An Open Letter to a New Dance Student

Dear New Student,

Congratulations to you. I know how hard it is to decide to take a dance class, to put yourself out there in a way that you haven’t done before, and to try something new. You’re doing a great job. I mean that. I know that the movements may be uncomfortable or awkward, and that you’re looking around the room surreptitiously eyeing everyone else, thinking that maybe you don’t belong here because your moves aren’t as fluid or as sharp as the dancer next to you. That’s OK. It’s alright to be uncomfortable. That’s why you’re here, to learn something new, and the first time we do something new, it’s rarely easy and almost always awkward. Everyone learns at their own pace and you will learn how to do this if you stick with it and practice. I know. I’ve been there.

I’m your teacher. I’m not here to teach you how to dance like me or to get you to perform. I’m here to provide you with the tools to dance like you. If performance is your goal, then I will support you and help you along the way. I will guide you, and I will correct you, but ultimately, whether or not you learn this dance is up to you. What you get out of this dance is up to you. This dance is my joy and I hope you find joy in it as well, but all of that – it’s up to you.

There may come a time when you choose not to dance with me anymore, or just not to dance. I respect that, and I understand that life gets in the way, that sometimes I’m not the right teacher for someone, and that sometimes you will need to spread your wings and do your own thing. I’m OK with that. I want to be here to support your dance. Remember that I’m a dance student too. I’ve been there. If you have questions, you can ask me, and if you have problems, you can talk to me; just not while we’re in class. Class time is for dancing.

At the end of the day, I’m glad you’re here. I’m proud of you for choosing to try something different and something new, and I’m proud of you for working hard in class and doing your best. I’m humbled that you chose me to be your instructor, and I promise to do my best to honor and respect the trust that you’ve placed in me by continuing my own education, working hard to plan my classes, and creating a safe and supportive atmosphere for you to learn in. 

Thank you for dancing with me. Love and shimmies,

Jaidra

I am a bellydancer

I dance because I have found myself in the movement.
I dance to express joy and share passion or sorrow.
I dance to push myself beyond the boundaries of what I ever thought I could do.
I dance empowered as a woman, to love who I am.
I dance with sisters, and with friends.
I dance because to dance is to become one with the universe.
To dance is to be whole.

Brandy and Jaidra of Discordia Arts with Fire Fans

To dance is to dream.

Bring A Friend, Free Bellydance Class Day!

Jaidra and Brandy of Discordia Arts: Sword Duet at Ren Faire

I'm having a special promo class the first week in February. Bring a friend, and BOTH of your classes are free. Check out more information here, and like the Discordia Arts Facebook page while you're there to keep up with our performance and class schedule.

Now, your first class with me is always free, so this promo is mostly for my current students, but if you're reading this early, you can get 2 free classes by coming in for your first class ahead of time and then bringing a friend on Bring A Friend Day. Bellydance has changed my life, and I love to teach it...come give it a try and maybe you'll love it to!

Jaidra with some of  her students at the 2013 Discordia Arts Spring Student Showcase

Multi-month update brought to you by the letter J

The letter "J" for Jaidra and for Job: as in, Jaidra's full time Job takes up all of the time that was once spent on taking and editing photos, updating websites, networking, etc.

I am still making art and dancing! It just occurs at odd times, and is in no way consistent. So, for brevity, here's the bullet point update.

• Uniq by Jaidra silk art is available at Artizan Gallery in Columbia, SC. They have been fabulous to me, so if you're in the area, go by and check them out!

• Uniq by Jaidra silk art and jewelry is available at Raspberry Moon Skin Care studio in Greenville, SC. Nicole is amazing and will help make your skin Fabulous, so definitely check her out!

• The Uniq by Jaidra Etsy store is closed temporarily. It just takes too much time to maintain. But, I still take custom orders and I always have pieces for sale. Just contact me at jaidra_art@yahoo.com

• I am a featured artist at Dharma Trading company this month! I get all of my silk painting supplies through Dharma, and LOVE them! 

• I am available for private henna body art appointments. Due to time constraints, I am limiting in house and travel appointments to a minimum of 50$ (a pretty large or detailed piece). Longer and larger appointments still run 75$ per hour. I do have a two hour minimum for parties, corporate events, and weddings.

• Dance classes continue. I always wish that I could dance more, but there's only so much time in a week. Stay tuned. I will try to be more consistent with the updates!

Joy, art, shimmies!
Jaidra

Some Pics from the Past Few Months

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Uniq by Jaidra: Art Fair Booth

Custom Belly Henna

Turkish Fusion Performance

Irises Silk Painting

Taking a life break: Hiking is my relaxation

I just love this picture: Mushrooms above a mountain stream.

My Students Rock So Very Much

Bellydance Fitness and Fun Class Performance

Equilibrium Zen Gym Bellydance Class

Last night, Equilibrium Zen Gym, the home of my "Bellydance Fitness and Fun" class had their annual Christmas party. A few weeks ago, the owner, George, asked me if I would perform as part of the class demonstrations for the party.

