Halloween costume ideas

I love Halloween!

Monique and I are dying to be Orion Slave Girls (from Star Trek...thats right) but are going to wait until we can do that together someday.

So this year I am going as a circus ringmaster, and my wonderful box'o'costumes has provided me with almost the entire outfit...just need a top hat and a whip. (that's key) I've been watching HBO's Carnivale online every night...I'm obsessed. I've always wanted to live in a gypsy caravan with a tribe of perfomers! Wouldn't recommend watching that show before bed though, it's intense.

Here are some of my inspiration pics:

Here are a couple more that I love...saving for the future!

Heidi Klum always has the most amazing costumes:


















Amazon Woman?

















I love Xerxes and the 300 harem girls...

















Of course, gypsy fortune teller:

In between

I am finally nearing the end of my massage training and registration process! I've graduated from Sutherland-Chan and am now studying for provincial exams which I'm performing on Tuesday (ack!) and my written exams are a week after that.

I have to admit that it is incredibly hard to concentrate as I'm so close! Also it's been very difficult and frustrating for me to put dance on the back burner while I pursue my massage career...I just want to dance now that school is finished!

The reason I decided to follow massage was that I don't want to put all the pressure on my dance career to support me full time. I'd like to be choosy with what gigs I take, how many classes I teach, etc. I don't want to wear my mind and body out and lose my love for it.

Massage is a great match as it has given me a huge body of knowledge in regards to the body...recognizing dysfunction and having the tools to help. It will be a great supplement to my teaching! Also I wanted some brain-work, to develop a strong knowledge base and be able to help people. I believe that we are very disconnected and touch-starved in our modern culture, and massage is a safe and healthy way to address that. :)

Meanwhile I'm also studying Arabesque choreography for the upcoming show in February, visiting with my sister, helping a friend with some promotional work for her new studio, doing gigs, teaching a bit and preparing for my favorite holiday, Halloween! Wish me luck....

Just posted a new vid on the Youtubes:

Update!

Hi all!

I've avoided this blog for a while, I got a little upset after my last posts and I think I may have taken my readers comments a little too personally. I think that this is a common reaction however, as bellydance is such a personal thing for so many people. For a lot of us, it has been a long process of personal development, and along the way we fight many stereotypes. It becomes who we are, and any question of this art form can leave us deeply affected and personally affronted.

Moving on! Much has happened since my last post! Monique and I (aka Cabaret Serpentine) have put on two sold-out shows in Halifax, and this has been an incredibly uplifting and inspiring experience for me.

I learned a lot putting together these shows. After dancing for strangers all year, including some very cynical crowds (and some great ones too!) it is SO wonderful to come home to a huge crowd of friends and family who have not seen professional bellydance regularly. The crowds were amazing. Loud, supportive, hugely appreciative. I don't think I've ever gotten that kind of response to a solo before (our show in September) the crowd was so excited and loud that I really choked up at the end of my number. It was amazing.

In Halifax there is a pretty big bellydance scene, for the size of the city. Off the top of my head I can think of 4 professional teachers and a bunch more that teach here and there. Competition is fierce as the population is limited! Shows tend to be limited to Fringe Festival performances (which are great), student recitals and the occasional appearance at events and festivals. There are now two restaurants which have dancers every week. There are some great dancers in Halifax, but (as with everywhere) there are also some people who call themselves bellydancer's (aka gyrators) who do not have an appreciation for the complexity and artistic subtleties of the dance. I am 100% for students getting experience performing, but there is a time and place for this...student recitals. If these people bill themselves as professionals, the general public sees them and thinks, "Oh, so this is bellydancing", and leaves thinking that it is not a very refined or technically skilled sort of dance. Worst case scenario is they see someone who thinks of bellydance as this super-sexy thing, and they wear something trashy and dance in a disturbingly seductive way. Sigh.

Monique and I really wanted to show the public what professional dancers can do, and do it in a great atmosphere. It was also important to us to pay our dancers like the pros they are! We were thrilled each time with the calibre and creativity of the dancers we hired. Another reason I fly to Halifax to do these shows is that I want to keep my connections there strong. I don't think I'll ever feel completely at home in Toronto, so the development of the Halifax bellydance scene is important to me.

In other news....I have FINALLY decided "what to do with my life", at least for the next couple years (besides bellydance of course). I will always want to dance, but I don't want to have to take every sketchy gig that comes my way, or teach a bazillion times a week and burn out, just to pay the bills. I want to do things because I want to, not because i need to. So what will positively affect my dance career, allow me the flexibilty to keep teaching, performing and travelling, and pay the bills? Well my answer to this is becoming a Registered Massage Therapist. I'll become a better teacher with an in-depth knowledge of the body, and i can make my own schedule. If I decide to open a studio one day, I can even have a massage clinic under the same roof. :) So right now I am completing my pre-requisite physiology course, (which is fascinating) and plan to attend Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy soon after. This means I'll be in TO for at least 2 more years...and then....???

xoxox
Laura

A Response

I'd like to publicly respond to a comment from a reader, "Charlotte" who's profile is not public, meaning I cannot reply to her personally. Here is her comment on my previous post:

"Laura, I'm having problems with quite a bit of what you said in your post:
First, from your description this is not a brush with "fundamentalism". Fundamentalism is a much more extreme and serious and dangerous condition. Bellydancing is still a questionable "art form", and there is a very very fine line between it being distasteful and it being classy - and I've seen both.

