So I've been participating in a belly dancing class through Vanderbilt this semester. As such, we are part of the year-end performances - the first was tonight, the second will be tomorrow.

It's really an excellent show - all of the dancers are quite good - modern, ballet, tap, Indian...

One of the dancers in several of the other numbers talked to me this evening, commenting that we belly dancers looked so beautiful, exotic, and interesting :) Then she said, "Oh, you're the one with the great stomach! I just kept watching it at the run-through - I need to figure out how to do that..."

That was totally awesome :)
((preen))

And I have great eye make-up on tonight :)

So, 2.25 hours of belly dancing tonight - I's tired... We're getting ready for performances at the beginning of April.

One good thing about 2.25 hours of belly dancing is I get to watch myself for 2.25 hours in mirrors :) Yay!!
Even though I have a bit more lower abdominal pooge than I'd prefer, DAMN, I have a cute tummy :) It has definition in my favorite places :)
And I get to accentuate curviness.
And I am finally getting most pieces of the choreography well enough to not be so mechanical/dorky and thus be more fluid and lovely looking.

Enjoying the beauty of my body is one reason I enjoy belly dancing :)
The other girls are totally cute too :)

For some of you this will be a repeat, but hey, what the heck :) I want people to know!

The time of belly dancing is again upon us!
There are two, yes TWO upcoming opportunities :)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006     (ONE WEEK from today)
(yes, that is right before Thanksgiving)
WHERE: The Imperial Fez Moroccan Restaurant
TIME: about 7:30 or 8 is when dancers start and it could go til 10 or so
WHAT: it is again amateur night at the Fez, there will be the lovely Juliana as always (the pro) and then there will be those of us in the classes I'm involved in - personally, I might be doing 4 or more dances (maybe a solo in there)
ADVICE: if you decide to come to this, it can be a little pricey if you don't ask for the a la carte menu!!! There's lots of good stuff you can get for cheaper than the full 5 course meal. The atmosphere is great and you will be treated to a GREAT show - Juliana is a lovely dancer! Also, bring some dollar (or more?) bills because tipping the dancer (at least the pro) is expected.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006     (THREE WEEKS from today)
WHAT: the Georgia State Belly Dance Class Recital
WHERE: the GSU Recreation Center (building 31 on the right side of the map)
TIME: 7:30 p.m. (it will last 30-45 min)
ADVICE: even if you are not a student at GSU, you can get into this recital. Just say, "I'm here for the belly dancing," bring a state-issued ID, be prepared to sign a waiver that you won't use equipment and you're in :) Tipping is not expected for this one ;) Totally FREE!!!!

Picture-taking is encouraged :) For example, here are some pictures from past recitals/Fez nights.
More are forthcoming at some point...

Yayayayayayay! I'm excited!
I hope to see people there!!

I'm on the website for the Imperial Fez!!!

Go to the "Upcoming Events" link and then scroll down to the one for "Fez Fest" and there I am!!!

I have a better picture of me I think... Ah well - I'm on the website!!! :D

UPDATE: Hey, both Angela and I are in the "Multimedia" portion too :) Kewl!

A happier post!!

I finally got pictures from the recital from last Monday up and ready for viewing!
In attendence were Kevin, Krupa, Paramita, Alvin, Phillip (plus young daughter), Ginny (from out of town!), James, Thomas and various other people for other members of the group :)

Pictures are here (I decided to show by tag this time) (if you want to see pictures from all dates, go here).
And for everyone's visual enjoyment, MOVIES are here! (the CHARA website has been flakey lately so be patient and try again later...)
It is really interesting to see myself dance...

Here are some teaser pics ;)



These two were taken by Phillip Mitchem who was kind enough to give them to me :)

Monday is the next time you'll be able to see Erika the Belly Dancing Astrophysicist in all her glory!! ;)

It will be on the campus of Georgia State, at the Rec Center. It's also a much shorter show than those at the Imperial Fez and you don't have to buy any food :) Therefore you have little excuse to not come ;)

THE TIME IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I FIRST SAID!
We'll start at 7:30 p.m., not 7:00 p.m.

