A HAFLA Report

It is a humbling experience to watch and be a part of a celebration such as the Holiday Hafla/Bellydance Show that my student group, FUZE, and I hosted last night. At every turn, when there was a need, we were blessed with the answer for that need. I fully give God the glory for the success of this event. Many prayers went toward this effort.

When this event was first planned several months ago it was intended to be a simple recital with just a small crowd. Because of the grace of God and the hard work of my P.R. person it turned in to a full fledged bellydance show.

The picture you see was made after the event--we have most of the dancers in it..also Ms. Emma Perryman is on the back row.

This event was a fundraiser for Emma's Harvest Home--a residential rehab facility for women who are working to overcome addiction. Ms. Emma Perryman was present, as well as other members of Emma's H.H. We were happy to raise $400 for Ms. Perryman. This could not have been done without the hard work and donations of time, effort and energy by so many people.

First, a very special thank you to perhaps two of the main blessings--Scott McLeod and his friend, Robin--who came to Daphne, unloaded and set up their music & sound system equipment, then managed the music for all the dancers who performed in the show. This was their first bellydance show and they were PROS! Plus, we were treated to Scott's beautiful voice during intermission--what a treat.

Then, as if all that wasn't enough--Scott donated several of his CD's for door prizes. Thank you, Scott McLeod and Robin (and I apologize if I misspell Robin's name!). You were wonderful. And we recognize that without a proper sound system and those with the expertise to operate it we, as dancers, would not be able to fully appreciate the dancing which is the visual expression of the music we hear. [we gave away about 20 door prizes! lol! it IS Christmas after all!]

Second, thank you to my husband, Ralph, who tirelessly filmed the entire show. He will begin working tonight on editing the dvd's. (Actually, he's working on it now and so far I'm lovin' what I see!). As I stated last night, Ralph has been my biggest supporter since I got back in to bellydance following the completion of my master's. He patiently works on other stuff while I teach and practice. He allowed me to turn a room at his store into a practice room, and he has done so much more.

And what can I say about Bill, Amanda, Nancy, Dee, Ralph and ALL THOSE who helped to set up over 100 chairs (which were almost full!) and then take them down. This is for all the Fuze members and their significant others who also helped--thanks!

Thank you to Sonja Presley, the best P.R. person I could have had.

Thank you to the Daphne Recreation Center, where I've taught since 2001, for allowing us to use the facility.

And a special thank you to the following:

Zuri Dance Company members who were there: Zee, Jane, Laura, Sarah, Tiana, Rebecca. Thank you, Rebecca, for being the emcee almost at the last minute! You did a great job. (www.zuridance.org)

Laura & Sarah opened the show with a fusion number that set the energy level in the room to HIGH. Tiana later performed with her Isis Wings...ah..so beautiful! Then, Jane and Rebecca danced a folkloric piece that had every foot stomping and everyone clapping! Woohoo!

Hyetti (Zuri's Jr. Troupe) performed Hoplada and a veil dance. Always refreshing! The smiles on their faces when we made eye contact was a joy. (find them on the Zuri webpage) [I will begin working on an advanced level with these ladies very soon--we all look forward to "sweat" lol!]

Amy of Andalusia performed a totally awesome fusion number...she can hold her own with Rachel Brice or Kami Liddle any day! All were wowed by her!

Jewels of Arabia, with their Director, Cathy, performed as well. As always, they brought smiles to faces with their dancing! They always do that and I love to watch them perform. (www.pensacolabellydance.com)

Daria of Ft. Walton Beach wowed us with two dances: one a brisk drum solo and the other was her double sword routine--yes, she is the Queen of Swords! (I was taking mental notes, Daria!) (www.mysticmirage.net)

We were delighted with Alyssa of Gulf Coast Bellydance from Ocean Springs....in a word: wow. Alyssa has studied and been cerified with a Bellydance SuperStar, Ansuya. Alyssa's web addy is: www.gulfcoastbellydance.com She will host her very own Holiday Hafla on December 12.

