Music to my eyes.

I love Toronto, this city is live when the sun comes out and people start to shake off the cold. No shortage of creative things to take in, and I’ve been taking full advantage.

Early March brought the Combo Royale CD release party, the local vintage jazz party makers. Their new album “Slaugheterhouse Stomp” has been on heavy rotation around my house.  The same night was the first of Darkside Studio’s Fireside Chats, this one on costuming ideas for tribal fusion dancers.

In mid-March Junko Mizuno came to Toronto to show her new series, Venus Cake. I have been a fan of her work for years, having fallen in love with her early characters Fumi and Shiori action figures around the time she put out Hell Babies, a book with a quilted cover featuring awesome images of female characters that reminded me of a sexy, psychedelic and earthy version of the 70′s Dolly-Pops that I spent so many hours with as a kid. I got her to autograph and old journal of her artwork from 2006, which I will now frame alongside a print from one of her old series that a friend surprized me with.

Last month I had an oppotunity to attend a workshop “Unusual Movements to Unusual Music” by local dancer Laura Atma, as a part of the Alternative Bellydance Series at Dragonfly Studio. The time passed quickly as we learned some of Laura’s signature moves and learned a piece of her recent choreography –a piece created in collaboration with friend and dancer Maddie Bolek, for a Cirqlar event.

The end of March brought the long-awaited Cues and Tattoos in Seattle –my first ATS-focused bellydance conference. This is its 5th year running and apparently now bigger than ever. I went with two other members of Serpentina North Ensemble and we had our first workshop Friday morning with Kami Liddle –ATS remixed, variations on ATS combos that can be used for solo or group numbers. Later that afternoon was a workshop by Kajira Djoumanha of Blacksheep Bellydance , where we learned some of their signature combos. The next day was another Kami workshop where we learned faster combos of pops and hits. Then in the afternoon was a workshop on isolations with Steven Eggers, where we did some really interesting drills by mixing up the combos to work in opposites and unfamiliar patterns. Finally on Sunday (the days flew by!) was a Guedra blessing dance taught by Kajira. Its a really beautiful ritual dance of the “blue people” (they use an oil based indigo dye to colour most of their clothes, which rubs off on their skin, giving them a blue tinge) of the Tuareg Berbers, performed by women to offer blessings to groups and individuals. Accompanied by chanting and drumming, like many ritual dances, the whole environment along with internal focus induces a trance-state in the dancer.  Dancing for meditation, cleansing/exorcism or blessings, is an area of interest for me and Kajira is so knowledgeable about Guedra, it was a pleasure to learn from her. My last workshop was with members of Troupe Hypnotica, the creators of Cues & Tattoos, where we worked on polishing details for performing ATS improv. I had a lot of fun in that one, especially since being newer to ATS I haven’t done improv much outside of my own troupe. Although there wasn’t much extra time, I managed to get to Mighty-o Vegan Donuts to bring some goodies I promised to bring back for friends. Laura, Sarah and I (3 out of 5 of us in Serpentina) had really nice dinners and silly times travelling around together. The marketplace was super –I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of incredible jewelry, and we managed to get bustles for an upcoming show. I\m looking forward to next year and hoping our whole troupe can go together.

    

Back from Seattle, I had only a few days until my birthday, which happened to fall on the long weekend. Lots of birthday love, lots of catching up with people I hadn’t seen in a while, over awesome food. Then, of course, back to the grind but also back to all my regular classes: Om Laila, Serpentina and Sugar Shakers. With the inspiration of the last few weeks, motivation and creativity are running high.

Lastnight I went to Uno, presented by La Carnita, to see work by illustrator and fellow Sugar Shaker, Jacqui Oakley, alongside such international street art talent as Mike Giant, Sam Flores and locals Skam and Rcade. Set in a building on industrial grounds that have been re-purposed for urban agriculture (really amazing projects there), now called Evergreen Brickworks, it was a perfect setting to showcase an international line-up of cutting-edge artists.