******************
MONDAY, July 31st
The Georgia State Rec Center for our class recital
7:30 p.m.
I will be the only one you'll know there - Angela will be out of town. But that is where the whole class puts on a show - I'll do a solo number or two, other people will dance as well. It is about a half-hour long.
Oh, you can get in if you are not a student!! You just would have to show them a picture ID and sign something that says you won't work out there or something...

And I'll (we'll?) likely do the next amateur night at the Imperial Fez (it sounds like some of the girls in the class might be into it).
TUESDAY, August 15th
More info on that later as things develop.
**********************

Hope to see you there!

Hey, here are some pictures from the Imperial Fez Amateur Night in July :)

   

Look, I'm not wearing glasses!!
I don't like the way I look without glasses as much as I like me with glasses... Meh.

Sorry to anyone who gets this twice...

It is that time again, time for the belly dancing astrophysicists to show their bellys in performance mode! There are 2 opportunities arising in the near future (well, maybe 3).

TUESDAY, July 18 (in a few days)
The Imperial Fez at the monthly amateur night
Dancing will start around 8 or 8:30, get done around 10 or 10:30 (depending on the crowd)
Both Angela and I will be participating. The lovely Juliana (shown in the pictures) will be dancing as well. Perhaps there will be some other amateurs too. It's always fun and the Fez is a great place. They now have an a la carte menu on weekdays that is actually rather reasonable! We are muchly happy about this (the menu is online too!)
www.imperialfez.com

MONDAY, July 31st
The Georgia State Rec Center for our class recital
7 p.m. (I'm pretty sure)
I will be the only one you'll know there - Angela will be out of town. But that is where the whole class puts on a show - I'll do a solo number or two, other people will dance as well. It is about a half-hour long. Oh, you can get in if you are not a student!! You just would have to show them a picture ID and sign something that says you won't work out there or something...

And I'll (we'll?) likely do the next amateur night at the Imperial Fez (it sounds like some of the girls in the class might be into it).
TUESDAY, August 15th
More info on that later as things develop.

Well, I hope that you'll get to see belly dancing if you would like to :)

I have finally uploaded a great deal of photos to my new Flickr account :) Yay!! I'm sure I could figure out a better way to organize them, but yeah, still a neophyte at this...

So, there are 2 sets - one for last year containing pictures from 2 different performances and one for this year containing, currently, 5 different performances (although I've actually performed 7 times this year - two have no record).
Go to this web address:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancinastrophys/sets/
Or if you want to see in order of upload, go here.
You might also be able to look at things via the tags that I put on them... I dunno. Good luck.

If you want any of the pictures in higher resolution form (usually 1600x1200 or vice versa), just let me know which ones and I'll send off an e-mail attachment or something :)

Here's a teaser ;)

(from the private performance for my family in my backyard in May)

NEW ICON!!!
(I totally needed a new one cuz those two I have - getting old for the belly dancing)

The Fez was quite the hoppin' place tonight...

So I got there, slightly late (like about 7:45) but found I was there in plenty of time. I started talking to everyone and found out that there was going to be a party of 100 people that night!!! There were THREE professional dancers there - lovely Juliana (from 2 months ago), lovely Deliah (from last month) and a lovely Brazilian girl who's name I never caught... All the people there for the amateurs were sequestered over on one side - actually, a very nice cozy part of the restaurant. However, that area was slightly awkward to dance in - two levels and very narrow.

The large group was some sort of hotel bunch and they were a bit inebriated... But they were all having a good time.
A number of guys wanted to stick their dollars in the girls' tops - that's a big no-no!!!