We were treated to a fun veil dance to Tarkan's song "kiss-kiss" (no that's not the "real" title! lol!) by Mary Moore...Mary moved to Mobile from Atlanta and this was her re-debut as a dancer as she hasn't danced in well over a year...thank you Mary--what a joy!

I was proud of Fuze, my student group. They performed two fusion numbers and I was very pleased with how hard they worked....and one student, 16 yr. old Caitlin, performed an Egyptian style choreo of mine and she was so graceful....by the end of the evening I kept hearing people ask if they could adopt her...the answer is NO! LOL! She is mine! Well, she's on loan for dance reasons but she belongs to her most wonderful mom, Sonja.

Of course, I performed my sword dance and a holiday fusion atop my upturned water goblets! lol! THAT was fun...because of the carpeted floor I wasn't able to fully manipulate the glasses with my feet but we're working on a solution for carpeted floor!

All in all--everyone had a wonderful time...the full was full to capacity with people even standing in the hallway watching.

I am very grateful and very humbled by the outpouring of love and sharing that so many people showed last night in so many ways. Special thank you to each and every one of you. This would not have been possible WITHOUT any of you. Much love to you all.

If I forgot anyone....I apologize...it is unintentional for sure....there was so much to remember last night....I heard my name called at least a thousand times..lol!...but I loved it.

ZivaDiva & Fuze plan to have other things in the future. We will let you all know the details in due time.

Until then...MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!

The PAUL Thanksgiving

Today the Paul family had our Thanksgiving celebration--it's been a while since they had a real family get together for the holidays. We were blessed today!

My daughters-in-law, Cindy & Robin, decorated my house for Christmas (and the granddaughers helped also!). Ralph and sons, Richard & Bradley, deep fried the turkey on the back porch and enjoyed some good father/son time.

After a good dinner the ladies took the grandgirls to several locations about Mobile in an effort to get a really good picture of them for the annual Christmas cards...those girls are so CUTE! And they are sweethearts, too.

A funny thing happened today--somehow our cat, Crackhead, ended up on the roof....Ralph & Bradley protested their innocence in that event..lol...(as if I believed them! lol!)...but Richard got him down.



Our next get together will be our annual Christmas get together...what fun that will be! BUT, before that day the ladies in the family and I will attend the ballet! A great time!

A BIG thank you!

On DECEMBER 5, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at the Daphne Recreation Center I will be hosting a bellydance hafla/recital for my students and for other dancers in the area. This event will be a fundraiser for Emma's Harvest Home which is a residential women's rehab facility for those struggling with addiction (I sometimes teach bellydance there!).

I am using this forum to send a BIG THANK YOU(!) to my VOLUNTEER publicity person, Sonja Presley. Without all her efforts this event wouldn't be getting the press that it's getting. She's working tirelessly to get the word out about the event.

I met Sonja about 8 years ago when I first started teaching bellydance in Daphne. At that time, she and her then 8 yr old daughter, Caitlin, took lessons from me. After a while, they moved and I didn't see them much at all until earlier this fall when Caitlin, who is now 16(!), returned for lessons with me. I was thrilled to see her!

Caitlin will be dancing an Egyptian styled solo to the music of "Zeina". My Daphne group, Fuze (cute name, eh?) will be dancing two tribal fusion style dances ("Karakas" and "Discovered"), and I will perform my original sword choreo to a piece of music by Corvus Corax (good musicians!). I'll also be performing a short "surprise" dance...won't say what it is...but it involves glass (hopefully the unbroken kind! lol!)

I hope you can all come and see us! The lineup of dancers promises to be interesting with a wide variety of dance styles to be presented.

Included here is a picture of my Daphne class (Fuze) taken at our last rehearsal.

Shimmies!

