These are all movements that come naturally in the first year of life, including this little baby called Liv:
To read my other related posts, click on the label Feldenkrais.
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Learning from Baby Liv
I want to share this amazing video with you. My teacher Merav first shared it with us students whilst we were in the middle of a classic series of Feldenkrais lessons that focused on relearning developmental movements like rolling.
These are all movements that come naturally in the first year of life, including this little baby called Liv:
To read my other related posts, click on the label Feldenkrais.
These are all movements that come naturally in the first year of life, including this little baby called Liv:
To read my other related posts, click on the label Feldenkrais.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Kate's Baladi
Kate Deacon is a Scottish teacher of Raqs Sharqi style Egyptian Dance. She runs several classes in the Borders and Lanarkshire. She originally trained with my teacher Lorne McCall and I think she's a beautiful dancer.
Kate doesn't perform so often these days, but Susan Tonner of Katra and Twisted Tails posted this video of her dancing in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, in a special event featuring Carolena Nericcio of Fat Chance Belly Dance. This is a lovely example of the Raqs Sharqi Society style of Baladi - simple, sweet and melodic; with patterns in space and geometric motifs.
Kate doesn't perform so often these days, but Susan Tonner of Katra and Twisted Tails posted this video of her dancing in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, in a special event featuring Carolena Nericcio of Fat Chance Belly Dance. This is a lovely example of the Raqs Sharqi Society style of Baladi - simple, sweet and melodic; with patterns in space and geometric motifs.
Monday, 9 July 2012
More dance from Morocco
I've added a couple of new clips of traditional Moroccan dance to my YouTube channel. I filmed these during my trip to Marrakesh last year. You can read my previous post for a collection of some of the other videos, including Berber dancing and an unexpected surprise during a beauty cooperative tour.
First of all here is the candle tray dance filmed at the beautiful Palais Chahramane restaurant. I loved watching this dancer for her sense of spectacle without skill. Possibly even an insight into what might have been the low class street entertainment of days gone by.
The second video is of fun and athletic Gnawa musicians and dancers. This was part of a brilliant afternoon of entertainment aimed at Moroccan people rather than tourists, in an unlikely location - an outdoor restaurant, behind a service station on the road to Casablanca. I have still have some unpublished video of the different acts that featured, so either watch this space or feel free to leave me a note if you would like to see more.
First of all here is the candle tray dance filmed at the beautiful Palais Chahramane restaurant. I loved watching this dancer for her sense of spectacle without skill. Possibly even an insight into what might have been the low class street entertainment of days gone by.
The second video is of fun and athletic Gnawa musicians and dancers. This was part of a brilliant afternoon of entertainment aimed at Moroccan people rather than tourists, in an unlikely location - an outdoor restaurant, behind a service station on the road to Casablanca. I have still have some unpublished video of the different acts that featured, so either watch this space or feel free to leave me a note if you would like to see more.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
A little bit of something sweet
Today I had a go at whipping up a batch of traditional Arabic sugaring wax.
Sugaring is a traditional method of hair removal using a sticky toffee like mixture. This is a common beauty treatment in Arab countries like Egypt and Lebanon and featured in the movie Caramel. This helps to ensure that Arab women have no unwanted body hair. This perfect clean look is also seen as very important quality in a dancer.
I've used hot wax with fabric strips as a home treatment in the past, but always went for a non sugar based hot wax. The results are very good, although admittedly a bit messy and time consuming. However, a good quality home wax is hard to find in the UK and can also be expensive. A while ago, I therefore switched to epilators. These are pretty convenient but on my skin type I find that these machines tend to become less effective over time.
My YouTube Arabic teacher Maha posted a video of her recipe for Arabic sugaring wax. I've never tried this before and thought I would give it a go. I knew it probably wouldn't be quite as easy as it looked in the video but at least the ingredients are pretty cheap and simple - sugar plus a small quantity of water, lemon juice and salt.
