I'm delighted to announce that the Belly Dance Spectacular went marvellously...and that was all due to the professionalism of performers, the technical staff and the volunteers. A huge thankyou to everyone- you all played your part and like a well oiled machine it moved seamlessly! Well- almost! The only dissapointment was the fact that we didn't have as big an audience as previously, despite our best efforts and doing everything pretty much as we did last year. This of course has had a knock on effect with regard to how much money we raised, but despite that we had a very enthusiastic audience and raised a goodly sum. I'm of course biased but I was really happy with the dances Miramar did and they all looked fabulous in their costumes- especially the finale (purple of course!).
It's taken me a couple of days to wind down and I'm stull feeling pretty tired. The slow recovery was partly due to the fact that six of us from Miramar went off to Leamington on Monday to take part in a pop video for a band and although this was huge fun I'm now wiped out! But at least now the show is over I can turn my attention to organising Le Petit Souk and getting to grips with next terms dates, teaching and events. This next term is looking to be a tricky one as we have a royal wedding, Easter, a Bank Holiday or two and half term to fit the classes around. A bit of a bummer, but can't be helped, but it's going to take extra work to get the souk off the ground as it falls right in the middle of that lot! And I'm beginning to get that sneaking urge to lie down on a regular basis...not a good sign. In fact maybe that's a message to sign off and go relax for a bit.........? Yes, lets do it! Byeeee..............
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Thursday 17 March 2011
Wonderful Words and Funny Phrases 2
Thought I'd squeeze in a little blogette before I start work officially!
Carrying on from the other day I was talking about words and turns of phrases and their origins. I like the fact that we are still continuing to invent new words and phrases, although we are still copying American-isms (though I suspect that will diminish as Chinese and Indian culture starts to have more influence).
Any of you remember Eddie The Eagle? He was a guy who took part in the Olympics but managed to mess up everything he did, and became a running joke for a while, so people starting using the phrase 'Doing an Eddie the Eagle', and that tradition of celebrating peoples misfortunes or notoriety has carried on...how about 'Doing a Maxwell' for another! And we also use language to lampoon our polititians, talking about Blair-isms, or 'Two-Jags' Prescott, so maybe it's one of the ways we uptight Brits have of making our feelings felt! But I also love weird phrases which are witty as well as pertinent- like 'mad as a box of frogs' or 'one sandwich short of a lunch box'...where on earth do these come from? And who makes them up? I wonder if our over-the-top (another one!) PC society is so careful to not use terms that cause offence, that we are forced to invent other ways of describing things? Or is it the fact that like poetry, a well chosen phrase can say an awful lot with out appearing to say much at all!
I know that as a child I picked up all sorts of old fashioned terms from my Mum and Dad and their peers and was laughed at at school when I used them, so very quickly worked out what was OK and what was not. But I know this early conditioning runs pretty deep as I know lots of people who complain that they start using their parents favourite phrases when they themselves have children! So some phrases still continue and some go out of fashion....we still use terms like 'Smelt a rat', 'I saw red', 'throw the baby out with the bathwater', 'knows which side his bread is buttered', ' having her cake and eating it'. And some phrases are very old -'Goodnight, sleep tight' is supposed to come from the Elizabethan period when beds had mattresses that were tightened with ropes, and 'Mind your P's & Q's ' comes from the time when pub drinks were measured in Pints and Quarts. If anyone out there has any more origins of phrases I'd be fascinated to hear them.
Anyway it's turned out to be a bit more than a blogette, so I really must now get on with some work- not least because the Belly Dance Spectacular is coming up this very Sunday!!! Whoo hooo!
Carrying on from the other day I was talking about words and turns of phrases and their origins. I like the fact that we are still continuing to invent new words and phrases, although we are still copying American-isms (though I suspect that will diminish as Chinese and Indian culture starts to have more influence).
Any of you remember Eddie The Eagle? He was a guy who took part in the Olympics but managed to mess up everything he did, and became a running joke for a while, so people starting using the phrase 'Doing an Eddie the Eagle', and that tradition of celebrating peoples misfortunes or notoriety has carried on...how about 'Doing a Maxwell' for another! And we also use language to lampoon our polititians, talking about Blair-isms, or 'Two-Jags' Prescott, so maybe it's one of the ways we uptight Brits have of making our feelings felt! But I also love weird phrases which are witty as well as pertinent- like 'mad as a box of frogs' or 'one sandwich short of a lunch box'...where on earth do these come from? And who makes them up? I wonder if our over-the-top (another one!) PC society is so careful to not use terms that cause offence, that we are forced to invent other ways of describing things? Or is it the fact that like poetry, a well chosen phrase can say an awful lot with out appearing to say much at all!
I know that as a child I picked up all sorts of old fashioned terms from my Mum and Dad and their peers and was laughed at at school when I used them, so very quickly worked out what was OK and what was not. But I know this early conditioning runs pretty deep as I know lots of people who complain that they start using their parents favourite phrases when they themselves have children! So some phrases still continue and some go out of fashion....we still use terms like 'Smelt a rat', 'I saw red', 'throw the baby out with the bathwater', 'knows which side his bread is buttered', ' having her cake and eating it'. And some phrases are very old -'Goodnight, sleep tight' is supposed to come from the Elizabethan period when beds had mattresses that were tightened with ropes, and 'Mind your P's & Q's ' comes from the time when pub drinks were measured in Pints and Quarts. If anyone out there has any more origins of phrases I'd be fascinated to hear them.
Anyway it's turned out to be a bit more than a blogette, so I really must now get on with some work- not least because the Belly Dance Spectacular is coming up this very Sunday!!! Whoo hooo!