An Old Man in a Hat

The day we left Pigeon Forge we ate breakfast at a place with the BEST pecan pancakes. While waiting on our food to be served we noticed a quite elderly man who walked a little stooped over and who wore a hat. He was with a younger man.

Even though I sat across the room from the old man I could see that he radiated warmth and goodwill. What's more, I noticed that he had impeccable old-fashioned MANNERS. He removed his hat at the table, was cordial to his server and he seemed just plain old jolly. Of course, he could have been simply happy that he woke up that morning given his age! lol!

But I realized he is literally a dying breed. Most of the younger generation do not seem to have manners and this is from a lack of training in the home. Young men and boys wear hats, not only backwards, but inside and at the dinner table--that is IF they sit at the dinner table.

Many young women these days seem too forward. I was raised to believe that the guy should call first...these days it seems a lot of young women make it TOO easy for a guy to have them.

Another thing: I have noticed that many younger men do not stop to open or hold a door for a women anymore...some do and I always express my gratitude toward them. But, sadly, the majority of these men just barge right on in front of the woman.

What happened to "ladies, first?"

I realize that the feminist movement changed a lot of things....also with the necessity of woman now HAVING to be in the work force even if they don't want to be, men have become confused about how to act in a world where women are now asking to be treated as equals. I have no problem with that....but it just seems to me that there is no need for people to be as careless toward others and inconsiderate and just plain rude.

I think we need a return to those old-fashioned manners.

Do You Sprinkle When You Tinkle?

If so, do you wipe the seat?! lol! While on vacation in the Smoky Mountains and on the way to and from there I had the opportunity to learn a lot about a lot of people I'd never met.

Apparently, not everyone was raised with the same instructions as I. For instance, I was always told "if you sprinkle with you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat".

Well, GUESS WHAT?! Not everyone does that! If I wiped off one sprinkled toilet seat I wiped off well over a dozen! And what was even more frightening was that I observed these anonymous "sprinklers" leave the restroom withOUT washing their hands OR using hand sanitizer! Geez! How gross can this be?!?!

DOESN'T ANYONE HAVE MANNERS anymore?!?!?

Where has common sense and consideration gone??

My NOVEMBER Resolutions

I "stole" this idea from a person on the message board of Oxygen magazine (a weight training mag geared strictly for women)--it's the idea of having a RESOLUTION for each month rather than having only a resolution for the New Year. A nifty idea and, yes, I did tell her I'd be "stealing" the idea! lol! [it's only ethical! lol!]

Hence, with October winding down and November just a few days off here is my November resolution:

Get back to the gym and work out AT A MINIUM of 2 times per week while aiming for 3. I wanna get this body back in better shape! I'm still doing the belly dance which is great for flexibility but the weight training tones and shapes my muscles....the other day I looked down (was wearing a tank top) and was SHOCKED to see that I'm getting "OLD LADY ARMS!" aarrggghhh!!!

Plus, the elliptical machine really tones my tush and legs!

Woohoo!

I DISLIKE WALMART

Tonight after spending the day in Cade's Cove, which was beautiful (!), we ate dinner in Pigeon Forge at a restaurant whose name I can't recall. When we first went in I had a weird feeling because it was (1) almost deserted and (2) a little creepy-like and all I could think was that the lone, weary, hapless diner walking through the door might be what's on the menu--I know, weird, but I've seen too many horror movies (but that's another blog), anyway,...

....in talking with the server after dinner she mentioned that a short distance up the road a "mountain has been cleared" and a super Walmart is going up. That made me feel hopelessly angry....hopeless, because how can Walmart be stopped and angry because they are destroying beautiful land to make a buck.

Have you noticed that for the last few months Walmart is having less and less of name brands such as Kellogg's (an example) and more and more of their substandard brand "Great Value". Not only have they wooed in shoppers by offering lower prices (who can argue with that?), they put mom-and-pop businesses OUT of business, destroyed the environments where they built, and now they are going to restrict their customers choices.

