You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘dance’ tag.
So i’m now firmly entrenched in my yoga practice again. And after so many years, it feels great. Today I even suffered my way through a very hot, Sunday morning class, while it was 72 and sunny outside! Now that’s dedication! What’s more, I loved it, and practically bounced out of the studio afterward. I’m really hoping I’ve found my exercise path, and that I can stick to it.
And I’ve also written about the broader benefits that a regular yoga practice can bring. Increased mental clarity, more focus, and a greater sense of control over the things that well, you can’t control. It’s very different to the Lindy Hop adventures Rick and I went on last year, but I’ve experienced similar benefits. Dance and yoga – I always hoped I’d find my way back to both.
So, now that we’ve discussed these benefits, can we get to the good stuff? Because girls, really, when all’s said and done, yoga is all about the clothes…
I joke of course, but come on! Admit it, there’s definitely a culture of yoga style out there, and even just looking at some of it makes you feel healthier, more glowing and more zen. Or at least that’s what the advertisers will have you believe! And even though I consider myself a fairly savvy consumer, and am definitely into yoga for the holistic health benefits, I’m not immune to some gorgeous yogi style.
So I was thrilled to discover Athleta, a Gap offshoot, very similar to the ubiquitous LuLu Lemon in style and aesthetic, and a brand that seems able to balance the practical needs of various sporting activities with every girl’s need to look cute while doing them!
So far, i’ve only plumped for the black harem pants pictured below, hoping that they look a fraction as cute on me as in the picture, but there’s a whole long list of things I’m lusting after. Of course, that would be denying my yoga principles, but a girl can dream while she takes a few long breaths from the diaphragm. Right??
(Photo credit: Athleta.com)
Where did the time go?? I actually can’t believe it’s already November, but after being prompted by Sapana’s post over at NYCFullHeart, i can’t risk being ‘tardy to the party‘. Yes, you know I live and die by the Real Housewives - don’t judge me!
So, here are my November goals. I had thought it was time to be a little more adventurous than October. But then, October did contain a pretty monumental event – my wedding! So, i’m still trying to catch up to the rest of my October goals. And you can’t really blame me now can you?
Here’s a recap of my October goals:
- Overhaul and update my wardrobe for Fall/Winter: Erm. I have a heap of clothes on my bedroom floor. I guess that’s a start? I need a rainy SF day to continue the purge! On the flip side, i did buy some great basics – details in another post to come soon.
- Conquer my nascent fear of flying: I tried all my techniques on a flight to NYC, and it worked great! My best tip is remembering to ‘move with the turbulence’, which essentially means jumping around in your seat to your iPod, instead of clinging onto the seat for dear life. Sounds crazy, and people will look at you like you’re nuts. But it works.
- Master at least one great new recipe: Aha! Even in the midst of all the craziness, i DID make something new. Roasted pork loin, rolled in rosemary scented salt from the farmer’s market and served with roasted butternut squash. Delicious, and very, very easy. Next up, poached eggs in red wine sauce, a Balthazar classic, and also recommended by my new sister in law Kirsten!
- Spend at least one day this month completely and blissfully free of chores, admin, or ‘to-dos’: Hmm, still not quite there! Although, a Saturday full of the King Tut exhibition, lunch and Muir Woods, might just qualify! Clearly, more work needed here on the “do absolutely nothing at all and don’t feel guilty about it” front
- Oh, and last but never least – enjoy being married! TICK!
So for November, I need a mix of easily achievable and something a bit more fun. It’s a crazy month, work and visitor-wise, and also my birthday month. So i reckon i deserve to chill out a little bit:
- Indulge in a full day of pampering and relaxation: with my birthday coming up, that’s all the excuse i need! No chores, no admin, no life projects. Just chilling out. Easy. Right???
- Ok, FINALLY sort my closet out, once and for all: capsule wardrobe here i come!
- Take plenty of time to really enjoy my friends: if anything has suffered most in the last few crazy months, it’s been my long lazy days hanging out with the girls (and boys). Time to make some positive changes there.
