A year on inactivity...oh dear...

Oh dear, I can't believe that it's almost a year since I wrote on this blog.  Really lousy of me.

I did really a lot of Zumba last year, and even made an instructor training in November ;p  I am actually a certified Basic 1 Zumba Instructor, LOL...

With dancing, we're not that much advanced.  We did an intermediate weekend salsa course once, and we have been trying to go to a weekly salsa course at Husband's office.

I found some interesting dance classes for a bargain, we'll see how far that will take me, lazy butts and all that.

Keep dancing!

Frankfurt, May 2, 2012.

First try at Zumba ;)

Last Monday I finally kicked my own butt and dragged myself to Sportfabrik, a fitness/health club some 200 meters from the flat (yeah...I am THAT lazy...).  The long delayed moment of actually using one of my 10-card non member entry.


I came for the Zumba class at 8 - 9 P.M.  It was FUN!  Will try to make time for it again next Monday.  It's a pity they scaled down the frequency from 2 times a week for the first half of the year to once a week from July 'till December.  But then again, most probably I also won't be going to Zumba classes at 8 P.M. on Friday evening, will I?


I still haven't managed to attend the Hip Hop or the European Aerobic classes.  But I am also curious about Bodystyling exercise, under the aerobics schedule.  Anyone has any idea what Bodystyling means in this respect?


Stay fit!

PINA: tanzt, tanzt, sonst sind wir verloren...the movie

I have no knowledge of German culture and history. I have no knowledge of classical culture.  I have no knowledge of the ballet world.  I speak only very little German.

PINA the movie blew my mind away.  Probably it had something to do with the fact that it's a 3D movie, but it's a seriously cool movie. First time I've heard of her was when my in-laws talked about the movie, so I don't know that much about her, more info here and here. But her choreography was very powerful, to say the least.  

What I really want to look up is the story and background of each piece featured in the movie.  I am wondering whether what I 'felt' and 'saw' was really what she wanted to convey.  But then again, probably the effect of art itself on people is as important as the intention behind it :)  My experiencing the pieces can have something to do, or nothing to do at all, with the intention and motivation, but it doesn't mean it's less meaningful or 'correct'.

I would say that there were not even 40 people in the theater last night, and the English speaking girl sitting next to me (who had her phone ringing within the first minute of the movie...) almost fell asleep at one point, but I think most people enjoyed it (though most people came 30 minutes too early, including us... because we all thought the movie would start at 8, when it's actually 8.30....).

Thank you, Mom in law, for taking me to the movie :)

Darmstadt, 15 April 2011.

Our first class in Sana'a...

Last Thursday was out first class in Sana'a.  That was interesting, LOL.

I ended up with muscle sore, I think partly because I had spent the whole afternoon trying out exercises for the warm-up section, hahaha....  I must have repeated the work-out part like 5 times, before settling on the routine and songs I wanted to use for the actual workshop.

The turn up was rather surprisingly many.  We know we had 18 people on the list, and I think around 20 people actually turned up.  Wow... I've seen around the same number of people dancing in our front room, but to look at them looking at me all at the same time, geez.... it kind of only hit me then, how many people we were about to lead astray.  I haven't been teaching (anything) in a large group for almost a year now, so that was an interesting refresher, stage fright, voice projection and all that stuff.

As I was working up the time division, I started to realize that the original lesson plan was kind of ambitious.  I was relying on the fact that most people would have known the basic already.  But from the sign-up list, I knew that there would be also some real beginners.  And as I had expected, we barely made it to the 'inside turn for lead', when the time ran out.

We managed to squeeze in the combination of the follow-lead consecutive turns, but that was already pushing it.  That only means, there is more stuff to learn/review next time around.

Der Herr and I were just hoping that people had fun, and learned something in the process.  It at least seemed that they had fun ;p  And the absolute beginners did seem to learn somethings.

Happy New Year 2011!!

Yohoooo! We get to start 2011 with our first ever basic salsa workshop.

The plan is to give a 2-hour session of basic salsa, including warm-up.  We are thinking of covering the basic footwork (basic, side basic, backrock and open break/guapea), exhibela/outside turn for follows, inside turn for leads, dile que no/cross body lead and enchufle.  And....some basic combinations of the previously mentioned stuffs.

I am pretty nervous, LOL. Tomorrow is the 'big' day, and I still have to work on the playlist for the session.  Cross your fingers for us!  I will let you know how that turns out.

Dancing is a funny thing....

Just posted an article on my other blog:

Dancing is a funny thing.  

Enjoy!

Salsa night, July 1, 2010.

