inspiration – Sophia Ravenna

Mira Betz NM Retreat… Whoa.

August 10, 2015August 9, 2015Sophia Ravenna

NM wildflowers against a stormy sky, seen from right outside my room.

I am back from New Mexico… Which is to say that my body is physically sitting at my desk in Tucson, but my heart is back in Carson.

A tiny town in northern NM might seem like a strange place to go for belly dance, but it was perfect. First of all, it was beautiful… pine trees, wildflowers, monsoons, beetles, bunny rabbits… Just a wonderful spot. But more importantly, the isolation meant there was nothing to distract me from dance and dancers! I put my phone into airplane mode and pretended the rest of the world didn’t exist.

Going into this, I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that I love Mira Betz, and the two weekend workshops I’d taken with her had both changed how I thought about belly dance and inspired me to work harder. I wanted a whole week of that. I had heard amazing things from other people who had done her intensives, too. Because of that, I didn’t care where I was going or what I was doing, although the fact that the retreat was an 8.5 hour drive from my house certainly helped.

As for what I experienced… I don’t know if I can even put it into words. Imagine spending a week with 20 wonderful women, all of whom really love dance, and all of whom are willing to be really vulnerable and take some creative risks. I felt like we fed off of each other’s energy, in a good way. The more we saw each other push ourselves, or open up about ourselves, the more we wanted to do the same.

But it wasn’t all serious and heavy… There were also several days where we spent the long afternoon siesta on the porch sharing Random Animal Facts and life stories. There was lip-syncing and twerking. There were games and sunset walks and margaritas.

And of course, there was dancing! Every day we had a mix of drills and creative group exercises and presenting our solo homework. Mira always manages to challenge me with her across-the-floor exercises, although I was pleasantly surprised to find myself able to do some that I expected to be stymied by. I also really enjoyed our “daily dance” solos, which included time to get really insightful feedback from Mira and the other attendees. I got a great mix of ego-boosting compliments and constructive criticism that should really help my dance grow.

There were a few things I really enjoyed about the structure of this retreat.

1: Everything was optional, so if you happened to have altitude sickness or jet lag or just didn’t feel like doing an assignment, you could pass and not feel judged.

2: There was a 2.5 hour lunch break/siesta every day, so there was plenty of time to eat, digest, and either take a nap or do something fun between classes.

3: On Wednesday we had a day off with optional excursions, so I got to see some of the local sights without missing out on any dance.

4: Because lodging and food were included, I didn’t have to worry about anything but getting myself there. And because we all lived and ate together, and we didn’t really have phone or internet service, there was a lot of great social bonding time.

And let’s really take a moment to talk about the food. Mira’s Mom, Fatima, is the most amazing cook. Every day she produced three well-rounded meals, with options for those who had dietary restrictions. You might expect that we were eating a lot of pasta casserole and bagged salad, but you’d be completely wrong. There were enchiladas, and couscous, and Moroccan-style chicken, and French toast casserole, and baked apples, and marinated beets… And while there were salads, each lunch and dinner the salad was tailored to go with the meal, with homemade dressing to match. I brought a box of granola bars for me because I tend to get ravenously hungry when I dance for several hours a day, and I never even ate one, because I was so well-fed at every meal.

To get back to the dance and artistic growth part of the retreat, I’m feeling really inspired by the lessons I learned from Mira, and the tools she gave me to keep growing as a dancer. The classes were structured to be accessible to dancers of all styles, with no preference for a particular movement set or way of interpreting music. I really appreciate that Mira doesn’t go around trying to create a bunch of mini-mes, but instead empowers each dancer to grow as her own person, using her own movement vocabulary (while maybe picking up a few moves from the drills section!) and her own musical choices.

If there was one thing I would have changed about the experience, it’s that I would have liked to have had a hafla or show. Not because I think every event needs to have a performance opportunity attached, but because a lot of us found ourselves wishing we could see each other perform! After watching how each dancer tackled her homework assignments, I definitely wanted to see them dance without the limitations of the assignment. And because of the close friendships we formed, I think it would have been a really intimate experience, with so much love flowing back and forth between the performers and the audience. I know that sounds a lot more mushy than I usually get, but that’s how emotional I really feel about the bonds I formed with my classmates.

There’s already talk of another retreat next year, and I’d definitely sign up for it again. I highly recommend this experience for any dancer who is looking to add more artistry to their dance, or overcome some sort of emotional or inspirational hurdle.

