I haven’t danced properly since the 25th of November. It was a day later that the Mumbai terror attack began, making it difficult to think of anything else, let alone dance.
I took up where I’d left off today and I think I tried to punish myself thoroughly, for some reason. First I did the Asharah warm up (stopping at the point where she takes up isolations drills). I was really worried about the damage I’d have done to my flexibility. I wondered whether I’d get all tired out. But happily enough, that didn’t happen. I did feel a bit stiff with some of the movements. The pigeon pose, for instance. Also the straddle sit with my head touching the floor. But I also found that some movements were stronger. I tend to have weak ankles and I think some minor sprains healed during this time, making it easier to do releve exercises. I think if I were to do a second round of the warm up today, it would go back to normal. However, I also think that the more conditioned you are, the less you should take it for granted.
I went straight from Asharah’s warm up to Bellydance Rhythms. I still have been listening to the instruction on my iPod and doing a move or two occasionally, so I hadn’t lost touch with it entirely. Not at all, actually. I went through the easier flow once with instruction. I felt a bit washed out so I took a 5 minute chiftitelli break. And then I ran through the entire thing again without music. Just as I’d promised myself I’d do. Now this is tiring, people! It’s like doing a drum solo continuously for one and a half hours. I was far from perfect with the moves and can see lots of places where work is needed. But it was mostly good and I also didn’t look at the screen at all except when I once again forgot the easiest move of all – a bunch of traveling little hip circles. This one is set to a riff that could fit many moves, so it doesn’t make me recall the circles in particular. During the music-only round I also played with the moves a bit – mixed components to make new moves that matched the drum pattern. All in all, it was fun. But rather tiring. It made me eat a packet of chips to neutralize any calories I may have lost. Ow.
I think I’m ready to go to the second flow now. I’ll continue fine tuning the first one and will now go about using those moves while dancing around and improvising, but learning for Flow 2 starts now. I’m in a hurry because my Tamlyn Dalal video may arrive soon and then I’m sure I’ll want to check that out. Also the 1-2-3 Bellydance and 1-2-3 Drum Solo. Oh, and Modern Dance.