Sunday, December 26, 2010

Your Kuchi Ain't Shit


These lovely pieces of art are made with genuine polished Moose poo. If Moose poo isn't your thing they've got some really awesome cameos (particularly the butterflies,) brooches, and tons of other crazy, cool, and dead stuff at Where on Earth.

If only I'd found this site before Christmas.

~N

Now: recovering from Christmas holiday.

UPDATED: KNOW YOUR ROOTS
To answer a question from Gypsy, "What is Kuchi?"
Kuchis (from the Persian word Koch meaning "migration"), are Afghan Pashtun nomads, primarily from the Ghilzai, Kakar, Lodi, Ahmadzai as well as some Durrani tribes, but occasionally there may also be some Baloch people among them.[1] In the local native Pashto language the term is Kochian. - Kuchi people From Wikipedia.org
Rachel Brice
Kuchi jewelry is made and worn by the Kuchi people of Afghanistan. It is most popularly worn by American Tribal Style and other Tribal Fusion dancers and most famously worn on The Indigo's Rachel Brice.

As for the Moose Poo jewelry, it is NOT Kuchi. It's just funny and weird. But it does oddly resemble a piece of Kuchi jewelry nonetheless.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Holiday Hafla 2010

Highlights from the Holiday Hafla at Step by Step in Springfield, MO.

I thought this was an awesome pic until I realized it looks like I'm sniffing my pit.

Waiting...



Rock Paper Scissors to see who goes first.
 
Despite all your hard practice before the show, you will always be upstaged by children dancing like zombies, (no matter the holiday.)



See the whole photo album here on Facebook.

~N

Now watching: The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (in all of it's late 90's glory.)
mood: sushi

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Holiday Lights

Naima all lit up

I am dancing at a Holiday Hafla in a few weeks which brings to mind one fun way to accessorize for the season aside from the usual red and green costume color choices. Dancing wrapped in LIGHTS!


You need:
  • Battery powered LED light strand. (Mine is an 18-light strand made for "mini" Christmas trees. I paid around $5 at Target.)
  • Batteries
  • 1 old knee high panty hose
  • Safety pin(s)


First, tie a note in the knee high close to the top of the leg hole. This will make a little pocket for the light strand battery pack to fit into. (The first time I danced with lights I had the pack tightly tucked under my belt and managed to shimmy it out. It hit the floor and all the batteries scattered across the room. This is how the knee high pocket came into being.)


Second, fold the knee high inside out tucking the toe and knot all inside. There should be enough room for the battery pack to fit completely inside the pocket. If it doesn't, untie your knot and move it up or down accordingly.

The lights should be pinned inside your skirt not the belt.
 
Finally, secure the knee high to the inside of your skirt, not the belt, with safety pin(s). I recommend pinning it lower than your belt line instead of directly under it. That way your belt will lay flat and snug while the pocket dangles under the folds of your skirt. Don't forget to pin it with the on/off switch facing a direction you can easily reach. Mine has a switch on the top edge making it easy to stick a finger under my belt and turn it on and off.

Wrap/drape the lights around your body tucking or pinning them to your bra, etc., as desired.

When you are done dancing store your lights without the batteries in the pack. The batteries will last much longer that way. Since the lights are LED, and you dance in them for only a few minutes once or twice a year, the lights should last you an extremely long time as well.

Good luck and have a fun safe holiday season!

~N

Now: going to bed
mood: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

BD Vlog 14: Inappropriate Hafla 2 - I Got the Feeling

Naima for 'President'

Inappropriate Hafla 2 SUCCESS!
Everyone had a super fun time again. Thank you to all the performers of the night.

Shandy
Illegal Manuevers
Jen (K-whatever your dance name is, I don't know how to spell it.)
Sara
Ananya
Naia
Maharet
Brittney
Project Vagabond

Ken - the MC
Bill - the button pusher
(see all the pics here on FB)




Here's a little snippet of the free dance after the performances. If you ever have trouble getting people up to dance with you, just play some James Brown!

~N

Now listening: Alone in the Dark (VG) soundtrack

Friday, December 03, 2010

Out of Control

Nose is peeling, needs lotion.

Have you ever done a test run on your stage make-up and things just slowly start getting out of hand?

Tonight: Red Moon Studio open house
Tomorrow night: Inappropriate Hafla 2 in Buffalo
Now: Putting all Bellydance aside for the night to read a few chapters before bed.

~N

Now reading: Hunters of Dune
Mood: Chris Corner

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Coffee Shop



A fantastic stage number by Arabesque Belly Dance Co.

Brittney Laleh Banaei introduced me to Arabesque years ago. This is one of their newest performances. Those dresses are ridiculously cute. I wish American coffee shops came with dancing and hookahs.

Whoa! I just checked my site feed. Added with my blog followers I have over 180 peeps spying on me from across the interwebs.  Really? You can't all be real.

I'll have to post something special soon.

~N

Now watching: Glee
mood: Rain - singer, dancer, Ninja Assassin.