I ended up dancing solo because Mina (the other possible girl for the evening) didn't show :( Alas. There were 4 other amateurs though so I wasn't the only one, I just had to do my thing solo. You know, it was quite fun just playing with my music - I do like to improvise anyways so yeah, it worked out well :)
They had the Fez Fest (amateurs) cordoned off from the big group so we really only danced for a few people - the 3 pros worked everyone though.

Various things I learned tonight...
- about how to direct people to tip into the hip belt (I didn't have to use it ;) )
- that professional (cabaret-style) dancers don't use jangly hip scarves because you are "not a good dancer" then - it shows you need help
- somehow I just let my hips go and damn the shimmying was easy this particular night ;)
- I can't see someone with a dollar for me when I have my glasses off :/

Cool things:
- the owner came over to me and asked me to get out there while the other 3 (professionals) were dancing!! And to make sure to work the room :D That was super-cool!
- the manager gave me his card and also got my number - the girls said it was likely to get ahold of me for parties and such :D
- the women in the big group were especially nice at the end - they got themselves out there dancing with us and had a grand old time!
- I got 3 bucks :) Yeah, that's not a lot, but I didn't do any dances to get money - the 3 girls made $206 between the 3 of them!

I didn't get any pictures tonight - I left the camera in the car on accident :( But here is a picture (another one) from last time I was there.


I almost didn't go but I'm glad that I did :)
And I got good food :)

P.S. you can kinda tell that I wrote this while tired... heh.

So it looks like I'll be at the Imperial Fez for yet another amateur night!! :D

Rumor has it that the manager has developed a cheaper, a la carte menu for the evening so as to get more peoples in the door (esp. on amateur night!). Oh, I just checked out the website and yeah, there is such a menu and it is posted - prices and everything!!

So the show starts at 8 and will go intermittently until 10 or 10:30 (depending on how many dancers are there). The lovely Juliana will be dancing as well.

Sorry about the short notice - since Angela isn't going, I was unsure but Mina is so I think we'll do it :) I'll let everyone know if plans change.

I think for sure I'll be at the July one which will be Tuesday, July 18 if that works better for you.

Alas!! My belly dancing gig for Saturday night has been usurped by go-go dancers!!! :(
Damn.

So, here is what the gig was:
- the birthday party of a nightclub owner in Augusta, GA
- it is a "white" party (everyone is supposed to wear white)
- there's going to be a white tiger apparently!!

As a group, we all practiced last night (til quite late!) but found out this morning that the organizer chicky didn't want us anymore :(
And I was going to get to wear a super-nifty bead-encrusted outfit...

A little backstory...
On Wednesday (that's 3 days before the show), the organizer chicky suddenly asked, "So, do you have white costumes?" Umm, have you EVER seen a belly dancer in a white costume? The answer was no. We could give her white veils but that was it... Maybe if she'd asked 3 weeks ago when she booked us something could have been done... Not all white costumes though... Icky.
Also on that Wednesday, organizer chicky asked if we belly danced to hip-hop. Umm, again, 3 days beforehand? Three weeks ago we could have done something. She was worried that since people will have been dancing to hip-hop and then our show would come on that the mood would be ruined or something... What does one expect belly dancers to dance to? Slow moody songs?? We wanna shake our groove things!! And be snake-y sometimes ;) People would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

So, what my teacher thinks really happened is that the go-go dancers are willing to stay all night (us = 45 min show) AND they were probably cheaper.

Ah well. OrganizerChicky had to pay a deposit so I'll get a little from that... But alas! My first paying gig is a dud ;)

To tide everyone over, here is a picture from the recital in May of this year...

I like this one because it is so action-packed :)
I really have to remember to ditch the glasses while dancing...
By the way, those are exercise balls behind me :)

I just got a call from my belly dancing teacher :)

"Whatcha doin' on Saturday evening?"
"Thus far, no firm plans... Why?"
"Wanna go belly dance in Augusta and get paid for it??"
"Awesome!! I'm in! :)"

So, I get to go with 4 other people and we're gonna dance for some club owner's birthday party or something...

