Journal

Dealing with a disrupted normal? Not sure what to do?

In the midst of cancelled events, postponed public gatherings and school closures, it’s easy to start to feel a little lost and maybe even a bit panicked.

✨You are not in this alone.

Let’s talk strategies. Some scientifically-tested and a few simply mother-approved ways to not only keep your sanity but find connection and joy in this sometimes unpredictable world.

 

 

Here are the time stamps for the important details of the recording so you can jump right to the good stuff!

 

14:00 – Know that you are not alone

Research shows that when we expand our focus to others we feel less overwhelm, less depression and more compassion and connection. This connection to a greater whole can make everything feel much more manageable.

 

19:00 – Find your new routine.

Happiness research has discovered that the human mind needs certainty and uncertainty to thrive.  Right now we have a lot of uncertainty, so finding balance by creating certainty will go a long way towards keeping you happy and thriving right now. Children and adults crave routine to give meaning and order to our days.

 

31:30 – Controlled novelty

Finding a way to mix things up in a safe and controlled way can create a much-needed distraction and focus during these next several weeks.

 

41:30 – Get to those things you never have time for

What projects around the house have you been wanting to do but never seem to have the time to tackle? Now is the time!

 

45:00 – Remain connected with family and friends

Physical isolation does not have to mean social and emotional isolation. Plan regular video chats with family and friends.  Video is especially good for allowing you to feel more deeply connected to and understood by the people you are talking to.

 

50:30 – Focus on what you DO have, not on what you DON’T

Our reality is very directed by our focus and what we focus on we manifest more of in our lives. Focus on the good to fill your days with more positivity.

 

58:00 – Keep moving

Turn off the TV, put down your phone and find time to MOVE! Our emotions are inextricably tied to our motion and moving is the fastest way to change your emotional state.

 

1:01 – Here are a few little gifts for you! The mother/daughter class package:

http://SahiraBellyDances.com/FamilyDance

 

1:06 Another gift for you! And an entire month of dance for $19 (discount available until Thursday March 19th)

http://SahiraBellyDances.com/Thrive

 

 

Tell me, what lifts you up and brings you joy?  What are you going to focus on in the coming weeks? What kind of controlled novelty are you going to create in your life?  A fun project, a new skill or creative time with the family all goes a long way to making these days more enjoyable for everyone.

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Links:

And an entire month of dance for $19 (discount available until Thursday March 19th)

http://SahiraBellyDances.com/Thrive

The mother/daughter class package:

http://SahiraBellyDances.com/FamilyDance

 

 

To zill or not to zill? That is the question.

Today I’m asking YOU if you’ve decided whether ’tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of consistent zill practice. Or more simply, whether you’ve chosen to play them and why or why not.

Finger cymbals have been around for a very long time (over 5,000 years in fact) and have even been found in tombs in the Middle East they are that important. They have a long history of usage in belly dance from the Ghawazee of Egypt to the beginnings of the American Cabaret scene here in the US when they were pretty much required and every dancer played zills while dancing and then in between sets with the band.

So why have the finger cymbals seemed to have gone out of vogue a bit in the past decade?

I invite you to weigh in on this topic and share with me your zill story.

 

Learn a bit about the history of this ancient instrument and it’s usage in our dance, explore a few reasons why some dancers may choose not to use them and a few reasons why we all should take the time to get to know them.

 

 

Do you play the zills? If so, how did you get started? If not, why not? I want to hear from you!

Share your zill story and let’s continue the conversation. Who knows what fabulous place it may take us!

 

Ready to tackle the finger cymbals and become the ZillStar you were born to be?  I invite you to join me for my in depth beginner zill package that will give you the foundation you need to start confidently zilling today.

 

Episode 4 Video Transcription – To zill or not to zill. 

So I actually once received a phone call from a man asking if I did “the belly button dance”.
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Ummm… excuse me?
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It’s tough to leave me speechless, but this guy managed to do it!
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Luckily I realized in that moment that there was no rational answer that was going to satisfy the true motives behind his call. But while I calmly hung up the phone I did start thinking about the term “belly dance”. Now this is a very hotly debated topic in the community and I understand and respect that many dancers do not like the use of this term. I’m not here to debate whether we should instead use the term raks sharki or arab dance, but rather to ponder why the intense focus on the belly? We all know that we use many more parts of our body when we dance. Calling it “belly dance” seems akin to me to calling flamenco dance “foot dance” or Bharatanatyam “hand dance” or something similarly silly.

