Dance Tastic: Marko Kalc

Marko Kalc - Hoop Dance - Impro from Marko Kalc on Vimeo.

A wonderful hoop dance video featuring Marko Kalc of Croatia. It is lovely hoop work and beautiful dancing, but, I am totally entranced by his feet. Seduced even. Maybe it's the one shoe with white laces. Maybe not.

Postcards From Birthweek

Acting our age.

Surprise from the Husband Person

Helping

The best "Bellp" Dance Songs I've ever heard.

Personalized hair flowers

"It's chompers had chompers!!"

The Acme Attitude Adjuster

Hooping, I'm sort of addicted.

The best Not-Dancers you'll ever meet.

Earrings. Yeah, they're pretty awesome.

Sewing EXPLOSION!

Crazy was not an option.

~N

Bolly Hoop Fusion

I spoke too soon. Another Hooping video this time some Bollywood style dance by Neha Vinjapuri.

Bellydance Hoop Fusion

A video of Unity performing a fusion of Bellydance and Hooping. This is very much a Bellydance focused performance using the hoop as you would any other prop. Thumbs up for dancing with live musicians.




Another BellyHoop Fusion performance by Adelaide. At first, I saw mostly great Hooping with a couple of Bellydance moves thrown into the mix. But once I mentally removed the hoop, put her in a big flowy skirt and looked at it through Gypsy/Rom glasses I saw more Bellydance than at first glance. The big movements, sassy turns and kicks are there. Even a little hair tossing. The music choice is pretty obvious too. I like watching how captivated the audience is sitting in the background.

Enjoy

(N)

State of the Union in Naimaland

Dance
Right, so I haven't done much of it. Creatively speaking that is. I have been going through the motions every few days but I have so much else on my radar right now it has not been a priority.

Miss B. gave me another pair of zills to practice with and I did try hooping and zilling at the same time. That was crazy. I am working on a duet with Miss B. for the next Inappropriate Hafla, I substituted 4 beginner classes for Springfield Bellydance Academy, I am still doing privates every Thursday,  and, I got my 3rd Jim Boz workshop under my belt. I also took a private with Jim and it is still sinking in. Despite all of that, I have been putting all of my creativity into other things.

Exercise
Some folks know that I have changed my exercise routine from when I feel guilty to 15min. a day/5 days a week. I have been doing this since January 2nd, only missing a few in the past 5 months. I have lost at least 10lbs and 2 1/2 inches off my Bellydance waist (the place I wear my Bellydance belts). I actually completed my 100th workout today.

I've stayed on target for 3 reasons. First I work out during my lunch break. I never actually eat during my lunch break. I eat more of a brunch and at mid-afternoon. I also work from home which means I don't have drive to the gym, change clothes, or be otherwise inconvenienced. That means 5 days of scheduled workouts.

Second, the Husband Person set up our old Xbox in the bedroom with the Yourself!Fitness game for me. I basically have a personal trainer and the exercises evolve as I get more in shape. Fifteen minutes flies right by.

The third reason is also related to my job. January was my 10 year anniversary with my company. I received a Thank You letter and a gift card. It made me really depressed to think that all I had accomplished in 10 years was literally sitting on my ass. So I got off it. Now I am feeling and looking better. Go me.

This leads me to Hooping.

Hooping = More time outdoors in a month than the past 10 years.
I have been hooping for well over a month now. It is seriously one hell of a workout. And since I dig it so much I burn an extra 400 or so calories every hour I hoop. I spend more time outdoors because of it too. My mom is even interested. I am making her a hoop so she can start hooping.

Tour de Halo
My free time not spent dancing or hooping is with the Husband Person. We usually catch up on movies/TV or playing video games together. This past week we replayed all of the Halo games in chronological order starting with Reach, Halo 1, Halo 2, and Halo 3. We have not played Halo Wars or ODST yet. We also watch reruns of Entourage, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Reading
The Way Ladies finished up Walking in this World by Julia Cameron last month. I am almost finished with Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I am a  s l o w  reader and refuse to read more than one book at a time. Not much else to say here.