Here is the clip:
One of the comments under the video suggests the recipe is:
It took me 3 tries to get the mixture and the cooking method right. It was caster sugar I had in the larder, so this might have affected the quantities and the outcome. It turned out I had too much liquid in my mixture so although I could pick up the paste to knead and stretch it out, it ended up a little bit too soft and sticky to use, especially when it took on the heat from the body. The result were sticky clumps of toffee that refused to budge from my legs - I then had to improvise with hastily cut fabric strips in order to get this off. I reckon this kind of consistency would probably still work okay with the heated wax and fabric strip method - but this wasn't what I was going for.
In the third try, I reduced the liquid quantity down a touch from what I've given you above. I guess this is something that needed to work with my own cups and spoons. I don't have any marble in my kitchen - as used in the video - so I used a glass/Pyrex heat proof bowl to pour out the liquid. To get the cooling effect that marble would have provided, I sunk the bottom of my dish into another bowl of cold water. When I had something cool enough to touch and solid enough to pick up in my hands, I started to work it between my fingers to stretch it out. I ended up with the caramel coloured mixture you can see on the left of my photo below. This wasn't quite sticky enough to work, so I experimented with a small piece and stretched this between my fingers until it became stickier and lighter in colour - shown on the right.
I ended up with a small and pliable piece of toffee that could be pushed onto the skin and stay in one piece when I ripped it off. The same piece could then be pushed into the next bit of skin. It took quite a bit of effort to work it onto the skin into a thinnish layer and also to try and get a good pace to complete an area of the body.
My verdict? Well it does work and it doesn't risk burning the skin on application, like hot wax can (although does need caution when preparing it). It's also natural, cheap to make, and surprisingly clean to use - certainly once I got the third batch right - and any wax left e.g. on the bowl and work surface can be easily cleaned up with hot water. However, it does take time to get the preparation method right and to get the hang of an effective technique for quick hair removal. Perhaps I need to watch an expert at work. I also found I didn't always manage to pick up all the hair with the wax and frequently had to go over the same area again. I've still got some fresh balls of wax left over and I've popped them in the fridge to use next time. In my view it's definitely worth another try and I plan to continue to work on that technique.
Sugaring is a traditional method of hair removal using a sticky toffee like mixture. This is a common beauty treatment in Arab countries like Egypt and Lebanon and featured in the movie Caramel. This helps to ensure that Arab women have no unwanted body hair. This perfect clean look is also seen as very important quality in a dancer.
I've used hot wax with fabric strips as a home treatment in the past, but always went for a non sugar based hot wax. The results are very good, although admittedly a bit messy and time consuming. However, a good quality home wax is hard to find in the UK and can also be expensive. A while ago, I therefore switched to epilators. These are pretty convenient but on my skin type I find that these machines tend to become less effective over time.
My YouTube Arabic teacher Maha posted a video of her recipe for Arabic sugaring wax. I've never tried this before and thought I would give it a go. I knew it probably wouldn't be quite as easy as it looked in the video but at least the ingredients are pretty cheap and simple - sugar plus a small quantity of water, lemon juice and salt.
Here is the clip:
One of the comments under the video suggests the recipe is:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
It took me 3 tries to get the mixture and the cooking method right. It was caster sugar I had in the larder, so this might have affected the quantities and the outcome. It turned out I had too much liquid in my mixture so although I could pick up the paste to knead and stretch it out, it ended up a little bit too soft and sticky to use, especially when it took on the heat from the body. The result were sticky clumps of toffee that refused to budge from my legs - I then had to improvise with hastily cut fabric strips in order to get this off. I reckon this kind of consistency would probably still work okay with the heated wax and fabric strip method - but this wasn't what I was going for.