Thursday, July 1, 2010, 8 p.m. onwards. Our place.
Bring some chips, comfortable shoes, chewing gum and you best dancing mood ;)

Second to last class

Last night was the second to last class, and our first after a two week absence. Did not really learn a lot of new things, but it was good to review some basic stuffs.


Oh, I managed to finish the shawl, last piece of the ball costume during the trip to Germany.  And since I've decided, and tried out, to wear my new pair of black dancing shoes (with the risk of having my husband trampling all over them) for the ball, I wouldn't need to work on the shoe laces.


I would have liked to learn Foxtrot and Quickstep, still, but I guess I have to wait and see if people come up with follow-up course, sometimes in Fall.


And this weekend the ladies decided to meet up and compare gowns....ouch.... And the guys are ORDERING their tails.  Wow... now I know why I kond of dig latin dance more than 'classical' one.... I guess 'dress to kill' dresscode is soooo much easier than "ballgown and tails".

Shawl..... ;p

Up and coming, an additional self made shawl to complete the look ;p


Can't wait....

About the dress....

I know... I know... we ladies are so vain..... But a lady has to use all the opportunities presented to her to shine, especially when they don't come by so often.


I guess that is what will happen to the fate of THE Ball. From the initial idea of a 'tacky' dress up, it has now spun to 'deadly serious ball outfit'.  Give it to the Germans not to make fun of a serious business, such as ballroom dance.  I am kind of happy that I didn't really go all the way tacky, but I think my dress is passable, if not seriously 'BALLy'.  Though I have to admit that since now it is becoming apparent that everybody opt for seriously gorgeous dresses, I've been thinking on whether it is a good chance to stock up on a dress that will be presentable for a summer Yemeni wedding party as well, since there will absolutely zero opportunity to wear these things outside of these occasions...  But then again, what will happen to my cute little ball gown?


I know I am not having the right frame of mind to be a ballroom dancer, but I have the feeling that all this dressing up issues will be even trickier ~ and sadly more important ~ than mastering Viennese waltz footwork, or learning new dances such as foxtrot or quick step.


But hey, all is fun as long as I get to dance, in the end :)  Bravo to the people who come up with the idea!

May Salsa Night

May Salsa Night was last Wednesday.  Kudos to my brave husband for surviving through the evening with his cold....


We sent the invitation from Istanbul, and we barely touched Sana'a ground when we had to start moving furnitures, renting disco light and connecting the sound system.  It was all fun.  The change of room seemed to bring better effect than the first attempt at organizing a salsa night.  But of course there is much much much room for improvement.  I am thinking of setting up a 'first-hour' curriculum, for some basic steps, but of course, my dancing partner and I should learn how to teach them first, don't you think? hahaha...


Hopefully we will have time to rest before the next salsa night, hopefully by end of June.... I know it's wishful thinking because it will all be exactly the same scenario, except it will be Germany, instead of Turkey.


Besos.

Ballroom gathering (5)

Wow, it's actually the 5th week of ballroom gathering attendance? Kudos to ourselves ;p

The ball is scheduled on an evening where there is a break during the coming season of the World Cup, yeah...July, baby... And last night *nearly* everybody was excited with practising for the opening of the ball, including the walk down the winding staircase for the ladies, the sets of 'compliments' to different people, bowing like a lady and all that.

I have to be honest that I admire the elegance of ballroom dance, and all those scenes from the movies.  But on the other hand, it also felt a bit artificial to be in a group of really beginner dancers, organizing a ball, and really want to do it right up to the minuscule details of it.  I thought having a dance ball is for the purpose of having a ball, a great time. I did feel like a grownup trying to play a much belated princessy dress-up.

I tried to get an update on the shopping sphree which was supposed to happen on Sunday, but apparently, they did not make it to the cheaper area in town and only one lady managed to buy something.  They sticked to better shopes, and even stopped checking out a shop because 'the quality was not good'.  And some people turned out to already have a gown in their closet. I began to wonder whether the dresscode will hold.  I don't think so. If quality is of a concern, then definitely tacky dress is not an option, and I don't think any of these ladies will already have a tacky dress in their wardrobe that they would relocate with them several thousand miles across the globe.

In any case, I've got my gown, too.  And if I turn out to be the tackiest at the ball, they'd better have an award for me for that... LOL

My ball gown accessories

And here are the accompanying accessories... a set of necklace and earrings, and a panja (connected ring-bracelet).  Noticed anything particular about the gown-accessories set? ;p

My BALL gown (3)

Okay, here it is.... the simple adjustment made to an otherwise okay skirt, into an okay gown, LOL....

Second (possible) Salsa Night

Almost a month since the last salsa night... so we're thinking of organizing the next one... 