- Go to a Lindy Hop club and dance the night away: Rick and I are still loving our Monday night classes. But of course we never find time to practice inbetween times, and we’re still too shy/scared to actually go to a live club and dance with strangers. This is a big one for both of us, but i think we’re ready! Rick might not be quite so sure…
- Hit the gym BEFORE work, at least once a week: I start work at 8:00am. Yes, you read that correctly. Have done for years. So it’s pretty hard to fit a work out in, before the work day starts. But recently i’ve been so busy after work, or soooo tired and drained at the end of a 10/11 hour day, that i’ve been skipping the gym altogether. Not good. I actually did this once last week, and while it required a little planning and a lot of will power, it felt pretty good. The challenge is to make it a regular thing.
So, there they are. Pretty modest actually. But maybe that’s what i need right now. I’ve always been the type to have a big long list of goals and projects. It just feels so good to tick them off! But i do need to step and just enjoy the ride sometimes. Something i learnt from an adorable little girl this past weekend.
Feel free to nag me about any of these! Encouragement, nagging, it’s all the same, right?
Oh, I love these kids. Fresh from the wonderful film, 500 Days of Summer, everyone’s two favorite indie film stars, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have filmed a music video (see this NYT article for the background on why, apologies, you might need to be a NYT subscriber to read). Great showcase for Zooey’s musical alter ego, She & Him, and their newest song, “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here”.
But what’s even better is the chemistry-laden, charming partnership between the two actors, who aren’t a couple in real life, but you kinda wish they were. Honestly, the hipster cuteness just oozes doesn’t it? Makes me want to cut some bangs and wear a flowered skirt every day!
I read a great article the other day that posited these two as a Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy for the new age of movie goers, and while they might not have the real-life couple chemistry, they can fake it pretty well! I’d love to see the two of them do more together.
Enjoy the video! It’s right here: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b137994_zooey_deschanel_adorable_times_500.html
Rick and I have gone up in the world! Now at level 2 of Lindy Hop at the Cheryl Burke School of Dance, we are starting to learn how to turn our disjointed steps into more of a fluid, connected routine. However, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the first week of level 2 was bit of a rude awakening… Level 1 and Level 1 plus were just so, comforting, so fun, so “we don’t know what the hell we’re doing yet, but hell, neither does anyone else”. We had a lot of fun, received a lot of critique (yes, it won’t surprise anyone that knows me to learn that i had a few problems learning how to be a good follower…), had a few arguments with each other (hmm, not really the intended effect, but there you go), and learnt some basic steps. At the end of seven weeks of hard graft, sore feet, and lots of bumping into each other and apologizing to anyone else we had the misfortune to dance with, we could do the basics.
I’m still not sure whether our teacher was just being kind when he told us that we were ‘ready’ for level 2. Two weeks in, and it’s now slightly less terrifying and horrifying, but we still leave after two hours thinking, “how did we manage to muddle our way through it??” Everyone else is just so good, we are always running to catch up. And when we heard we’d be doing moves called the ‘hammerlock’, and ‘saw-kicks’, I think we both wondered if we’d inadvertently stepped onto the set of Psycho, rather than onto a dancefloor.
To make matters worse, the classes are on a Monday night, from 7:45 – 9:30pm, which, after a nearly 12 hour day at work and no time for dinner, is a bit of a super-natural feat. Add in the fact that classes are in the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Potrero Hill…), and that having no car of our own, we need a cab to get back home in one piece and before midnight, you might wonder why in the world we bother!
