Saturday, August 21, 2010

Dress Rehearsals Begin

Starting tomorrow, JenCee will begin dress rehearsals every Sunday morning. We found out we are to be performing on September 25th at 4:15pm. So that gives us about a month to finalize everything. We found a location at a local college that we will be practicing at for a few hours. It's a nice staging area since the spot we found matched the dimensions of the stage we will be on when we head to the festival. We do plan on giving our debut performance at the Ananka student party in a few weeks. That is to be held on September 12th. Since we have limited room at the location we are holding the student party at, I'm afraid I can't give a time or place for that performance. Only family and friends are allowed, but even then it is limited due to space issues. So those who do not receive a time and place, I'm sorry but you guys will have to plan on going to the Hanford Renaissance Faire on October 2nd, where it will be free admission, or the Fresno Fair on October 16th at 2:00pm, where there will be an admission for entrance into the fair itself.

I'm still trying to get my jug done. A lot of things have come up over the last few weeks that have caused me to get behind in getting this thing done. So I am kind of in a mad dash to finish the few layers left before tomorrow morning. Currently, I'm waiting for it to dry before starting the next layer. I'm happy to say that my staff is finally completed. Took me a while to get the beads and feathers attached to it since it was a little tricky figuring out how to get these things on when the beads don't allow room to have the string or feathers be put into the openings. But I got it working and now just need to be sure the cat doesn't decide to have some fun with the staff during the night. Moving feathers tends to stimulate a cat's interest when you are not paying attention.

I have had to give up the idea of doing a solo for the previously mentioned student party. Between going to work, school, practice with Ananka, practice with JenCee, and finding the time to do homework, I have not had the chance to finish the choreography for my dance. As a result, I will save the solo for next year and perhaps have a second solo to do as well, if I am allowed for two. Otherwise, I will stick with the best one I come up with.

My instructor has begun teaching us another dance that she would like us to perform at Hanford. I am not sure how many of us will be able to perform this since we are already bogged down with 2 other dances that are not quite lining up correctly. Plus, we are still trying to get the drummers caught up on a few of the dances we have been doing since the beginning of the year and adding our zills, finger cymbals, on top of that. It's a lot to try and memorize, so we are all a little worried as to what will be expected of us over the next month.

I guess we will wait and see. In the meantime, I am making leaps and bounds while working with Jen and TC. So I will continue worrying about what is going on with them and trying to take care of what is going on in my other class before I start worrying about who is going to be able to do what. I will honestly not be disappointed if I am unable to do one or two dances for Hanford. Because I am so pressed in getting stuff with JenCee down, whatever is being taught in Ananka will have be pushed through to the best of my ability. Besides, I may get the chance to perform some of the dances at the Fresno Fair if I am unable to do them at Hanford. I know I will eventually dance those pieces, so I am not worried about it all that much.

Now that I have done a little update on things, I need to go check on my jug and try to add another lay if it is dry enough. If not, then I guess it's going to be another 30 minutes or so before I can do anything else.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Some Dates Coming Up

For those who are local and looking to see some upcoming performances, I got some dates to look for.

October 2nd, Hanford Renaissance Faire. Still trying to get times on when we perform, but anyone who is up for going, it is free and I will be posting times as soon as I know more.

October 16th, Fresno Fair. We will be performing from 2-3pm. That's right, a full hour of performances from our dance company, Ananka. As of right now, we are to be performing at the Pavilion Stage. If that changes, I will be sure to let people know asap.

Tonight's dance class went well. We had the drummers show at 7:30pm to start figuring out the rhythms they will need to play when we perform at Hanford and the Fresno Fair. I have to say, it's entertaining when both the dancers and drummers are screwing up because neither group knows what we are doing XD I take that back....we both knew what we were doing, but communication wasn't all there. Was still a good time though and we ended up dancing a routine faster than it was intended. But after doing that, we all agreed that it was better faster....because the slow tempo was kind of getting to some of us compared to some of the other dances we have lol.

With it being as late as it is, that is all I have enough energy to share. So I hope those who are local can make one of these two events since they are our last performances for the year. If not, then I guess you people need to start planning for the next Rogue Show in the Tower District that will be taking place in March.

On a related note, there is a possibility that JenCee will start doing renaissance faires this upcoming year. Depends on what JenCee wants to do since all of us will be busy with Ananka to get the Rogue Show going in November. That's right, we start getting things going in November so we can produce a quality show in March.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Only A Month....

Hard to believe JenCee only has a month left before we head to San Jose for the Desert Dance Festival. It's getting a little aggravating though since the Festival website was suppose to have the times posted by the end of July and here we are about to hit the middle of August with no word on when anyone is performing. I guess we will have to keep pestering people until something is posted.

Most of the costuming is finished for our San Jose performance. I only need to do some quick stitching to secure a few areas on my robe and waiting on the sash to be finished. We are still trying to get the sash to look right as far as connecting it together with the robe. Mainly little hiccups.

I have also found that I will need to head to a department store in the southeast part of town. Not thrilled about that since the area is not a nice one, but it's the only place I can find simple hip scarves, dance shoes and leotards needed for a few costumes. I will need to head there in the next few weeks to pick up a special leather dance shoe that is a 3/4 sole with a strap around the heel to keep the shoe in place.


These are the sandals I need to pick up. They have just enough sole to cover the ball of the foot to keep it protected since most of the moves we are doing require us to be on our toes and twist....a lot.

I will also be heading to this store to find get another hip scarf that I saw there at the beginning of the year that will match the costuming I will be wearing for Hanford. I just hope they still have them in the shade I want.

For those interested in checking out the store, it's Sunnyside Department store in southeast Fresno, Ca. They have several dance items, mainly square dance items since the owners are into that kind of dance, but they do cater to many forms. I have also found that they give dance students a 20% discount if they are with a specific dance group. I had that happen when I had gone in to purchase a hip scarf, leotard, dance pants, hip scarf and some dance shoes a while back. I had not realized that they were kind enough in giving me that discount, so that was awesome.

The next project is to get our jugs done. All three of us are very close to finishing them. There was a last minute decision to add handles, so our plans to plaster these things will wait until this upcoming Friday. I will also need to finish up my staff as well since that will be needed for the final piece we are to perform for the festival.

Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy.

On a happier note, I am excited to share that my one year anniversary of learning belly dancing is coming up the same day as my 27th birthday. Specifically this Thursday. Best Birthday gift I received last year and to this day, I don't regreat getting involved.