In closing, here’s a picture of Theda Beara chilling in my room.

Inspiration: Phryne Fisher

June 25, 2015Sophia Ravenna

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to write this post, it’s been floating around in my head for a long time, ever since I watched the first season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. But what does a TV show have to do with belly dance, you might ask?

It’s true that Phryne Fisher isn’t a belly dancer herself (though she can cut a rug in a variety of styles, so maybe we WILL see her do a shimmy and some snake arms at some point?), but she still has a lot of qualities I admire. You see, I’ve often styled myself as a “femme fatale” but the truth is, I don’t actually enjoy a lot of the traditional depictions of that archetype. In so much film noir, the femme fatale is a victim of circumstances and has very little agency. She’s either a villain or a victim, never a hero.

And then there’s Phryne. She embodies all the things I love about the femme fatale archetype — mysterious, beautiful, dangerous, capable — but she’s also the gumshoe. No damsel in distress, no gangster’s moll, she’s the hero of her own stories, acting on her own agency. Even when she’s not directly championing women’s rights through the course of the story, she stands as a clear feminist icon, a woman who buck’s society’s expectations in pursuit of what she believes in, and what she feels is right.

But on top of all of that, she’s super glamorous, you guys. Not an episode goes by where I don’t exclaim at least three times “I waaaaaaaaant that” about something she’s wearing. She’s always well-dressed (even if one might question the wisdom of wearing white to a crime scene, you have to admire how it sets off her dark bob and ruby-red lips) and perfectly accessorized. I mean, just look at what she’s wearing in her hair in the above promo photo and tell me you don’t want to wear that on stage.

I also appreciate that Essie Davis, who plays Fisher, is in her 40s but the show doesn’t treat her like an “older woman.” I don’t know if the character is supposed to be in her 40s, but her age is never really treated like an issue either way, and it sure doesn’t have a negative impact on her romantic prospects! Compared to so many American shows and movies where an actress her age would be playing the hero’s mom, it’s refreshing to see her get to be the leading lady instead — and to exercise her sexual agency and speak about reproductive rights, even!

So yes, Phryne Fisher is my feminist femme fatale inspiration, my fashion icon, and my binge-watching pleasure all rolled into one!

Niyaz at MIM!

May 27, 2015Sophia Ravenna

Still a couple stops left on their May tour!

Remember when I went to the Musical Instrument Museum a couple months ago and said I hoped to return soon? Well, I went back last night, but not to see more exhibits! Instead, I was there to see my favorite band Niyaz perform live in MIM’s wonderful theater!

I splurged on front row tickets, because seriously, they were only about $5 more than tickets further back in the theater, and am I gonna skimp when the band I love is finally in my state? No, I am not. Although, the theater had a really nice slope to it so I have a feeling that there’s not a bad seat in the house, and that even the back rows probably had a good view, because it wasn’t an especially large venue. And of course, since it was specifically built to host concerts in a museum dedicated to music, I’m sure the acoustics were amazing no matter where you sat. I know the music sure sounded great in the front, though, without being too loud — neither Chris nor I had “concert ear” at the end of the night.

The show was a mix of songs from their new “The Fourth Light” album and a few old favorites. You can see which musicians are touring with them on the flier above. I have to say, in addition to of course loving Azam Ali’s voice, I was so impressed by Didem Basar’s kanun playing! It was so incredibly beautiful, and it was amazing to watch her hands as she played faster. The kanun is one of my favorite instruments and one I rarely get to hear played live, so that was a special treat.

Niyaz’s music is incredibly danceable, although I spent most of the show swaying in my seat next to my non-dancing husband. I finally got up for the last song of the night, and when Azam acknowledged me with a smile from the stage, I almost swooned like a teenager at her first boy band concert! Then when some of my old Plaza dance pals ran down the stairs to join me, we had a wonderful mini-dance party and agreed that we all should have gotten up a lot sooner!

My only complaint was that the show was pretty short. It started at maybe 7:20, and after one song encore, a chat with my friends after the show, and a quick trip to the lady’s room before the long drive home, it was 9:05 when we got in the car. I would have liked a couple more songs in the set… Or, you know, an all-night concert covering Niyaz’s entire repertoire. That’s not too much to ask, right? Especially since it was over a 4 hour round trip?

All in all, I’m so happy that I was able to attend this show and I hope Niyaz will come back to AZ again before I move away next year. In the meantime, if you live in California, they will be out your way next, so catch one of their shows if they’re anywhere near you!