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When the term was coined in the late 1890s the dancers that westerners had access to did not expose their midriffs, though they were documented as having performed undulating movements of the torso. But I bet they problably moved their hands and feet as well! Was it just that the abdominal movements were so riveting or shocking to modest western audiences that the terminology took hold?
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Well – I don’t have the answer for that question. (But I will keep digging! And if you have some insight, pleaese let me know!)
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What I’m curious to know right now is – what parts of the body define our dance in your book? Certainly we use our head, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, hips, legs, feet and everything in between – but what is is that makes it belly dance in your opinion? Is there a defining body part, or even a movement of a body part that makes you say “Ah yes! This is belly dance!”? There are no right or wrong answers here – I just want to know your thoughts!
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Let me know what’s your favorite or most important body part when it comes to this dance!

Oh… and let me know if you do “the belly button dance” too! ?

What is keeping you from your art? Last time we talked I confessed to you that the love of my art and my desire to spend my time working on it often gets in the way of the rest of my life. Your responses were touching… Many of you have experienced the same thing (over 50% of poll responders, in fact) and others wrote to me expressing their wish to have more time to dedicate to their neglected art and how life just seems to get in the way.

I believe that many of us have found ourselves in each of these circumstances. I currently find myself at a point where I am ready to tackle the impossible and try to find some sort of harmonious balance. You may remember I mentioned to you that I am reading “The Accidental Creative” – an incredible book full of great insights and practical suggestions for continuously producing excellent creative work. While I am not quite done with the book yet and I am nowhere near finding that elusive “balance” here is what I’ve learned…

Creating a multi-level structure for your time can help prevent you from simply spinning your wheels doing smaller, sometimes relatively insignificant, busywork.

This one gets me all the time! I wake up in the morning and sit at my desk ready to tackle my day. I have tons of energy and a glass of my favorite iced cafe de olla by my side (let me know if you would like the recipe for this one… It is delicious!) I am certain I’m going to have an incredibly productive day! By the time 2:30 rolls around and I need to leave my house to pick up my daughter I look at my to do list… And almost nothing has been truly accomplished!

Don’t get me wrong. I have not been distracted all day. I have not once turned on the TV, surfed the Internet or been lured away from my desk by the siren song of the book I am currently reading (“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood). I have been working the entire time. But what have I really been doing? I have been focusing on those quick easy items that are fast to check off my list. Responding to email, posting to social media and uploading a video or two. Satisfying, yes, but not bringing me much closer to my long-term artistic goals.

So how do I fix this? I have begin the process of creating different levels of organization and have begun bullet journaling. I’m a huge fan of this by the way! Type the words “bullet journal” into Pinterest and prepared to be blown away! Seriously.

At the beginning of each season I do a large brain dump: a listing of all big projects that I hope to accomplish in the next few months. Some of these things are even longer projects that could take a year or more that I would like to be a focus of my work in the coming weeks.

Then I look at these and pick just one or two things that are the most important to work on this month – ideally one that has to be done and one that I really want to do. What one or two things, if I were to accomplish them soon, would make me feel like I was truly moving forward with my goals? Once those have been chosen I break them into smaller bite-size pieces and place them into my weekly calendar to actually get them done!

Obviously email still needs to be responded to and social media posts still have to be made (or do they?!?) but I begin my workday with those truly important items that are central to my work and will help me move forward step-by-step towards my goals.

So what does this all have to do with finding that elusive work life balance? Nothing, maybe. I’m beginning to feel like “balance” is the wrong term altogether. My “work” and my “life” will never be “balanced”. And honestly, my work in my life are so very intertwined it is hard to measure which is which sometimes. I feel like organizing my workdays in the way I’ve described above helps me do one simple thing. It helps me work well and effectively when I am working and not work when I am done for the day. That is the hardest thing for me – turning off the work when the family comes home and turning off the work when everyone is in bed. If I can feel like I have truly accomplished something during my working hours I can often (but not always!) find the peace to close the computer, play on the floor with my daughter and truly connect with my family in those precious moments that we are together.

Have you found a “balance” in your work and your life. What does it look like?

For the purpose of our discussion, I’m defining a “creative” as a creative thinker – someone who thinks about life from new angles. This term easily applies to most artists and often is used to describe someone who makes a living through their creativity. The Urban Dictionary defines “creative” as “a person with a never-ending, intense desire to produce based on originality of thought, expression, etc. that impacts nearly every aspect of their life, both in negative and positive ways.”

Whether or not your dance is your paid profession, chances are you are at least partly a creative.

So now that we’ve established that… can I ask you a personal question?

Have you ever found yourself so immersed and engaged by your creative work that it has overrun your schedule, narrowed your life focus and perhaps even begun to degrade your relationships with others outside your creative world?

Let me just get this out there.

I love my work.

