Today, while searching for a little non-traditional inspiration, I came across this video by artist, Daniel Wurtzel.

Which lead to my finding this set to the music of one of my favorite groups:

(I won’t lie, I giggled outright reading one of the comments on the video that said, ” Sheet just got real”) but on a more serious note I will quote a small portion of his Artist Statement here:

In my most recent work, I am interested in finding or imposing order in chaotic airflow systems. The Air series of sculptures and room-sized installations involves lightweight materials such as bird feathers, flower petals, Styrofoam peanuts, fabric, balloons, soap bubbles, fog, fire or ordinary litter from the street that are trapped, and continuously fly in columns or vortices of open air. Work from the Air series is spare and poetic, largely due of its use of humble materials. Propelled into motion by something that is invisible, the aerodynamic properties of these materials, and the underlying order within these inherently chaotic airflow systems are revealed in a way that can be continuously observed.

I have been on a hunt these days for new inspiration, but I am feeling a calling to my roots, where I first found my love in the dance…working with fabric, silk, veils…the minimalist nature of the dance and the effortless beauty of shapes produced. These videos are really speaking to me right now. And I feel inspired to do a little recrafting of my veil technique into something new and changing, fluid and poetic…Stay tuned, folks! I promise to introduce something new for veils to you in 2014!

Release your inner child, even if that child is the L’enfante terrible!

We are so terribly serious in our lives and in our dance. We are on time, in charge, ever-present and prepared. We multi-task even when we are multi-tasking… We feel we must never fail, we must always be “on”, and there is no time for unexpected silly fun. You see, we even plan out our fun time.

Remember when you used to see imaginary critters down the street?

As dancers, we carry our adult seriousness and responsibility into our dance and our dance practice. There is of course nothing wrong with this…we need to be serious and responsible with our performances and practice, however, we also desperately need to PLAY! Our inner child is crying out for us to have some fun, to lighten up, to maybe even throw an occasional temper tantrum!

I have been thinking about my inner child a lot lately, and especially after my return from the Asheville Bellydance Festival. (The Festival was amazing BTW! I met so many talented dancers and instructors. I met so many good people. I even performed in the Saturday Night Show.) Almost the entire time though, I had on my planner hat. I took notes about how it was run. I also had my very serious performer hat on. (Don’t worry, it is a sparkly hat.) I was standing back stage, extremely nervous, going through my routine in my head, and simultaneously making myself sick to my stomach. Thank goodness my good friend shook me up a bit, told me to relax, and go and have some fun…just dance like you don’t care! So I did and since then I have been thinking that my inner child needs to break free more often than she does…

So…here is a list of some ideas (for dancers in particular) for you and your inner child to try:

1. Dance to something you would never dance to professionally, close your eyes, and then go for it! Shake everything…and don’t care! Just do it! Be in the NOW!

Obligatory picture of dancing cats…and people dancing like they just don’t care!

2. Clap your hands!!! Before or for your warm-up, start clapping your hands over your head, enjoy it, make a lot of noise! Enjoy the smallest of simple pleasures! I taught a drum solo in my class that involved a lot of clapping and we always felt incredible when practicing or performing it!

Even the ancient Egyptians clapped when they danced

3. Why walk when you can gallop? Pull a Holy Grail and start galloping down the street. I promise you, it is exhilarating and will bring a big smile to your face! And perhaps, a smile or look of horror from passers-by!

4. COLOR! Break out the crayons or markers, buy yourself a crazy coloring book if you need a wee bit of structure, pour yourself a glass of wine, and go to town. Coloring is completely underrated! 

5. LAUGH! Laugh out loud till you have to hold your middle to keep it all in. Laugh during a meeting. (Come on, you know you want to…) Laughing triggers the release of those feel good chemicals in your body and it also reminds us of times past, when we laughed when we wanted to rather than trying to stifle it behind a cough.

What do you do to release that inner child? 

Janim (me) releasing my inner child…with the children!

I am driving right now with my good friend to join in on the Asheville bellydance festival. Long drives are cut in half when with a friend. Roads and rolling landscapes offer a smooth canvas for reflection.

This is short today and more of a shout out to you all. Today I am reflecting on how happy I am to know so many amazing people in dance, design, and music fields. What is your reflection for the day?

It is always the little things in life that I appreciate ever so much. The smell of the coffee fresh brewed in the morning, a crisp blue sky on a chilly day, or the joy of walking in after work to my husband and our cats.

And it is the little things that you notice when you teach a different group of students or perform in a non bellydance, dance event. Last week, our studio held its Spring Showcase and my students performed their group choreography, and I performed a solo. (I think my students did an amazing job, of course!) I performed with double veils, a favorite of mine, and every time I performed a particular trick in my number, the audience (mostly ball room dancers or enthusiasts) clapped. It was a lovely polite clap. As you can imagine zagareeting or ulalating is not really in vogue at other dance performances, but this clapping on difficult turns or tricks, was inspiring and encouraging.

I also taught at Point State Park University as part of their World Dance Festival week. The students were majoring in jazz, modern, and ballet and were all extremely talented. We ran through the basics of bellydance and even touched on zilling (another favorite of mine)! The class was inspiring to me and incredibly invigorating. I was honored to be instructing such talented individuals and at the end of it, each student personally came up and thanked me for the class. Seriously, every single one said thank you, personally to me. I imagine this is a tradition at the school, but that made it no less lovely.

So yes, these little traditions, the clapping at a difficult moment, and the personalized thanks are the little things that I hope to bring with me to the next event!

Teaching at Point State Park University

A recent article by the Examiner…enjoy!

“Janim and Mehira are Cerified Level 1instructors who are experiencing great reviews from students on class structure and are even adding live musicians to their classes,” Sherena says of graduates of her program.