        

  

Late April is filled with shows so be sure to take a look at the Upcoming Shows section. One of the most exciting events will be in early June, where Serpentina will be performing alongside other local bellydancers in the InFusion Gala show  featuring Rachel Brice. It is during the weekend of her intensive (which I’m taking) so it will be a full –and no doubt fullfilling –few days. Rachel doesn’t perform in Toronto often, so you don’t want to miss this one!

Stay tuned for more transmissions from the sistership…

Speakeasies and Springtime.

Happy almost March everyone! I blinked and February is leaving as quickly as it came. A lot of dance got packed into this short month already. Lets start with this past weekend: the long-awaited, much anticipated Surreal Speakeasy –brought to us by Salon Noir. With the speakeasy theme in full effect everyone was looking fine. And that wasn’t just the absinthe talking, people really went all out! I had a lovely time performing with Sugar Shakers, a new ‘flapper doll’ themed number, alongside the likes of a barbershop quartet, sultry burlesque and the headliner David J of Bahaus.

Sugar Shakers also opened for Tia Brazda this month at the Cadillac Lounge for her EP release party. It was a full house for her and after hearing this red-headed bombshell with a vintage jazz sounding voice, I can see why. The week before that, Sugar Shakers also danced alongside local talent Alex Pangman at one of  the Saturday Night Swing events. Another great night of music and dance…

On a bellydance note, last week was Funkabelly –a fire theme, this month– and again more fabulous music. Nomadica, as always, filled the space with its eclectic grooves and featured the Funkabelly Allstars doing shamadan (dancing with candlebras on their heads). Gorgeousness. The headliner was Xing Bang Fu, a dancer of such experience and refinement that he truly left us breathless. For years Om Laila has lived in the same studio as Xing teaches ballet and modern dance, yet I had never seen him perform.  I’m not entirely sure how to describe his style but as I understand it, he is one of a kind:  moving between  joyful and sinister, non-uniform, yet perfectly contained in his movement. I spent most of my time in the vendors section, at my Strange Dames booth…I’ve run out of cowls almost but expect some more in the coming months. Oh yes and fascinators too. Thanks to all my dancing (and singing!) ladies helping me promote the things I make. If you make things and want to sell them at Funkabelly, let me know. We are always looking for new designers and creators to add to our vendor section.

And last for now but certainly not least,  was  Inversion: Rewind, at Darkside Studio. Serpentina North Ensemble performed alongside other local acts including Coco Framboise and my new favourite mime (an altar ego of bellydancer Lluvia). The new location is amazing and it was nice to have an intimate studio show with so many other dancers, again making me grateful for the sense of community that arises from dancing together. I’m excited to check out some dance-related but not dance events that Audra will be hosting, including fireside chats, movie screenings and ‘A Real Hafla’ haflas.

I had plans of posting some new costume pieces I got in the past little while…particularly two headpieces made by two of my talented friends. But I have no clear pictures yet (but sneak peek in the photo above, I wore one to Salon Noir) , so that’s for next time.

If, like me, you get upset that you can’t dress up like a larger than life character everyday and are looking for something wildly creative to do this weekend, see you at the Fedora Upside Down‘s Mardi Gras Masquerade party. Featuring a bunch of local bands including Combo Royale, who I only saw once and was left wanting more.

Remember to check the events section, there are lots of new shows coming this spring!

The Sugars were shakin’, from Toronto to Montreal

Hello everyone, its been a while…January was all about last minute work on the Sugar Shaker number for the Followlogie competition. We’ve really been pounding the pavement with refinements after months of working on this choreography. We just got back from Montreal a couple of days ago and the whole experience was both strange and wonderful. All of the Sugar Shakers have worked so hard and been through so much in preparation for this event and our efforts and training and love of dance did not go unnoticed by the crowd at our performance. It was nice to have a little Toronto crew in the house that night at the lovely Rialto theatre.   Thanks to all of the people who went wild for us on the dancefloor and came up to us afterward with good vibes. Unfortunately, we did not place in the competition but felt we did a killer performance and can’t wait to show our hometown what we’ve been working on. The winning troupe –called The W Project –were awesome and they were the one troupe who went out of their way to be friendly and mutually appreciative competitors. It was a trip to remember thats for sure… a lovely dance and bonding experience for the Sugar Shakers. We got to see some talented vintage dancers and the workshops I attended taught me a lot about Charleston variations.

