Skirt Tucking for ATS(R)

Feeling bored with the same old tuck?

Want to add some excitement to your tucking?

Just feel like you would be happier if your tucking was better?

WE hear you!  Dayanisma member, Sharon Walker (or as we like to refer to her "The Queen of Tucking") has some tips for you!

Dawn at Tribalfest 2015 in corkscrew tuck

Skirt Tucking 101: the Corkscrew Tuck 

When tucking a skirt, the first rule is to decide ahead of time where your accessories are going to go for the best visual effect. Accessories include kutchi belts, hip scarves, tassel belts, saye goshes- whatever you love to wear around your hips to sparkle and shine onstage!

For the Corkscrew Tuck, arrange your accessories so that they accent the back of your left hip and the front of your right hip so that the tucks will be on opposite sides (front to back and vice-versa) of your accessories.

Once your accessories are in place, start tucking at the front of your left hip by lifting the skirt at the second tier from the bottom on the right side and pulling it up at a 45 degree angle. Don’t pull from the front of the right leg or directly from the side, and be careful not to start at the very bottom tier of the skirt otherwise you can lose the lovely effect of having that tier showing while dancing.

Next, hold the top of the tier that you have picked up from the right side and use your fingers as a guide to pleat the skirt. When wearing two skirts, you can pick both skirts at the same time and pull the bottom layer out a bit so that it can show when tucked.  In using this method, you will usually have 4 or 5 pleats to tuck which will give a truly dramatic effect to your tuck.

Once the pleats are ready, pull the skirt flat across the front of your waist then fold the pleats in half (from top to bottom) so that the tuck is less bulky. To keep the skirts from drooping too much in front, you can safety pin the skirts to your belts, etc. to keep the tiers smooth. Just be sure to do this carefully so that you don’t rip a hole in your skirts!

Then repeat the same steps on the right side by pulling the skirt from the back of the left leg and bringing it up to the right, ending by tucking just behind your right hip.

This type of fold gives a lovely flourish at the hips when spinning, and is less bulky and more comfortable all around.

Practice this technique ahead of your performance a few times and you, too, can be a pro at tucking fabulous looking skirts!

Eating for Dance Class and Performance

by Patti Beaman

If your energy is flagging by the end of class, you’re feeling more than a little jittery before a performance or you feel really wiped out the day after you’ve danced hard, you may want to take a look at what you are eating. Your diet directly affects not only your mood and health, but also your performance, attention span, and stamina. With wonderful weekend-long events such as ATS® ATTACKS (proudly sponsored by Dawn Ruckert and Dayanisma) coming up the weekend of August 13-14, eating well is especially critical for keeping your strength and focus and getting the most out of this phenomenal experience.

Here is a list of foods to include in your diet as well as ones to avoid. Follow these guidelines and you will be on the road to better dancing and better health as well!

• Complex carbs are your friends! Pairing them with high quality protein sources will keep your body functioning at an optimal level and will help your muscles recover   quickly. Good choices include brown rice,  grilled salmon, carrot sticks, grapes, red peppers, bananas, peanut butter, whole grain crackers or pretzels, trail mix, and yogurt

•            Stay hydrated!!! Water is always best, but smoothies, Gatorade, and even applesauce are great. Your muscles will thank you as keeping up your water intake will help keep them pliable and ready to go

• Avoid caffeine, soda, sugary food &drinks, and alcohol. (I know this is a tough one for a lot of us!) Caffeine can make you jittery and may amp up performance anxiety (which none of us needs boosted!) Soda can make you bloated, and sugary foods or drinks often lead to a crash in your energy levels 15 minutes after they’re consumed. And while having a drink to “take the edge off” may seem like a good idea, in reality, alcohol is a depressant, and both it and caffeine can make you more dehydrated
• Avoid processed foods/fried foods/fast foods. They tend to be high in sodium and  may make you feel bloated, heavy, and lethargic. You may also want to avoid milk products and sorbitol as they can lead to increased gas and bloating
• Eat several small meals the day of a performance. Don’t skip meals no matter how busy or nervous you are. Wise choices if you don’t feel like eating a lot include edamame, hummus, nuts, bananas, avocado toast – even a little bit of dark chocolate (which contains magnesium -great for your muscles!)