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Wonderful Words and Funny Phrases - No1
I know this might sound as if I spend all my time daydreaming or deep in thought, but recently I have been amused and fascinated by turns of phrase and our language. It was partly due to listening to a couple of Radio 4 programmes, but I've always been fascinated by words and names and their origins and meanings. Not sure how we got onto the subject, but Sid and I were this morning discussing how someone trying to learn English might be totally confused by our assorted turns of phrase and colloqialisms (not sure if that was spelt right!!). The Victorians had lots of amusing words to describe things that were considered rude or disgusting by polite society, and certainly lots of those phrases have continued...like 'Going to visit the vicar', 'Powder your nose', 'Pointing Peter at the porcelain' etc, and of course there are some much ruder ones, too! Think our predilection for these might be something to do with our rather stiff upper lipped society in the past, but it's interesting to see that these phrases and modern versions of them are still in use. And other countries and societies all have their own versions of these too. And do countries like India or Africa have phrases that they have inherited from us? I also find it fascinating that language is continuously developing and changing, and I heard the other day that it's very trendy in India to speak in a hybrid of 20th century English with some Indian phrases thrown in...so there's lots of 'Super' and 'Jolly Good', and when you consider that black American culture is also affecting especially British Asians you could potentially have a rather wild and exotic mix! Lots of the words in our culture come from other countries- pukka, bungalow and camping come from India, and most of our language comes originally from French. We still have sayings like 'Je Ne Se Qua', and 'Coup D'Etat', 'Fait Accompli'. But I'm especially intrigued by words or terms that have come directly from an event or famous person, and the habit of using these with current names of people is still with us. It's a witty way of making a comment on what's happenning in the news, and makes you seem very 'cool' and 'up to the minute'. I heard the other day that the term 'Gordon Bennett' was about a real man from the Victorian period who was engaged and went out and got very drunk. He then turned up at his fiance's house where she was having a very posh party, and promptly peed in the fireplace in front of everyone! Needless to say the engagement was broken off and his name went down in history ! And 'Your name is mud' comes from the fact that the man who assasinated President Lincoln was called Mr Mudd.
Although I have many more msuings on the subject I'm fast running out of time as I need to go and teach a class...so don't go away- 'I'll be back'!!
Although I have many more msuings on the subject I'm fast running out of time as I need to go and teach a class...so don't go away- 'I'll be back'!!
Wednesday 9 March 2011
I'm a Menopausal Belly Dancer!
Can't belive it's over week since I last blogged! But it's not surprising as we are only about 10 days until the BD Spectacular and there is still lots of stuff to do beforehand.
Last week I went to see a film a dancer/artist friend of mine had made about the menopause. it was done as part of her arts degreee so was very arty and creative and used the medium of dance. There was very little spoken words but lots of symbolic movement and dance. The audience also had a short discussion afterwards which was very interesting. It was certainly thought provoking as I am in the middle of the menopause and it struck me that being a belly dancer and teacher brought up all sorts of interesting questons about femininity and fertility and how that affects peoples perception of you and how you feel about yourself as a sexual/sensual being. Belly Dancing is thought to have possibly been born out of Goddess worhsip and fertility rites and certainly there is a tradition in the arabic world of older women passing on the moves to younger women (and girls) as an aid to sex and childbirth. As a performer you get used to being admired (and desired!) and that's a very nice feeling, so it's curious to contemplate how that might be for me as an older woman. I've heard older ladies and men say that they become invisible to society when they are old, and it's not a very nice experience. And whereas I don't expect all men to fancy me, I wonder how it might feel to no longer be worth a look? Or maybe it's all about your perception of yourself? My friend (the director of the film) said that her experience made her want to withdraw from everything and other people. Many people see Belly Dance as the ultimate dance of sensuality - and indirectly- fertility, so I wonder how they would percieve me as an older woman, still doing this type of dance? In the Belly Dance world there are quite a few older dancers and generally speaking they are looked on with great respect as they have so much experience and skill, but would the general public agree? I must admit that I have taken inspiration from older women doing this type of dancing ( in fact any form of dance, actually!), so I hope that I can in turn continue to encourage younger women to see that life doesn't just stop when you hit 50! Food for thought.
Last week I went to see a film a dancer/artist friend of mine had made about the menopause. it was done as part of her arts degreee so was very arty and creative and used the medium of dance. There was very little spoken words but lots of symbolic movement and dance. The audience also had a short discussion afterwards which was very interesting. It was certainly thought provoking as I am in the middle of the menopause and it struck me that being a belly dancer and teacher brought up all sorts of interesting questons about femininity and fertility and how that affects peoples perception of you and how you feel about yourself as a sexual/sensual being. Belly Dancing is thought to have possibly been born out of Goddess worhsip and fertility rites and certainly there is a tradition in the arabic world of older women passing on the moves to younger women (and girls) as an aid to sex and childbirth. As a performer you get used to being admired (and desired!) and that's a very nice feeling, so it's curious to contemplate how that might be for me as an older woman. I've heard older ladies and men say that they become invisible to society when they are old, and it's not a very nice experience. And whereas I don't expect all men to fancy me, I wonder how it might feel to no longer be worth a look? Or maybe it's all about your perception of yourself? My friend (the director of the film) said that her experience made her want to withdraw from everything and other people. Many people see Belly Dance as the ultimate dance of sensuality - and indirectly- fertility, so I wonder how they would percieve me as an older woman, still doing this type of dance? In the Belly Dance world there are quite a few older dancers and generally speaking they are looked on with great respect as they have so much experience and skill, but would the general public agree? I must admit that I have taken inspiration from older women doing this type of dancing ( in fact any form of dance, actually!), so I hope that I can in turn continue to encourage younger women to see that life doesn't just stop when you hit 50! Food for thought.
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