And here is our number…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5tXIX4WbYE

With the high of the performance in my wake, I’m re-focusing for the numbers that Serpentina has been working on for Inversion. It’s this Saturday at Darkside Studio and the theme is several artists take on the same song. Can’t wait to showcase our ATS version!

There are tons more things coming up in the next few weeks, here are but a few…

Feb 3rd - a Real Hafla

Feb 16 – Funkabelly - Hail to the Year of the Dragon

Feb 19 – Salon Noir - The Surreal Speakeasy

March 3rd – my friend Nancy’s solo sexy movement workshop …the tagline asks: “Wanna work it out like Cyd Charisse”? I know I do!

If you’re looking for a website to showcase your talent/business/hobby/work, my very talented and creative friend Nat Kuleba is having a New Year sale til the end of Feb. Check out her site, her aesthetic is minimal and zen.

See you around town. January hibernation is cozy and wonderful but get your ass onto a dancefloor at least once this month

2012, a space odyssey.

Happy new year, fellow space travelers! Inner and outer space that is. Welcome to 2012, what will you do this year?

Looking back at 2011, I feel good about it. Through all of life’s madness I managed to do some pretty awesome dance stuff, like:

• Did my first dance competition ever, with Sugar Shakers in Montreal last January
• Performed solo bellydance at Second City alongside really amazing circus performers
•  Joined the wonderful ATS/ITS troupe, Serpentina North Ensemble
• Started learning Lindy Hop with Sugar Shaker Joanna Kassoulides. The adventure in partner dance continues
• Completed my first Rachel Brice intensive (4 days!)
• Performed vintage flapper dance at Funkabelly and bellydance at Lindy Hop Cabaret… I love when worlds collide!
• Started writing this dance blog

On the last point, its been almost a year of writing this blog about my adventures in dance. It started out when someone who hired me for a show wanted promotional material for the show’s program, so I scrambled to put together a wordpress page, not sure if I would continue after it served that purpose. I’ve always  been a writer and decided to keep on with it, wondering if anyone would be interested in reading my words. Turns out some people do because there have been about 1300 hits snce I began. WordPress sends out the “Your 2011 Year n Blogging” email and I found out that most of the hits are from Canada and Europe (mostly Italy) but that people all over the world have checked out my blog…from Brazil to South America and the highest percentage of hits from Asia came from Indonesia! I think this is really awesome and reading this report gave me the same sense of wonder and amazement I remember having when I first explored the internet from the computer in my parents livingroom. It’s really an incredible thing to be connected over geographical space. Thank you to everyone who has clicked on my blog, I look forward to another year of writing about this inner/outer space odyssey with you all.

Over the holiday Serpentina had the pleasure of a private session with Rosana McGuire while she was visiting from San Francisco, to learn some of her signature bellydance/vintage/flapper moves. She was also selling some of her lovely creations, I bought a really awesome headpiece and crocheted earrings, will post photos soon! There’s still more of her stuff up for grabs, check it out!

2011 also brought Hindsight Studio and Strange Dames out into the world, I am thankful to all of the creative people who’ve been encouraging me to ‘get out there’ with the things I make. This month, Hindsight will be promoting some crocheted designs by guest artist Ruby-Dee. All you bellydancers out there, listen up…if you play zylls/finger cymbals, you need some of these! I got mine years back from a fellow bellydancer and have always had people ask where to get Now’s your chance…only $20 for this handmade bag and cover set, price will be higher on the etsy site.

