ATTENTION TROUPE MEMBERS

Please check out the link below. It's an article written by Shira about troupe costuming. She has some great suggestions.

See you Wednesday,
rassi

Yeah! New link at bottom of page!

Please check out the new link I finally figured out how to post. See you all on Wed. July 25 at 5 p.m. I think we are performance ready!!!

shimmy on,
rassi

Not having fun with the Computer :(

Ok, ladies, I know I promised you a video link but I forgot how to post them on here! Menopause is soo much fun! Actually, all I managed to do was wipe out all the other video links I had on here.....so......hmm......

I'm looking forward to another practice/get-together on Wed., July 18th. I may bring a short video just because.

Have a great weekend,
rassi

Monday Night Class!!!

We'll be meeting at the barn on July 11th at 5 p.m. for an informal practice. We also will be discussing future performances and the make-up workshop so please bring your calendars.

I nearly have the basket dance choreo finished...yeah!! I'll be scouting around for appropriate, inexpensive baskets over the next couple of weeks. I'd appreciate it if anyone else who happens to be in a store with baskets would check out prices.

After a nice break, I'm excited about dancing again and look forward to being together with all of you.

Have a great 4th!
rassi

Monday Night Class!!!

Hi everyone,

We will be meeting informally on Wed., July 11 at 5 p.m. at the barn. We'll go over our dances as well as discuss performances, make-up workshop, and other topics. Please bring your calendars.

The basket dance is just about finished. I'll scout around for some cheap, appropriate baskets and we'll start practicing our balancing.

shimmy on!
rassi

Basket Dance

I'm about half way through choreographing this one. It's going to be upbeat and bouncy and fun, I hope! We'll balance them a bit on our heads toward the end of the number :))

More later,
rassi

Rachel Brice

Hi Everyone,

I just added a clip of Rachel dancing. There are cabaret dancers, tribal dancers, and then there's Rachel Brice. She's in a catagory all by herself. She is the master of isolations and is mesmerizing to watch. Plus, she's incredibly sweet and funny!

Enjoy!
rassi

Assorted Stuff

It was a great practice tonight and I especially enjoyed seeing all of Anna's new purchases from JoAnn Fabrics. She found some beautiful polyester chiffon that looks like sari material for veils. She got 3 yards for only $15. She also found patterns for tops, skirts, and harem pants for $1.

We also had a brief discussion about dance names. You don't have to have a name but it's fun to find one that truly fits you and your personality. If you google "dance names" or go to shira.net (see link below) you can find lists of names. Also, baby name websites have tons of information including the origins of names. I also want to spotlight each of us here on the blog with a brief bio and picture. We can rotate the bios every week or so. Please be thinking about what you might want to include in your bio.

Shimmy on!
rassi

Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.

The Monday evening class will be meeting on Wed. May 30 at 5:15 p.m. at the studio. This will be our last meeting until the last week in June when we are planning to perform. We will begin again in July with a make-up workshop, costuming ideas, new choreography, and a schedule of more performances.

See you all Wed.
rassi

Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Monday evening class will be meeting for the next two Wednesday's at the studio. Please bring your calendars so we can plan our next performance. We really want to try to include everyone who wishes to perform. We'll also run through the 3 group dances and discuss an upcoming performance make-up workshop. Anyone with any costuming ideas (cheap but nice) please feel free to share. We're going to take the month of June off and then get together again in July on an informal basis. During June, I'm planning on working on new group choreographies and getting new class material together. I'm very excited about continuing our venture into the belly dance world!

Happy Shimmies,
rassi

Male Bellydancer Clip

I just posted a link at the bottom of the page to YouTube. Tito is an incredible Egyptian bellydancer and I thought everyone would enjoy this clip. His fluidity is what Egyptian style is all about.

Enjoy!
rassi

Reminder!

No class on Monday night but Monday night girls are practicing at 5 pm at the barn for the performance on Saturday. Keep in mind that you only have to dance in the dances that you feel comfortable doing. No pressure, just fun! Let me know if you want to do a solo.

rassi

Link Below to A'Kai Silk Veils

Jes has some gorgeous veils right now for very reasonable prices. The opps veils and student veils are cheaper but just as beautiful. Check it out!

hugz,
rassi

Congratulations, Ladies!!!