I guess it’s hard to imagine someone who wouldn’t love a life full of dance and music, right? But it’s not all pancakes and bunnies all of the time. I spend a huge amount of my day at my laptop working on the “backend” of the business. And I totally dig it! I like it so much so that it’s the first thing I do most mornings, what I do all day, do from my phone at stoplights and often do late into the night. It makes me a very productive person, sure…but I have recently found myself, um… lacking, in other areas of my life.

I have a fabulous new choreography to share but there’s nothing to eat for dinner.

I launched an awesome new online course but my husband and I haven’t had a date night in weeks.

I traveled and performed all summer long but haven’t connected with my friends back home in months!

Can you relate?

Maybe it’s the illusive “work / life balance” that so many people talk about. But I think it’s something more. As creatives we are drawn to our art in ways that are hard to explain and even harder to resist.

How do we maintain and nurture that creativity while continuing to care for our family and our home, connect with our friends and maintain our health?

I’ve got news for you.

I don’t know! (Oh wait… did you think I would have an answer?!)

My amazing friend Tiffany (of Belly Dance Bundle fame) suggested I read a book called “The Accidental Creative” by Todd Henry. This book is to blame for my musings…but I am ever so grateful because it has made me aware of the pitfalls of the creative life. The author claims the book will also help me navigate said pitfalls. I’ve just gotta finish it first. ?

I will report back to you when I do!

I have to be honest… it all started with “So You Think You Can Dance” about nine years ago. This fascinating show with its young talented dancers who could do things with their bodies that I did not know was possible…it is responsible for my obsession with modern and contemporary dance.

I had to learn more. So found a studio near me that offered beginner modern dance classes for adults and I signed up!

It was a mind-blowing, eye-opening and completely humbling experience for this professional dancer who at that point had more than a decade of belly dance under her belt. Everything from the posture to the footwork to the floor patterns felt foreign to me and I was once again that new girl tripping over herself in the back of the room.

I kept at it for two and half years and while I never got very good at it the concepts and techniques I learned in those weekly classes changed my body and my belly dance for the better. The body carriage and balance were immediately useful in my practice and the controlled abandon in the ebb and flow that happens in a modern class were very exciting to add into my choreographies and teaching.

It’s been six years since I last attended a modern dance class. I took a break at the end of my pregnancy with my daughter and never made it back. But I did for the first time in a long time watch an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance” just last week. Who knows where it will take me this time…

Do you cross train in other dance styles? Which is your favorite?

My husband, daughter and I have been spending some time visiting family in the mountains of Arizona. How I love it here!  We spend every day surrounded by nature and the ones we love (and it’s also about 20 degrees cooler than it is in Houston at the moment)! A total win-win if you ask me. Yesterday we accompanied my family to church and something the pastor said really got me thinking.  While it’s an idea I’ve been introduced to before, yesterday it was presented in a way that made it instantly understandable and applicable to my life and my dance.

While searching for happiness throughout my life I’ve often traveled through these thoughts. I DO – I HAVE – I AM For example: If I stop eating dessert so often I will lose the weight I want and then I will finally be more comfortable in my own skin. Or maybe If I buy this new costume I will have more confidence on stage and then I will be a better dancer. Or more recently for me If I post everyday on social media, then I will have more followers so I can be the popular belly dancer I want to be. The sermon proposed that we think about it all in the reverse. I AM – I HAVE – I DO So in contrast: I am comfortable with who I am and know that I have what I need to be healthier. Because I come from a place of contentment with myself I will naturally act in a way that cares for my body. I am a dancer and have all the resources I need to continue to improve, so I will keep learning and growing and studying because I am happy in that process. I am a confident and accomplished dancer and I have so much I want to share, so I will share my knowledge from a place of love with those around me.   Research has shown time and again that people who have/do/accomplish all that they want are not guaranteed happiness. In fact, this process of “I will do this so I can have that” often becomes a never ending circle that brings very little fulfillment.  In contrast, it is those who have consciously choosen every day to be happy with where they are, who they are and what they do that tend to achieve more because they are coming from a place of true contentment.   We all struggle with wanting to be/do/achieve more. I am learning that when we find that the happiness we seek was inside us all along that the magic truly happens.   Is there an area in your life or your dance where you are struggling – where you feel like if you could just do/buy/find that one thing you need you could finally be happy? How can you reverse this logic to find happiness where you are right now?

