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shiredancerThree times this week, actually, and despite sore feet and really sore calves, I am *so happy*!! And just what kind of dancing is this? Last weekend, it was the Greek Festival, twice: endless tsirtos and hasapikos and tsiftitellis, and a glass of retsina chugged between dances that made the hot sun and sweat just tolerable, and the dancing seem like floating. Then again mid-week: plain old folk-dancing under the stars for the first time in about two years, and thus pure joy.
Well, yes, I do dance. Quite a variety of ways, and none of them classically trained at all -- no ballet, modern, jazz, tap, ballroom, or even the Santa Barbara stand-by, flamenco. Most of my dancing is distinctly... ethnic. I mentioned hula once in my LJ, and that wasn't a joke: I was in a Polynesian dance group for a number of years, and yeah, I did luaus. That included Hawaiian (both ancient and modern), Tahitian, Samoan, and some Maori (poi balls, anyone?). I've been a folk dancer all my adult life: Balkan, Scandinavian, Turkish, Scottish, Greek, Israeli, and well, all the rest. I met my husband folk-dancing, and I would give anything for more opportunities to dance the hambo or vasarol (sp?) with him. We also do American: contras, squares, and reels; waltzes, polkas, and the Salty Dog Rag. I've done stage dancing in local theater, including (get ready) almost ten years of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas; mostly of the heel-toe-slide-slide variety, but the Cachuca in "The Gondoliers" was so deliriously fun I could have done it forever. And then... well, then, there's the 28 years of belly dancing. And before there are *any* misconceptions... I was never the cheesy, embarrass-the-birthday-boy, jiggle-and-wiggle type of dancer, and believe me, I've seen plenty of them. And I didn't have it in me to pull off the steamy, sexy, quivery stuff. I guess my dancing is, um, sprightly, folkloric, definitely with a light touch. It is the best source of alter-ego satisfaction I know of; with make-up, curls, costume, and a studiously-applied dance persona, I am unrecognizable as myself. I performed with a troupe for a long time, never had a paying gig and didn't care; I just loved it. Still do, in fact. There you have it: ShireDancer does love to dance.
Well, yes, I do dance. Quite a variety of ways, and none of them classically trained at all -- no ballet, modern, jazz, tap, ballroom, or even the Santa Barbara stand-by, flamenco. Most of my dancing is distinctly... ethnic. I mentioned hula once in my LJ, and that wasn't a joke: I was in a Polynesian dance group for a number of years, and yeah, I did luaus. That included Hawaiian (both ancient and modern), Tahitian, Samoan, and some Maori (poi balls, anyone?). I've been a folk dancer all my adult life: Balkan, Scandinavian, Turkish, Scottish, Greek, Israeli, and well, all the rest. I met my husband folk-dancing, and I would give anything for more opportunities to dance the hambo or vasarol (sp?) with him. We also do American: contras, squares, and reels; waltzes, polkas, and the Salty Dog Rag. I've done stage dancing in local theater, including (get ready) almost ten years of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas; mostly of the heel-toe-slide-slide variety, but the Cachuca in "The Gondoliers" was so deliriously fun I could have done it forever. And then... well, then, there's the 28 years of belly dancing. And before there are *any* misconceptions... I was never the cheesy, embarrass-the-birthday-boy, jiggle-and-wiggle type of dancer, and believe me, I've seen plenty of them. And I didn't have it in me to pull off the steamy, sexy, quivery stuff. I guess my dancing is, um, sprightly, folkloric, definitely with a light touch. It is the best source of alter-ego satisfaction I know of; with make-up, curls, costume, and a studiously-applied dance persona, I am unrecognizable as myself. I performed with a troupe for a long time, never had a paying gig and didn't care; I just loved it. Still do, in fact. There you have it: ShireDancer does love to dance.