Catching up on other areas of my life...I had the Suzanna del Vecchio workshop this past weekend. It was pretty good. I think I mentioned before that she does yoga as well as bellydance--one of the good things about the class is that there was a lot of attention to proper body alignment and what to do--and what to avoid--when performing certain moves. Most of the class was taken up by learning a 2 minute choreography. She built in time for us to sit and take notes on it, and I bought the CD that had the music we were using, so hopefully I will be able to reconstruct it later on! The music had a really nice, heavy Saiidi beat, which means I *really* want to adapt it for a cane. Along with the CD (called Sensual Goddess) I also bought Suzanna's instructional DVD on drum solos, called Lock, Roll, and Flutter, which I wasn't initially going to do, but hey, it was on sale, so....
Always interesting to see some of the people who come to a large workshop class like that--usually ends up being a huge mix of dancers of all levels and styles. Some were obviously professional dancers, some just starting out, and then the usual crowd of rank beginners who don't even know that street clothes are appropriate attire for a dance class. One woman even insisted on doing (well, attempting) the entire class in her skimpy kitten-heeled shoes held on by nothing but one slender strap low down across her toes! What are people like this thinking??? Weird. Another strange thing is seeing people who paid a fair amount of money to come participate in a class led by someone nationally renowned for her teaching get angry and cop an attitude when they're given any kind of instruction or correction. I mean, really, if you're not there for that then what are you there for? I just don't understand that mindset.
There was a bazaar in progress during the afternoon and throughout the evening show, so I got to have a lot of fun drooling over hugely expensive designer professional costumes dripping with fringe, beads, sequins, and other lovely details. I did buy one thing there--an abayah to use as a coverup for my dance costumes. Black with a few small turquoise crystal designs on the front, and a matching chiffon scarf. I also saw a really nice deep green beaded hip scarf that I think I may have convinced Michael to get me for Christmas :)
The show was really interesting--there were some really good dancers, and much of the dancing was in a style that I don't see very often. There were a lot of teachers there with large student troupes, doing these high-energy, almost Vegas showgirl-style routines--not my preferred style, but very fun and high energy. It would be neat to take some classes like that. The honored guest performer was Suzanna, of course, and then the night closed out with a really good singer from Washington (I can't remember her name right now), who got everyone up dancing for fun. I was exhausted at that point, having danced all day and been at the show all night, so Michael and I left sometime around midnight.
Other than those highlights...life this week has been pretty much same old same old. We are closed tomorrow and Friday for American Thanksgiving. Michael and I are going to a friends' house for dinner this year, instead of leaving town. I have Saturday off, too, but unfortunately I'll be back in the reference desk trenches on Sunday. The good news is my friend Diana and I are getting together on Saturday for Henna, Indian movies, and fun!
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