There’s a process to learning choreography. When I’m working on something new I almost always begin with the footwork.  Without the feet – knowing where my weight is and how I am stepping – almost nothing else can fall into place. After I understand where my feet are taking me I can begin to add in isolations and movement – hips lifts, undulations, chest circles, etc – all the real nitty gritty of the dance. This step is also where I have traditionally spent the most time both inside the classroom and in my practice at home. After the movements or sometimes in conjunction with them I typically nail down arm paths and framing. It would seem that once we make it to this point it would be a process of “later, rinse and repeat” until we know the dance like the back of our hand, right? I would argue that right here is where the most important work begins. Not until I have those movements in my muscle memory can I begin to add LIFE to the choreography.  It is at this point that I can begin to think about emotion, breath, texture and theatricality – the elements of the dance that make it really juicy. Unfortunately I find that right before this critical moment is where many classes and workshops end. To be fair, most choreography workshops just can’t incorporate the hours of time we would need to get really comfortable with the movements in order to add in this more esoteric emotive work.  And I find that sometimes even in weekly classes we are often trying to work through our movement mistakes long into the process so adding the finesse gets left to the side. Think back to the last choreography you learned and tell me – how far did you take it? Is it a series of movements that you know very well and can do in the correct order?  Or is it something more? Have you infused it with an emotional journey that you can take each time you perform?

This weekend I had the honor of teaching a sold out zill class at the amazing Tribal Revolution Belly Dance Festival in Chicago, Illinois. For years I have felt that the art of finger cymbals playing was on the decline as festival show after festival show featured not one dancer playing these amazing instruments. But now I can confidently say that the scene is on the upswing, due much in part to the tribal community.  Not only ATS but many of the big names in the scene are bringing cymbals back into their dance and I am TOTALLY THRILLED!

Thank you, incredible dancers, for wanting to level up your zill playing and for choosing to do it with me!  I am honored and grateful to have had this moment with you to share my love of the zills, geek out a little bit and play!

So here it is, my lovely ZillStars – a list of resources for you to continue on your finger cymbals journey. 

I know we will dance together very soon!

• Z-Helen | Zill Goddess | Check out her site and pick up her DVD: zhelene.com/DVDsandMusic2.html
• Karim Nagi | An amazing resources for not only rhythm but Arab folk dance as well. | He has a fabulous zill DVD: karimnagi.com/dvds/
• A compilation of Awesome Zill Videos on YouTube.
• Jamilah Salimpour | Mother of the finger cymbals in the US | Check out her manual: salimpourstore.com/collections/finger-cymbals
• Nadira Finger Cymbal Lace Course | I haven’t tried it yet, but I hear it is awesome: bellydancegeek.com/lace/
• Mary Ellen Donald | Percussionist Extraordinarie | Her site seems to be down, but here is a link to the best zill instructional manual I have ever read: Mastering the Finger Cymbals by Mary Ellen Donald
• Baksana Belly Dance | I just discovered these ladies last year, but they are my go to for incredible ambidextrous zilling.  They have a beautiful book out that details their very well thought out zill method.
• Sahira | me! | Want to keep zilling with me?  Check out my courses on Teachable and my YouTube Zill mini classes

There are many pitfalls we as dancers may encounter when we are choreographing, and I’ve battled every single one of them. Here are my top three, how to avoid them and what to do instead!

 

 

Mistake 1. Choosing a piece of music that doesn’t suit your goals.

This can be a song that does not have enough dynamic variation, is all wrong for your intended audience, or is not in the style that is best suited for your movement strengths.

Instead, listen through prospective musical choices with the end goal in mind.  It isn’t enough that you just love to listen to the piece.  Will this song give you enough material to choreograph to, suit your intended audience and performance space and play to your strengths?  If the answer to any of these is no, I suggest you keep looking!

Mistake 2. Not letting the music be your guide.

This is, in my opinion, the biggest faux pas of the choreography world.  When you focus too much on forging ahead with a movement choice or choreographic idea and don’t allow the music to guide the timing and quality of how you perform it, you can find yourself floating untethered with nothing to connect you or your audience to the music supporting your dance.

Instead always let the music be your guide.  Whether you choose to dance to the rhythm, melody, counter-melody or something else you hear within your piece, use that as the starting place for your movements and your dance will always feel more authentic.

Mistake 3. Letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

This one has tripped me up more times than I care to admit. I create a bit of choreography that I’m not crazy about and I end up beating my head against a wall repeatedly to try to make it better. I will often get caught up on one 16-count phrase, totally stalling out my choreographic process for days or even weeks on end.

Instead, just write down what you have, use it for now and move on!  Inspiration ebbs and flows and something that completely stumps us today may be easily danced to tomorrow. Keep moving forward, even with the imperfections, and you will find yourself happily inspired to continue creating.

 

Have you encountered any of these issues in your choreography process?  How did you overcome them?

 

How would you like to have an arsenal of incredible tools to help you create dynamic choreographies confidently and joyfully?  Join me for my new online choreography intensive “Secrets of the Confident Choreographer” and I will share with you the process I’ve used to create more than 80 choreographies in the past 15 years.