Wow! What a great performance, ladies! Cookie, Anna, and Debbie were lovely as always. Anna and Debbie rocked their solos. And what can I say about Tara and Eva....they did a fantastic job with their first time out!

A special thank you goes to Angie, Roma, and Debbie's husband who provided moral support and photography. We love you guy

The next gig(s) are in the planning stages. See you all Monday.

Shimmy On,
rassi

Check out Bellydance Info Link Below

I added Sarah Skinner's site to the list of links below. She is a dancer from NYC who also happens to be an incredible professional bellydance photographer and costume designer. Be sure to go to the photo pages and also to the costume pages. She goes into detail on how she gathers materials and actually makes her gorgeous costumes.

Enjoy!
rassi

Field Trip!!

On Friday, May ll, Gainanda, a tribal belldance studio, is having a hafla. A hafla is a party with snacks, live music, performance dancing, and open dancing. Gainanda has a lovely studio in St. Bernard with a public parking lot right next door. If anyone is interested in going, please let me or Anna know. We are hoping to get a carpool going and spend a few enjoyable hours supporting our tribal sisters.

Keep on shimmying!
rassi

I'm Back!

I've missed everyone but NYC was wonderful! We saw some break dancers in the subway who were incredible! I tried to pick up some new moves for us but I'm thinking spinning on our heads may cause a skirt issue ;)

At class tomorrow night we'll really hit the Rohy Feek dance and also review the veil dance and Ode to Justin. The Wednesday evening girls need to let me know if they are going to perform on May 5th so we can get everyone together to run through the show. Also, anyone wishing to solo needs to let me know.

See you all this week!
rassi

Opps! Sorry about the Color on that last post

Note to self.....gray doesn't work well against the background!

Performance Date Changed!

Hi Everyone! I hope your week is going well. Please note that the date has been changed for the performance at the Heartland Nursing Home in Hillsboro. I think it will work out better giving us a bit more time to practice the new routine, tweek solos, and hopefully get a few of the newer dancers the opportunity to meet with the Monday evening class to practice the Mummer's Song dance. (Tara? Cindy? Kim? Carol? we would love to have you all join us.)

Anna had a great suggestion about the new routine we've been practicing on Mondays. She thought we might be able to do a fade out with the music right after the sitkick part so we don't have to worry about mastering the rest of the dance right now. I'm going to play around with the music and see how it works so don't worry about memorizing choreo after the sitkicks section. Just practice up to the 3/4 shimmies.

I wish you all a lovely Easter and I'll see you the week of April 16!

Happy Shimmies,
rassi

New Links Below

Hi Ladies!

I've added two new links. Shira is "THE" information person in the online bellydance world. Everything you ever wanted to know is here. Check out the links on her site for dance names. I'll continue to add links that look interesting.

Shimmy on!
rassi

Ouestions, Answers, Sharing

I hope this blog can become a place where the Te-Alah students can post questions, help with answers, and share information about bellydance.

We start a new round of classes this week and I'm very excited about meeting new students and continuing to work with the beginner two students and the Te-Alah troupe. The new beginner one class on Sat. morning begins tomorrow with the basic information and steps. The beginner two class on Wed. evening is in the midst of learning the Mummer's Song veil dance which I hope they will agree to perform at our next performance on April 21. The intermediate (troupe) class is working on a new choreo which contains some rather challenging steps. I'm thrilled to report that they are mastering them very quickly! I also hope to persuade some of the troupe members to do solos at the performance. I'll keep everyone posted on the new choreo I have in the works (or at least in my head at the moment!) I think it needs to involve balancing something....hmmm......more later ;)))

hugs and shimmies,
Rassi

Welcome to our Blog!

First, a little bit about us. The Te-Alah dancers are a new bellydance troupe based in rural southwest Ohio. Our studio is located in a beautifully renovated barn. Classes began in the summer of 2006 and the troupe was formed in January when we had our first performance at a Veteran's Home. Our next performance will be in April.

I am hoping that this will become a place to share information about bellydance as well as a place to ask and answer questions. Thanks so much!

Happy shimmying,
Rassi