Bellydance & TribOriginal

So some know that I have taken up Bellydance in the last month and a half and I am absolutely LOVING it! After I had L.A. I had lost a ton of weight but I needed to tone in the worst way. The county does this membership card deal, where you pay $10 for 24 visits over 8 weeks to various gyms and classes around town. When looking through the list, I see (or rather hubby sees) one of the classes is bellydance. After a bit of discussion we decide that it'd be a great way for both of us to get into shape. Now I am absolutely hooked, smitten if you will, with this style of dance. It's sensual, it's powerful, it's liberating. My self-esteem has never been the best but has improved over the last 2 years. This was the final kick I needed.

The down side to doing this through a health challenge is the majority of those who are there are doing it with the aim of getting in shape. I'm one of maybe 2 others who are there with the eventual goal of performance. That isn't a bad thing, at all. I'm all for people getting healthy and all but it means that the classes are geared toward "bellyrobics" rather than bellydance. I'm not even sure that makes sense LOL. Anyway, it means I have to drill to DVDs and such to perfect the movements. Getting these moves into muscle memory is not an easy task! Even finding out the taboo's is something I have to ask about because I'm one of the few who wants to eventually take it "out into the wild".

Did you know that only in Turkish style dance do you ever put your hands on yourself in any manner? Or that showing the bottoms of your feet is a huge insult? There's also hand stylings in Indian style dance which you must do properly, if done wrong they're disrespectful. So yes, I'm doing a lot of research on my own and asking my instructor in class for clarification. Which is fine by me. I'm one of those who'd research even if she could give us all the do's and don'ts.

I've bought several DVDs of both instruction and performance and in every practice session I'm improving a little at a time. I'd LOVE to get my hands on "Bellydance Underworld" and "Bellydance for Beautiful Freaks" as you can tell I intend to go Tribal/Gothic Fusion when the time comes.

I do have to take a moment and thank Blix for her advice on my last blog post and letting me know that it's OK to "mix it up" a little ;) Take what feels right to you, combine it all and be yourself!

Last night I brought up Hafla's at class. We don't have them here in town, unfortunately. Because most of the students are there for fitness, my instructor hasn't been able to hold a hafla since 2008 :( There IS an upside though. She dances with a group out of Asheville, Baraka Mundi, and we can go to their hafla's, when we're ready to perform! Yes, this is the same Baraka Mundi, led by Onca, that hosts ABSFest! Which I am going to try to attend. However, this is not the festival that she hosts that I am most excited about.

Remember, I'm a baby bellydancer and just learning about all the local events we have. When I came home from class last night and looked at the Baraka Mundi site, I noticed an entry that wasn't there the last time I checked. So off I go to look after seeing it's in Hendersonville and some how, some way I WILL go! TribOriginal has a ton of workshops, all lodgings and meals included. Honestly how did I NOT know this took place here? So in October, this is where I will be spending 4 wonderful days! If any of the BDers who read this intend to come, let me know!

Roses & Razors,
Morgana
The Deranged Dolly