Literally, we were in a narrow, inadequately ventilated, interior room inside a Karate studio with elementary school-aged children practicing their "hi-yas" right outside our door. But figuratively, we were in our womens' chambers in a Persian village with our banished-for-the-sake-of-modesty husbands right outside the door.
Any ideas???
Our latest adventure, planned by Amy (who is now back to partaking in adventures!) was a one-hour private introduction to BELLY DANCING class!
Our instructor, Maya, began the class by giving us a little history into belly dancing, and explanation of how she came to practice and teach the art. It was immediately evident that she was very serious about her beloved dance. She then asked us each to introduce ourselves to the group by stating our name and why we were interested in belly dancing. I was the first one up, and tried to explain to her that we're all friends... "we're a club... we do different adventures every month... this month, Amy chose belly dancing." Despite my best efforts, the "introductions" continued around the circle.
After "meeting" each other and confirming that we were all there for the same reason, we were treated to a "fast and fun" (our choice; the other being "slow and sensual") belly dance by Maya. Girlfriend knows how to shake and shimmy!
Then it was time for us to start learning some moves! We spread out around the room and formed a sort-of-circle. Maya then taught us a series of basic moves, but was underwhelmed by our level of concentration and lack of seriousness. Let's be honest, it's hard to focus when Alli is being awkward, and everything about belly dancing is awkward. After practicing our moves in segmented intervals, we put all the steps together to create something like this:
Hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip circle forward 2-3-4, back 2-3-4
Snake arms, snake arms, snake arms, snake arms, leg extension, leg extension, leg extenstion, leg extension, and shimmmmmmy
Toe touch forward, step, touch forward, step, touch forward, step, touch forward, step back, toe touch back, step back, touch back, step back
I have no idea what we looked like as a whole, but I'm guessing it resembled a hot mess. Doesn't matter though, we did it! And that's really all that counts!
The next few minutes of class we got to play with scarves, learn how to wrap ourselves up in them, and call it dancing. Some of us were more successful at this than others, and some of us just needed a friend to dress us in our scarf (ahem, Lisa). In the end however, we all looked like this...
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| For the record, the direction given was to uncover your face for this photo... we're not always the best listeners either |
For this, we essentially walked in a circle while gracefully and delicately clicking our cymbals in unison... yeah right! There was no rhythm; only the loud and offensive sound of metal being recklessly beaten upon itself. While cute, due to their miniature size, I'd have to say the cymbals were a fail as a group activity; potentially more marketable as a solo event.
And then, our hour was over before we knew it. We scrambled to take the following photos, while Maya was shooing us towards the exit, and realized that while we are all happy that Amy is fully recovered, we miss having a full-time photographer available to document our adventures. Jessi suggested that we need to induct a new member into the role of "Club Photographer." We are now accepting applications. :)
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| Jessi |
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| Meagan |
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| Lisa |
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| Brandi |
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| Alli |
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| Amy |
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| Seabrin |
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| Destiny |