Beading Tutorials
Ah yes, the thing all my readers wait with bated breath for. I have gotten really good feedback about them. Everyone seems to like them so far. I don't know how many more I will do before I've used up the extent of my knowledge base and patience to write it all out. I am currently working on a complete project tutorial where you learn to actually make something from start to finish. It should be fun.

Blogging and Pen Pals
I want to say thank you to all of my readers. There are a lot of blogs I follow as well. Many more than are listed in the sidebar links of my own blog. I have them on Google reader because I am too lazy to go out and check each one every day. I really want to get in the habit of commenting on other blogs more. Even if it is just a, "Thanks for posting," to show my appreciation for all of the knowledge other bloggers share every day. You know, like being the friendly face in the audience while your troupe mate dances.

Finally, I want to address my serious neglect for not mentioning my Bellydance Pen Pal Kis in Australia. We exchanged addresses after Christmas and send each other random little pick-me ups. I get close to giddy when a letter from her arrives in the mail. Getting unexpected notes of friendship and good vibes is awesome! Not to mention, I still feel child-like awe imagining something from the other side of the world is in my hands.

The first card Kis sent me.

~N

Flow

Hooping Accomplishments

Bellydance connoisseurs are fully aware that Bellydance is a gateway drug to other things. Costuming, playing instruments, yoga, balancing, fire tricks, burlesque, etc. You may remember my 12 week affair last fall with Salsa dancing. I have recently had the opportunity to take some hooping classes through the Springfield Bellydance Acedemy with Sarah.

Hooping is very athletic. Your body is constantly in motion using repeatative muscle contractions that keep the hoop spinning. It requires endurance and strength. If you research hooping online you will learn about the health and wellness benefits you can gain from hooping, much in the way Bellydance is touted by the media as an "exercise alternative." On the flip side hooping enthusiasts, as with Bellydance, are totally nuts for it. The whole mind-body spiritual experience thing. It changes lives. Opens horizons. Creates peace and love for all ages, sizes, and genders, etc.

I am so addicted.

It is all I can think about. It is all I watch on youtube. I have bruises everywhere. My knuckles, shins, waist, none of which are from hitting myself but from just hooping. It never really dawned on my that if you take a hoop and spin it around a body part over and over it will leave bruises. At least until the skin and muscles toughen up. I guess it is like the karate master who can break bricks in half with his hands. I am sure the first hundred times or so he did it he had bruises too.

I spent over an hour hooping on the front porch last Monday because of the rain. I wouldn't normally practice on the front porch where passersby could see me but I didn't care. I wanted to practice. Needed to. There is just something entrancing about getting the hoop spinning, the rocking of your body, the fluid motion. The repetitive knocking of the hoop on the body is hypnotic. It reminds me of rocking in a rocking chair, or swinging in a swing, or falling asleep riding in a car. It holds your concentration but also allows you to zone out, or maybe get into the zone. Add your favorite music and you can bliss out for hours with nothing but yourself and a chunk of tubing. Hoopers on The Internet call it Flow.

Despite my 2 weeks of diligent practice, I still have moments that feel like I am unceremoniously dry-humping the air. The first time I successfully took the hoop off with my left hand and back on with my right I bragged that I should get a gold star for my accomplishment. Turns out that is exactly what I did. I bought a sheet of gold and silver star stickers. For every accomplishment I make I get a gold star to stick on my hoop. For every bruise or good hard thwack I give myself I get a silver star as kind of an "A" for effort. It gives me something to look forward to and makes my hoop a little more shiny. I don't expect them to stay on. This is my first hoop and I expect it to get beaten up as I newb my way into hooping.

For instance, after today's practice my hoop has grass stains and foot prints but I also get to add one gold star for being able to now take it off alternating between my right and left hand. I also get 3 silver stars for 2 cracked finger nails and one good smack to my right ear. I only gave up there because I had hooped myself to exhaustion.



This is my hooping teacher Sarah at the last inappropriate hafla. She is teh awesome!

Cool hooping links:
www.hooping.org - online Hooping Community
www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html - How to make your own hoop
www.identi-tape.com/hooptape.html - All kinds of spiffy tape to decorate your hoop

~(N) <-That's me with a hoop