You mention at the end that maybe the nightclub/party scene isn't for you, what did you expect at the nightclub/party scene? The people who frequent that scene expect that you're nothing more than a stripper... Do you think nightclub owners want you to perform there so their patrons can appreciate Middle-Eastern culture? To enjoy Arabic music? Or perhaps, it's more likely to salivate over your shimmies? Why are you surprised? And it isn't the "fundamentalists" only who think that, I've heard liberal Arab mothers say the same thing, as well as cultured feminist white Canadians. I've seen Arabesque dancers perform in wonderful "toned down" choreographies, but I've also seen some performances which were - nothing more than unrelenting displays of "come-hither" sexuality, and the latter left me feeling cold and disgusted.

As for your trip to the Middle East, please remember that what you have been trained in, is nothing more than cultural appropriation at best, and that Middle Eastern culture has a lot more richness and history to it than just hip accents and undulations. And the last time I checked, China isn't a resource on feminism and respect for humanity.

Bellydancing is tons of fun most of the time, but I don't think you should take it so seriously, nor pretend that it is a serious form of art."

Alright, lets start at the beginning. Fundamentalism refers to the strict adherance to a set of fundamental, often conservative principals and beliefs, and an intolerance of other beliefs and an unwillingness to question their own. So in this case, I believe I am correct in referring to this man as such.

Unfortunately, some people continue to performed less-than-classy bellydance routines. Bellydance is very much an interpretation and not a standardized art form so there are bound to be less than flattering interpretations. I can only take responsibility for my own dancing.

I'm not sure if you know what I mean by Nightclubs. When a bellydancer dances at a "Nightclub", it is often the same as an upscale supper club or banquet hall where families and friends go to eat, drink, unwind and enjoy themselves while taking in a great show. I'm not talking about a drug-fueled rave, here. And in case you missed it, I am QUESTIONING the ideal-ness of this venue, not defending it. I myself am wondering how this casual environment showcases the dance. However, I hardly think that a crowd of Arabic families are expecting a stripper, I hope they are more educated than that. My issue is that because we are dancing in and amongst the people, it doesn't show us the same respect and dignity that a theatre show might.

But lets get one thing straight here. Bellydance, while I KNOW it is an art form (yes, I don't just believe it, I know it), does take pride in celebrating female sensuality. And while you may find this "disgusting" some of us believe that sensuality is beautiful, and an expression of our truest nature and ultimately, as Yasmina Ramzy has said, an expression of love. No, this doesn't mean a lascivious and raunchy in-your-face display of sex, but a dignified, powerful and feminine joy at celebrating your innate sensuality.

And I am very aware that some Arabic people as well as Canadians and many other people think that bellydance is nothing more than a woman in a skimpy costume jiggling and gyrating. This is a stereotype we fight everyday. If you have ever studied this dance, it becomes immediately apparent that it is much more. Every time I teach new students, they are always shocked to learn that it is actually difficult, and full of subtleties.

And as for your comment on bellydance being "cultural appropriation at best", this may have some truth to it, but if you have studied this dance for 10 years as I have you'd understand that this appropriation is a sort of evolution and creative process. The Middle East and Western culture have been "appropriating" each other for decades, and bellydancing is one result. "Appropriating" can also be described as "being inspired by" and it is how many art forms evolve. As someone with a degree in the Fine Arts, this is one thing I can say is true in the art world at large.

I am of course aware that the Mid-east has countless fascinating aspects to it, why do you think I've dedicated my life to studying the music, culture, folklore, and dance of this region? I find it unbelievably insulting that you think I shouldn't take it so seriously, and to state that is is certainly not a serious art form. Have you studied the subtleties of an undulation, or attempted the perfect staccato of a hip accent? Attempted to perfectly express a heart-wrenching taqsim? Listened to the heart-breaking songs of Oum Kalthoum? Have you studied Arabic rhythms and maqams? Have you choreographed for hours into the night, trying to express the music through your body in a way that will transport your audience? Have you watched your students blossom from scared and awkward into proud and beautiful dancers?

Maybe then, after just a bit more education and experience, you'd understand the depth and power of this undeniable art form, instead of making a statement after letting a few sub-par dancers cloud your vision. I suggest you check out some of the masters...Aida Nour, Tito, Randa Kamel, Jillina, and our own Arabesque Dance Company, and then see if you can deny that this is ART.

bellydance-related-crisis.