•  If you eat a sports or energy bar, avoid ones that are highly processed or loaded with sugar. Check nutrition labels and opt for ones that contain more natural ingredients and fewer fillers
• Try to eat a dose of complex carbs and protein within 40 minutes after your performance or an especially rigorous dance class to help your muscles recover quickly and prevent soreness the next day. Be sure to include at least one food that is high in potassium (raisins, potatoes, bananas, tomato products, cooked spinach, yogurt are all good choices) as it is helpful in reducing anxiety and stress, as well as enhancing muscle strength, metabolism, water balance, electrolytic functions, and the nervous system

Have fun choosing foods that please your palate and drive your dance. And be sure to let us know if you have any particular tips on how you eat to be your best belly dance self!

Interview with a Bellydancer: Virginia Hojas

Thanks to Virginia Hojas with Dark Side Tribal in Bloomington, IN, for agreeing to be interviewed for our "Interview a Bellydancer" series!

Virginia at Flavors of 4th Street 2014

Anything you want included about family, non-Bellydance job, other interests: I have a husband, a stepdaughter, two cats, and a dog. Full house!

If you had superpowers, what would they be? Teleportation. I don’t even need to think about it. Being able to travel just by snapping my fingers. I’ll spend this weekend in Spain.

If I opened your refrigerator right now, what would I find? Cashew milk, coconut water, Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

Virginia and the Pres

What is your favorite genre of books? Thrillers. I love not being able to put down a book.

If you were in a horror movie, what would be chasing you?  Some supernatural thing. A spirit, a ghost. Something I would not be able to explain rationally.

What is your proudest Bellydance moment? Inviting three students I saw grow into beautiful dancers to come to the Dark Side (we have cookies).

Terri (Third Eye Tribal), Beth (Tamarind), Virginia (Dark Side Tribal), Dawn (Dayanisma)

Classic, modern, or movement dialect and why? Modern. I love being able to improvise ATS(R) with other dancers I’ve never met and I love Volumes 7 and 9!

What is your best advice to student dancers? Practice and all will come.

What is something most people don’t know about you? I’ve been a crossfitter for two years, even though I’m not a competitive person. I also was once the lead singer in a Latin music band in WV!

Thanks Virginia!!!

Interveiw with a Bellydancer: Mareike Beiersdorf

We are excited to be getting back to Dayanisma's Interview with a Bellydancer Series!  For this installment, I was delighted to interview Mareike Beiersdorf, an ATS (R) dancer from Germany!

Name: Mareike Beiersdorf

Mareike discovered the joy of dance in a young age and spent several years as member of a jazz and showdance troupe. The strength, femininity and pride of ATS (R) has captivated her since 2009. Tribal Bellydance proved to be an ideal vessel for expressing her artistic ambitions. Now she runs a FatChanceBellyDance Sister Studio in Offenbach, GER. She regularly travels to San Francisco to learn directly at the source of FCBD teachers and bridge the US and European ATS (R) scene.

Troupe: Cibelle Dance Collective 

Location: Offenbach / Germany

Other interests:

"I think during my life I have always had one hobby that I was somehow obsessed with. As a teenager it was volunteering for the red cross and right now it`s dancing. I can`t call it a hobby anymore. Seriously I can not imagine life without dancing.

I have been dancing since I was a kid, but never as much as right now, and I love it. If I would have more time I definitely would learn Spanish, that's a dream I´m having since a view years. I would love to speak Spanish. Also play guitar and sing, and hopefully would get better."

If you had superpowers, what would they be?

"Diving or flying, because it changes your perspective which is a very good thing."

If I opened your refrigerator right now, what would I find?

Not much I have to do grocery shopping: Sheep yogurt, soy milk, apples, cucumber, homemade pesto (with dried tomatoes from a dance trip to Roma)

What is your proudest Bellydance moment?

