New Pants!

January 9, 2014March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

I now make sure to nicely point my toes even when taking sloppy pictures at home.

This blog hadn’t really been living up to its name lately, so here’s a picture of some new dance pants! I actually bought these primarily for costuming my steampunk persona, a saloon girl turned world traveler, but I have a feeling they’ll make it into my dance costuming rotation too, even if only for wearing to Ren Faire on a warm day or to a workshop when I feel like being cute. For that matter, they might come with me to Tribal Fest, they’d easily go from workshop to hanging out, especially paired with some over-the-knee socks and a pair of cool boots.

I don’t buy dance pants as often as I used to, now that I’m no longer taking weekly classes at Plaza de Anaya, where I was constantly tempted by new arrivals. I do spend a lot of time looking at pants on places like Etsy, and I found these cuties on Dahlal while I was looking for something to go with a troupe costume. Lately I try to only buy something if I need it for a specific performance or if it fills a gaping hole in my wardrobe. In this case, I needed some more things to mix and match for steampunk and these fit my character and were a good price, so I let myself indulge.

And with all the cleaning I’ve done, I might even be able to fit them in the costume closet!

Formations

December 1, 2011March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Day 334 of practice.

Tonight I went to class and broke out of my lumpy funk, somewhat. We worked on formations, and my nemesis — the 3/4 shimmy layered over an Arabic. I’m starting to get better at it at least, now that I’m not so tight in my glutes and hips. Still hate it, though.

Once again we had Carl providing live drum music, which is nice for two different reasons. One is that Carl is awesome and so is his drumming, and the other is that if Carl is drumming, Fonda doesn’t make us dance to Glen Campbell or the Meat Puppets.

Also I got to wear the sparkly stripey pants that I bought at Club Bellydance, with skull socks under them. Dance pants and skull socks make everything better, right?

New pants!

July 29, 2011March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Day 209 of practice.

Tonight Dawn and I went up to Tempe for class, as usual, and we had fun, as usual. It was a good night of classes, with lots of practice and review and some new moves, too. I’m really honing my Anaya Tribal moves, and getting comfortable with DC skirt and fan. Over all, I’m happy with my progress right now.

But wait, didn’t I say “New pants!” up there? Why yes I did! There was a bunch of great new merchandise at the studio, so I decided to treat myself to a new pair of dance pants, because it’s been far too long since I fed my addiction. I picked up a great pair of ruched, ruffled brown capri-length pants. They’ll be great for steampunk, great with boots, great to transition from Anaya Class to DC class by throwing a skirt over ’em… really, a good investment!

Last night’s costume

July 1, 2011March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

A friend was asking about last night’s costume, so here are a few pictures! I kept it simple, because I was doing veil and also because it was hot. Just black and burnt orange pants, and a black halter top with black and copper lace overlay. Jewelry is a necklace, earrings, and bindi, and I put my hair in a bun and mostly circled it with a variety of flowers.

Home from the Hafla

June 12, 2011March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Day 162 of practice.

Please forgive the unglamorous backdrop, the lighting at the hookah lounge wasn’t great so I had Chris take some pictures of me in costume after I got home. I’m very happy with my costume/hair/makeup from this performance! I had better be, since I spent almost 2 hours getting ready for my little solo.

Tonight was a fun experience for me. Dawn and I arrived early, and found that the hookah lounge did not have a dedicated stage area for the dancers, and that it was divided into two rooms. Well, that was exciting! I’ve never done a performance where I had to circulate among the crowd before, though we’ve played with it a bit at the Anaya performance prep classes. I think I did alright, but because of that set-up, there was no real chance to get video. It’s a shame, because I really like my Convivio solo. I guess I’ll have to perform it again sometime.

I did not get a lot of dance practice today, though I did play around a bit to the new exciting song I found (it’s a secret!) while I was cleaning. And I feel like I got some very valuable experience today, from accidentally deciding to do a winged sort of eyeliner, to dancing in a hookah lounge without a stage.

By the way, the pants that I’m wearing in the photo are the ones that sort of cemented my status as a dance pants addict. The picture does not do them justice, they have some sort of magical power that makes my already pretty nice legs look amazing. I’ve been waiting for the perfect performance to wear them for and this was it!

Successful Solo!

April 22, 2011March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Day 111 of practice.

Whew! What a night! I performed my solo… you know, the one I’ve only been practicing for a week. I was unexpectedly super crazy nervous while I performed it… so nervous that I felt like I was visibly shaking and I was sure that everyone could see it. But they thought I looked happy and beautiful. The fact that I loved the song really shone through and overpowered the fact that I was suffering from an unusual bout of nerves. The song was a big hit. Hooray for having a husband who finds obscure songs for me

This was the last night of the session. We had a review and quiz for the Rhythm class, which was a lot of fun. I’m going to miss that class! Elissa Nova and Amanda Rose are both great teachers, and I enjoyed the fact that they gave us tests to keep us on our toes. And there were cupcakes! Hooray, cupcakes!