I have to admit i'm having a bit of a bellydance-related-crisis.

I encountered my first brush with fundamentalism a while ago, I was asked why I "degraded myself in front on an audience" and how would I ever expect to find a husband? And while I think that I explained the dance and my motives pretty well, it was still a bit of a wake-up call.

I'm planning on going to the Middle East to teach English and study dance in the winter, and it's just hitting me now that I can't say that I'm a bellydancer if I expect to be employed, respected and treated as a professional. This really upsets me as I think that being a dance teacher and performer is a wonderful thing, and I'd love to have in on my TESOL resume as I think it really qualifies me to teach there. It seems so ironic to me that the very countries that I have dedicated my life to studying the dances of, are the ones that I can't admit this to! You'd think they'd appreciate someone who is so fascinated with their culture, yet it's places like China that would actually respect this!

Also, it's hard to feel like people appreciate your art when a large portion of our audience views us as some sort of party trick, and assumes that we want to be sexualized. Just last night I pulled up a guest at a restuarant and had him dance with me, and instead of thanking me as he sat down, he slapped my butt. Shocked, I kind of gave the audience an unimpressed look, but I was in full performance mode and couldn't think of what to do. I wanted to come back after I'd changed and give him a piece of my mind, but I just wanted to leave at that point.

This is a serious problem for dancers, people have been fired for stopping a show due to customer harassment. Restaurant owners seem to think it's just a hazard of the job and it's our job to just "go on with the show" and not make any one feel uncomfortable, even if they just grabbed us.

I think that Western men just don't understand how they are supposed to react to a bellydancer. Should they look away? Smile politely? Made crude comments to their buddies? Shake their pelvis wildly at us? Its pretty disheartening after studying this dance for so long and working so hard on being a great performer, so see that a lot of our audiences view us as basically a clothed stripper who is there to embarass, seduce and make fun of the men.

My plan of attack has always been to project my joy and love of the dance and hope that this shines though...but people always project their own experiances and assuptions onto you no matter what you do. I'm starting to wonder if the nightclub/party scene is really for me.

Thoughts?

It's been a while

Well it's been about a month and a half since I've updated...eep!

Since then I've:

Headlined at Layali Arabesque at Myth
Had three more seniors gigs
Performed with ADC at the Canadian Arab Federation
Performed at parties/weddings in Oakville, Vaughn, Woodbridge, Maple and downtown
Celebrated my 25th birthday!
Bought two new costumes (sigh)
Negotiated making an instructional DVD (still in process)
Took my course in TESOL so I can teach English overseas next year
Headlined at Layali again
Learned a bunch of new parts for ADC shows
Taught regular classes at Aradia and Arabesque...and a veil variety class.

So it's been busy!

Layali both times was a blast.

I love dancing for a band full of friends...these guys know how to play FOR a dancer and really keep it interactive. Bassam was hearbreakingly amazing as usual, and the second show featured a whole new set of talent, including a really incredible violin player from Isreal. I think I felt better about the first (June) show, I had more time to practice and get ready. The July show was right after my 5 day TESOL course and I was going on 4 hours of sleep and was exhausted. I performed Assaya (cane) for the first time ever that night, and nothing horrible happened! ;)


The Canadian Arab Federation performance was a little crazy, massive crowds, great food, amazing Ethiopian singers... We had re-positioned Nawaem, a, oriental veil number, and the Khaleegy piece. It wasn't perfect, but we made it work! The audience seemed to love it.


It's been a little crazy getting out to all the parties and weddings I've been doing. I don't drive so I've been TTC-ing it out to the ends of the earth, usually it takes me an hour and a half to get to these places. For the most part they've been a complete pleasure. People at parties are in a great mood and are very appreciative. However, interesting situations come up...I've had men waggle thier tonges at me while i'm dancing, kids complain loudly of boredom, guests dying to show me up, clients making me wait an hour and a half to go on, and oh, so much more. You gotta have a thick skin! On the other hand, I've had delighted grandparents dancing with me, big-eyed little kids join me on the dance floor, elderly women's eyes light up, Bride's-to-be learning to shimmy and having a blast, and really heartfelt thanks from almost everyone. It's such a mix of rewarding and trying at times!

I'm in talks with a company about "starring" in an instructional dvd...something for the mainstream market, low key and not too fancy. I'm excited about it because I'm being given quite a bit of artistic freedom and they seem very interested in including the history and background info of bellydancing, and I'm always interested in opportunities to educate people. I am in the process of editing the script, negotiating pay (it's more about the publicity and opportunity, not so much pay), and finding music that we can afford the liscence to. Nothing is signed yet, but it's looking good!

I'm also planning my vaction to Halifax for late August early September, and Monique and I are planning our first "Cabaret Sperpentine" show! I'm also planning on teaching a couple workshops, and hopefully performing arounf town a bit. I can't WAIT to get back to NS and just relax....my family and I are planning on going camping and I can't wait!

Well that's what I've been up to!