The Skinny, The Shimmy

What's Up My Little Love Muffins ?

So what else is new with you all ?

Been busy in my neck of the woods. Been working a lot lately. Trying to pay the credit card bills from my vacation.

I took a workshop over the past weekend with my bellydance idol Tito Seif which you can find a picture of us on my sidebar. It was over three hours of dancing with a cane, and I went barefoot, so my feet got blistered. But I did not care because I love Tito ! Then I took a private lesson with him for an hour on Tuesday. I've always wanted to dance next to him and I finally got to do it. I was ready to travel all the way to Egypt to take his workshop, but luckily I didn't have to since he came here.

 While he dances, he smiles and sings and his energy is contagious, and that's what it's all about, this is why I dance. He makes me fall in love with the dance. I don't know Tito outside of dance, and after his workshops, I don't think much about him, but while we dance, I feel I like I am in love, like I know what love is. His English is limited, but he was able to tell me to smile, to move my hips more and said "your hips, very good !". It wasn't about choreography, or counts. I freaking hate dancing to counts ! I like to just follow and move.

Dancing with him may have been crossed off on my bucket list, but I still would like to go to Egypt and meet other authentic Egyptian dancers. My first bellydance teacher was from Egypt as well. She may have been crazy, but she make performers out of us and introduced us to all types of bellydance. Bellydance with a sword, with candles, with a veil, with drums, with zills............... most dancers only teach you one thing. She threw it all at us.

You already know I suffer from anxiety and depression. I took meds once and didn't like it. I've tried a lot of different activities, but the only thing that has consistently helped me through it is bellydance. It helps me process my emotions, and it helps me heal because dance is a way of interpreting my feelings and I can let them out and no one has to know what I am feeling. I have danced off and on for the past 8 years and my world has always been brighter when dance was a part of it. I struggled the most when I wasn't dancing. It doesn't matter if I work out hard and sweat it out at the gym, if I am not bellydancing, I still don't feel complete.

Anyway, time for bed !