It's Jewel of Yorkshire time again!!
http://www.jewelofyorkshire.co.uk/
Today I'm heading down on the train for another weekend of dancing, shopping and fun. I'm very excited :)
I always really enjoy Jewel Of Yorkshire. They always have such great teachers - this weekend I'll be taking classes from Suraiya, Loveday and Samantha Emmanuel (as soon as I saw her name on the program I sent my form off as quickly as possible! I can' t wait till the Sunday when I take those classes with her!)
My bags are all packed, and I'm just waiting now till it's time to go - counting down the hours and minutes :D See you all when I get back!
Friday 21 October 2011
Thursday 23 June 2011
Nailing The Dance
I've got another video of myself up :D
This was at a hafla last Saturday. I had so much fun that night, it was really enjoyable. I danced in 3 dances - with the class, by myself and in a duet. So it was quite busy with costume changes, but that was good, I think. I didn't have time to work myself up and scare myself.
I've performed to this song 3 times now - oh, the song is "Tribute to Um Koulthoum" by Ahmed Bergaoui. It's off one of the bellydance superstars cds. Both other times I haven't really been happy. The first time, I worked myself into such a state of terror that I forgot everything I had thought of to do, and felt like I did the same move over and over. My confidence issues hadn't quite resolved themselves by that time, I think. The 2nd time, I was quite distracted by some noisy audience members, and while I was happier than last time, I still wasn't completely happy with it. This time, I think that I did as well as I can do at this time. I still watch the video and catch lots of things that could be done better or differently, but I don't think I could do them better or differently right now, and that makes all the difference. My confidence must be fully back :) I can accept that there are some things I'm not happy with, but I'm happy with it overall.
I think I smiled much more in this performance than I usually do, and had more of a range of expressions, and managed to express how that piece of music makes me feel. And I'm getting better at the whole audience-interaction thing. My mum was so surprised at my "flirting" with the audience when I showed her the video. She still thinks I'm a terrified 13 year old, I think. Some days I am still that 13 year old who just wants to hide, but evidently I have other days where I shake my bits at my friends in the audience, lol! :D
So, after 3 goes at this song, I think I've nailed it as well as I can right now. Perhaps I'll try again in a couple of years and see how much I improve over that time. Now to find another song to challenge myself with (actually I have a few ideas, but at least one of them will definitely need choreographed!) :D
This was at a hafla last Saturday. I had so much fun that night, it was really enjoyable. I danced in 3 dances - with the class, by myself and in a duet. So it was quite busy with costume changes, but that was good, I think. I didn't have time to work myself up and scare myself.
I've performed to this song 3 times now - oh, the song is "Tribute to Um Koulthoum" by Ahmed Bergaoui. It's off one of the bellydance superstars cds. Both other times I haven't really been happy. The first time, I worked myself into such a state of terror that I forgot everything I had thought of to do, and felt like I did the same move over and over. My confidence issues hadn't quite resolved themselves by that time, I think. The 2nd time, I was quite distracted by some noisy audience members, and while I was happier than last time, I still wasn't completely happy with it. This time, I think that I did as well as I can do at this time. I still watch the video and catch lots of things that could be done better or differently, but I don't think I could do them better or differently right now, and that makes all the difference. My confidence must be fully back :) I can accept that there are some things I'm not happy with, but I'm happy with it overall.
I think I smiled much more in this performance than I usually do, and had more of a range of expressions, and managed to express how that piece of music makes me feel. And I'm getting better at the whole audience-interaction thing. My mum was so surprised at my "flirting" with the audience when I showed her the video. She still thinks I'm a terrified 13 year old, I think. Some days I am still that 13 year old who just wants to hide, but evidently I have other days where I shake my bits at my friends in the audience, lol! :D
So, after 3 goes at this song, I think I've nailed it as well as I can right now. Perhaps I'll try again in a couple of years and see how much I improve over that time. Now to find another song to challenge myself with (actually I have a few ideas, but at least one of them will definitely need choreographed!) :D
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Musings On A Confidence-less Performance
So, I managed last week to muster up the courage to watch the DVD of my performance in November...
I'm torn between being happy with my dancing, and not happy with my performance skills. My dancing was good. Much better than I thought it was. Yet I was suffering from a huge confidence drop at the time, and it was so apparent. I just looked terrified.
My confidence is coming back somewhat. Over the past few months it's been returning to me, and I've been going to more social events, and not skipping class because I'm scared of talking to the people there (how silly is that, BTW?! They're all lovely people, and friendly and non-judgemental, yet when my confidence goes, I just want to hide from everyone, I guess) The very fact that I felt good enough to watch the DVD even though I was sure it was my worst performance EVER, and that I thought I had repeated the same two moves over and over, is proof of that. I just told myself I could switch it off if it was too terrible, and I managed to switch it on.
I'm glad I did. I know now that my dancing is OK, that I can do more than two moves, even when I'm so nervous that I can't remember what I'm doing. Sure, my face was terrified, and frozen in place, and I looked more than a little lost. But despite that, the moves were good. There was a good range, and I executed them (quite) well. I know now that even when I'm scared ****less, I can dance.
Hopefully, that will help with the whole frozen face thing. If I can remember this for next time I dance, then hopefully I'll be thinking good thoughts about my dancing and those'll show through in my face. I hope it'll help me be calmer, and not terrified that I'm doing the same move over and over, then walking about a little bit (which is what I thought I was doing) If I can tap into these thoughts at the time, hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the dancing, and that definitely shows through when that happens.
So, I won't be posting a video of this particular dance as it's just too amateurish with my scared expression, but overall I'm pleased with it, and I learned something from watching it, yay! That's always a good thing :)
I'm torn between being happy with my dancing, and not happy with my performance skills. My dancing was good. Much better than I thought it was. Yet I was suffering from a huge confidence drop at the time, and it was so apparent. I just looked terrified.
My confidence is coming back somewhat. Over the past few months it's been returning to me, and I've been going to more social events, and not skipping class because I'm scared of talking to the people there (how silly is that, BTW?! They're all lovely people, and friendly and non-judgemental, yet when my confidence goes, I just want to hide from everyone, I guess) The very fact that I felt good enough to watch the DVD even though I was sure it was my worst performance EVER, and that I thought I had repeated the same two moves over and over, is proof of that. I just told myself I could switch it off if it was too terrible, and I managed to switch it on.
I'm glad I did. I know now that my dancing is OK, that I can do more than two moves, even when I'm so nervous that I can't remember what I'm doing. Sure, my face was terrified, and frozen in place, and I looked more than a little lost. But despite that, the moves were good. There was a good range, and I executed them (quite) well. I know now that even when I'm scared ****less, I can dance.
Hopefully, that will help with the whole frozen face thing. If I can remember this for next time I dance, then hopefully I'll be thinking good thoughts about my dancing and those'll show through in my face. I hope it'll help me be calmer, and not terrified that I'm doing the same move over and over, then walking about a little bit (which is what I thought I was doing) If I can tap into these thoughts at the time, hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the dancing, and that definitely shows through when that happens.
So, I won't be posting a video of this particular dance as it's just too amateurish with my scared expression, but overall I'm pleased with it, and I learned something from watching it, yay! That's always a good thing :)
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