We are Monkeys

Dance...A Real Job?!?

In September I quit my "real job". A job that paid decently, had great health benefits, a pension, etc. I quit my job to teach dance. Full time.

I didn't just fling myself into this though.
I have a degree in Kinesiology. I've been bellydancing since 1998. I've been teaching since 2006. I took classes for 8 years, most of that time 2-3 classes/week and I was a part of several performance groups before I ever taught. I've been traveling across Canada to take as many workshops with other dancers as I can.

Now, I am teaching tribal fusion bellydance and hula hoop classes in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I'm also trying to train as much as I can.


Here's what a typical work week looks like for me:

Sunday:
Teach for 5 hours straight with no breaks!!
Teach hoop hoop
2 hour performance level bellydance class.
Another hula hoop class.
Beginner bellydance class.
Then I go home and eat LOTS of food! Hahahaha.

Monday:
Teach a beginner bellydance class.
Take a 1.5 hour class at Atlantic Cirque. I'm working on hand balancing, tumbling, silks, cerceau (hanging hoop) and hula hoop.

Tuesday:
Teach a hula hoop fitness class.
Work on choreography, class plans, costumes, research, advertising, etc.
Take a ballet class.
Teach a beginner bellydance class.

Wednesday:
Take a yoga class.
Take a pilates class.
Work on choreography, class plans, costumes, research, advertising, etc.
Teach a hula hoop class.

Thursday:
Pretty much the same as Tuesday.
Teach a hula hoop fitness class.
Work on choreography, class plans, costumes, research, advertising, etc.
Take another ballet class.
Teach a bellydance bootcamp drills class.
Rehearse choreography with Mahari (the bellydance troupe that I direct)

Friday:
Take a yoga class.
Take a pilates class.
Work on choreography, class plans, costumes, research, advertising, etc.
Often I have a gig or several gigs and/or take or teach workshops

Saturday:
Take singing lessons. No I cannot sing. That's why I am taking lessons.
Often I have a gig or several gigs and/or take or teach workshops


I am also taking Yoga Teacher Training that is one Friday, Saturday and Sunday every month.

So, that's my schedule right now, and I love it. It's definitely a full time job.
The fact that I'm able to make a living out of Bellydance and Hula Hooping is pretty amazing ♥

Bizarre French Dance

So cool!

Wow

Nomi sent me this.

Cordyceps

I heard of cordyseps a few years ago when I worked in a health food store. I knew there was some controversy about where it came from, but I never looked into it. Then I stumbled upon this:

Ligers and Mini Baby Hippos!!

They exist!! Really!

I Want Sushi Pillows!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/af69/

Zeigteist / Venus Project

Some new ways of thinking about the world, money, and the future


The Zeitgeist Movement is a grass roots campaign to unify the world through a common ideology based on the fundamentals of life and nature. This movement ignores politics, religion and the like, and instead attempts to communicate how all humans are the same at the fundamental level and how it is time we start to work together on a global scale to end the seemingly perpetual conflict and suffering in our current world society.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/index.html

The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems.
http://www.thevenusproject.com/

Body Image Video

Laura sent me this great video.

Decidedly Jazz

I just went to see a show by these guys. The danced to all Amon Tobin music and it was incredible.

First

This is my first blog ever.