In the third try, I reduced the liquid quantity down a touch from what I've given you above. I guess this is something that needed to work with my own cups and spoons. I don't have any marble in my kitchen - as used in the video - so I used a glass/Pyrex heat proof bowl to pour out the liquid. To get the cooling effect that marble would have provided, I sunk the bottom of my dish into another bowl of cold water. When I had something cool enough to touch and solid enough to pick up in my hands, I started to work it between my fingers to stretch it out. I ended up with the caramel coloured mixture you can see on the left of my photo below. This wasn't quite sticky enough to work, so I experimented with a small piece and stretched this between my fingers until it became stickier and lighter in colour - shown on the right.
 |
| Sugaring wax |
I ended up with a small and pliable piece of toffee that could be pushed onto the skin and stay in one piece when I ripped it off. The same piece could then be pushed into the next bit of skin. It took quite a bit of effort to work it onto the skin into a thinnish layer and also to try and get a good pace to complete an area of the body.
My verdict? Well it does work and it doesn't risk burning the skin on application, like hot wax can (although does need caution when preparing it). It's also natural, cheap to make, and surprisingly clean to use - certainly once I got the third batch right - and any wax left e.g. on the bowl and work surface can be easily cleaned up with hot water. However, it does take time to get the preparation method right and to get the hang of an effective technique for quick hair removal. Perhaps I need to watch an expert at work. I also found I didn't always manage to pick up all the hair with the wax and frequently had to go over the same area again. I've still got some fresh balls of wax left over and I've popped them in the fridge to use next time. In my view it's definitely worth another try and I plan to continue to work on that technique.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
A Taste of Morocco
I've gathered together a few short dance and cultural video clips from my recent visit to Morocco, posted to my YouTube account.
Berber women traditional dancing and singing
This was taken in a restaurant in Marrakesh. The dance style is Berber from the Atlas Mountains and is characterised by earthy hip movements, twists and pelvic tilts. This is a huge amount of fun and the chemistry between the women combined with changes in pace - "dance for a bit...get tired...sing for a bit...dance for a bit" reminded me of the Ghawazee dancers from the South of Egypt.
The costume is Atlas Berber. The dress is in two parts. Firstly a high necked, long sleeved underdress worn to make sure that the whole body is covered. On top is a tunic with a very long and full skirt, tucked into the belt to give the hips extra volume to emphasise the movement. There are then two long lengths of rope like wool, decorated with big sequins. One is tied several times around the hips as a belt and the other in a sort criss-cross backpack style and around the bottom. These add back in the feminine shape to help exaggerate every movement. The look is topped off with a headdress and babouches (slippers).
Moroccan Horsemen perform the Fantasia at Chez Ali, Marrakesh
This is a very short clip of the dramatic charge and gunfire, "Fantasia", of the Moroccan horseman. This traditional art was showcased at Chez Ali - a sort of Moroccan Disneyland theme restaurant a few mile outside of Marrakesh. The night, also called Fantasia, is on a typical package type itinerary for many a tourist to Morocco. However, this doesn't detract away from the sheer skill involved in performing this manoeuvre.
Cooperative Marjana, Essaouira, Morocco
This clip is the highlight of my recent visit to Morocco, taken at the argan oil women's beauty Cooperative Marjana, about 30 minutes from Essaouira.
These beauty cooperatives appear throughout the Moroccan countryside, providing employment for local women to prepare natural beauty products through traditional methods. Argan oil comes from a rich almond type nut grown on the Argan tree which is native to the region. It is a vitamin E rich oil used in luxury face creams and other beauty preparations. Again, these cooperatives are typical to a tourist itinerary.
Marjana, however, proved to be a little different and it was a joy to be welcomed by drumming, singing and dancing before the obligatory oil extraction demonstration and sales pitch got underway. And it was sheer magic when this worker who was in her 80s got up to dance for us.
My final clip is the same woman at work. This time, she is showing off her dexterity, sorting almonds. Although producers often now use machines for processing the oil, the traditional methods of argan and almond oil extraction are being kept alive.
Berber women traditional dancing and singing
This was taken in a restaurant in Marrakesh. The dance style is Berber from the Atlas Mountains and is characterised by earthy hip movements, twists and pelvic tilts. This is a huge amount of fun and the chemistry between the women combined with changes in pace - "dance for a bit...get tired...sing for a bit...dance for a bit" reminded me of the Ghawazee dancers from the South of Egypt.
