2010 - My Year in Dance Thus Far

What a year in dance this has been for me so far. I certainly can't blog about the whole past 6 months, but here are some of the highlights from the first part of 2010 in dance for me.

• Learning Angelique's Cheetah choreographies for "The ZOO" show was a crazy experience. We began the choreographies in January and I barely felt ready to perform by the middle of April. "Ampersandstorm" was the fastest and most athletic choreography I'd ever done. Drum solos are always fun and I think the Angelique Bellydance Collective performed the choreographies most excellently. Every new choreography that Angie gives us is a whole new set of challenges and an intense, deeply involved learning experience.
  
• Performing in "The ZOO" was quite an experience. Performance here. It was so much fun being included in such a beautifully and professionally produced show in NYC. Performing with the Angelique Bellydance Collective is a privilege and honor. The talent and creativity of everyone involved was absolutely inspiring. I've wanted to be in a Venus Uprising show since the first one I saw a few years ago. So I was thrilled to be involved with a group that was invited to perform in one. At the end, though, we were all so totally wiped out from driving in and out of NYC and the adventures involved in that and performing for three days in a row.
  
• Spring Caravan in May is always a lot of fun! It's really my favorite bellydance festival. Vending went very well. I loved performing with Beatbox Guitar. Pete List and Rob Mastrianni are such awesomely talented musicians. The Saturday night afterparty at Spring Caravan was insane! It was Beltane and the fire energy was crazy! The music was incredible, the energy was outrageous and seeing everyone the whole weekend was a blast!
  
• In early June I hosted Ranya Renee in a Modern Egyptian-style workshop which was well attended by the local bellydance community. Ranya's teaching is full of feeling, beautiful lines, technique, footwork, choreography and such an innate sense of how to feel and interpret the Egyptian music. She is so full of knowledge, humor and a genuine desire to teach and share what she knows. It's always a pleasure to study with Ranya. I highly recommend her DVD's to everyone interested in Egyptian-style bellydance and am looking forward to the release of her new Taksim DVD! I got to see some sneak-peeks of it while she and I were discussing costume ideas for upcoming DVD's she is planning.
  
• Jenny Cohen hosted Donna Mejia in New Windsor June 26-27. Donna is an extremely intelligent, thoughtful, well researched teacher who's style is compassionate, relaxed and very open to sharing her passion and everything she knows. Her performance at the Saturday night hafla was electrifying and inspiring - even though she was suffering from cat allergies! Her lecture on Sunday was eye-opening and informative. She shared very important information that I feel anyone who has a true passion about Middle Eastern or any ethnic dance, and especially teachers, should have. Her dance and movement instruction was full of a lifetime of wisdom and understanding of how the body moves and how to use it thoughtfully and effectively.
  
• On-going, I just want to give a shout out to my students and say what a pleasure it is to be their teacher. Teaching bellydance is very rewarding, in that I get to share this dance that I am passionate about and I get to see the progress and share in the enjoyment of it with people who also share my passion. Every week I learn from my students and I love and cherish every one of them. I strive to always be open to learning whether I am in the role of teacher or student.
  
• I also spent a lot of time at home with my husband and son in May and June. We didn't go out or do much, but it was a great time to recharge my batteries and reflect, which it seems I really needed. That lull brings me full force into July and August, which are full of activity, energy and exciting prospects!
  

Whew... Upcoming schedule, events and ramblings in the next post.