List Making and Knee Status

Glad to report that the knee is steadily improving...as long as I don't get too confident and do too much! After my Monday night class I was limping a bit more, and yesterday after my afternoon class I was worried I'd done more damage, as it was quite painful again and I was having to walk like a snail.  Your brain is working at full speed, but you body isn't and that's very frustrating! I've managed to rest it since and it's feeling better again...but I have the Weds class tonight with the Belly Bolly choreo...will have to get creative about how I teach it! BUT I really want to be able to dance on Saturday at the hafla, so will have to be sensible (uuurgh!).
Spent this morning recording two editions of Girl Talk for NCCR. We pre -record the programmes and they are repeated, so we only have to get together once a month. That's just as well as I have to find 3 likely lassies to come voluntarily each time....but it's good fun as it's an excuse to have a gossip and chinwag, just on air! But I'm trying to decide what knee friendly activity I can do next... and I'm not feeling very decisive. Do I a) look for a printer for the show flier? b) sew a bit of Jackie's bra? c) finalise the hafla programme? d) plan my class e) make some lists? (probably my favourite!) or f) look for a venue postcode? *Sigh* can't decide! Will probably end up doing none of the aforementioned and do something else completely! But as some of you know I am  a bit of a list-maker! I try to organise myself and everyone around me with lists- different lists, forms, questionaires and schedules. I've always been a list maker, but since I have been having the odd senior moment here and there it has become a necessity or things get forgotten! Now I've said all that I'm getting the urge to make a list......................................it's no good-gotta go a scratch that list!!

Day at the Winter Wonderland event

Am rather tired this morning after a very long day yesterday at the Winter Wonderland event in Witney. When Vic and I got there the venue wasn't open so we had a little pootle around and a cup of tea before going back. As the afternoon was just 3 workshops, we quietly got on with setting things up, but I must admit to feeling a slight twinge of envy that I couldn't join in with two of the workshops as they looked such fun! Niiki's Salsa/carnival moves looked so infectious, and Lynne's Vixen Choreo looked like some very vampy fun! In fact we may as well have arrived later, as although we had a few browsers, no one bought anything until the evening hafla. And there were lots of people there as they had 26 acts! There were so many performances that I can't remember them all, but some memorable ones were the Steampunk ladies in gorgeous gypsy/saloon girl/ victorian outfits (think I could sneak some of that past the Shuvani Girls?) dancing to some funky Balkan music, Nikki doing what she does best and looking beautiful to boot, an interesting Rai Scarf dance, several novelty/fusion acts including a western line dance/belly dance number in jeans and shimmy belts and a tango/belly fusion, as well as a fast and furious choreography from Helen Sleiman and her troupe. There seems to be  real trend towards lots of mixing up of styles and genres at the moment, as well as formation style choreographies, with very little traditional/folk being performed. I'm all in favour of fusion, as I think it keeps the dance fresh and interesting but I do also like a bit of Saidi or Folkloric (to use the American term), as long as it's done well. Did quite well on the stall, but was concerned when I realised that the programme had only just finished at 11.20pm! We packed up in double quick time, but what with having to get petrol on the way home as well, I didn't get to bed until after 2pm and Vicky had another 30 mins drive from my house! Rather grumpy and irritable as a result! 
Glad to say that the knee has improved, but not sure if I need any Bowen or not. In any case I would have to wait until tomorrow as the clinic is closed today. And although today should officially be a day of rest, there are work as well as house related jobs that need doing, so I think I'll have to get off my bum  and get on with them...*sigh*

