World Dance: Bali

Balinese dance is one of the most unique and beautiful dances to see. The dancers incorporate their heads, eyes, arms, hands, fingers, and more into the movements. I am fascinated with the way they can flutter their fingers. The music makes me think of an orchestra made out of nothing but wind chimes. Here are two videos of dance followed by some links for you to learn more about how Balinese religion and dance developed and are practiced.





Learn more about Bali here and check out the National Geographic special for free on www.hulu.com - Bali: Masterpiece of the Gods

Teaching Saturday

I will be substitute teaching the 3:30pm class at Global Dance Collective this Saturday.

Huzzah!


Now watching: So I Married an Axe Murderer
mood: a trip to the Salvation Army

Music Monday - Ensemble Al Asdeka

Oasis by Ensemble Al Asdeka


I'm especially partial to violin. I think track 10 is fantastic.

Just got back from the in-law's yesterday. I took my video camera thinking I'd make a video for my blog but did not. Instead I did more beading while the Husband Person and The Parents took a nap on the couch during one of the Winter Olmpics' races. I should have video taped that sight.

~N

mood: Zebra Cakes

Painting

I have begun turning the drawing from This post into a painting (crappy photo provided by my cell phone). I started the drawing 3 years ago, I got mad at it, and it's been sitting behind a bookshelf collecting dust. I'm not much of a painter but I figure it's better than hiding it behind furniture in frustration.

My latest endeavor, not counting the silver bedlah I'm beading, is to figure out how to make my own custom bra cups. A pretty lofty endeavor I know. But, if I figure out how, do you know how awesome that would be for dancers on a budget and the DYI crowd?! It would be like discovering world peace or sliced bread or how to count a 9/8 rhythm playing zills balancing a sword while dancing on glasses. Ok, maybe not that awesome but pretty damn cool.

~N

Now watching: No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain
mood: chicken pot pie

Moiroloi

Here I share my love for all things Jonathan Lewis. I could listen to this all day everyday.

~N

Now watching: An American Haunting
mood: beans and cornbread

Interweb Math

According to Blogger (Google Friend connect) I have 41 followers.

According to the Google feed I have 79 subscribers.

This does not add up. These two lists cannot be the same thing. A few days ago I had 38 followers and 79 subscribers. Now I'm up to 41 followers with no change in subscribers. So, that mean I have a total of 120 readers? No, it probably means there are only 5 people who actually read my blog and the rest are bots/spam/make-believe people that inflate my numbers to make me feel special. Or very possibly internet stalkers. That's ok, I'm an internet stalker too. You just stay on your side of the internet and I'll stay on mine and everyone will be happy.

I still don't have my camera back.

In the meantime, I am confident I will have the silver bedlah wearable for March 13th's Greek Night. Ananya and I are planning to hit up a BD hafla this weekend but I woke up with a sore throat this morning. If it doesn't go away by tomorrow I am staying in for the weekend. Because, when a person with the crud approaches you, my policy is to lock the doors and throw stones at them from the windows until they go away. I really don't feel like being stoned this week. Especially if I'm already sick.

~N

PS -  Hi new followers =)
mood: Sprite and chicken soup

UPDATED Next Greek Night - March 13, 2010

The next Greek Night at Galloway Station is Saturday, March 6th.  Saturday March 13th

Greek food, music, and dancing all night!

Bellydancing with Sa'dia and Naima @ 9:30pm and 11pm.
Hope to see you there!

Galloway Station on FB

~N
Now watching: Paranoia Agent
mood: something with cabbage

Betty in Silver

She's got Betty Davis eyes.

Here is the latest shot of my silver bra modeled by Betty. I grunted out, "Come on Betty," while trying to move my dress form. So Betty it is. Someday, I will mold Betty a duct tape form that looks more like my figure.

Side strap of bra.

The sides of the bra are 95% done as well. I haven't decided how I want to cover the shoulder straps. I have also dismantled the belt in order to add some darts for a better fit. The inside of the belt is lined with a weird interfacing that reminds me of the pre-made paper mache strips you can buy at the craft store. It left white crusty flakes everywhere went I cut into it.

Lining removed, sequins removed, dart cut into interfacing and top fabric.

Crunchy interfacing material with dart added.

The sequins taped down so they don't fall off before I can re-bead over the dart.

I left my camera in someone else's pants during Visioncon. I should be getting it back this weekend. I haven't been real proactive about it because we've been doing a major overhaul on the house. Imagine the apocalypse and then imagine 10yrs going by. That has been the state of my house. I won't begin to describe how messy and dirty it has become or I will gross you out. We also had a family friend pass away last week. But now I'm getting back to working on my costumes again and planning my next big dance project. Hazzah!

~N

Now watching: Trigun
mood: sharp cheddar and popcorn