Inspiration: Musical Instrument Museum

February 18, 2015Sophia Ravenna

The most "metal" mandolin ever. — The most “metal” mandolin ever.

Did you know that there’s a Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix? I’d known about it for a while but never had the chance to visit it, as my time up in Phoenix was usually jam-packed with dance happenings. However, we’re currently entertaining my in-laws who have escaped the frigid confines of NY for some sunshine and fun, and they thought MIM sounded like a fun thing to do on our daytrip to Phoenix, so I finally visited.

I had this image in my mind of MIM as a very small specialty museum, kind of like the Bead Museum that used to be in Glendale. When I read that they recommended at least 4 hours to see the whole thing, I figured that was probably an exaggeration. Well, we were there for 2.5-3 hours and we didn’t even see half of it!

This is a huge, two-level museum that is divided into regions of the world. I of course wanted to see the Middle Eastern section (more on that later), and we had to go through Africa to reach it. Many of Africa’s countries were represented, with musical instruments and some dance regalia, and information on the different influential tribes in each country and the evolution of their musical traditions.

At most museums, I have zero interest in using the little Walkman-like radios they give you, preferring to read and go at my own pace, but at MIM the audio is tied to video clips in almost every display, showing the music and dance of the region. Curious about what that unusual-looking instrument sounds like? It might just be in one of the informative clips. Without this touch, I feel like the museum would not have been nearly as interesting, because while many of the instruments were beautiful in form, of course sound is their primary function.

This 10-string Indian guitar was just one of the many really cool instruments we saw.

And yet… in some ways, the audio recordings overwhelmed me. I stopped and listened to/watched almost every clip in the Middle Eastern section, soaking up some inspiration. Although the Egypt section was currently under maintenance and only had the video screen up with no actual instruments on display, the rest of the small exhibit was packed with ouds and riqs and neys and more. The video clips included a live Oum Kalthoum performance and so many gorgeous oud solos. But the problem was, you only got a little snippet of each song! Because I have a pretty strong emotional reaction to good music, this actually made me very anxious… I felt like instead of getting the natural progression of riding along with a song from start to finish, I was in a constant state of being pulled along by the most emotional parts of a song, without being calmed down by a nice ending. Does that make sense?

I feel like to really do this museum justice, you need to be there all day, and you need to give yourself some breaks. There are plenty of benches out in the hallway, and a restaurant downstairs, and outdoor seating, and a gift store, so there’s ways to take yourself out of the music and decompress. It would be a good idea to bring a journal or sketchbook to jot down any sudden inspiration.

I definitely want to go back to MIM again and see the parts I missed. There’s currently a special exhibit of drums that we opted not to check out, since we were on a limited time frame.

One thing to keep in mind if you are also planning on visiting MIM is that it is way way on the north side of Phoenix. It’s still within Phoenix itself, but it’s way out there and there’s not a lot of other stuff around it, so plan your day accordingly!

Back from NY!

August 13, 2014Sophia Ravenna

I am the spider queen! — What, doesn’t everyone pose on giant spiders while on vacation?

Before I talk about my trip, please allow me to apologize for the lack of posts during the trip! I brought my tablet and tiny keyboard along with the idea of blogging while in NY, because I had plenty of time for that the last couple of times I was there. What I failed to take into account was that my last two trips were during the fall, when my mother-in-law (a teacher) was working. Because we returned to our usual habit of traveling out there in the summer, she was off of work and this meant that we didn’t spend much time at home sitting around doing nothing!

So what did we do? Well, we went to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, where they had special exhibits on spiders and poison (also pterosaurs and dark matter, but we didn’t have time to check out those). On the way back to the train station, I finally got the chance to shop in a NYC Sephora, which was about 3 times the size of the one in Tucson Mall and as such, had more products.

There was lots of shopping, and lots of eating. I brought home some new makeup and jewelry for my dance wardrobe, and a few extra pounds that I’ll hopefully dance off soon. I stimulated NY’s economy by shopping and eating at lots of local businesses!

The whole family took a trip upstate to hang out in New Paltz and Woodstock and other towns in that area. We took a tour of FDR’s mansion, and in the library/museum they had a really cool exhibit of Madeleine Albright’s pins. I mean, REALLY cool. I went into it because I was like “YAY JEWELRY!” (I didn’t really feel like reading about the Great Depression in the main museum), but in addition to the pretty shinies I found myself really impressed by how Albright used her pins to make a statement that could be poignant, funny, or sharp.

