First, my real dance name is Azadi. Picked it a while ago, found in a book about a girl growing up under the Taliban rule. Azadi means Freedom in Kurdish (I think it's Kurdish).
On to the trip. It took about 5.5 hours to get here, which was making pretty good time. I found my hotel & checked in, then found the place where my business class is. The class location was not easy to find. Then, off to Borders to buy a map of Atlanta & to WalMart to get water, fruit, & nuts. I am starting the blood type diet. Nothing else has worked, so what the heck.
I had planned to have my Mon classes with Company Mezza to start with Beginner at 630 & move on to Advanced at 730. Unfortunately, I did not exchange emails with the beginner teacher & the class had been canceled :-( I did get to attend the Advanced class though!
companymezza.com/
The teacher was Diane Adams. I really enjoyed the class, even though much of it was beyond me. She has been working with a group of dancers on choreos & they knew it, I didn't. I had to laugh several times, because I sucked so bad! She just got back from a workshop/gathering in Canada & had some new stuff too, so I was able to jot down some notes & get a few things down.
She taught a few interesting combos that had some salsa/cuban flavor. They were pretty cool. Everything was was faster than I am used to moving too. After class I told her this - she said she is focusing on faster stuff with her advanced students, so it wasn't just me! Also, this was total cabaret/Egyptian (I think) which I really have never done before. There was a pile of footwork - a PILE - which I have historically not been too good at.
She did some good warmups & stretches that I had not done before, utilizing weight shifting. One warmup was to put all weight on 1 leg & do single hip circles, keeping the hips parallel to the floor. She also did combos of chest circles & drops that I really had to focus on to keep up with. It was a really good thing to have things totally mixed up like that!
Diane also taught some dance moves I have not done. There was one where you are doing a hip drop but instead of a straight drop you make it 3 tiny drops, so small it almost looks like a shimmy drop. The abs have to be tight & the glutes are used to make the tiny drops distinct. I was not able to achive it, but I am going to work on it.
I must note that the ladies in the class were really cool too. They were all having a good time & doing the best they could (which was pretty frickin' good). If anyone is in the area they will be doing a show Oct 5 in this area - can't recall where but I am sure it will be posted.
This was an excellent start to my week of belly dance class mania! I sure hope that my business class doesn't tire me out too much - I have big plans for the week!
Tomorrow - heading to Decatur to take Tribal Basics with Awalim! Lalalalalalalala!! Oh, & Drills & Zils if I can make it that long :-)))
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment