TribOriginal

Woo hoo!  Gotta love learning intensive-crazy topic-no cares dancecamp weekends!  I registered almost a year ago in their super-early-bird deal with the thought that I'd just wait and see where I was when the camp rolled around.  You all know I haven't been bellydancing as much, and was debating whether I should even go, or stay home since I knew I'd be gone a week later on another trip.  I'm so very glad D demanded that I go regardless of my work schedule.  I had a blast, learned a ton of new things, and am inspired to work harder in my dancing, drumming, and playing.

Ironically, I only took 1 dance class, but had classes every available session.  Mornings started with yoga with Jaia, which was transcending.  She did energy imagery and pranamaya and by the end our hearts were open and ready for the day.  I had drumming classes at various levels and am back to drumming on tabletops and my steering wheel.  One of the teachers was Jeremiah Soto, who I had no idea was as famous as he is until after the classes. He was great, but definitely asked more than I could really handle at times.

Hanging in Pike on the way down after a move.

I really used the class list as an opportunity to try new things and to face down some fears I have.  My fear of falling & inversions and concerns over my upper body/shoulder strength were met head on in Aerials and Acrobalance.  Dangling from a hoop suspended from rafters and flipping yourself up into it took a lot of nerve.  Acrobalance - Cirque du Soleil style partner balancing & support - actually pushed me to my edge.  I kept doing the moves - including headstands (scary for me) - trusting that I wouldn't get hurt.  I even fell once when my base supporter lost her grip and was fine.  But the final move took it a bit too far. In it the base lay down on her back with knees bent and arms straight up in the air.  Standing straddle I put my hands on her thighs, shoulders onto her waiting hands, and my feet on her knees.  Then, supported by her arms and balanced by my hands, let go with my feet and curled into a ball.  I don't think I could breathe without conscious effort, I was so scared.  The next step, to point my legs straight up into a handstand, just couldn't happen.  I tried a couple times but accepted that my bravery was used up for the moment.  I know this sounds silly to all you normal people who have been able to dive, do cartwheels, or inverted balances since kidhood.  But inversions are my biggest physical fear and even baby steps are a big thing.  I'm really glad I did, these 2 classes were the  most memorable and exciting in retrospect.

The further back you lean the easier it is!

The other great part was my cabin-mates. They were all a lot of fun, and one of them mentioned she was an immunology/microbiology PhD.  So we started chatting and it turns out she applied to TL (my old job) years ago and knew Bob and some others!  She's thinking of moving back to B'burg so I gave her my contact info.  She's got a great personality and would be a good addition at TL - wouldn't it be crazy if she ended up there!

Awesome thrift store find

My bellydance class meets at the local dance studio, which happens to be part of the YMCA building, which also houses a thrift store. I usually pop into the shop for the few minutes before class starts to see if there's anything worth picking up. Today something near the entrance caught my eye, more of a decorative display than a sales rack. I was shocked to see an Egyptian Riq on the shelf. A riq is a frame drum with zills inlaid in the rim -- a tambourine to most people. Here it is with my other drums - an Alexandria doumbek and Remo 16" frame drum.The goatskin drumhead was broken, but still held a surprisingly good sound. The zills need some work to be reshaped into the correct orientation, but have a pleasant tone. Given the lack of tuning pegs I think I may put a Remo drumhead on it.The intricate inlays wrap around the entire frame, and the drum would be a pretty decoration even if I can't get it in good playing order. Even cooler, it's really made in Egypt.
Best of all, check out the pricetag! I've wanted a riq for a while but didn't think I could buy one. This one definitely needs some work but hopefully will end up being part of my drum set :)

Women Frame Drumming

I found a great youtube subscription page entirely of women drumming. Some are performances, but many are home videos of women in their native cultures drumming and dancing for the joy of it. It's mesmerizing to watch some of them, and makes me wish I could experience it live. There are tons of videos to watch, but I think Youtube is an agent of the Dust Bunnies trying to steal our free time (see my last post for the DB epiphany), and I must do my best not to get sucked in for too long. Still, this one was really great. I love the woman on the left playing the riq (tambourine).

River

I took a middle eastern drumming workshop this weekend with the drumming master River Guerguerian. I had my first drumming lesson with him back in 07 as part of bellydance camp. He's such an amazing person. He's been featured on NPR repeatedly during the week running up to the workshop & performance. In fact an NPR woman was there recording during our class. He had a very successful music career in New York playing percussion, then sold everything he owned and traveled the Himalayas for 5 years with just a backpack and musical instruments. His daughter was born there and he delivered her!He's a very cool cat, not earthy or crunchy, but you can see there's something special about him. He literally has musical energy flowing through his body all the time, and the energy comes through his fingers so naturally onto any surface without a second thought. He was standing there talking with the NPR woman about when he could meet her for an interview, yet as I walked around him I noticed his hands performing a riveting drumming on the water bottle he held. The sound reminded me of a babbling brook - mesmerizing, incomprehensibly complex yet natural.

I happened to have the same notebook with me for note-taking that I carried to my last class with him. Afterwards I compared notes, and they were almost identical. Nothing about music or rhythms, just comments about body alignment, breathing, and relaxing. Letting the drum strike be part of a circular movement of your hands. And the difference in the sound you can generate is amazing depending on if you're just thinking about hitting the drum vs. letting it be part of a larger almost meditative stance. Any time we were struggling with a complex rhythm he would intentionally take a deep breath, reminding us to do so as well, and the beat would just fall into place. He asked us once what the 4th toe on our left foot was doing, and as my attention slid away from my hands they relaxed into the music.

I know I will never be able to play like him, but I also know he will make me into the best drummer I can be. His encouragement is not that of wanting to please a teacher or show them how much you know, but rather that you want to be part of the energy he carries.