Just in case astrophysics falls through... ;)

A couple of pictures I've been sitting on for far too long - they're from the Imperial Fez in May.
       

I'll give you all more later ;)

Yes, I need to do an update. But I really need to invite!!

This Tuesday (May 16th) there will be YET ANOTHER CHANCE to see the infamous belly dancing astrophysicists!!! But it will be the last one for a while....
WHEN: Tuesday, May 16th at 8 p.m. (it will likely go til 9:30 or 10)
WHERE: the Imperial Fez (it's amateur night again!)

WARNING: this place is expensive! Apparently for amateur night you can go in and just buy a drink or two and they'll be happy but normally, it's a 5-course dinner that starts at $45 a person!!! O.o
Our recommendation: Eat beforehand then just come and hang out with a drink or two :)

I promise you pictures. I will post them :) I have 3 other performances to describe too!!

My kitty is definitely my kitty :) I loves him.
A little backstory here - I love pasta, oh how I love it. Were I a bit more verbally elegant and eloquent, I would compose an ode to the pasta. Any roomie I have ever had can attest to the love of the pasta. HOWEVER - I do not like tomato sauce!!! Not one bit! It ruins the goodness that is the pasta (for me). My favoritest is pasta (of a shape - like radiatore) with butter (or olive oil) and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Oh, the parmesan... I salivate to contemplate it...
Anyways, my kitty seemed quite interested in my block of cheese tonight. So I decided to give him a little chunk. And then another. And another. He kept eating the stuff and asking for more! My kitty indeed.

noangelshere and I went to belly dancing class tonight :) It was great fun and so you may look forward to another "recital" and pictures :) She also learned it is not exactly easy to do...

And some people did this, so I put in my name and I am HIGHLY amused by the results :) It is The Mechanical Contrivium...
My favorite is the last one ;p

New icon!! Since all we free users get to have six userpics now, I figured I'd make a new one :)

This also relates to my Saturday night because I went to go see some belly dancing!!
See, a couple of years ago at the Georgia Renaissance Fair, I saw this really cool belly dancing troupe and I ended up losing the information I had for them. Someone on the Atlanta LJ community posted that they were having a bellydancing show and sure enough, it was the troupe I wanted. They are Awalim and are based in Atlanta.
Their show tonight was at the Red Light Cafe and it was packed. I ended up back at the bar kneeling on a barstool so I could see! But I met a couple of very nice people (one of the dancers too) and it was great fun. The gal I met encouraged me to come to a couple of classes and now that I've found these guys, I think that I will as they intrigued me from the first time I saw them. Although, it will be MUCH cheaper for me to totally stick with my GSU belly dancing... We'll see what happens :)

The other thing I did tonight was go to the Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta for a birthday get-together of a friend of mine - that was cool too :)

Ah yes, dancinastrophys danced tonight, in front of people, performance-y style :)
Observe:

( More pics behind the cut :) )

I took belly dancing this semester and at the end of every semester, the 2 classes get all guzzied up and put on a show. Most of my particular class chickened out and so it ended up a duet and the other gal I was with almost chickened out too - she's got terrible stage fright but faced it :) I was proud of her. I totally would have done it solo though - one must perform!!
Oh, the outfit is not mine - our teachers had a bunch of stuff.

Many thanks to noangelshere for being my photographer :) Perhaps next semester she'll join me!

One interesting thing I noticed: out of the 13 people who performed, I was the only white girl!! Wacky.

Damn, the pics look better against a non-white background. Grrr...

My belly dancing class is having our performance on Monday!!!
WHEN: Monday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The GSU Rec Center (if not a student, you can get in with a government-issued ID - just say you're there for the belly dancing)
WHAT: the two GSU belly dancing classes are going to perform, our instructors will perform and some of their other students
HOW LONG: It was about 40 minutes last time...

:) Whee!!