Dance Room - Janice

Hello everyone! Here is our first opportunity to take a peek into another dancer's haven of joy. A friend of mine has made tremendous use of a 6 foot by 6 foot space. That's right, only 36 square feet is all it takes to lose yourself into a world of motion and freedom. Of course, if I were her I think I'd be just (about) as happy staring at the beautiful antiques and jewelry in her possession! ;) Thank-you for sharing with us Janice!

 If you'd like to share your dance room with The Tribal Way, even if it's just in progress, please email me at thetribalway@gmail.com

Huge thank-you to Janice for allowing me to share her pictures. Blessings xo

Dance Room Word Art

Another easy piece of art you can incorporate into your dance room decor is word art. The easiest way is just to print something and frame it, though you could pen or paint it yourself if you have an artistic flair. There are lots of ideas you could use, here are some to inspire you!

Definitions:

 Use a word that inspires you like strength, courage, perserverance, joy, etc. Copy and paste the definition and alter as you like - varying the size, font, etc. I have used the word tribe below as an example.

tribe 

[trahyb] noun

                 

any aggregate of people

united 

by ties of descent from a common ancestor, 

community 

of customs and traditions,

adherence to the same leaders, etc.

www.wordle.net:

 This is a great website. Type in the words you select and then adjust the colour, layout and font as you desire. One tip: the more you type the same word, the bigger it will appear in the final design. For instance in the wordle I created below, I typed dance six times. 

Quotes:

  Print out one word, phrase or quote in a font and design you like and frame it. You could use a reminder word like smile or posture, or a joyful word. You could use a long poem about dance or a copy of the ATS Tribal Code. Here are some quotes and phrases too:

When all else fails... dance.

"Life is a mystery, dance with mastery, walk with grace, live in beauty, be what you believe." Myra Krien

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. – Alan Watts

What is dance but a dream in motion?

Dancing frees the spirit, clears the mind, and cleanses the soul.

To dance an ancient movement in a modern era is to defy time and connect us all in spirit.

If the day is dark, dance to shine. If the day is sad, dance to smile. If the day is dead, dance to feel alive again.

Dance when you can, tomorrow isn’t promised.

A day I don't dance is a day I don't live.

When we dance, the goddess within embodies our feeble flesh- free, alive & full of peace, she strengthens us to believe in our potential - her.

Shisha Wall Mirror Tutorial

Hey everyone! As promised here is a project that is easy, quick and will look great in a dance room! A shisha stitch holds a piece of mirror onto fabric for a flash of shine and sparkle. Why not invite that shine into our dance space with an enlarged version? This project is great for using up leftover yarn from making tassels too! Here we go.

You will need:
- Yarn
- Cardboard (I used cereal boxes!)
- Mirrors (I picked mine up from Michaels in 3 different sizes)
- Hot glue gun
Optional: paint, hanging fixture

Step one:
Trace your mirrors one at a time onto pieces of cardboard. Using a compass, you'll want to draw two more circles. One should be about an inch bigger than your mirror, the other about a half an inch smaller. Of course, this is up to you - if you want thicker or thinner that is fine, just make sure there is enough to overlap the mirror. Cut out your circles. (Confession - I am compass-less. I used random round objects from around my house to trace haha.)

Optional: Paint your circle the colour of your yarn. This way if you accidentally leave any gaps in the yarn it won't be noticeable.

Step two:
Wind the yarn around the cardboard circles. Tie or glue in place. This is the longest part of the project; I recommend watching dance videos or a movie at the same time!

Step Three:
Get your glue gun ready! Draw a line on the backside of your 'shisha' around the inner circle, and press onto your mirror quickly. I added more glue to the yarn knot so it wouldn't come undone, and to the edge of the mirror to reinforce it and cover the hard edge so it can't scratch the wall.

Step Four:
You can tie some yarn to the loops and hang it that way, or use some kind of picture hanging hardware like I did, whatever is easiest! I just glued it right on to the back of the mirror.

Step Five:
Hang your mirrors up and you are done!! I did three mirrors as odd numbers of items in a group are generally more eye pleasing. However you could really go all out with this in your decorating and do a shisha border around the room, on one wall or whatever you like. You could get three large circle mirrors and do giant versions to see yourself dance in, or you could do tiny versions and add magnets to them for your fridge! You could add tassels or bling too. The possibilities are truly endless. Enjoy!

Dance Room Decor

I've been thinking a lot about home decor and DIY projects lately, as we're going through our house room by room concocting ideas and plans for renovations. I can't have a dance room unfortunately, as we don't have the space. But a girl can dream! Anyways, I'm feeling inspired! I want to do a few posts about DIY projects you can make to spruce up your dance room. 

Aaaand in a future post I would LOVE to feature some of your dance rooms. 

SO if you have a dance space, please take some pictures and send them along with your name and any details you want to add to thetribalway@gmail.com and you'll be featured on my blog! 

Fun, right?! Can't wait to see the pics!!

In the meantime, here is a mini DIY tutorial for you to make and put up in your dance room! 

You will need:

- Wooden sign from Michaels/craft store of your choice

- Paint or markers

The sky is the limit - paint it, colour it, adorn it, go nuts! I just coloured mine with a jiffy marker and then used a Sharpie paint pen to doodle tribal-like patterns all over it.

And don't forget - go into your dance room with your camera, TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES, and send them to me!!! thetribalway@gmail.com

FCBD Store Sale!

Hello my friends! Just a heads up the Fat Chance Belly Dance catalog has TONS on sale this month, lots for 20% off - including the FCBD 25 year anniversary charms! So pretty:

 Click here to go right to their store:  http://www.fcbd.com/catalog/

Tribal Make-Up Inspiration: Bright & Bold

COLOUR.

 ATS dancers can go CRAZY for colour and still look amazingly coordinated even wearing every hue on that blessed bow of precipitation. So why not carry that colour throughout the entire costume? Eye make-up, here we come!

 PS: Don't forget the tips for wearing vibrant shades in {this post on makeup}.

http://www.bowsandcurtseys.com/2011/07/katniss-everdeen-girl-who-was-on-fire.html

https://www.makeupbee.com/look.php?look_id=727

https://www.makeupbee.com/look.php?look_id=3505

https://www.makeupbee.com/look.php?look_id=3107

The Practice COP

Want to be a better dancer? Want to bend farther, shimmy bigger and tame your duck butt once and for all? I can hear the chorus of zaghareets.

Simple. Bring in the practice COP. Okay okay I know, let's get on with it already, right?! Here are a few things that in my opinion are crucial if you truly want steady, exponential growth in an area of your life - obviously here we're talking specifically about dance, but it really applies to lots of things.

Consistency. Optimization. Persistence.

If you're striving for excellence, you need these three tools.

Consistency

Short, routine practices every day are better than sporadic practices than when you "feel like it" - even if they are 3 hours long. Period.

Optimization

Quality over quantity! Better to do the moves once with perfect posture than a hundred times like a floppy bunny. Every second, try to be in the best possible form. Remember your angles. Smile! Optimization also means creating the best environment for your practice. No interruptions, get your head in the right frame of mind, whatever you personally need to have the best practice you can. And don't forget to warm up and cool down!

Persistence

Some things are just tough. Keep. Trying. Break it down into it's smallest easy to do pieces, and add each part when you can. Slow the move down to snail speed and increase speed until you make a mistake. If your still stuck, get more instruction from your teacher, online, DVDs, anything. Don't give up.

That's it! Bring your COP to each practice and I promise you will be amazed. :)