parasitegirl | 90 day dance challenge: day 1

I finally have had enough down time that, when faced with free time in my schedule, I don't have a bunch of busy work. It is time to fill the new free-time with dance.

I've been taking stock of where I am and where I want to be.

I want to be more on top of getting class choreographies done in a timely fashion while feeding myself as a dancer so that I can have creative well to draw from for myself and my students.

Inspired by Andalee's determination to challenge herself with a good, old-fashioned 90-days bellydance I have started my own self-challenge.

Check out her post here:
http://bellydanceatanysize.com/90-day-belly-dance-challenge/

I understand that 5 minutes a day of dance when you are exhausted is enough for most dancers daunted by the challenge. I'm currently making myself do at least 10 minutes of Yoga before bed for similar reasons. Once I've done the 10 minutes I am usually inspired to do some extra stretching.

I have more time in my day due to job changes and I'm making dance a bigger part of my life so I personally need to set the minimum higher than 5 minutes for myself. I will set it to 20 minutes.

At my core I am an improvisational dancer. My choreography brain has gotten much stronger since I started working it out for my dance teaching needs.I can learn, retain, and create choreographies better than I thought I ever could...but I want to push that AND push my body to gain some combination resources it doesn't have.

And...I want to save money.

I'm digging into all those WS videos I have taken over the last few years and trying to learn those choreographies. WS are NOT CHEAP in Japan. One workshop is far more expensive than buying a new DVD. I've already invested my time and money into these things, why not get the most out of it?

I'm starting with a Lubna Emam choreography I learned sometime in the last year.

I've spent an hour and a half working on the first few minutes. I will have time later today, before a duet rehearsal Hiromi and I have, to practice it at the studio. This is essential as my dance room is lovely but too tiny for the traveling. I can literally stand on one foot and touch on wall with my other foot and the other wall with my hand.

I plan to get my dance partner Hiromi in on this too. She and I have wanted to have time to teach each other WS choreographies so that, as co-workers, we can maximize our WS choices and results. I've informed her of the fact that I'm dipping into old WS choreographies and, after our next duet, we will have time to finally do teaching exchanges.