The costume is Atlas Berber. The dress is in two parts. Firstly a high necked, long sleeved underdress worn to make sure that the whole body is covered. On top is a tunic with a very long and full skirt, tucked into the belt to give the hips extra volume to emphasise the movement. There are then two long lengths of rope like wool, decorated with big sequins. One is tied several times around the hips as a belt and the other in a sort criss-cross backpack style and around the bottom. These add back in the feminine shape to help exaggerate every movement. The look is topped off with a headdress and babouches (slippers).
Moroccan Horsemen perform the Fantasia at Chez Ali, Marrakesh
This is a very short clip of the dramatic charge and gunfire, "Fantasia", of the Moroccan horseman. This traditional art was showcased at Chez Ali - a sort of Moroccan Disneyland theme restaurant a few mile outside of Marrakesh. The night, also called Fantasia, is on a typical package type itinerary for many a tourist to Morocco. However, this doesn't detract away from the sheer skill involved in performing this manoeuvre.
Cooperative Marjana, Essaouira, Morocco
This clip is the highlight of my recent visit to Morocco, taken at the argan oil women's beauty Cooperative Marjana, about 30 minutes from Essaouira.
These beauty cooperatives appear throughout the Moroccan countryside, providing employment for local women to prepare natural beauty products through traditional methods. Argan oil comes from a rich almond type nut grown on the Argan tree which is native to the region. It is a vitamin E rich oil used in luxury face creams and other beauty preparations. Again, these cooperatives are typical to a tourist itinerary.
Marjana, however, proved to be a little different and it was a joy to be welcomed by drumming, singing and dancing before the obligatory oil extraction demonstration and sales pitch got underway. And it was sheer magic when this worker who was in her 80s got up to dance for us.
My final clip is the same woman at work. This time, she is showing off her dexterity, sorting almonds. Although producers often now use machines for processing the oil, the traditional methods of argan and almond oil extraction are being kept alive.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Dancing to Sun, Sea and Sarasvati
The wonderful Sarasvati girls held yet another fabulous event on Saturday night - their Sun, Sea and Sarasvati Hafla. This was a fun night out with a seaside twist which raised almost £200 for the Marine Conservation Society. This is a fantastic achievement, especially given numbers were slightly down after another dancer decided to organise a clashing hafla over in Edinburgh on the same night. Well done girls!
The Hafla was hosted at La Bodega Tapas Bar, part of Dance With Attitude Studios in Glasgow. It's a great venue for a party and the resident teachers Karen and Alexis even treated us to Tango and Salsa displays. There were a number of marine inspired acts through the night and delivered in style, including Dance with Attitude's own belly dance teacher Lorri resplendent with mask and snorkel, a pirate dance by Kaz of Hafla Karimah and Stef from Sarasvati doing the dance of the jellyfish.
Here's my dance from Saturday. My performance didn't quite follow the theme, but I did select what I think is an appropriate "seaweed coloured" dress, by Hanan from Farida Dance for the occasion.
Here are some of the photos I took at the event.
www.habibadance.com
The Hafla was hosted at La Bodega Tapas Bar, part of Dance With Attitude Studios in Glasgow. It's a great venue for a party and the resident teachers Karen and Alexis even treated us to Tango and Salsa displays. There were a number of marine inspired acts through the night and delivered in style, including Dance with Attitude's own belly dance teacher Lorri resplendent with mask and snorkel, a pirate dance by Kaz of Hafla Karimah and Stef from Sarasvati doing the dance of the jellyfish.
Here's my dance from Saturday. My performance didn't quite follow the theme, but I did select what I think is an appropriate "seaweed coloured" dress, by Hanan from Farida Dance for the occasion.
Here are some of the photos I took at the event.
 |
| Lorri |
 |
| Stef |
 |
| Sarasvati |
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Gaslight Ghawazee
Here's a short clip of my performance at Gaslight Faeries last week, which I've just uploaded. For more about my experience performing at Gaslight Faeries and my inspiration for my act L'Exposition Universelle, read my previous post. Thanks very much to Elaine for filming.
www.habibadance.com
www.habibadance.com
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