Old members meet and greet

walladah

New member
Hello!

I am not sure i am an old member or not, given that i do not write very often, but i do read very often the OD website and forum since 2007 i joined!

My bellydance story is complicated, as i grew in North-Eastern Greece, where we have our local version of bellydance. However i learn the human way (i.e. participating in community feasts) from people all around the world and i also attend lessons and workshops. I think bellydance has always been, one way or another, part of my everyday life

My style? i am not sure... i just follow the music and then i decide about the style, the costume, the routine... oh, by the way, i love Egyptian vintage style dancers!
 

Amulya

Moderator
And Egyptian vintage music! And Turkish vintage music as well. Seems music sounded so much better in those times :)
 

walladah

New member
Indeed! music sounded different!

people paid more attention to maqams, and the drums were made out of clay and leather and not of metal and plastic!
 

Suzanne Azhaar

Active member
people paid more attention to maqams, and the drums were made out of clay and leather and not of metal and plastic!

That's it! Couldn't figure out why the sound of drums subtly changed over the years. Thought a drum is a drum :naghty: Now I feel :rolleyes: for not figuring it out sooner.
 

Aniseteph

New member
I guess I'm an Old Member. ;) . I've been here since just before the Great Hack, which took out my early days' heated debates with A'isha Azar. Happy days.... <wistful sigh>

Anyhoo, I've been a bellydance obsessive since I signed up to a course of lessons about 7 or 8 years ago in my early 40s. I love Egyptian style, old classic big orchestrations, baladi, and shaabi for dancing at haflas. Although my dance heroine is Nesrin Topkapi - Turkish, go figure...

I don't teach - lately there have been times when I've toyed with the idea, but it's such a major commitment and the economy is so pants right now - not sure it's a great time. I perform occasionally - all student-level stuff - and would like to do more. I've never been in a troupe and I'm not the worlds greatest self-starter, so dragging myself out there by my own sparkly bra straps is not easy!

I've mostly learnt through choreography but I think I'm more an improv girl at heart. My most awesome belly dance moment was solo improv to live tabla at a workshop. It still makes me smile to think of it. Live music where you can interact with the musician(s), hell yeah, that's the stuff.

I'm much noisier here than IRL, where I spend a lot of time keeping my mouth shut so people don't think I'm an opinionated snark-filled know-all. (shhhh!!!) I don't find it easy when people commit all sorts of WTF?ery and call it belly dance because it's got hip drops in it.

I make some of my costumes, though they never turn out as good as I imagine :( . When I think of the time I spend and the often meh results (IMO), I don't resent the odd splurge on buying one if it looks good and fits. I have one super expensive costume (it fits, which is rare as hens teeth with my boobage and height, and it looks good on me, also pretty rare. What's a girl to do but fall hopelessly in love and get the chequebook out?)

When I'm not geeking on bellydance I'm a scientist in a hospital lab, doing and advising on blood and other tests, interpreting results for doctors, and running a website.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
This is so much fun and I am such a genius for suggesting it. :dance:

My husband is a drummer (among other things) and has both drums of man-made materials and ones made of wood and leather. The advantage of the man-made materials is that the drum maintains an even tone despite changes of humidity or elevation. I bought my husband a wood and skin bodhran at Malachy O'Kearns' factory in Connemara, Ireland. By the time it left humid sea level Ireland and arrived in dry mile above sea level Wyoming the drum's lovely mellow voice had turned into a church soprano of the worst kind! He has learned to keep the bodhran properly oiled to maintain its baritone voice, however.

I've bought all but one of his drums for him. The exception is one a neighbor made from a hollow log and stretched deer skin. Right now I am looking for a clay doumbek for him. Hard to do since I don't want to buy on line sight unseen and voice unheard.
 

nightdancer

New member
I'm Nightdancer. I've been around since just after the Great Hack of 06, wandering in in September of that year. Like some of the others, I wander in and out as life dictates. I'm a former moderator of Dance Styles but "retired" as my thesis and a move across the country (Virginia to Alaska) loomed. Now that my coursework is done and it's just my thesis left, I will be around more. I've sorely missed some members *pointedly looks at Shanazel, Ani, Amulya, etc*

Professionally, I'm an archivist. My first love is military and women's history but that's no longer my scope of collection. Regarding dance, I've been dancing my whole life, but after an injury killed my ballet career, I took up bellydance in about 2001, I think. It was about 2005 that I really had the opportunity to study with any great dedication. There have been several great teachers in my life, to whom I'm most profoundly grateful.

Since moving to AK, I've put my foot into ATS, as it's currently very popular here, though I've just received word that there is an AmCab class starting next month. Decisions, decisions...

Next?

ND
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Shan, of course you are a genius & a genius of geniuses to boot;)

Night Dancer, so good to see you back, you've been missed - sure hope we get to see you more often:D
~Mosaic
 

walladah

New member
Well, it is a bit off-topic, but concerning the drums

yes, those made out of natural materials, need special treatment to keep their tone of sound. However, they resonate much better than the plastic-metal ones and actually their sound is much more warmer to our ears. They need "warming up" though, just like we do!

I have a drum with leather and wood, and yes, it needs more than 15 minutes of drumming to come back to itself! as far as i know, the professional drummers have special electric pillows to warm up the drums, i have seen this a couple of times. To me, i really prefer to warm up my drum myself as i believe this would make the animal who offered the leather to feel happier with the music i am going to play!

I prefer the clay-made drums, but they are so expensive if they are made to last and not break down after 1-2 performances. And they are heavy, while the wooden ones are easy to drum and dance at the same time! because, if you really want to be a tribal dancer-drummer, you need such a thing, don't you?
 

Shanazel

Moderator
We have some new members who might be interested in meeting more established members (sounds nicer than old folks) so I'm giving this thread a bump. :D
 
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