When I met… The Belly dancing Professional December 4, 2008
Posted by Laura in : Belly Dancing , add a commentAs promised, here is my interview with the lovely Aylin Hansen. She was extremely patient and helpful with all my questions, because I had quite a lot of them!
L: Hi Aylin, thanks so much for speaking to me!
A: It’s fine, what can I help you with?
L: Well, I looked at your video on the NHS website about belly dancing and I realised how badly I needed your help. I’m doing a blog about belly dancing and to be honest it’s not going well…
A: Why is that?
L: I Can’t seem to get the rhythm right, I keep bashing into my coffee table trying to make snake arms, it’s very bizarre.
A: (very long pause) Really?!
L: Yes, you see I’m working from this DVD at home and so far I’m just not getting it. I need your advice and tips please!
A: Well, you can always come down to our classes to see how we get on and try it out with us. It does make a difference when your in the place, because when you’re trying to do it yourself, it’s much harder because you don’t know whether you’re doing it right or wrong. The only downside about that is that you’re left to your own judgement, whereas if you’re in a class you will get corrected.
L: Ahh, I see that’s where I’ve been going wrong…(long pause, as I reflect)
L: Anyway! How long have you been teaching belly dancing?
A: Well, I’ve been doing it for about 5 years.
L: Why did you decide to take it up?
A: I’ve always been dancing and then someone asked me if I would be interested in teaching and I said I’d give it a try and see, and I loved it so I stayed on.
L: This is my third week of doing the dancing now, should I be worried I’m not getting it quite yet?
A: Tell me what your problem is…
L: Hip movements mainly, I end up moving my whole body rather than just my hips.
A: Ok, and what seems to be going wrong?
L: (Struggling to find the technical terms) Well, you know like when you wiggle your hips, but they don’t wiggle, but the rest of your body kind of does… (going more red by the second)
A: That’s a very difficult one, and I don’t think you can achieve that within the first three weeks.
L: (ridiculously over-excited) Really?! thank goodness!
A: They are very difficult to start with, but there are tricks to make isolations easier and one of them is, for example I always start teaching hip alternates are the most basic moves, secondly give you a very good idea about posture and thirdly it’s a good start for hip shimmies. So once you’ve cracked hip alternates, you can begin work on hip shimmies. It takes a lot of practise to get to a high level of belly dancing and if you don’t want to dance like you do when you go to a club, if you want to have technique to it then it takes time.
L: That’s reassuring!!
A: Absolutely, especially because you’re telling me you have problems with hip shimmies, most people have problems with shoulder shimmies then they find it very difficult to alternate, but with the hip shimmies, if you tuck in your tummy and bend your knees, it’s very important that you bend your knees and come slightly down and you tuck in your tail to straighten your spine and that in itself locks your abdominals already and makes it easier to isolation.
L: Right I’m going to try that tonight! I do it three times a week as a rule, my shoulders are a bit off balance too, what would you suggest for that?
A: Well for shoulders I usually say… well, go and find a wall and stay about 1ft away from it. Then put your hands on it and bend your knees but don’t lean on it ok? Put your hands on the wall and then start pushing your shoulders. Push one shoulder forward and then back as if there is a stick going through your shoulders. Using the wall, so that forwards and back and so on, then try and get faster, then take your hands off the wall and try and do the same thing. Now if you can do it when your hands are on the wall, it means you can also do it when your hands are off the wall, you just need a bit of muscle control. That’s a very good way of practicing it, especially to discover those muscles that works the shoulder shimmies.
L: A lot of people take this sort of thing up at this time to lose weight, can it really make a difference?
A: I think it’s a wonderful thing, it’s got the feel good factor to it as well, so you know lose weight, have fun get lots of exercise. Yes, it’s as good as any other dancing. What you need to follow with it however is a proper diet… (my heart sinks) You won’t lose weight if you’re eating loads of everything and just doing one hour of belly dancing.
L: (Mumbling) I may need to change my diet a little bit then…
A: Well with what you’re eating you need to be determined that you are on diet and that you will stick to it and that you want to loose weight. If you eat pizzas and pastas then you’re never going to lose weight.
L: Well thank you very much for giving me your tips, I’ll put them into practise.
A: Thank you for asking!
