Jim Boz Workshop Review

Jim Boz Workshop hosted by Judy Cunningham, July 21st, 2007 Sedalia, MO.
by Naima of Springfield, MO. (as submitted to Shimmycast)

I must start off by saying that this was my second Jim Boz workshop and that I love him! Also, my very first workshop was hosted by Judy Cunningham in Sedalia, MO. and I have been going to her workshops for over seven years now. So, I admit that I am a bit biased. However, I will do my best to give the facts and a basic overview of a workshop with Jim Boz.

Price – The workshop cost $50 before July 13th and $55 at the door. A very reasonable price for 4 ½ hours of instruction from Jim Boz including a sandwich and salad buffet provided by the Best Western restaurant. Teachers who registered five or more students by the pre-registration date got in free. The hafla cost $5 for anyone not dancing in the show, with proceeds going to the Humane Society. Video of the show cost $25 for VHS or DVD for $30.


Facility – The workshop was held at an older Best Western Hotel in Sedalia, MO. Price on rooms ranges from $64 and up depending on size of room and whether they face into the courtyard or out to the parking lot. The rooms are clean but slightly small particularly when packed full of bellydancers trying to get ready for the evening hafla. This Best Western includes a country style restaurant and very small bar located on the premises. The workshop space was a large rectangular carpeted conference room on the upper level with both stair and elevator access and a bathroom nearby. There was a small stair-stepped stage on one end with a dance floor space in front of it. A massage table and massage therapist were set up on the stage during the workshop hours for workshop patrons to get cheap massages during the day. In the middle of the room against the wall was a small set of risers set up for Jim to teach from. Along the opposite end from the stage, Judy’s Creative Costuming tables were set up along the walls for vending including a water dispenser and cups for workshop attendants. And as usual, there was also a table supplied for the workshop attendants to lay out their own flyers and other promotional information. Jim had a table set up with a variety of T-shirts, buttons and CDs for sale. His CD, Belly Dance with Jim Boz, contains 11 tracks by various artists of which he uses during his workshop tour. Jim Boz T-shirts and CDs cost $20 each.

It has been a long running joke amongst my fellow dancers and me that the carpet in the conference room is in horrible shape. The adjective I most recently used to describe it is “moist”. And unfortunately, that is exactly what it is. Sticky and moist from years of use and mistreatment. I always wear shoes at these workshops. Dancers who do not wear shoes always come away with pitch black dirty feet. A fellow dancer, unaware of the dance space, experienced the infamous carpet for the first time at this workshop. She chose to wear her flip flops throughout the day in order to protect her feet.
I have heard many complaints over the years at the quality of the facility, floor, sound, swimming pool and hot tub, food, etc. to varying degrees, but despite some things being a bit sub-par, I have experienced workshops in hotels with very poor facilities that cost much more money.

Vending – With the exception of Jim Boz’s personal vending table, vending was limited to products being sold by Judy’s Creative Costuming, the workshop sponsor. Judy’s Creative Costuming supplies all of the bellydance basics including beaded bedlah, full costumes, coin belts, jewelry, hip scarves, CD’s, VHS and DVD’s, veils, and so on. Prices on some items are high considering the online market value. However, buyers get the added bonus of trying on the costume items before purchasing. While selection was wide there was also little variety within each item category and no other competing vendor to help lower over all price. The vending space is also in the same room where the class is held. This can sometimes lead to distractions during class time while others are still shopping. However, I stood near the risers Jim taught from and was not distracted by the vender tables on the other side of the room.

Jim Boz – Jim Boz is a Middle Eastern Dancer and choreographer from San Diego, CA. He has been studying Middle Eastern Dance since 1994.

Jim began the morning with a basic warm – up, stretches and some basic drills, such as chest locks and hip drops. He reviewed some of his signature technique by describing movements by muscle isolation, analogies, and even a few funny names. After reviewing each individual move he combined them into short combinations. He did not teach with much emphasis on the timing or count of the music but instead taught the move of each combination by saying, “one of these, two of those,” etc, He would then dance them along with the group to the music.
He used one track of music that he had recorded at 3 different speeds in order for the group to try the movements slowly and then work up to the full speed of the song. This was a helpful since it allowed the dancers to become familiar with the way each combination fit into the music without being overwhelmed by hearing a new song for the first time. Jim also spent time on the floor walking through the room helping individual dancers understand the form and posture for each combination. This included everything from foot placement, hip and muscle articulation, to hand and arm posture.

After lunch, everyone sat around the risers as Jim discussed music and instrument textures common to oriental taqseem. Taqseem usually refers to a section of music in which the musician plays free form, similar to a jazz solo. Jim played taqseem samples from a variety of instruments including oud, kanoon, flute, and accordion. He asked the group what kind of movements, emotions, and feelings they thought of for each type of instrument and how they varied from one another. He then had the dancers dance to these samples using only two movements and one body part. This was to help the dancers focus directly on the movements and feelings they had discussed earlier. He then encouraged the dancers to mix and match those movements as the music became more complex. Finally, he suggested a sequence of movements and played a section of taqseem allowing the dancers to use this sequence at their own speed and repetition according to each dancer's interpretation of the music.