Walmart sucks. Even if it costs a little more I'm going to take my business elsewhere.

HARDWARE & BUTTS

OK, so while at the ACE Hardware show in Atlanta I got really tired of all that walking so I planted myself on a bench and just watched people go by. I came to the conclusion that few people leave their homes (or hotel rooms) before checking their "rear view" in the mirror.

Here's what I decided:

1. NO one looks good in polyester pants that are too big and require a belt to hold them up which ends up making the pants "bunch" at the waist creating "balloon butt" in the back.

2. It should be OUTLAWED for any woman to EVER, repeat EVER, wear light colored stretch pants without a very long top...why? In two words, "scary CELLULITE"! All those bumps are positively...well...ewwww!

3. Wearing tight pants of ANY kind should be against ALL rules if a woman isn't wearing a LONG top and isn't wearing a thong. Panty lines make an already ample butt look like it's divided, not into two parts, BUT INTO FOUR parts! This is NOT pretty.

(still shakin' my head on this one...)

I guess you all can tell I had a little too much time on my hands at this hardware show...lol! But, puhlease...

....before you leave the house CHECK YOUR REVIEW!

TRIP so far

Ralph and I left Mobile last Tuesday night. We traveled to Atlanta, Georgia and attended the ACE Hardware show...it was HUGE. Ralph's son, Bradly, also met us there. The hotel we were in, the Baymont, SUCKED! No hot water, no adequate room service, etc., etc.!

We left Atlanta and drove to Cherokee, N.C., Sat. afternoon, 10/24. Then after traveling the Smoky Mtns we ended up in Pigeon Forge, TN. So far, we've had fun. The scenary is BEAUTIFUL. But, I've eaten way to much! We'll be here until Tuesday, then it's back to Alabama.

I have a wonderful and trustworthy friend, D., housesitting and catsitting for me. I miss my kitty, Crackhead! He makes me laugh and he's so sweet...for a cat!

WHAT I'M DOING NOW.

After a long period of contemplation I finally decided to become simply an independent teacher and performer of bellydance in Mobile and Daphne, Alabama.

I like being in a troupe, however, with being a soloist I can choreograph dances that are more challenging...and I DO like a challenge! At this point in my life I need to push myself more to get to the level where I want to be and by being solo I can push harder without wearing anyone else out! lol!

No-this doesn't mean I won't ever be in a troupe again as I love the sisterhood in a troupe-it just means that for right now this option is in my best interest!

I teach 3 classes a week now and I also give private belly dance lessons.

Shimmies!

GIVING BACK

I love to teach bellydance. Over the years I've taught, I have seen women whose self-esteem and body confidence grew tremendously. They gained better flexibility, greater muscle strength, and toned up in areas they considered their troubled spots--such as the behind! (yeah-those butt squeezes REALLY work-thanks Suhaila!).

Bellydance is very therapeutic for many women (and men, of course) as most creative endeavors can be. Learning to move the body in various ways which are not always required in our daily life and dancing those moves to beautiful and exotic music does something to release that "womanly power" so many of us stuff deep inside as we care for everyone but ourselves. It allows us as grown women to experiment with dance--and especially with a dance form so wonderfully suited to the female body--we once again give ourselves permission to put on the music and dance away just like we did as little girls when we daydreamed we were beautiful ballerinas.

The therapeutic effects of belly dance help with issues such as depression and anxiety. As with all exercise forms, belly dance, too, releases those feel-good chemicals in the brain. After breaking a sweat as we drill hip lifts, chest circles and shimmies we begin to feel better and better.

All this is why I have begun donating time teaching this dance form to some wonderful women who are now in residential recovery for substance addiction and abuse.

When we have been blessed with a gift we are meant to share that gift. I have been told I am a good teacher. That is one of the gifts I have received from the Creator--so it much be shared. I can say that, so far, what I have gained doing this is far more than I would have thought.

I feel pretty lucky to be able to share this beautiful dance.