Also… daaaaaaaaance paaaaaaaaants! Next session I’m taking a skirt class, so I got some poofy green pantaloons to wear under my skirt. They’re nice lightweight cotton so hopefully I won’t feel too hot with two layers of clothes.

Tomorrow is the big day!

December 31, 2010March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Is it really New Year’s Eve already? I guess it is! So tomorrow is the big day, the first of 365 days of dance practice. I’m pretty excited for it! I’ve got Rachel Brice’s Serpentine DVDs to help me learn backbends, I’ve got some new music to practice to, and I even bought some cheap yoga pants to practice in! Yoga pants are very much like dance pants, and these ones have a cute pattern on the fold-over waist, which makes them more attractive as practice wear than my boring black gym pants. Of course, sometimes I just wear whatever pants I happen to already be in, but if I’m going to be doing the yoga on Serpentine, I have a feeling I’ll want to be wearing stretch knits.

I do apologize for leaving this blog blank for a week. I’ve just returned from a trip to Vegas with one of my dancing friends (where I picked up aforementioned pants), and I didn’t have time to pre-schedule any posts to go up in my absence. But from here on out, it should be posts every day!

If you haven’t already, have a look at the links on my sidebar. It’s a nice collection of people who make my dance life happier, as well as my other blog and my shop (a girl’s got to support her dance pants habit, after all!). I’ll be adding more links periodically, but the current list is a good start.

Come back tomorrow to help me start off the New Year with dancing!

30 minutes a day, 365 days a year…

December 24, 2010March 25, 2014Sophia Ravenna

… that’s the goal! Starting on January 1st, 2011, I aim to practice belly dance for at least 30 minutes a day, every day, no matter what. I had already wanted to step up my practice regimen, and a blog post from my friend SaraBeth (and the first follower of this blog! yay!) inspired me to join her in striving for a minimum of half an hour a day. SaraBeth was in turn inspired by belly dancer Lisa Zahiya, who has started the blog A year of practice… to track her progress and encourage other dancers, athletes and goal-seekers. I’m grateful to them both for giving me something to latch onto, a movement that I can share with my fellow dancers, which will hopefully keep me from slacking off. There are just a few points I need to ponder before I start, which is what this blog is for.

Specific Goals

What do I want to accomplish in this year? So far I have a couple of definites.

1: Get better at group dancing.

2: Hone my solo technique.

3. Improve my zill playing.

4. Revisit props I learned this year but never practiced at home.

5. Backbends!

What counts as practice?

In order to make sure that I actually get my 30 minutes a day, I need to decide what I will consider to be practice. I’m going to count warm-up and cool-down time, as they’re good for the body and make me a better dancer by preventing injury.

Dancing obviously counts as practice, but it has to be in the form of a class, a workshop, or dedicated practice. Maybe a performance. But as much as I would like to say that bopping around at a party counts, the truth is that there is no focus on posture or technique at parties, I’m just having fun.

I’ve also decided that drilling isolations and practicing zills while seated can count as practice, for days when I’m sick or injured.

What obstacles do I foresee?

As mentioned above, it’s hard to get into dance practice when I’m sick or I’ve hurt myself at the gym, and I get sick a lot. I’ll need to work out some easy-on-the-body things I can practice when I’m not well enough to actually dance.

Gem show in February is also going to be hard, as I spend at least 8 hours a day working and then usually have a party or dinner to go to every night for 5 days. I’ll probably have to do a combination of dancing a bit while I get ready in the morning (drills in the shower? Shimmies while my oatmeal cooks?), and doing belly rolls while I sit behind the counter packaging crystals.

Vacations are usually pretty chaotic and oftentimes my days are filled with activities. How am I going to find 30 minutes a day to practice? I’ll have to work that out when I come to it. Maybe more belly rolls, this time in the car on the way to attractions. Wrist circles, too. Throw some mufflers on my zills and play them as we walk down nature trails. I’ll find a way.

How should I reward myself?

Dance should be its own reward, but I may need extra motivation. Many people embarking on a new diet or fitness plan find it helpful to reward themselves for every milestone reached. I’m trying to decide if I want to do the same. A new pair of dance pants for every 30 days of practice sounds pretty good! Maybe if I make it for the entire 365 days I can reward myself with a pair of custom-made fluffy lacy pants like these.