Impressions – I personally enjoyed the Jim Boz workshop. Although this workshop was less intense than his previous one in Sedalia, and focused more on dance interpretation instead of choreography, I appreciate Jim's open and encouraging teaching style. Jim uses both analogies and specific instructions for body movement and muscle isolation. This works very well in a setting with dancers from various backgrounds, skill levels, and even genders. He is approachable and it is easy to ask him questions. He also never discourages a dancer but instead gives him or her options and advice according to his or her own personal dance style and goals. Jim is passionate about bellydance and does a wonderful job in relating his love for bellydance to his students in the classroom and when he performs. I give him an A+ !

For more information about Jim Boz, his tour, events, and pictures check out his web site at www.jimboz.com.

Shoes!

Click pics for larger view

Now playing: Shoes
mood: Frito pie

I bet you thought I fell off the planet.

I think I did.

I have a very small Japanese fashion magazine collection that I was looking through yesterday and came across these pages in a magazine called With. When I first got this magazine and saw this shoe page, I thought I had died and gone to bellydance shoe heaven. I mean silver and gold! How fantaculous can it get!

So in honour of Shoes, I have also posted the video to "Shoes". It is a terribly amusing song. I prefer the song over the video, but this is all I could find to post. You could just hit play and ignore the video if you like.

~N

PS. "Shoes" has some adult language. You have been warned.

LOL

Now playing: Return of the King
mood: cheetos

There was a new comment on my last post that reads,

"Anonymous said...
Ridiculous..this is what happens when americans try to belly dance...
August 17, 2007 6:48 AM "

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm glad to see that I am making friends.

Yes, this is exactly what happens when Americans try to BD. We just ruin everything, don't we?

I don't guess Anonymous read the disclaimer LOL!

~N

You have mail

Now playing: Lord of the Rings Trilogy
mood: casseroles (green bean, mac n cheese, tuna noodle, something that requires baking in a large pan)

I checked the mail Tuesday to find not one, but two bellydance goodies waiting for me. Well 3 if you count one package had 2 things inside.

On the left is the awesome coin necklace I ordered with my bday gift certificate from Dahlal. On the right is the note pad and CD I got from the Shimmycast forum contest. You are jealous, no?

I tried to take pictures with the necklace on but just ended up with a bunch of scary sideways pictures with my double chin showing and my messy house in the background. So I gave up and put it on my dress mannequin.

I think my Jim Boz review is done. I just need to double check the spelling, etc. and will be posting it soon.

I'm off to my second job.

~N

It's finished

Now playing: sweet sweet silence
mood: exhausted

After many weeks of hard work by my friends and family, Ground Xero opened its doors to the public on Saturday. I was hoping when this day came I could breathe a little easier but in actuality, I really have 2 jobs now. However, I finally get a day off from both (Sunday) at least once a week.

I hope to put some focus back to dance this week. By, let's say, finishing that article I started weeks ago. Maybe working on that choreography. I definitely know the coolest place in town to to practice =)

On a more bellydance note, I did spend my Dahlal gift certificate finally. I will show you what awesome I ordered when it comes in.

I hope to get my blog back on task very soon.

~N

very busy

very tired

very behind on bellydance stuffs

Bellydance Blasphemy

Now playing: buttons
mood: chicken nuggets and seatle's best coffee

It is a day to day struggle to represent all that is pure and upstanding about bellydance. But you know, deep down in your bones, you have blasphemous thoughts about dancing to Pussycat Dolls- Buttons.



Don't lie.

You know you wanna.

Yeah, I'm talking to you.

You're so naughty.

I could aleast incorporate that cute little hoodie into a costume somehow.

2 weeks later...

and I still haven't finished my Jim Boz workshop review. ARGH!
I have it all but the last 2 or so paragraphs done. It is only 1 of 3 articles I wanted to submit to Shimmycast. I'm feeling very unaccomplished right now. I spent time 2 days ago trying to catch my eyelid twitch on film. It seems to only happen when I roll my eyes and sigh at my husband. Go figure, LOL

now playing: http://www.tormentedradio.com/
mood: nutty bars

PS
I noticed once I made the post about "money laundering" the visits to my frappr map went up real quick. SHAME ON YOU!
hahahahahaha!

CHALLENGE!

Now playing: Shut Me Up video directed by Jhonen Vasquez
mood: crunchy nuggets (brand of generic cereal that is like grape nuts, but called crunchy nuggets. is more fun to eat like that)

I was "tagged" by Natalia to list 8 things about myself that people don't commonly know. At least I think that's what I'm to do. I'm not all hip on how these things work, ya dig? I had never heard the term meme until the tag and now I've seen it twice in less than two days.