"Can I change this into happiest? I´m very happy that the ATS dance scene in my area is growing. When I started dancing I had to drive 1,5 hours to take classes. We had no ATS dance classes in Offenbach/Frankfurt which is a fairly big city. I started teaching 4 years ago and I´m happy to see the scene growing slowly but steadily!"

What is your proudest non-Bellydance moment?

"I got a scholarship for a 6 month long Leadership-training in Education for Sustainable Development. When I saw the announcement I thought I will never make into the training, but I wanted it and so I applied. During this 6 month I met some very important friends."

Classic, modern, or movement dialect and why?

"For me it`s not one or the other. It´s a question I would never ask myself this way. Thinking of a performance it would be a music that needs to be interpreted, a feeling I want to transport, and an aesthetic I would like to create. Whatever movement I need to do this is right. For my soloist dances this might also be fusing with other dance styles."

What is your best advice to student dancers?

"Enjoy, stretch your boundaries and release."

Thanks Mareike!

If you would like to be interviewed, contact Lisa Allred at hhbellydance@gmail.com!

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

One of the things that folks ask us about a lot is: what music do we like and use for our practices and performances? So here is a compilation of some of our favorites. Of course, at the top of the list is our very own CD, Dayanimsa Beauty in Unity. You absolutely can’t go wrong with this fabulous album!

After you’ve finished checking out this sampling of our favorites, be sure to let us know which tunes are your practice and performance go-tos!

     

          

                                                                                                                                                                                                

Dayanisma's Blog: Behind the Bindi

Photo credit: Carrie Meyer

Hello! 

Welcome to Dayanisma’s blog, Behind the Bindi.

My name is Dawn Ruckert, creative director of Dayanisma, an ATS® dance troupe. Several years ago, because of my passion for ATS® and group improvisation, I created this troupe to share our art with the world. 

I wanted to challenge myself and others by creating a professional troupe whose goals were to be not only skillful and amazing dancers, but also to share my tenets for life and dance: respect, love, support, and growth. In this journey, I am currently joined by seven amazing ladies: Lisa Allred, MJ Wu, Patti Beaman, Natalie Lavorato, Karen Hoover, Sharon Walker and Teresa Kesselman.

Dayanisma has performed across the country for countless audiences, including those at TribalCon, ATS® Homecoming, Tribal Fest, and Tribal Union. This fall, we are honored and excited to perform at NEATS Camp and the Black Forest Tribal Fest in Germany . We also host the annual event, ATS® ATTACKS, every August.

Both on and off stage, we strive to be “Ambassadors of Dance.” This means acting in a professional manner, supporting fellow dancers of all levels, being kind and supportive, and, most importantly, representing the troupe in a way where people find us fun, approachable, and focused on creating a supportive dance community for future generations.

The purpose of this blog, in step with our mission of being Ambassadors of Dance, is to educate and inform our fans by sharing informative and inspirational articles, and also to help you laugh and love this wonderful thing we call dance.

Many blessing and love,

Dawn

You can find more information about Dayanisma performances, classes, workshops and more at:

https://www.facebook.com/DayanismaTroupe/?fref=ts

http://www.dawnruckertbellydance.com/

Bandit Queens Tribal Cafe in Richmond, VA

Last weekend Dawn and Lisa traveled to Richmond, VA to dance in the Bandit Queens Tribal Cafe sponsored by Onca O'Leary.  We were joined in the show by some fabulous bellydancers and the crowd was warm and enthusiastic.  Dawn began the show with a skirt solo and then Lisa joined her for a slow duet.  Dawn and Lisa ended the show with a fast zil and then a fast basket dance.

As much fun as we had at the show, the workshops following were even better!  First Dawn taught "Dynamic Trios for ATS(R)" and after a brief break she taught "Creating an ATS(R) Set."

Thanks for the warm hospitality and all of the laughs!  And, we get to see almost all of these workshop participants when Ajna Tribal comes to Raleigh this weekend for ATS ATTACKS!!!!