Armchair Gypsy and a little light Moaning

Managed to do my classes last night, but I couldn't have done it wthout the sterling help of my lovely assistant Rosemary! I could manage stationary stuff, but definitely NO travelling steps. So she stepped in (literally) where I couldn't manage. Also, based on a suggestion by my pal Lucy, I think I may have discovered a new belly dance genre...Armchair Gypsy! Surprising how much you can do sitting down...even skirt swishing! Reminded me of an amazing clip I saw on YouTube, of two Oriental ladies performing a Belly Dance routine on telly... but one was in a wheelchair and the other had crutches! Incredible! The knee is slightly better this morning, but I'm still hobbling about like an old lady and having to clutch at any supportive object I can find...so you have been warned! And although it was lovely to meet up with my pal Lucy yesterday ( nothing comes between me and my cake, by the way!), she handed me some instruments of torture...3 DVD's of dance which I can only watch and not participate in at the moment! AAAaargh!
But I won't let a knee injury affect my radio career...no siree! This blog is just a little break from preparing my reserach and the schedule for the programme this afternoon, but I'll be back on it in no time! Peter has finally managed to sort out playing the music direct from his new ( and very shiny) IPod, so we are going to be even better than last week! It feels as if we are at last beginning to get back to the old settled routine we had before the station closedown, so we can start promoting the programme in earnest.
Looking forward too, to attending Nikki Livermore's Winter Wonderland event tomorrow. Just as well I hadn't booked myself into any workshops, eh!? So apart from the setting up and clearing away of the stall I can legitimately sit on my bum most of the day, and just enjoy the view! I made loads of new stock items over Xmas when I was snowbound so am looking forward to seeing if they will be popular...I hope so... Will have to warn Vicky of my little temporary 'disability'! But I at least have almost four dance free days to give the knee a chance to recover. If it isn't healing noticeably by Sun/Mon I might consider some Bowen technique...it defintely worked it's magic before for me, and I thoroughly reccomend it!

Knackered Knee and Other Stuff

Am feeling a bit sorry for myself to day, and am having to sit on my bum a bit more than I'd prefer, as I've gone and twisted my knee again!! GRRRrrrrrr. As a dancer and teacher, you expect to get the odd strain or pain, and unfortunately I've twisted both knees at different times over the last 5/6 years, and this has left them rather tired and very sensitive to any overwork. So I have to take really good care of them (usually) and follow all the good practises etc, so it was ironic that this last incident was simply getting up quicky off the sofa! At the time it was just a sharp twinge, and I thought I'd got away with it so gaily carried on teaching last night, finishing off with some lively Belly Bolly! Not a clever idea, I realised, as soon as the class came to an end as the knees were both complaining loudly...and today my left knee is refusing to bend much and forcing me to limp around like Jake The Peg! So I will be relying heavily on Rosemary tonight to help out. She is one of my lovely experienced students who is a graceful dancer, is great at remembering choreographies and has been studying belly dancing or so long that she knows lots of moves, and is quite capable of demonstrating them beautifully. And fortunately I then have almost four dance free days to recover, thank goodness!
So I guess it's down to the computer admin stuff then! No excuses...hhhmpf!
Had a lovely morning cuppa and cake with my great pal Luce, and we had a very interesting chat...a lot of which was about belly dancing. Lucy and I met when we were both students of Linda Markey, and have stayed friends ever since, and as she sews and is into making jewellery there is always something to discuss or drool over. We are Sisters of the Sparkle! And we know lots of the same people, too! Belly dancing is a very sociable hobby as there is a strong tradition for geting together at workshops, haflas and other events to learn, dress up and dance, and of course gossip about belly dance, too! I've made lots of good friends and accquaintances over the years and it constitutes a very big part of my social life, as well....

Right, think it's about time I hobbled around a bit before it all seizes up, and also I'm feeling guilty about not doing any work, so will sign off for now....Byeeeee!

The Appreciation List and seeing the positive......

Another inspirational idea from Maggy Whitehouse! An Appreciation List. At the end of each day you sit down (or in my case, lie down!) and list ten things you have appreciated or are thankful for in that day. You can write them down in a book or if you are lazy like me you just run through them in your head! But apparently doing this over a period of time really helps you to feel more abundant and happy. I can well believe that...in fact I did it for a while a few months ago, and was surprised at how more cheerful I felt! And it doesn't have to be big things, it can just be little simple things, like enjoying your cup of coffee, or getting a smile from someone you love. And it can be quite a surprise to look back over your day and re-discover just how much you did, experienced, gained and enjoyed! Think we girls especially spend too much time rushing around and doing things for other people, and rarely stand still for long enough to pat ourselves on the back, or count our blessings. My (only) New Years Resolution this year is to focus on being positive, so I'm trying to see the good side of everything, or how a problem can be a blessing in disguise, or at the very least what I can learn from a difficult situation. I believe the Universe/world to be a benevolent place, and thinking that makes it so for me. We all know someone who seems to have a real downer on life or for whom everything seems to go wrong....so it's interesting to consider what their approach to life is? Do they see a problem at every corner, or expect things to go wrong? And when we preface every sentence, with  'Well, knowing my luck' , 'I just knew there'd be a problem...' then we are setting up the world to fit into our view. According to some sources, the energy of the Universe is neither positive or negative, just neutral, and it us and our thoughts that influence it either one way or the other. Greg Braden (an inspirational teacher on YouTube) has some very interesting ideas and reports of experiments showing how as humans, we share our DNA quite literally with the rest of the planet, and therefore whatever we think or do cannot but influence the world around us- the Butterfly Effect. However....the trick is to not get in our own way! It's that naughty old ego who wants to control everything and stops us fulfilling our potential, and thinks it knows best. But that is only a limited viewpoint, as the Universe can see the bigger picture and is wiser than us. So..anything you want has to be held like you would a butterfly.....gently, without control, grasping or fear, and no attachment to the outcome.

