A Year Of Dance

Since I just closed out my second year of ATS, I thought I'd go ahead and do one of these!  This might be a good exercise for me, in reflecting and looking back on other dances.


1. What did you do in the past year that you had never done before?

So many things!!  I went to my first Tribal Revolution (and performed in it!), I was invited to join Cassia, the student troupe of Eastern Fire Belly Dance, I started sword classes, I started spinning... OMG so much!

2. Did you keep your belly dance new year resolution, and will you have one this year?

I didn't have a resolution for this past year.  But for Year 3 K.D. (Katrina Dancing), my resolution is to master the sword and begin to get ready for ATS General Skills.

3. Did you introduce anyone to belly dance?

I'm still working on my life partner to get him into drumming.

4. What travels did you take, and did you involve belly dance with them?

I didn't end up traveling at all. I don't have any travels lined up next year, but I hope to bring dance with me wherever I go.

5. What would you like to have this year that you lacked last year?

Money!  My job situation wasn't very stable in Year 2 K.D., but hopefully that's evened out some. I hope to have enough to not have to choose between the water bill and dance in Year 3!

6. Which date from the past year will remain etched in your memory and why?

June 25.  That was Cassia's debut on the stage of Tribal Revolution.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Definitely dancing at Tribal Rev.

8. What was your biggest failure?

Being laid off twice in the span of six months.  Ouch.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, fortunately.

10. What was the best thing you bought or made for dance?

MY SWORD.  I'm still coming up with a name for her.

11. What did you get really excited about?

Sword, spinning, Tribal Rev!

12. What did you wish you'd done more of?

I wish I'd been able to take more classes at Tribal Rev and networked with my other dancers more.

13. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Lamenting my circumstances.

14. What seemed to get in the way of dance?

The cash flow issue, definitely.

15. What was your favorite music from this year?

We reclaimed Radha at one of our Belly Dance Wednesdays, and now I jam to it.

16. What did you do on your birthday?

Not a super happy birthday, and it didn't involve dance.

17. What would have made your year immeasurable more satisfying?

I really can't imagine anything. It's been a pretty good year dancewise.

18. How would you describe your belly dance style in the past year?

Strictly come ATS.

19. What were the major influences on your belly dance in the past year?

The fantastic Grace, of course, and Cassia. In my first class with them I just felt like I belonged, we have such great chemistry.

20. Best thing about being a dancer in the past year?

Getting to dance with my Cassia family. Ride or die!

Officially Kind Of A Big Deal

It's been announced!  Cassia is officially performing at Tribal Revolution! I'M SO EXCITED and scared BUT EXCITED fucking terrified GONNA BE AWESOME oh god oh god 20% COOLER twelve percent worse SHUT UP AMAZING!

We're dancing to a beautiful version of the Game of Thrones theme, four cellos and some kind of drum backing it. All about formation changes and looking like a bunch of Dothraki special forces and slaying all the dragons!

We've also had three performances this March, and I think there was one in February that I can't recall.  The first was at a random bridal expo as a favor to one of Grace's friends. The "stage" we were to dance upon was the size of three postage stamps, and right at eye level with us was a bigass chandeliery sconce. But we made it through a ten minute set without falling off the stage, breaking anything, or getting caught in the fucking sconce! And then we got to have cake samples.

Second performance was at the Martini Room in Elgin.  There were screwups, sure, but all in all we had a great performance, and I ended up in a few pictures that I simply adore. I look beautiful, elegant, happy, and free. I will totally be posting them soon. I was also majorly pissed off during the entire performance, so the fact that it didn't wind up on my face was a huge bonus.

Third performance was another Belly Dance Wednesday. There was a major snafu in the middle of it, but we recovered and nobody died, and then most of my sisters went out onto the floor during All Tribes and rocked it. I declined this time due to just having eaten... didn't want to barf on someone while Tamarind (yeah, they were back, and amazing) were making me spin. But we had a lovely time in all.

Now we have to buckle down and study up on our choreo. Scaaaaarrryyyy!

Cassia, here I come!

About a week ago, I mentioned to the fabulous Grace that I was interested in joining Cassia somewhere down the line (which is the dance troupe of Eastern Fire Belly Dance), and if she could recommend additional homework I could do pursuant to evolving more as a dancer.

I expected some links or video recommendations.

I ended up being invited to officially join.

And I haven't stopped queening out since.

I should be a little more nervous, since Grace is hoping to score a spot at Tribal Revolution, performing in front of professionals and super big super huge serious belly dancers. I have only been dancing for a year and a half... I should be a lot more scared, especially since so many of these girls have been dancing together for so long. But... I have been welcomed with open arms into their ranks, and I am going to honor the gift they gave me.