Month: December 2011

Happy Solstice everyone!

The darkest day has come and gone, and we can look forward to the return of the sun. Whatever you celebrate this time of year I hope it is spent in the company of lovely people, food and music. Having a four day weekend is precious to me right now, as I savour every second of sleeping in, playing records, baking vegan cookies and seeing all of my favourite people.

The much anticipated Frostbite: Bazaar of the Bizarre was a smashing success in its new location, the Great Hall.   Congrats to the Plastik Wrap folks, on a fantastic event! And I was loving the soundtrack of the day, brought to us by Jonah K. There were a few craft shows that day on that block and people were out in droves. Of course I was sewing buttons on my cowls right up until the final hour (and beyond!) for the Strange Dames booth. Here we are:

    

I bought a few things myself, it was so hard to decide with so many talented creative people and things under one roof. I had to get more shimmery eyeshadow from Peculiar Potions of course and later came across Lana Opus Scarves, a guy who makes really awesome scarves –or ‘man cowls’ as I call them, though they’re  unisex for sure. I will post some pics, I got two and although he works mostly in wool (old man pants, houndstooth,etc.) I found a couple without.

On the dance front, I been focused on the final month before the Sugar Shakers bring our new number to the Followlogie competition in Montreal. Now that we are working on final touches, I can really see how truly dynamic and awesome this piece is. Its fast, organic and full of attitude –something us Sugars have no shortage of! I can’t wait to perform it (breaking news: you can get a sneak peak Sat Jan 14th at Dovercourt House, that is unless you want to follow us to Montreal!).

Meanwhile Serpentina North Ensemble continues to work on new ideas and prepare for Inversion/rewind at the end of January. I am constantly expanding my ATS/ITS repertoire and ever challenged and amazed by the improvisational spirit of this style. Falling deeper and deeper in love. Next week the troupe will get a specialty workshop from the talented Rosana McGuire on her visit back to Toronto from San Fransisco…can’t wait for that! Here are some pics from our performance earlier this month at Twilight Mirage. Photos by Peter Lear aka FotoDances.

                        

Om Laila wrapped up the year with its annual holiday soiree. Having no more room in my brain or body for new choreography I chose not to dance and instead enjoyed being an audience member, drinking wine and taking in both new and seasoned dancers. I did however, sing –and in Arabic, nonetheless!  The small crew of us who have been studying singing, drumming and zylls under Roula Said finished off the night with Roula on kanun/main vocals, Jaash on main dumbek/vocals and a few more of us on vocals and zylls. It was a scary and exhilarating experience. I have a bit of a singing background but that is reaching back so many years now…however the songs Ala Warag Il Foull and A’Nadda which we performed are two of our regular songs and I found myself comfortable enough singing them in front of an audience. Hopefully much more of that to come…

On a different style of music, some of you know I’m a huge Erykah Badu (aka: Sarah Bellum, Medulla Oblongata, Analog Girl in a Digital World, Low Down Loretta Brown, Fat Belly Bella and Maria Mexico) fan and have been trying in vain to see her live for a very long time. Last year her New Amerykah part 1  tour was supposed to touch down in Toronto and as I held onto my tickets for dear life, the show was cancelled the day of. So for now I am destined for youtube videos…but her tour with the Cannabinoids is making me want to get my ass to the states for a show. Check this out, as if her voice and flow  weren’t enough for you, she also rocks the drum machine and theramin in the loveliest of ways.

Some older footage from her New Amerykah 1 album

There are so many events going on in the next couple of weeks, its hard to keep track. I’m opting for a low-key NYE (unless someone can persuade me otherwise!) but I still want to get out and dance before that, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins is playing next week. I haven’t seen him live in years and I will even bear the Drake for it. As for some online listening, tonight my soundtrack has been Rachel Brice’s mix from her 8 tracks page, it spans pounding to atmospheric. Some really nice tracks.

I wish you all delicious and rejuvenating things for for this last week of 2011. See in 2012 my friends, for more movement, mystery and mayhem!

In production at Hindsight Studio!

I will keep it short and sweet on this frosty, sunny morning, cause its a busy Hindsight Studio day preparing the Strange Dames booth for the bazaar tomorrow.

There’s a lot going on this weekend and here’s where I’ll be:

The Dark Salon

Frostbite: Bazaar of the Bizarre

[PLEASE NOTE THAT WABI SABI POP-UP SHOP IS CANCELLED FOR DECEMBER, WE WILL BE BACK IN THE NEW YEAR…STAY TUNED!]

                              Random truth: I love Glenn Barr’s paintings. I really do.

Despite my efforts to write every week, I end up getting the time for a nice lengthy entry here every two weeks. November has come and gone in the blink of an eye and here we are approaching the dark days of December. I look forward to the winter solstice and the approaching hibernation. Staying active and creative this time of year can be a challenge but I think I have a good handle on it: my new additions to Toronto winter survival are ashwaganda (aka withania), an imune-boostng and energizing herb, astralagus tea (good for lymphatic health) and something I should have had all along –vegan hot chocolate. My daily pick me up between work and dance classes or meetings or the long streetcar ride home, and if I’m feeling like I need some extra sweetness, the vegan marshmallow ‘fluff’ with Sadies Diner hot chocolate is just what I need.

Sustaining myself physically, is essential to my dance practice. Gotta keep moving, stay limber, even when hibernation seems to beckon. Stretching every day has been crucial to maintaining several hours of dance per week and to keep my body feeling good. These days I take about 20 minutes out of each day for yoga, that is to stretch and meditate. Some days my meditation consists of nothing more than groaning and moaning as I stretch out the resistant muscles in my body and other times its a conscious body scan or set of chants. I’ve found it useful to commit to daily practice and it has certainly made my dancing (and being) feel more fluid and grounded.

Last weekend was the Toronto Lindy Cabaret and I performed with Sugar Shakers as well as a solo bellydance number. Being one of the few non-lindy hop acts I felt myself getting a little nervous. Once I got up there I was at ease though, getting hoots and hollers from other dancers in the house. I wish I could have seen all of the other acts, I only got to see a couple, including a pretty awesome band who’s name escapes me, if you know please tell me in the comment section! After the show, people had a lot of questions about bellydance and I had some great conversation about points of intersection between different styles of dance. The lindy-hoppers were quite fascinated with the isolations in my number and I remain quite fascinated with their graceful yet playful abilities to dance with another person. That’s a work in progress for me! I made some new friends that night and felt very supported by the local vintage dance community.

Since I last wrote I attended Heather Labonte’s workshop at Dark Side Studio, where I learned some fabulous drills and combos from a talented dancer. We worked on particular angles, and little details that add extra finesse and beauty to contemporary bellydance. Then Sunday I attended the much-anticipated sword workshop by Zahira at Dragonfly Studio. Oh man it was everything I imagined it would be, to put a sword on my head, on my hip, on my knee, and dance. It was extremely powerful, and I was taught enough to practice on my own for a while. Once I get a sword that is…Im saving my pennies.

This month is jammed pack with awesome goings-on. Here are but a few that I’ll be checking out:

Dec 3 – Twilight Mirage  I’ll be performing with Serpentina alongside other fabulous local belly talent.

Dec 4 – Tumbling Into Light

Dec 10 – The Dark Salon

Dec 11 – Bazaar of the Bizarre

Dec 14 – Om Laila Holiday Soiree

Dec 15 –  In Honour of Jenna

Dec 18 – Wabi-Sabi pop-up shop. One day only! Stay tuned (here!) for details

I know there’s more, so stay tuned…I’ll update next week!

Until then, I leave you with music to hibernate to.