New! Egyptian Dance Academy Teacher Portraits!

My Belly Dance Studio has just come out with some gorgeous new Teacher Portraits that they are calling "Belly Dance Trading Cards".


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4864543410556.8131068.1206377915&type=1

My favorites are of the teachers I study under, but then I am biased! I think they are all beautiful women, but not only that, they are all amazing dance teachers. They are skilled, and they are generous in their desire to pass on this intricate, challenging, supremely satisfying feminine artform. I am eternally grateful to all of my teachers, Katy, Oksana, Abigail, and Nada. Thank you ladies, from my heart and spirit.

Peri-Menopausal Athletic Training Challenges

I am finding that as my body goes through this hormonal change, that it really affects my ability to train in the gym, dance, etc. When I was experiencing bad PMS/heavy menses in my younger years, and I was as regular as clockwork, I would just take a break and let my body rest. I always knew it was just two to three days off max, then I'd be back in the gym again. Life was simple and predictable then. I didn't realize how good I had it.

Now I never know how late I'm going to be, and every day that I'm late feels like the day the my period is going to start. So, I go for days and days of backache, abdominal cramps, bloating and water retention, super-irritability/depression and mood swings, crazy itchy skin like spiders and ants are crawling all over it, hot flashes, and the level of pain that used to only occur when my period was imminent/already happening. It's really confusing and frustrating! Obviously I can't just keep taking day after day off, expecting the period to happen at any moment.

Today is my *fifth* late day feeling like my period is going to start at any moment. So I just said to heck with it, I'm going to train today no matter what! I went to the gym, did an hour of belly dance, and an hour and half weights, plus half an hour of stretching. I did just fine but I made sure to keep myself properly hydrated, and appropriately nourished (I make sure to Eat Clean all the way, every day!)

I ate a cored apple stuffed with TBSP natural unsweetened nut butter before training. Then I kept myself hydrated with lots of pure unsweetened coconut water the whole time I was working out. And right after training I ate three chopped up hard-boiled egg-whites mixed with fresh pico de gallo. Yum. About an hour after that I had a protein bar (Vega) (because I couldn't go straight home after working out - I had other stuff to do), and then when I finally got home I had about a cup to a cup and a half of steamed, lemon-juice spritzed, brussels sprouts and chunks of tamari-marinated super-firm tofu (organic). (I've developed a major craving for super-firm organic tofu the last little while...I find that I'm usually either cooking with tofu or with egg-whites for my protein).  I also have been drinking a lot of (organic, unsweetened) pomegranate juice. In the mornings I always have a cup of hot no-sugar-added soy milk (organic) in my espresso. I'm doing everything I can to get the natural-sourced phytoestrogen levels up in my body to balance out those dropping hormones.

My conclusion is, that if I allow the increasing unpredictability of my failing reproductive cycle to interfere with my athletic life, I am just never going to get anything done! If I take day after day after day off, week after week after week, it's only natural and predictable that I'm going to fall behind in my cardio, my muscle building routines, my dance practice, and my body-fat-percentage weight maintenance.

I've been reading up on how to naturally handle peri-menopause and menopause, and exercise is highly recommended. I guess that means I just have learn to work through the back pain and abdominal cramps no matter how bad I feel. If I don't push through the pain, I'm just going to fall apart and become a fat, miserable, menopausal old and wrinkly couch potato. Yuck. I sure don't want that! I want to stay as limber and strong as I possible can as I age.  I guess we'll see how that works out over time...

It sure would be interesting to read how other athletic women going through the same thing I'm going through handle things. I wonder if I'll find anything on the internet if I do a search.

I'm a Bombshell Butterfly!

Thanks to Princess Farhana and Devilla's brand new Bombshell DVD, at this June 2012 Egyptian Dance Academy's Gala, I know I'm going to emerge from my baby-belly makeup chrysalis, onto the stage, as a beautifully coloured Bombshell Butterfly!

While the Egyptian Dance Academy that I attend teaches authentic Egyptian belly
dance, it does not teach how to apply correct stage, nightclub, and photograph 
makeup. Therefore since Sept 2010 I've been fumbling along on my own, trying to figure out how to apply false eyelashes for the first time in my life, and exactly how much of 
what type of makeup is enough for each occasion. And, I figure I'm probably in good 
company along with many other fellow students of the beautiful art of Belly Dance. 




Since Princess Farhana and Devilla's Bombshell Makeup DVD came out this April 2012, I have learned everything and more than I have needed to know for the last two years about doing my own makeup for Belly Dance occasions. This is one impressive, comprehensive DVD set. 


The Two DVD's cover all the basics in just over 3 hours. Out of the 8 totally different
looks my personal favourites were the Classic Smokey Eye, the Cleopatra/Pharaonic
Look and The Arabic Eye. Although now that I know how to apply them all, the Silent 
Movie Star/Silver Screen look just might start oozing it's mercurial way into my makeup practices. Oh heck, I'll probably try them all at some point since they all look completely accessible thanks to this amazing DVD. 


Princess Farhana and Devilla make a great a great tag team duo. They switch back and forth in their presentations, showing different ways to achieve the same look. Between the two, they keep the pace and energy upbeat and flowing, and the material and presentation fresh and appealing.


I enjoyed their choice of bright pink sari fabric tenting, and their model's mostly all
black uniforms. I appreciated the introduction to building up one's makeup tool kit, 
suggestions for cheaper alternatives, and pointers on how to use each of them. 


I think this DVD set will appeal to nearly any student of belly dance because its inclusive of 
different ages, races and shapes of facial features. But most of all, instead of being 
afraid to experiment with makeup, and terrified of making mistakes, I now see makeup 
as something I can use to create new looks for myself, and to have fun doing it! I think others will find themselves responding the same way I did after watching the DVD set. I felt liberated, and freed to experiment and enjoy makeup in a brand new way, which I know will be practical and useful as both a performer and a photographic subject. 


I also look at my profile picture here taken at my dance school's last Nov 2011 Gala and I now see what I would do differently with my stage makeup in an entirely new way. Probably the very first thing I would do differently is that I would emphasize my eyebrows a lot more! I would stack my eyelashes, and even maybe go with an exotic eyelash with a bit of a peacock feather on the end. Everything would be bigger, bolder, and more dramatic. I can hardly wait to see the new photos that will be taken this June with the help of the Bombshell DVD. 


My thanks go out to Princess Farhana and Devilla for providing this baby belly with just
what she needed, and in plenty of time for me to practice for my upcoming Gala! This May I won't be practicing just dance choreography, but also how to apply my own personal best Bombshell makeup look for the stage. You ladies are fabulous and your DVD is perfect! Look out belly dance world, here comes a brand new Bombshell Butterfly! 


Get your Bombshell DVD from the Princess here!