I got to spend some time with both of my sisters-in-law while in NY, which was nice. All of us grew up with brothers so it’s fun having sisters by marriage. My one sister-in-law (husband’s sister, as opposed to his brother’s wife) currently lives in Israel and has been trying to get me to come out there to check out the dance scene. It was also interesting to get her take on what it’s like living in the middle of the conflict over there.

I didn’t do anything specifically dance-related while there, I didn’t catch any shows or do any practice (other than spinning some poi after we went for a picnic in a park), I didn’t bring any costumes to work on or dance books to read. I feel like this was a good chance for me to recharge and think about dance things and plot what I want to do for the rest of the year. I’m feeling refreshed and ready to tackle hip hop and troupe practice tonight!

Pinterest for Bellydancers

July 9, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Today’s post is inspired by the Daily Dance Tip I shared on my Facebook fan page. So before I get down to blogging, let me shamelessly plug myself: Monday through Friday I post a little daily tip about something dance related. Not only do I think my tips are handy (otherwise I wouldn’t share them), but they often start a conversation where other dancers share related tips or anecdotes. It’s fun and informative! So go like Sophia Ravenna on Facebook and keep an eye out for forthcoming tips.

Anyway, today I suggested that dancers should take advantage of Pinterest’s great potential as a dance tool. If you don’t already use Pinterest, you might have this idea that it’s just full of dubious DIY projects and nail art pictures, but it’s a lot more than that. For instance, there’s zillions of great pictures of bellydancers ranging from icons of the Golden Age to the latest up-and-coming dancers. So whether you’re feeling down and you want to swoon over pics of Mardi Love all day, or you’re trying to find a picture of Samia Gamal in a specific costume, Pinterest has probably got your back.

But beyond that, there are a few great, specific ways you can use Pinterest as a belly dancer.

1. Collect all of your favorite dance stuff. In addition to pinning pictures, you can also pin YouTube videos, and a lot of websites and blogs have “Pin It” buttons, so you can save your favorite posts, too. Sure, you could just bookmark things, but Pinning is great if you have more of a visual way of remembering things. For instance, if you have 10 bra tutorials bookmarked and you know there was an awesome tip in “that one where she was making a pretty blue bra”, you could go through your list of bookmarks, or you could go to Pinterest and see the picture with the blue bra and know that’s the one you wanted.

2. Create visual wishlists. Pin all of the costumes you’d like to buy, so that when you have some money to spend (or someone says “What do you want for your birthday?”), you have a really easy visual guide to refer to.

3. Makeup and hair tutorials! Pinterest is overflowing with beauty ideas, and while you have to be wary of some of the DIY tips, you can find great looks based on the latest eye shadow palettes, or new styles for your hair.

4. Inspiration boards. In addition to my general “Belly Dance Inpsiration” board chock-full of beautiful pics and favorite videos, I like to make specific boards for specific performances. On these boards I’ll collect makeup and hair looks that I want to try, costumes similar to what I’m considering making, and images that just evoke the feeling I want to convey with my performance. Depending on whether you want to give your fans a tease or surprise them, you can make your inspiration boards public or secret.

5. Troupe boards. You can set up a secret board that all of your troupemates can view and pin to. This is a great way to share ideas for new costumes and choreography, makeup ideas, and more. If you have a troupe that periodically adds members, having a pin board that shows photos of all your current costumes and the sort of hair and makeup you do will make it a lot easier for them to catch up. You can even pin your practice videos if you want.

6. Pinterest as a promotional tool. If people are going to pin pictures of you anyway, you might as well have some control over it, right? Make a board specifically for your pictures, videos and blog posts. Don’t go overboard with it, because no one likes spam on any social networking tool, but try to make sure you have a good variety of pins available. Although people can edit the information you provide, at least you know your photos will go out into the world with your name, the photographer’s name, and any other information you want to share (where it was taken? who made the costume? what style of dance you were performing?), and you can make sure it links back to your website, blog, or whatever.

To get an idea of how I use Pinterest, check out my profile and browse my boards. If you have any Pinterest tips and ideas of your own, please share them in the comments!

