Bring May Flowers!

Wow, April is almost over!  It's amazing how time flies.  This month was quiet, show-wise.  I performed at Freaktastic First Friday earlier this month and then worked on a bellydance challenge at Datura Online!

I think I previously talked about my experience with Datura Online, which is great!  Hawaii has a great community but the amount of traveling instructors and dancers is very little.  I've gone from workshops and shows every weekend in Tokyo to workshops once or twice a year here.

I do go to classes, especially for folkloric topics but I do supplement with these online courses.  It's basically a workshop and even though some are easy for me, it's great to re-visit the basics!  There's also a lot on there that really challenge me (especially Sedona Soulfire's drum solos!).  I really enjoy it and I can do it at home without finding childcare.

Anyways...  Datura Online has their BellyDance Challenge #5.  You have to pick one (or more) specified choreography, learn it, and then video tape yourself doing it.  If they pick your video, you win a one year subscription to their website!  I chose Raqs Assaya by Henna.  In good old Ariyana fashion, I just submitted my video one day before the deadline.  Haha!  I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish in time.

Well, here it is!  I would like to apologize for my room as it's incredibly small.  I had to move the couch over, put the iPad onto our step ladder, and then put the ladder on top of the coffee table just so you can see my feet and assaya when extended.  haha  Definitely was an engineering and creative feat.

I want to thank my boys for giving me one hour scream free sessions so I could record and for my dog hanging out on the couch the whole time!  She usually likes to lay down in view.

Enjoy!  I know I did!

April Showers

Today is rather rainy and humid here in Hawaii.  It's the season to shop for items that will prevent make-up from melting off my face in 10 minutes.

April showers brought me to Freaktastic Friday at Ong King last week.  Ong King Art Center is a really amazing space for dancing.  I always love dancing there.  They also had a small room with local artists selling jewelry and art.

I had to do overhaul re-construction on this costume.  It's a gorgeous and comfortable costume but the hems rolled outwards, showing the hem underneath.  I had some transparent fabric I bought in Japan and it matched pretty well!  So I put a modest panel in to hold the hems in place.

I'm also pretty happy with my weight loss at 8 months postpartum.  

May is going to be very busy!  I have two shows the first week and at the end of May.  I'll be dancing at the amazing Kan Zaman on May 3rd and also at the Kapiolani BandStand on May 6th.  See you there!

Love my Sparkly Belly

Sparkly Belly: Shorts Tutorial

Recently, I have been really getting into making my own costumes.  Being 7 months postpartum has some of my costumes not fitting me properly anymore, especially the bra area...  I'm really sad about that but I thought, "Why not make my OWN costumes?"  That way I'm not spending $400-$800 on a new costume.

I stumbled upon SparklyBelly, owned by Mao Murakami.  It's an amazing website full of inspiring ideas and tutorials!  The one I posted above is for making stretchy shorts for under costumes.

When I received feedback from the judges at Tokyo International Bellydance Competition in 2014, one comment came out at me:  wear a garment that matches the color of your costume.  My costume had a nude insert but when dancing, it can look like I have nothing there!  I had a purple costume that I was re-working, so I made shorts out of it and I still use them today!

Are you not handy with a sewing machine?  A suggestion I could give is swimsuit bottoms.  They always come in a variety of sizes and are relatively inexpensive.  You can also visit google and search for "dance shorts".  These are also lighter and thinner than bikini bottoms and still inexpensive.

I'm a firm believer in wearing the proper undergarments for dance!  Also, make sure it's not leaving a line on your costume, as that is not aesthetically pleasing either...  HOWEVER, it's important that when an audience member accidently gets a view of your underskirt, they are not thinking "OMG!  I saw underwear!"  or worse yet "OMG I saw....  nothing....."