Head to Salsa Sanaa blog or write to salsa.sanaa[at]gmail[dot]com if you happen to be in Sana'a, Yemen, around end of May 2010, and are interested to meet up for some salsa (and merengue, bachata, and reggaeton) dancing.

My BALL gown (2)

Okay, so finally I decided to start with the red skirt.

The general work had been easier than I thought, though some detailed work proved to be more challenging than my previous assumption.  But for an unskilled craftperson and seamstress (gosh... is that word still even in use?), spending one and half day to transform a skirt to a spaghetti-strap dress, complete with bejewelled straps, earrings, necklace (literally... a lace for the neck), and a set of ring-bracelet (called panja or slave-bracelet.... ugh, I definitely prefer to call it panja...) is not a bad job ;)

My camera is not doing an excellent job in capturing the differences in textures and layers of the original skirt, and then, also the new addition, so I will have to work on that before posting any pictures.

Husband said the whole set looks like a full costume instead of a gown, LOL.  Well, maybe costume is tackier than any tacky dress ;p and highly personalized, too.


PS:  the ladies are going shopping this afternoon for THEIR ball gowns :( while I am sitting on my major German test.... T_T  not too excited about that, nope.

My BALL gown (1)

Okay, so it is confirmed, next Sunday will be the first day of my BIG test, so shopping with the ladies will be out of the question.  In any case, I have in my possession a short flamenco-like dress, super short in front and long at the back, black with white glitters... and a long skirt, red satin-like inside, with a black net layer on top (long enough to wear as a strapless gown..by the way...).

Paid a visit to a local haberdasher (don't know what it is? neither did I, until a couple of months ago... LOL...) yesterday, and spent 1970 YR (err... that's around 100,000 Rupiahs and US$10...for the reference), and came home with:

• 2m of flower lace
• 2m of black net fabric
• 15 pcs of plastic red rhinestone
• 15 pcs of plastic white rhineston
• 6 pcs of glitter red rhinestone
• 6 pcs of glitter white rhinestone
• 1 m black organza ribbon
• 1 m red organza ribbon
• 6 necklace clasps
• 6 pairs of earrings hooks
• 1 pair of earring clasps
• 1 roll of sewing thread

Not a bad gain, eh? The master plan is to work mainly with the red skirt and transform it into a dress with shoulder straps adorned with rhinestones, and come up with matching necklace and earrings... while simultaneously working to add length to the 'flamenco' dress, and see which one works best for the ball.... ;p

I think my husband will still be trying to drag me to a shop to get something 'decent'..but then can't wait to drag me out of it again for fear of suffocation... ;p  I am still a bit self conscious to post the pics, but if it works, I will definitely show it off.... hahaha...

Ciao for now.

Video Links to Tango and Samba (the ballroom ones...mind you..)

Here are the links to:

Tango Promenade and Partner Samba from this week's gathering,

and Basic Tango , and Basic Tango Footwork with Partner from last week's.


Enjoy :)


PS:  Progressive Samba Steps with Partner

European Samba ??

Last night I went solo to the weekly ballroom dancing session, and we learnt a bit of the Tango Promenade (this time it's everywhere all over Youtube), and European Samba.

Come again? Yup, european samba.  The european samba is the one in which you dance with a partner.  Found some videos on Youtube, but as usual, I am in a kind of a hurry.  So, links will be on next posting(s).

Oh, and there will be a BALL in July, and all the ladies are planning to go shopping next Sunday.  But I will be having my BIG German test then :((  But I have some ideas already, and I am planning to work on some existing dress and skirt, and make some adjustment and accessories to go with the theme "the tackier, the better" LOL.

PS: The clue is "Wear something you would never wear again."  The problems are, (1) I feel conflicted on spending money on things I would only wear once, especially since nothing is THAT cheap, and going secondhand ~ ehemm... I mean pre-loved~  is not a real option around here. Not to mention all the waste involved in doing it. (2) I would have to live with the photos of that night, so I don't really feel like going all the way tacky-tacky.... will have to find a way to look tacky-cutey...LOL.

Tangoing through the night...

Last night was the third ballroom dancing meeting we attended, and we learnt a bit of Tango.

What's interesting was that today, I had been trying to find tango instructions on Youtube, but none of the clips showed the basic steps our teachers showed us last night... I tried Tango, Ballroom Tango, Argentinian Tango/Milonga.... and all sorts of keyword to find it,  but so far, I still could not find the exact same footwork with what they did.  Curious....  I have to admit it looks much more complicated online, so maybe our instructors came up with a simpler set of basic footwork...oh well, who knows... 

I will post some Youtube links when I have more time.  Ciao