Well, it turns out that dancing isn’t just good for the body, it’s also very good for the soul. Talk about work/life balance, I’ll tell you that when you’re standing on one foot, grabbing onto your partner for dear life, and then executing a double turn for the first time, all to a very fast 8 count of music, there’s really NO room in your head for any work-related stress. In fact, there’s no room for anything else in your head. Period. Everything gets focused on the steps, the hold, the count, the rhythm, the technique, even the odd piece of flair! I’ve had multiple massages in my life, gone to a zen retreat and done hours of yoga, yet nothing has ever managed to still my mind quite as much as this. It’s total concentration first, followed by total performance (that point when actually manage to stop thinking about the steps and just dance, is quite a revelation), and for me, it’s become an essential and enjoyable way to switch off. I tend to relax most when i’m still engaged in doing something, preferably learning something new, and having fun while i’m doing it. So Lindy Hop is perfect for me. I’ve danced before, but never this style, so I have to un-learn old habits and focus on how i can continually improve and learn. Then I get to see the results pay off in the fundamental and elemental pleasure i get from the dancing itself. Strikes me as a rather good practice for other areas of my life too, both professional and personal. Focus, learn, improve, enjoy. Simple!
So, if meditation, bending like a pretzel and being kneaded into a pulp just aren’t cutting it in the relaxation stakes, try cutting it on the dance floor instead. It’s a crappy movie, but the look of pure joy on Richard Gere’s face in “Shall We Dance”, when he masters a tricky ballroom move, is the same one i have plastered on every Monday night. And with moves like the ‘eggbeater’, ‘yump’ and ‘bellyslide’ promised in the coming months, it’s a sure bet that there’s more joy (or at least, confusion, followed by ‘no, i can’t do that’, followed by ‘ok i’ll try it’, followed by joy) in my Monday night future.
I haven’t even touched here on on the cool culture surrounding swing dance and Lindy Hop, not least, the fabulous styling that accompanies it. But i will, just as soon as i master that hammerlock… In the meantime, if you’re in San Francisco and want to know what all the fuss is about, check out this list of Lindy events, and enjoy this video of people doing it properly (i.e. our teacher!)
(Thanks to Boston College Lindy group for this great image!)
So, given my obsession with all things dance, it’s no surprise that I love Fox TV’s So You Think You Can Dance, not least because i get to hear the dulcet tones of fellow Midlander, Cat Deeley twice a week. Oooh, those flat vowels and unfortunate abbreviations, like music to my ears. And she has some nice outfits too. Anyway, i digress…
So. The dancing. I LOVE. That’s a given. Mia Michael is a twisted genius and i love her too. I’ve watched some of my favorite routines on You Tube millions of times, and we all know which ones i mean. Even this season’s Mia moments are already classics, such as the infamous ‘butt’ number a few weeks ago. I mean. Really. Genius.
But for me, what makes the dancing really spectacular is the amazing choice of music, which for any choreographer, has to be the heart and soul, the starting point, and the end point for any routine. Get the music right, and even the simplest choreography can sing, or the most complex story be eloquently told. And watching four seasons of the show has made me huge fans of songs that i would never have discovered by myself, that make me go straight to iTunes while i’m watching the show, or that make my boyfriend go, “really? we have to listen to that now?”. Case in point Celine Dion. And i’ll explain! really, let me explain. It was just that one song, that one time… Even the most generic R&B can be elevated in your mind by a great routine, or the weirdest track will suddenly make perfect sense. That’s the beauty of the show and one of the reasons I get so crazy about dance and musicality.
So, for fun, here are a few of my favorite dance/music pairings from SYTYCD. Don’t be a hater – you know these routines were made by the music choice. What were some of your highlights? (Click the link to watch the YouTube video of each routine).
1) “Calling” by Celine Dion. Don’t judge! Just watch this beautiful number and tell me I’m wrong. Mia’s Emmy winning routine. – http://tr.im/sJmn
2) “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles. From this season, Mia AGAIN
3) “Belief” (Stripped version) by Gavin DeGraw. Yep, Mia again. This time just in qualifying rounds though, so no YouTube link
4) “Sexy Love” by Ne-Yo. Yes, a generic R&B love song. Made memorable by the sweetest ever hip hop routine.
5) “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake. A very obvious track, but not an obvious routine from Wade Robson. Sadly, no link available, but safe to say, it had a satisfying touch of the macabre, which i’m always a fan of. If we need a little macabre, check out this Wade Robson routine, which i love for it updated Thriller moves
What do you think? Did i miss any obvious magical pairings out?