Oh my goodness....where did all that spring from!!LOL!

Cogitating on Costumes...and other stuff

I'm looking forward to a quieter week this week as the last one felt a bit full-on! And I need the time to do some long overdue jobs, as well as considering the designs for my white show bra and finale costume.

 We are doing a candle dance in the show and I had this vision of us all in white, like virign priestesses...well a bit too late for the virginal bit, but we can try! So we have each bought our own white bra and I've given everyone a 'kit' with the same pieces of braid, bags of sequins and white glittery asian motifs, and each person can decorate their bra as they like. We've already got white velvet skirts so some are covering their bras with the same velvet prior to decorating, but as I found a bra with little silver sequins glued to the fabric already I'll just go straight for the decoration...Yes! And the finale costumes are going to look very classy as the lycra has come out on the darker side of Cadburys Purple, and we are having silver and purple decorations. Everyone can design their own costume but using the same fabric and trimmings, so they will all look slightly different but similar...bit like a girl band.
So while these potential deigns are swirling around my head I have to also start planning Le Petit Souk, produce a poster and finalise workshop details with the teachers...and I urgently need to get down to designing a poster for the Belly Dance Spectacular, as it's only about 8 weeks away! Not forgetting promoting my Belly Skype lessons and workshops, and planning classes. Pheweee.....just as well I don't have any children - except for Sid! I could do with a secretary/office angel/personal assistant who would work for free and mop my brow occaisionally!
So....not much room in my head for philosophy or contemplation, unfortunately, but you never know what might suddenly present itself.............

Sunday Waffle

Aaaaah- Sunday!! At last, bit of time to relax! But, of course, me being me, there is a plan.....LOL!
After a good days shopping with Annie from Miramar yesterday, we now have some luscious purple lycra nd some lovely sparkly trimming for the outfits for the finale of the Belly Dance Spectacular.  I managed to fit in a bit of buying beads for myself, but we did spend a fair bit of time dribbling and cooing over the gorgeous jewellery in Forever21 and in the Rag Market. In fact Annie stopped drooling long enough to actually BUY a fabulous diamante necklace and earring set... WOW! And later today I intend to cut out lengths of the aforementioned fabric for the girls to get started. Yes....although it's a Sunday I'm still working! I'm getting anxious about getting behind with the promo stuff for the March show as well as my workshops, so a bit of poster designing is on the cards. And before you ask, I DO occaisionally take time off, but I grab my opportunities where I can, so it might be an hour smooching around the shops or a cosy chat with a pal over tea and cake. Because of the nature of my work, I can't attend regular evening classes myself, so all my hobbies have to fit into the daytime or in the gaps between work committments. But I've been working for myself most of my life, and wouldn't have it any other way! Think after all these years I'd find it hard to be told what to do!! Bossy control freak or what!
Am also having to turn my attention to the other radio show I do. I present a programme called Girl Talk on North Cotswolds Community Radio - it's a kind of slightly more serious version of Loose Women, with me and 3 gals sitting around a table chewing the fat on various subjects. It's great to have a legitimate excuse for having a gossip with the added attraction of it being on the radio. NCCR is another internet radio station, but has been going for a couple of years now, to growing success, so I'm delighted to be part of it. But once a month when we record the shows, I have to find new guests...no mean task when everyone is so busy, and many are out at work during the day. But's really good fun, so I don't mind.

Ooo-er- have a feeling this is turning rapidly into a not-so-exciting and rambly waffle....and anyway it's cup-of-tea-time...so without further ado, I'm off! Byeee!