or Tribal Fusion, I expect to see at least some reference to an understanding of ATS.

There is a flyer taped to a utility pole on my street, advertising a local "repair collective" of licensed, skilled workers who are available to hire for all sorts of repairs and jobs. While talking up their skills they also add the extra enticement of low rates, which they describe as undercutting the rates of their competitors.

Whoa, wait, undercutting?

If you've been in the belly dance scene for more than five minutes you've heard the stories of dancers losing gigs and other dance opportunities when another dancer, sometimes talented and sometimes not, comes along and offers to perform at a lower rate than the established performer. It's ugly. It's stupid. If you really are dying to dance go check out your local shows and haflas before stealing another dancer's job and performing for peanuts. One day you might be looking at the situation from the other side of the equation.

Though I know competitive pricing is all a part of running a business, it still made me stop to see the word undercutting used so casually. Hell, used with pride! I've been conditioned to think of undercutting as a sign of bad quality and clueless or malicious behavior. Perhaps this repair collective is made up of a bunch of wonderful, talented, hardworking people but their advertising language really turned me off. Something like "Give us a call and ask about out competitive hourly rates!" would have been a much more positive way to say, "We work for cheap!". And as someone who is about to buy a house, I am all about the cheap but not at the sake of quality and not if it screws other people out of a job.

This past weekend Flissy and I danced as part of a neighborhood art festival in Baltimore. We've been renting space from the neighborhood dance school for the past year, and before that our studio as at their previous incarnation in another part of town. We really like working with them and were happy to do a short performance as a part of their dance showcase. We shared the stage with tiny tap dancers, a capoeira group, and an amazing pop and lock artist.

I'm posting the middle and last song of our set, please excuse the low volume in the last song. If you follow the video back to Youtube you'll see the first part of the set, where Flissy and I had a moment of zill fumbling. We've only been working on zills for about 6 months so I'm pretty proud we're doing so well!

Amy & I performing at Expression in Motion as part of Artdromeda in Baltimore:

Such a fun show! I love sharing the stage with tiny tap dancers, a crazy pop and locker, and capoeira!

I recently took a three-week workshop series on partner acrobatics. It probably goes without saying that this was incredibly fun for me! Something that really surprised me about this workshop series is that I thought I learned something different than what my teacher saw in me. From my perspective, I learned about just how severe my imbalances are! I have so much organic energy and so little muscular! I am all about expanding out and need to work extremely hard to hug my muscles back in. This means a lot more core-building work in my home practice.

I also learned a lot about my own body and how I move. I've been practicing yoga for nearly ten years now and most of the time, I feel pretty confident about how to move and where my body is in space. Well that all changed when I was suspended in the air. I had no idea where my legs were and how to get them to go where they were supposed to. More than once I had to practice what I had to do on the ground before doing it lifted in the air. This made me instantly more sympathetic to my own students! I had forgotten what it was like to teach my body to do something so completely out of the ordinary. I realize how much I ask of my students. I am very proud of them for their great achievements and I'm also now reminded to be patient as it takes time for them to figure things out and for all these new movements to work their way into muscle memory. What surprised me the most in the workshop was that my teacher could see over only three weeks the improvements I made in understanding my body in space, and as I worked out this understanding, I became more confident in the various stunts that we learned. As a student, it's so wonderful to have progress acknowledged!

This is one of the many benefits of studying with others, even in a different discipline, that we can learn even more than we think we learn because we have our teachers' insight to shine back at us!

When I tell people that I'm a yoga instructor, sometimes the response I get is, "Oh, wow! Yoga! I could never do that! I'm so inflexible."

Usually my response is, "That's OK! Yoga is where we learn to be flexible ... among other things." And then sometimes I go on some rambling monologue about the myriad of benefits of yoga.

Anyway, I'm here to tell you that being naturally flexible is not all it's cracked up to be! Sometimes I wish I were strong and stiff instead of flexible.

For those of us blessed with natural flexibility in the joints, it can be easy to replicate the look of a posture without doing any work. For example, take Dandasana/Staff Pose. If you just look at the shape, you might find it fairly easy to sit with your legs in front of you, in the shape of an L. But this posture can become a lot of work! Engage your feet, pulling the arches toward you, pull your kneecaps toward you, tone your belly and keep lifting your chest with your own strength. Oh yeah, and keep breathing! This is where the yoga is happening, finding all the nuances of the posture. Also, keeping your muscles working is essential to protecting your joints.

I would go so far as to say that yoga is even more beneficial for flexible people! My hypermobility has caused me injuries ever since I was young. When I was in high school, I suffered for a long time with a knee injury, and was constantly twisting my ankles if I stumbled even a little bit. Western approaches like orthotic inserts for my shoes and physical therapy did solve some of my problems. However, I have recently noticed that in spite of being a yoga teacher, I don't always move mindfully when I'm off the mat! I have thrown out my SI joint probably by getting out of bed some sloppy way, and I know that I often sit into a chair in a way that is not so awesome for my knees. I can't always count on my joints to maintain this natural (or unnatural!) flexibility. Muscles must be worked long and strong both to allow joints to work the way they're supposed to, at the maximum range of motion and with the maximum amount of support. This is how we train our bodies to serve us safely for many years. Some us (waves hand) have to work harder on the strong, and some of us have to work harder at the long.

One of the exciting benefits of my teacher training program was getting to know a diverse group of yogis who all had different approaches to their practice. I am alway curious about what excites people about yoga, and how they practice. Do you go to classes? Do you practice at home with DVDs or books or just by your own creativity? Do you have a routine that you stick to or is it freeform?

My practice has definitely ebbed, flowed, shifted, and advanced over time. During my teacher training program, I maintained a morning sun salutations practice. After a while that practice dropped off, and instead I usually did my yoga in the late morning or early afternoon, depending on my schedule and my inclinations. I've been stuck in a rut so I decided to pick it back up again. I forgot how much I loved this practice! I get up, have a big glass of water, set an intention, and then hit the mat for 12 rounds of sun salutations. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and I am refreshed and set up with a better attitude for the whole day. It's invigorating but gives me room to continue if I am feeling energized, and I'm more inclined to revisit my asana practice later in the day if I have time because I know how good it feels.

In the end, that's really all I want out of yoga... I want to feel good inside and out. How about you? If you're stuck in a rut or don't know where to start, share your hangups, too!

At the end of this month, I'll be teaching a DIY Yoga workshop all about building a personal yoga practice. I've attached a flyer you can download if you are local! If you are not currently a member of Life Time Fitness, contact me and I can get you a guest pass for the day.

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