I love these because not only to they protect my zylls but if I’m practicing in a small area or at home where the full on zyll sound can be intense, I cover one zyll on each hand to muffle the sound but still have mobility and be able to hear what I’m playing. If you want to buy a set please email me at watters.sandy@gmail.com

You know its a new year in Toronto when the Harburfront DJ Skate Nights start up. This has been my favourite (and only) outdoor winter activity the past couple of years. See you at the rink! Don’t forget to check the Upcoming Shows section for this month’s happenings!

All good things to you for 2012.

Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice everyone!

The darkest day has come and gone, and we can look forward to the return of the sun. Whatever you celebrate this time of year I hope it is spent in the company of lovely people, food and music. Having a four day weekend is precious to me right now, as I savour every second of sleeping in, playing records, baking vegan cookies and seeing all of my favourite people.

The much anticipated Frostbite: Bazaar of the Bizarre was a smashing success in its new location, the Great Hall.   Congrats to the Plastik Wrap folks, on a fantastic event! And I was loving the soundtrack of the day, brought to us by Jonah K. There were a few craft shows that day on that block and people were out in droves. Of course I was sewing buttons on my cowls right up until the final hour (and beyond!) for the Strange Dames booth. Here we are:

    

I bought a few things myself, it was so hard to decide with so many talented creative people and things under one roof. I had to get more shimmery eyeshadow from Peculiar Potions of course and later came across Lana Opus Scarves, a guy who makes really awesome scarves –or ‘man cowls’ as I call them, though they’re  unisex for sure. I will post some pics, I got two and although he works mostly in wool (old man pants, houndstooth,etc.) I found a couple without.

On the dance front, I been focused on the final month before the Sugar Shakers bring our new number to the Followlogie competition in Montreal. Now that we are working on final touches, I can really see how truly dynamic and awesome this piece is. Its fast, organic and full of attitude –something us Sugars have no shortage of! I can’t wait to perform it (breaking news: you can get a sneak peak Sat Jan 14th at Dovercourt House, that is unless you want to follow us to Montreal!).

Meanwhile Serpentina North Ensemble continues to work on new ideas and prepare for Inversion/rewind at the end of January. I am constantly expanding my ATS/ITS repertoire and ever challenged and amazed by the improvisational spirit of this style. Falling deeper and deeper in love. Next week the troupe will get a specialty workshop from the talented Rosana McGuire on her visit back to Toronto from San Fransisco…can’t wait for that! Here are some pics from our performance earlier this month at Twilight Mirage. Photos by Peter Lear aka FotoDances.

                        

Om Laila wrapped up the year with its annual holiday soiree. Having no more room in my brain or body for new choreography I chose not to dance and instead enjoyed being an audience member, drinking wine and taking in both new and seasoned dancers. I did however, sing –and in Arabic, nonetheless!  The small crew of us who have been studying singing, drumming and zylls under Roula Said finished off the night with Roula on kanun/main vocals, Jaash on main dumbek/vocals and a few more of us on vocals and zylls. It was a scary and exhilarating experience. I have a bit of a singing background but that is reaching back so many years now…however the songs Ala Warag Il Foull and A’Nadda which we performed are two of our regular songs and I found myself comfortable enough singing them in front of an audience. Hopefully much more of that to come…

On a different style of music, some of you know I’m a huge Erykah Badu (aka: Sarah Bellum, Medulla Oblongata, Analog Girl in a Digital World, Low Down Loretta Brown, Fat Belly Bella and Maria Mexico) fan and have been trying in vain to see her live for a very long time. Last year her New Amerykah part 1  tour was supposed to touch down in Toronto and as I held onto my tickets for dear life, the show was cancelled the day of. So for now I am destined for youtube videos…but her tour with the Cannabinoids is making me want to get my ass to the states for a show. Check this out, as if her voice and flow  weren’t enough for you, she also rocks the drum machine and theramin in the loveliest of ways.

Some older footage from her New Amerykah 1 album

There are so many events going on in the next couple of weeks, its hard to keep track. I’m opting for a low-key NYE (unless someone can persuade me otherwise!) but I still want to get out and dance before that, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Detroit techno legend Juan Atkins is playing next week. I haven’t seen him live in years and I will even bear the Drake for it. As for some online listening, tonight my soundtrack has been Rachel Brice’s mix from her 8 tracks page, it spans pounding to atmospheric. Some really nice tracks.