And with that she was gone… I’ll be reporting on monday for week 5 of my belly dancing challenge. One more week of theory and I’ll be on to learning the dance. Terrifying!
Until then- Keep (belly) dancing!
Laura xxx
Aylin Hansen has been working with the NHS Choices website to provide information about the health benefits of belly dancing. For further information please visit www.nhs.uk
Obama Children Latest Style Icons December 4, 2008
Posted by Laura in : Fashion , add a commentSo, The Obama girls are set to become the latest fashion icons.
Michelle Obama is already facing constant daily scrutiny on what she wears, with the fashion pack eager to see her fall, as quickly as they were to see her rise.
The president elect has had a range of suits named after him, and he too must present a stylish image at all time, now he has become one of the most important men on the planet.
It’s crazy though to think that their children are about to be subject to the same sort of scrutiny too. I’m sure gossip columns would never be so nasty as to slag off two young girls, who are still developing their own sense of style.
That said, there will be plenty who will try and exploit them by sending them plenty of fashion freebies in the hope that they will wear their clothes, and in turn get mounds of free publicity.
If they were teens, you could see how they would love the limelight and all the free clothes, but as it is they are simply young girls, who don’t yet know how important they are to the US fashion people.
Madagascar The Great Escape December 4, 2008
Posted by Roslyn in : Movies , add a commentThe latest in animation releases this week
Synopsis: All the loveable characters are back — Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins — in “Madagascar: The Crate Escape.”
Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane — sort of.
Despite long-lost relatives, romantic rivals and scheming hunters, Africa seems like a “crack-a-lackin” great place…but is it better than their Central Park home?
Check out the trailer
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa:
Lakeview Terrace December 4, 2008
Posted by Roslyn in : Music , add a commentLakeview Terrace
Here is my movie bit premiering this week is Lakeview Terrace. which stars none other than the acting Demi-God Samuel L Jackson.. anlong with Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington.
Synopsis: In Lakeview Terrace, a young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship.
A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood.
His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds.
Check out my trailer:
Buy Katy Perry’s Breasts December 4, 2008
Posted by Roslyn in : Music , 1 comment so farWant take home Katy Perry’s breasts?
Now’s your chance!
A cast of her top shelf—painted and accessorized by the “I Kissed a Girl” hitmaker’s boyfriend, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes—is up for auction.
Sale of the multicolored piece, which even incorporates one of McCoy’s sneakers, benefits the Keep a Breast Foundation’s youth outreach program.
But ya gotta act fast! The auction closes this Saturday.
Also on the block are decorated Vans sneakers and more than 45 images taken by photographer Erin Caruso during the Vans Warped Tour music festival, including pics of Perry, Paramore and Shwayze.
Thursday All Wrapped Up December 4, 2008
Posted by Ruth in : Daily Dis , add a comment
Oh dear, it seems that Amy Winehouse’s hubby is back to his old tricks after being packed back off to prison for breaking the conditions of his bail… surely he didn’t think shooting up and then escaping from hospital were on the list of thing allowed to convicts? Then again, I wouldn’t put it past him.
What about Kevin Federline , all of a sudden Britney is getting it back together and he is no longer the percieved ‘good guy’ plus the fact her income has rocketed again and guess what he now shifts the divorce blame onto his ex, and hey ho he says he would consider a reconcilliation.. this guy takes the bisquit!
I hear that the delicious Bryan Adams has called in the cops amid fears he might have a stalker…. Damn, I knew I should have been more careful!
I would like to take this opportunity to point out to any famous people out there that not taking the stand in a court case against you only makes you look guilty. I mean come on… we’re sure that Boy George would never handcuff a hot male model to a wall and then perform oral sex on him… he just doesn’t seem like that kind of guy… but then again I didn’t know he was gay, so….!
Make your mind up Patrick Swayze, are you dying or are you not? I’m hearing different reports in every ear and I don’t know what to believe… this worry is killing me (excuse the terrible pun… I’m such a bad person!)
Quite an unlikely pairing, but one that makes me super happy nonetheless is the combination of Coldplay, Jay-Z and Girls Aloud on Coldplay’s 2009 Arena tour… Chris Martin doesn’t strike me as a fan of either act really… i thought he would be more into something plain and boring… But woo hoo for Girls Aloud!