rsadelle | Entries tagged with dance

kaygrr is posting something she's grateful for every day now through Thanksgiving. What a fantastic idea! Gratefulness/thankfulness practice is a good way to increase your happiness, and it's an area I think I could do more of, so I'm joining

kaygrr in this movement, if two people a movement makes.

Today, I'm grateful for my dance class. I really needed to move, which we did. We also did new things today because BDTT went to a Moroccan dance workshop over the weekend. In addition to a variation on a schikatt-style step, we did some trance-dance/hadra steps. Usually I find these a real challenge - remember that I'm a control freak, and while I can let go of my need to control other people, I do still have to be in control of my own self - but today it was much easier. I'm not sure if that's because I wanted to move or because I've engaged in some good personal growth, but either way, it was fun.

As an extra fun bonus, I was a belly dancer for Halloween (this was the first time in fifteen years or so that I wasn't a witch), so I took advantage of class to get one more wearing out of my costume. In the normal swing of things, I forget how much more fun it is to wear something interesting to class. I certainly had more fun looking at myself in the mirror, and I think it helped me get into the right frame of mind to dance better.

I was in my first belly dance performance today. It was fun, it went well, and my mother guessed that I had more people there to see me than anyone else. The only bad thing is that the place it was at is very hard to find, so a couple of people never did find it. The people who did find it all said I did a good job.

My mom and I went to see The Nutcracker this evening. It was fantastic. It made me want to take ballet again. It also made me want to watch dance movies.

I own Center Stage (yes, I know, it's terrible, but I love it and it was only $5.50 at Target one day), and I plan to watch that this weekend. I'd love some recommendations for other dance (preferably ballet) movies, books, or AUs.

Took two CDs, two books, and the Chronicles of Narnia boxed set to the library book sale.
Did not buy anything at the library book sale.
Did acquire a swimsuit, two DVDs, and a book when my Amazon orders arrived. The book and DVDs were the rest of an order which also included the Keep Your Distance soundtrack, which arrived earlier this week. I'm not sold on the album yet, although I love Graciela Perrone's "Sepia Night." I'm a little disappointed in the album version of "Right in Front of You," which has some female backup singers that seem out of place.
Hung up the Firefly pictures that have been sitting on my floor since February. They look very cool in a two-tiered cascade down the wall. Tomorrow I may attempt to tackle the other pictures, which require fabric hanging, which requires furniture moving.
Watched Drive Me Crazy (acquired in number 3 above), and had a "hey, you kids, get off my lawn" moment about how they just don't make teen movies like they used to. I also recognized Eddie (Jordan Bridges) and spent about half an hour wondering where else I'd seen him before I realized he was Nick on Conviction. I'd also forgotten that Keri Lynn Pratt was in it. I have a completely inexplicable thing for her. Maybe it's because she's adorable and has an immediately recognizable voice.
Returned a bag to Target and rebought the same bag in a different color. I saved myself two dollars on the venture by returning and rebuying. The funniest part: I intended to do a straight exchange, but the woman at the customer service counter talked me into doing a return and then buying another one with anything else I was going to buy.
Attended a benefit for someone I work with and her sister, who have hereditary stomach cancer of the same type, I think, that you may have read about recently. They had belly dancers as part of the entertainment, and they made me really appreciate my belly dance teacher. I did not have enough cash to actually win anything in the dessert auction, but none of it looked that unmissable anyway. I only lasted about two and a half hours before it became too much, but much of that two and a half hours was fun.

If you've been around for a while, you know that one of my personal growth things is to ask for help when I need it. So here we go:

Writing

tesla321 mentioned a really interesting entry about common themes in an author's work. I've thought a bit about this before, but

ruric got the ideal situation where someone paid attention and told her what she was writing about. I really want someone who will tell me what it is I don't know I've put into fic. One of my ex-friends used to do that sometimes, but, of course, she's now an ex-friend so if she does that kind of thing, she doesn't do it for me anymore.

I think there are two problems with trying to figure this out myself. First of all, I'm probably too close to it to see it. Secondly, I know too much. I know what happens in the future or what's happened in the past or the alternate scene I left out for a lot of my fics, and the idea here is to figure out what it is that comes out in the finished fic.

So if you've noticed any themes in my fic, please let me know! If you come up with anything interesting, I'll try to come up with the reason behind it. I will also spare you, for the moment anyway, the rambling about how stupid it is to ignore the reality of an author being behind every piece of writing.

( Movement )

( Music )

"You can't throw a rock in this town without hitting a belly dancer."
Sultan's Bistro features two belly dancer soloists on Friday nights. Belly Dance Teacher T (henceforth known as BDTT) told us (there are only three of us in our class) that if we showed up, she would talk to us about costuming and we could see the costume of the soloist who's one of the Big Girls. (The Big Girls are the advanced class. They dance together as a troupe.) Neither Belly Dance Classmate H (BDCH) nor Belly Dance Classmate M (BDCM) showed up, but it was still really fun! I got to hang out with BDTT and watch the belly dancers, and then watch BDTT slip folded up dollar bills into the dancers' belts.

"I'll keep you my dirty little secret."
Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare comedy and I love teen movies, so you can only imagine how nothing was going to keep me from seeing She's the Man.

But first, the trailer report.

I came into the theater in the middle of the trailer for Dreamgirls. I have no idea what this movie is about. The trailer tells us that it stars Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, and Eddie Murphy, and then it shows us a silhouette of three curvy women in shiny gowns. I can only hope there's some sort of crossdressing in the plot.

After that was the trailer for Akeelah and the Bee. This is actually my second time seeing the trailer, and both times I got all teary-eyed when she starts quoting Marianne Williamson: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

Next up was the trailer for X-Men: The Last Stand. I have no recollection of X2 so I'm having trouble placing this in time. I had to come home and watch the trailer again because I swear there's a Storm/Wolverine moment. (I have a soft spot for Storm/Wolverine from my X-Men fangirl days. If you want some Storm/Wolverine porn, I've always liked "Fog in the Forest." Some of it's a little on the cheesy side, but I imprinted on it at a very young age.) And, mmm, Wolverine begging Jean to come back. Also: Iceman using his powers. Woot! Since I can't place it at all, who's the hairless kid? Is he from the comics or made up for the movie? I had a flash of wondering if it's Legion and if they'll do AoA (Age of Apocalypse, an official X-Men AU) in the next movie. Because you know there'll be a next one, even though this one claims to be the last stand.

Ahem. Yes. That was a lot of going on about that. For the record, I'm still ticked off about what they did to Mystique in the movies. I'm still excited about the movie though, but not as excited as the girl behind me who said, "I'm so excited" about five times during the trailer.

Then we saw the trailer for Stick It. I can't wait. Seriously, people, can. Not. Wait.

And now ( the movie. )

Ruth Sadelle Alderson

Disagreeing with fandom since 1999.

Thankfulness: November 1, 2007

A Red-Letter, -Pants, and -Jewelry Day

Looking for Dance Movie/Book/AU Recs

Accomplishments for the Day

Asking For Help: Writing, Movement, Music

Friday Night Entertainment: Bistro and Cinema

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