I wish you all delicious and rejuvenating things for for this last week of 2011. See in 2012 my friends, for more movement, mystery and mayhem!

Sun, frost and black coffee.

In production at Hindsight Studio!

I will keep it short and sweet on this frosty, sunny morning, cause its a busy Hindsight Studio day preparing the Strange Dames booth for the bazaar tomorrow.

There’s a lot going on this weekend and here’s where I’ll be:

The Dark Salon

Frostbite: Bazaar of the Bizarre

[PLEASE NOTE THAT WABI SABI POP-UP SHOP IS CANCELLED FOR DECEMBER, WE WILL BE BACK IN THE NEW YEAR...STAY TUNED!]

This zany life.

                              Random truth: I love Glenn Barr’s paintings. I really do.

Despite my efforts to write every week, I end up getting the time for a nice lengthy entry here every two weeks. November has come and gone in the blink of an eye and here we are approaching the dark days of December. I look forward to the winter solstice and the approaching hibernation. Staying active and creative this time of year can be a challenge but I think I have a good handle on it: my new additions to Toronto winter survival are ashwaganda (aka withania), an imune-boostng and energizing herb, astralagus tea (good for lymphatic health) and something I should have had all along –vegan hot chocolate. My daily pick me up between work and dance classes or meetings or the long streetcar ride home, and if I’m feeling like I need some extra sweetness, the vegan marshmallow ‘fluff’ with Sadies Diner hot chocolate is just what I need.

Sustaining myself physically, is essential to my dance practice. Gotta keep moving, stay limber, even when hibernation seems to beckon. Stretching every day has been crucial to maintaining several hours of dance per week and to keep my body feeling good. These days I take about 20 minutes out of each day for yoga, that is to stretch and meditate. Some days my meditation consists of nothing more than groaning and moaning as I stretch out the resistant muscles in my body and other times its a conscious body scan or set of chants. I’ve found it useful to commit to daily practice and it has certainly made my dancing (and being) feel more fluid and grounded.

Last weekend was the Toronto Lindy Cabaret and I performed with Sugar Shakers as well as a solo bellydance number. Being one of the few non-lindy hop acts I felt myself getting a little nervous. Once I got up there I was at ease though, getting hoots and hollers from other dancers in the house. I wish I could have seen all of the other acts, I only got to see a couple, including a pretty awesome band who’s name escapes me, if you know please tell me in the comment section! After the show, people had a lot of questions about bellydance and I had some great conversation about points of intersection between different styles of dance. The lindy-hoppers were quite fascinated with the isolations in my number and I remain quite fascinated with their graceful yet playful abilities to dance with another person. That’s a work in progress for me! I made some new friends that night and felt very supported by the local vintage dance community.

Since I last wrote I attended Heather Labonte’s workshop at Dark Side Studio, where I learned some fabulous drills and combos from a talented dancer. We worked on particular angles, and little details that add extra finesse and beauty to contemporary bellydance. Then Sunday I attended the much-anticipated sword workshop by Zahira at Dragonfly Studio. Oh man it was everything I imagined it would be, to put a sword on my head, on my hip, on my knee, and dance. It was extremely powerful, and I was taught enough to practice on my own for a while. Once I get a sword that is…Im saving my pennies.

This month is jammed pack with awesome goings-on. Here are but a few that I’ll be checking out:

Dec 3 – Twilight Mirage  I’ll be performing with Serpentina alongside other fabulous local belly talent.

Dec 4 – Tumbling Into Light

Dec 10 – The Dark Salon

Dec 11 – Bazaar of the Bizarre

Dec 14 – Om Laila Holiday Soiree

Dec 15 -  In Honour of Jenna

Dec 18 – Wabi-Sabi pop-up shop. One day only! Stay tuned (here!) for details

I know there’s more, so stay tuned…I’ll update next week!

Until then, I leave you with music to hibernate to.