Things you never wanted to know:

1. When I was in junior high, I assigned genders to numbers during math class. There is no rhyme or reason other than numbers are male or female just because. 1-male, 2-female, 3-female, 4-female, 5-male, 6-female, 7-male, 8-female, 9-female, 10-male, 11-male, and so on. There is one exception, 0 - is pretty gender neutral but leans toward male. They (the numbers) also sometimes do and don't get along, as in they are friends or don't like each other. (Don't ask, I just don't know).

2. I have a slight obsession with Jhonen Vasquez's work. Not in a creepy stalker way, but in a creep fan-boy way. I have all of JtHM (with a signed issue 1 that I bought online), the JtHM directors cut, Squee, I Feel Sick, and all 3 seasons of Invader Zim, 2 JtHM shirts, 1 Gir sweatshirt, and a Gir lap blanket. (I even had the stinkiest air freshener known to man with Zim and Gir on it before I sold my car.) I read Jhonen's blog, which he RARELY ever posts to. I've also listened to all of the director commentary for Invader Zim for all 3 seasons. Just 2 days ago, I watched an hour long homemade video on Youtube of his panel discussion at the 2005 Comicon. I even quote lines from the previously mentioned works in my everyday life such as "Head pigeons" and "Wobbly-Headed".
Like, I would totally buy an "I Heart Jhonen Vasquez" shirt and wear it every day. Ok, so maybe in a creepy stalker kinda way =\

3. Dead things don't bother me. As in dead people, gore, guts, murder scene photos, mutilated and/or decomposing bodies, horror movies, skin diseases, animals hit by cars, that kinda of stuff. I can sit and eat while looking at stuff at Rotten.com (not pretty, don't go there). Doesn't gross me out at all. I'd probably make a good mortician. I should donate my body to Body Worlds some day. However, on the flip side, I watched a show about cosmetic surgery with a women getting a face lift, where they scraped her face skin loose from her skull, stretched it back and stapled it back on...BLUHG! icky. I also get queasy when getting shots or having to give blood. Needle pricks make me nauseous.

4. DavidLeeRothobia - When I was 5 years old I would wake up before my parents and go downstairs to watch TV (I think we were living in AR at the time). We only had a few channels and I would watch Mtv for lack of cartoons. There were 2 very popular videos at the time. Michael Jackson's Thriller, which I would turn off and sit in silence for a few minutes, turn the TV back on and continue watching the channel (it was scary and I woke mom up once and she told me not to watch it if it scared me). The other video was Van Halen's, Jump. This video also scared me only different. I would watch fixated as David Lee Roth made out with the camera doing pelvic thrusts and high splits in slow motion. Ever since I have been royally creeped out by his pervy faces and red spandex tights.
Eddie Van Halen's face kind of creeps me out when he does his guitar/keyboard solo thing too.

5. When I was in junior high, I decided the "perfect" guy for me was tall with dark hair and light skin with bedroom eyes. I drew a notch with a pencil on the edge of my closet door where no one could see that marked the height of my imaginary dream guy. You know, I marked how tall I was and then how tall he should be so I could pretend I was looking up into his eyes and we would have the perfect man-woman silhouette. Well, he turned out to be 6'4", little taller than I had figured for my 5'3" frame. But hey, don't we look like rock stars?

6. When I was 8 years old my step dad taught me to ride a 3-wheeler (AKA an All Terrain Vehicle -ATV). I spent many MANY hours of my childhood riding on a 3-wheeler, 4-wheeler or some such around our house in the country and through the surrounding fields. We even used to go riding where we would pack the bikes on a trailer and go to the Mississippi River levy and ride the trails. I haven't ridden an ATV in, well, 17-18 years I guess. I miss it very much.

7. Educational videos, field trips, and museums are awesome! I was probably the only kid in class who got excited when we had to watch a film. History, Literature, Science, Math. I love them all! I LOVE things like PBS and NOVA, the Discovery and History Channels (at least before they started doing the stupid reality knock-offs). I dig going to museums and science centers and pushing the buttons to hear the narrator come on and tell me about statistics and dates of things. Staged historical scenes with mannequins. Touring historical sites like Mt. Vernon and old plantation homes converted back to the way they were when they were built. I will stand and stare at each and every piece of artwork in a gallery. I'm like the robot from Short Circuit, "More input!"

8. I would give up the ability to dance for the ability to sing. I'm no ballerina but I at least have rhythm. I can't carry a tune to save my life. You know at birthday parties when you sing Happy Birthday and there is always that one person who is off key. That's me. I have always been deeply moved by lyrical song. The amount of feeling you can understand in the way the human voice can sound. I've always wanted to be able to express my emotions that way but just can't. And it pains me. So if you ever see me at the cross roads you'll know why I'm selling my soul to the devil.

Ok, now I think I'm supposed to tag someone else and such. But I spent so much time writing this up, and I have to go pay the rent.
Consider yourself lucky.

~N