Susan Senator

And now, a little bit of DD. In this case, I mean "Dance Digression."

Last night I put on my hot pink cossie I bought from a Las Vegas bellydancer named Aradia. This one fits me best of all, and is the most forgiving. I need a lot of forgiveness these days, since I'm not dieting while I'm dealing with all my Natty feelings. Not diet + crazy long exercise sessions of biking and dancing help exorcise the ugly demons of Guilt and Emptying Nest. I feel like an Amazon (dot not-at-all-calm).

One thing I like to do here at the Cape house is dance in the large bedroom with the door closed. There is a wide space and a hardwood floor and a big mirror, so it is perfect for practice. I use my iPod and I don't disturb anyone. And yes, I wear a cossie for this. Call me a freak, but it really helps me visualize and brings out my best performance. If you are watching yourself dance in a mirror in a gorgeous sunset-pink and sequinned outfit, you are going to do everything you can to stay tucked and lifted so that you don't make yourself wince.

I enjoyed a few songs I hadn't danced to in years, but when Entrance of the Stars came on, (the silly, overblown title always reminds me of "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla"), I was lifted up by a blast of inspiration. I did a perfect choreography right then and there, start to finish. Beginning with just arms, and then hands, and then sudden basic Egyptian. It all worked out so well, I was very psyched to teach with this song. It has the perfect amount of slow and fast parts, and enough repeats so that you can come back to certain steps. I could just see the Baby Bellies working with it.

Twenty minutes of that and I was like new again.