I'm back - Lunch Walks
9 years ago
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Spam and scam
Sigh. I’m getting tired of getting so may scam emails from ‘foreigners wanting dance classes’. I’ve been getting two or three a week recently.
How to spot a scam
Someone out of the blue emails asking for a place for some dancing classes. Usually for a group, usually for a month worth of classes of 4-5 hours per day. Usually there is some bizarre story about how they have to prepare for a performance for some event or wedding. One of the funniest I ever had was from a group of “Oil rig workers off the coast of Afghanistan who wanted to come to Australia to learn to belly dance.” Funny for so many reasons!!!
The email often appears to come from someone in England but the IP address indicates that it originates from another country. They usually have a generic yahoo or hotmail email address and usually provide you with a phone number that starts with +4470 or +44(0)70. 44 is the country code for the UK but the (0)70 part indicates that it can be redirected to another country. These numbers are only used by people wishing to hide their location, and no honest person has any need to use one.
This is often a scam in which a scammer will try to pay with a stolen credit card. He will either want to pay above the amount and have you remit the surplus to another party (also played by himself) or he will cancel and ask for a refund paid to him. If he does agree to your request to be paid by check the check will be fraudulent or forged on a stolen account.
How to spot a scam
Someone out of the blue emails asking for a place for some dancing classes. Usually for a group, usually for a month worth of classes of 4-5 hours per day. Usually there is some bizarre story about how they have to prepare for a performance for some event or wedding. One of the funniest I ever had was from a group of “Oil rig workers off the coast of Afghanistan who wanted to come to Australia to learn to belly dance.” Funny for so many reasons!!!
The email often appears to come from someone in England but the IP address indicates that it originates from another country. They usually have a generic yahoo or hotmail email address and usually provide you with a phone number that starts with +4470 or +44(0)70. 44 is the country code for the UK but the (0)70 part indicates that it can be redirected to another country. These numbers are only used by people wishing to hide their location, and no honest person has any need to use one.
This is often a scam in which a scammer will try to pay with a stolen credit card. He will either want to pay above the amount and have you remit the surplus to another party (also played by himself) or he will cancel and ask for a refund paid to him. If he does agree to your request to be paid by check the check will be fraudulent or forged on a stolen account.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Kismetisms emporium of the old: "Egyptian Ella"
Kismetisms emporium of the old: "Egyptian Ella": "This video which I share with you is from the weekend just gone. It is of my teacher Azura dancing to the Cairo Club Orchestra 's 'Egypt..."
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Homework Saturday 11 JUne
Things to practice this week:
Posture and alignment.
Drills from previous weeks.
Hand floreos
Body waves
Shimmy drills:
Part 1: Begin with single-time, relaxed/soft shimmies using modern Egyptian knee driven technique. Increase to double-time.
Part 2: Progress to a loose jelly like wobble. These are shimmies in which your knees are working double-time, but your quads, gluts, and torso are relaxed and soft — allow them to jiggle like jelly. It takes a while to embrace the extreme movement, but once you do, you’ll own the move. Remember to maintain the abdominal support and pelvic lift and to lift your ribs/upper body.
Part 3: Now, maintaining that wobble shimmy, shift your weight onto the balls of your feet. You’ll probably notice that your shimmy changes, becoming smaller, a little tighter and sharper. Do you feel it in your thighs? Now shift your weight back to center and then shift the weight back to your heels. The shimmy becomes earthier, more bottom-centered, even bigger. Come back to center. Play with texture and music interpretation. Work out where your weight needs to be to get a particular level of reverb.
Part 4: Center your weight, sliding your hips to the right, then left. Keep the shimmy going. From the center, push forward, now back, side to side. Push forward, side, back, side. Smooth it off into a circle. KEEP SHIMMYING!
Part 5: Mastered that? Now shimmy through a horizontal figure 8. Still want more? Add a an undulation, or a belly roll. Can you shimmy an omi? Can you shimmy a vertical 8? Can you walk with a shimmy? Can you shimmy one leg?
Posture and alignment.
Drills from previous weeks.
Hand floreos
Body waves
Shimmy drills:
Part 1: Begin with single-time, relaxed/soft shimmies using modern Egyptian knee driven technique. Increase to double-time.
Part 2: Progress to a loose jelly like wobble. These are shimmies in which your knees are working double-time, but your quads, gluts, and torso are relaxed and soft — allow them to jiggle like jelly. It takes a while to embrace the extreme movement, but once you do, you’ll own the move. Remember to maintain the abdominal support and pelvic lift and to lift your ribs/upper body.
Part 3: Now, maintaining that wobble shimmy, shift your weight onto the balls of your feet. You’ll probably notice that your shimmy changes, becoming smaller, a little tighter and sharper. Do you feel it in your thighs? Now shift your weight back to center and then shift the weight back to your heels. The shimmy becomes earthier, more bottom-centered, even bigger. Come back to center. Play with texture and music interpretation. Work out where your weight needs to be to get a particular level of reverb.
Part 4: Center your weight, sliding your hips to the right, then left. Keep the shimmy going. From the center, push forward, now back, side to side. Push forward, side, back, side. Smooth it off into a circle. KEEP SHIMMYING!
Part 5: Mastered that? Now shimmy through a horizontal figure 8. Still want more? Add a an undulation, or a belly roll. Can you shimmy an omi? Can you shimmy a vertical 8? Can you walk with a shimmy? Can you shimmy one leg?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Hip openers
Beginner Hip Opening Vinyasa flow: (Use commonsense and good body awareness and work within your limits)
If you are an experienced yogini you might enjoy the following clips: (not suitable for beginners -use commonsense and good body awareness and work within your limits):
If you are an experienced yogini you might enjoy the following clips: (not suitable for beginners -use commonsense and good body awareness and work within your limits):
Feel good stretches
One of my all time favourite master instructors is Kit Laughlin who has an excellent series of DVDs and books. Kit's website
He's also got some useful clips on youtube.
He's also got some useful clips on youtube.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Floreo Hand Drills
Here are some great drills for improving your ability to do the flamenco inspired hands of tribal fusion dance:
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Saturday 4 June 2011 - Class Homework
Homework for this week:
Floreo hands
Chest Circles
Hip Circles
Ommis
Mayas
Body waves
Snake arms
Setanu Turns
Bolero walk
Tango step
Body snaps
R lift hip up down up, L hip up down with ball change.
Try the song PINK PANTHER as a maya drill song. Play with expression and timing!
Try some shimmy drills to I WANNA SEE YOU BELLYDANCE and HANNA DRUMZILLZIA
Floreo hands
Chest Circles
Hip Circles
Ommis
Mayas
Body waves
Snake arms
Setanu Turns
Bolero walk
Tango step
Body snaps
R lift hip up down up, L hip up down with ball change.
Try the song PINK PANTHER as a maya drill song. Play with expression and timing!
Try some shimmy drills to I WANNA SEE YOU BELLYDANCE and HANNA DRUMZILLZIA
Friday, June 03, 2011
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