Inspiration: Lindsey Stirling

May 27, 2014Sophia Ravenna

Photo apparently courtesy of Instagram user @caffeicaddiction

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the sold-out Lindsey Stirling concert at the Rialto Theater here in Tucson. It was an inspiring evening, not just because it’s always inspiring to listen to good music, but because it was wonderful to see a stage full of people who appeared to really love what they do. Furthermore, I find Lindsey Stirling inspiring because she found her own little niche — dancing while playing the violin paired with dub step music, with forays into geeky themes — and became hugely successful with it. Many of her shows on this tour have/are sold out. She has over 2.5 MILLION fans on Facebook. And the show last night was filled with a wide demographic of people. I saw fans far younger than me and fans older than me. I ran into some of my gaming friends and my hip-hop teacher and later learned that one of our local drummers was there, too.

What I took away from this show is that it’s important to be true to yourself and what inspires you. Lindsey spoke about these themes a few times throughout the night as she explained the life events that inspired some of her songs. As artists, it’s a constant struggle to balance what you think people might like and want to pay you for, and what you really want to create. But I think the audience can tell when you’re being inauthentic, when you’re just chasing the latest trend or shamelessly pandering instead of showing them your authentic self. Oh sure, you might fool a few people and make a few bucks here and there, but you’re far more likely to burn out when you’re not doing what really moves you.

As an example, one of the songs Lindsey played last night was the Zelda themed. She rocked it out and seemed to have a great time with it and the audience loved it. It felt authentic. But if I were to do a belly dance to the Zelda theme, it wouldn’t have the same impact. I didn’t have a Nintendo when I was a kid, I’ve never played a Zelda game in my life, those aren’t my geek roots. To be true to myself, I’d have to dance to something about Dungeons and Dragons or the theme music from Guild Wars 2, because that’s my geek cred.

Obviously there’s no magic short cut to success. I’m not saying that if you find your own weird little niche and be true to it, that you’ll also get 2.5m FB fans and people screaming your name at your concert/performance/gallery opening. Your niche might not resonate with that many people. But it will resonate with somebody, and they’ll feel inspired in turn to be true to their own inspiration.

Mardi Love Weekend

May 6, 2014Sophia Ravenna

I spent this past weekend up in Tempe for the Mardi Love Spring Intensive Weekend at Plaza Studio. It was absolutely amazing! I couldn’t stop smiling during Saturday’s workshop because it felt so freakin’ good to be learning and drilling and dancing. The workshops were just hard enough that I felt challenged, but not so hard that I felt overwhelmed. And even when something was difficult, Mardi’s awesome attitude made everything OK.

Saturday’s workshop was about developing your performance, taking into account musical style, movement style, costume, etc so that it all meshes well. This is something that I really love to see in dance so it’s good to see one of the top dancers preaching it, hopefully lots of dancers will listen and bring more performances to stage that reflect this mentality. As part of the workshop she gave us a TON of costuming tip, from choosing a style to sourcing awesome vintage materials to actually constructing it, and she even passed her costumes around the room for us to handle and look at closely. Yes, I got to hold Mardi Love’s vintage assuit and yes, I gave it back to her. After that we learned some movement phrases and a bit of choreography that demonstrated some of her stylistic choices. I don’t usually like learning choreo in workshops because I know I’ll never use it again, but Mardi was nice enough to dance everything she taught after each workshop so we could film it and practice the bits we like. I’m sure there’s some moves I’ll lift from the video to start working into my own improv.

Sunday’s workshops involved all kinds of technique. YEAH! I love technique workshops. There were layering drills and footwork patterns across the floor and slow, slinky, ooey gooey combinations and I soaked it all up. Oh yes, and almost every single song Mardi played was just beautiful, to the point where after nearly every exercise, someone would ask WHAT WAS THAT SONG? I’ve got some new music to play with now

Saturday night was an awesome show with local talent, Bastet who came in from out of state for the show, and lots of Mardi Love! I was sitting in the front row and let me tell you, it was an amazing experience. There was a moment where she did this perfect little hip accent that was just right for the music and so beautifully executed that it brought tears to my eyes. If you ever get the chance to see Mardi dance live, especially in an intimate setting, DO IT! She is such an incredible performer, she knows her music inside and out and doesn’t dance over it, but with it. I was blown away by her dancing. Several of the other performers also brought some wonderful dance to the stage, especially Bastet, Dirigible Doumbek, and Kristina K.

I’m feeling so inspired, and also a little sad that I didn’t sign up for Mardi workshops at Tribal Fest. I guess I shouldn’t be greedy though, everyone deserves a little Mardi Love and it wouldn’t be fair if I got to study with her twice in one month and others didn’t get to study with her at all.