The Happy Drunk Reviews: Bellydance with Veil-Sarah Skinner

I told you guys I was the Happy Drunk Reviewer. That I love mostly everything I review..... but sometimes you come across a DVD that is ALL bang for little buck. I think I owe Sarah Skinner and THIS DVD a formal apology when I said in an earlier post that compared to Shoshanna she was the workin' girl's veil teacher. I was wrong.
     I am SO SO SO impressed with this DVD. Rarely do I find a DVD that is great for ALL levels of dancers. Rarely do I find a DVD that I say all dancers should own. This is just that DVD.
     Most veil workshops/DVD's are "samplers". There is just so much you can do with a veil, and so much you can do with each movement, it is nearly impossible to cover it all in one or two hours. Well, if you want to retain any of it. I really hate that in most DVD's/workshops, you feel like instructors are trying to cram a weeks worth of material into one hour and you find yourself going home saying " um....how do I do that wrap again?" Not so with my new friend, Sarah Skinner. The way this DVD is broken down is so user-friendly, but so comprehensive, I found myself running immediately afterward to Amazon.com to put all of Sarah's DVD's on my wishlist.

pic found at happyhipsbellydance.com

      Take the veil move "the envelope" for instance. She manages to teach the basic envelope, give several variations, then show it with some turns, also. She isn't just teaching one move, she is teaching it with motion, variations and leaves it open to possibility.
     The possibility in veil work is one of the things I find so frustrating. For each movement, there are so many things you can do, and I get overwhelmed. I find that this DVD gives just the right amount of possibility without being overwhelming.
     AND I even loved the section on picking out a veil. How many times have you been to veil workshops, seen DVD's etc.where they are like "and this is silk, and this is Georgette, and this is chiffon", the end. She talks about cross threads, dyes, and quality. I found myself listening intently to a section that usually either, A.bores me, or B. bores the shit out of me.
       I am excited to do this DVD. I can't wait till Monday when I will have some time alone to break it out again and get in some practice. Yay Sarah Skinner! Sorry for calling you Melanie Griffith.

If you like veil, have mixed feelings about veil or just walked by a veil, buy this DVD. It is the only veil DVD you will ever need. For reals.

Mish-Mash

This was supposed to be" soft black". A shade darker than my normal dark brown that had been looking ...well, mousey lately. Now it is "old lady blue-black", or better yet " I'm so Goth I shop at Hot Topic" black. Guess dying your hair with a 101 degree fever is dumb dumb dumb.

This will be a let's-catch-up-over-coffee and chat post. Its been a while since I have posted on this blog, and thought I'd let ya in on a bit of the personal stuff. Hang onto your britches, this will be a choppy post.

Been sick. Been sick a lot. Whole family been sick, two bouts of the flu ( the last of which I still have a lingering fever), one kid had strep, both kids had flu both times, hubby and I had flu....its been fun. February has been about puke, fevers and more ginger ale than a normal person would consume in a month. But I still had to teach classes....which leads me to...

Reflections on My First Round of Classes....

My last class with my first bunch of beginners ended Monday. I hope to do it again, and most of them want to do a Beginner 2, so once I get it together hopefully that will happen. All in all, teaching while coughing my brains out, teaching while high as a kite on cough syrup with codeine, teaching twice while having a fever of 101 or more.....( the Universe does not make it easy on us)....it was still a great success.

1. They got it! They really got it! These ladies are well on their way to becoming bonafied bellydancers and that is unbelievably gratifying. They love it. They did well. They GOT it. They already bought hip scarves, attended local events, and like all beginners after the Bellydance-Bug bites them.... they want more! This means I did my job.

2. I did not expect to really get to know/like the students, but it has surprised me how much fun I have had getting to know these women. They really are a great bunch. Enthusiastic, fearless. They truly inspire me.

So yeah, teaching has been fun, and we are making plans for future classes.....

Teaching, two kids, husband, house, keeping in shape and practicing....that leaves little time for blogging. I have to make a decision. I had to make a decision. Kill the blogging for a while, or at least chill out a bit.

See, I am a writer. Or at least I am trying to be one. Blogging is my quick fix, my guilty pleasure, and like a slob I have let it take the place of working on my writing projects. SO, my posts are going to slow way down, I'll still post once in a while, because let's face it,blogging is like fast food- the quick fix, sometimes you want to scarf down a Big Mac and fries as fast as you can get it down your throat. But in the long run, I gots to put down the Quick Fix in favor of the more long term stuff.

In that vein, check out my new article in the Spring issue of  Shimmy magazine!

February's Tummy Tuesday was fun.

I did an extremely uninspired ( note:choreographed) drum solo, but other than that we had some real talent. So here is another installment of  Blurry Tummy Tuesday Pics Brought to You by My Crappy Camera! I know I should fork over a couple hundred and invest, but frankly, I've got my eye on some silk double veils, and I'd rather have those.

Lyra and Alina did the FUNNEST Cane dance. Their energy was so high, it made you want to JUMP AROUND.



Boy, that takes me back.......anyway back to Tummy Tuesday.

This performance was the "performance of the evening" in my opinion. Kristie danced for her man to Etta James" At Last". He was crying his eyes out. It was very very sweet, and if one metric ton of eye makeup wouldn't have flooded the place, I would have cried too.

I did not get good pics of Bellydancer Barbie ( Titiana), Phoenix the wonder-hips, Fauna and her spicy-sweet number, LaiLai's beautiful ( another tear jerker) veil number, or a satisfying pic of my boring drum solo. But oh well, you get the idea.

So guys, you will hear from me here and there, but mostly on my Other Blog's Inspirations Posts. They are quick and easy and don't take too much creative energy away from my other pursuits. And they are relatively shallow....blogging about oatmeal? Why not. Gotta get that junk food writing in.

Till next time.....

T