Susan Senator

I want this costume. I want it so badly. It is just exactly right. It is pink, it is silver, it has just the right amount of coverage, it is a flattering straight skirt, and it looks like something a Bellydance Superstar would wear (that is Petite Jamilla you see spinning her double veils, on the website. She is one of my favorites. Double veil is incredible to watch; one of those things that is mesmerizing, and looks fun and easy, but just try it…!) Or this is something someone in Cairo would wear (is there any other city name that is as exotic and sophisticated sounding as that?).

Tonight I practiced for an hour. Our “homework” from my new class was to find three drum solos, listen to them, and pick out each time the beat changes. We did this in class, and we also improvised solos as we listened. So tonight I picked out some from my old teacher, whom I miss because she was so sweet, she taught in a circle, and she was a real joyful character. I also listened to some from the Sonia and Issam DVD, which has a bonus CD of drum solos.

These Issam solos were perfect; they were only a minute and a half, which is still long when you are constantly popping, shimmying, and undulating. All while staying lifted, of course. And trying not to look like you’re in pain.

By the end of my dancing tonight I was so loose that I could actually do a really nice choo-choo shimmy with twisting hips and even a chest lift every now and then for accent. It helped to imagine my new, friendly class and my teacher, and how psyched she would be that I am this into it. I even got out my zills and tried a little of that, but, not so much. Zilling while doing all that other stuff is very hard, but I did succeed a bit last night.

The recital for this class is May 12. There will be a group dance and solos. I think I will either do a short drum solo, or my favorite, the Misirlou, with veil and maybe, just maybe, zills.

Just kind of resting now, in my pink jammies, post-dance, warm and sleepy, dreaming about future performances and waiting for my guy to come home (he’s at Guys’ Night Out). He said he’d be home in time for Jon Stewart. Always worth staying up for (both Ned and Jon Stewart).