Jaidra

I had been teaching my students some simple combos in a circle format, and I made the executive decision that I was going to choreograph a simple dance and have my students dance with me for the party. With less than a month to go, I let them know that they could perform with me. I made it clear that they didn't have to, but to my surprise, all 6 members of the class decided that they wanted to!

Jaidra Dancing with Bellydance Fitness and Fun Students

These women all started dancing four months ago, and have progressed at varying speeds, but are all amazingly beautiful, talented, kind and hard working. I have been so impressed by the work that they were willing to put in in order to join me for the Christmas party. They even surprised me by purchasing matching skirts for the performance!

In the end, I had a phenomenal time, and my students did a wonderful job. I am very proud of them, and hopeful that they have inspired others to come and join us. Bellydance is not just a beautiful art form and great exercise, but can be a truly communal experience that brings joy to the dancers and the audience, and my students prove it!

Thee Inner Cirkus Meets Elby Brass Band

Self Henna - Hip Flowers

Thee Inner Cirkus went a-traveling far far away to a land filled with soft fluffy cat, massive amounts of pasta, spectacular coffee, and gnomes. Let's call it Fredricksburg, Virginia.

I have had the opportunity over the last year or so to do some work with a talented group of freaks from Greenville SC who call themselves Thee Inner Cirkus. Most of the gigs we have had thus far have been in the upstate of South Carolina, so the 8 hour road trip came as a bit of a surprise, but I was super excited to get on the road.

Kenny Phoenix All Sparkly

As always, one of my favorite aspects of performing is the opportunity to practice multiple arts. For this gig, I chose to do some self henna. All of my pieces for this gig were belly dance and fire dance, so I kept the henna classic and discovered exactly what kind of contortions I have to do in order to decorate my own side.

Shinola and Pasta

Pre-show with Thee Inner Cirkus

We got on the road Friday around mid day. The most pertinent discovery of the ride was the fact that North Carolina has nicer rest areas than Virginia...and as always, traffic on I-95 sucks. I was ecstatic to reach our destination. In order to thank our host, I proceeded to cover his patio in glitter. This way, he'll think of Thee Inner Cirkus every time the light hits and the ground sparkles. I have discovered that as both a body artist and a bellydancer, that I almost exude glitter....it happens.

We had a lot of spaghetti. We had some rum, and some beer....some vegan chocolate and plenty of boiled peanuts. We did silly magic tricks and counted each others fingers. Then we had our pre-show meeting, planned a set list, set up our music, and said good night.

Relaxing in the Parlor

Saturday dawned bright, beautiful, and Freakin' hot!

Fredricksburg is a fabulous little town - not at all what I expected, but filled with antique stores and cute little niches, one way streets, and historic buildings. We spent some time downtown before we met up at the Silk Mill and walked through the show. The venue was fabulous - a renovated mill with concrete floors and super high ceilings. Misters and fans were set up to beat the heat, but the heat fought back.

Thee Inner Cirkus pre show meeting

Luckily, the kind owners of the bed and breakfast opposite the concert venue allowed us into their parlor, so we had a place to cool off, sit and relax, drink water, and escape too.


After checking out the town and the venue and getting ice cream (because you can't cirkus without ice cream - well, I can...but I'm in the minority on this one), we returned to gnome headquarters and got ready. Costumes and make up and last minute plans....and then it was time to got back to the venue for the last time. 6:30 show time.

Mr Greenleaf and Fire Dart (the socks make it)

We set up our fueling area and started strolling. Mr Greenleaf and SparrowCat entertained the crowd with some fire eating and contact outside while Dei-adis, Shinola, and I hooped, veil poi-ed, and danced around the inside of the venue while people were trickling in.

Official performance started with a short set. We couldn't forget the reason we were there, so Thee Inner Cirkus serenaded Seth with a fantastically cackophonous happy birthday remix led by our MC, the amazing Bella Bonsai.

Bella Bonsai and a hoop

I opened our set with fire fans, followed by Dei-adis with LED hoop. Mr Greenleaf surprised us all by taking his pants off and performing fire dart in sparkly hot pants (Hot in so many ways!)

Dancing to Elby Brass

Thee Inner Cirkus pumped the crowd up, but everyone was there to see Elby Brass Band, and oh how did they rock! An absolutely fabulous mix of irreverence and musical talent, Elby Brass brought the crowd up and kept them there. They finished out their set with Virginia Creeper and invited me onstage to dance with them. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Jaidra Solo to Virginia Creeper

We followed Elby Brass's first set with an hour long Thee Inner Cirkus extravaganza! SparrowCat and Mr Greenleaf ate some fire and then Bella Bonsai entertained everyone by attaching beaver traps and mouse traps to herself and lying on a bed of nails. The fantastic Kenny Phoenix awed everyone with his contact juggling, SparrowCat fascinated with her fantabulous Fire Staff. Mr Greenleaf got back up and stuck a screwdriver in his face, Dei-adis spun fire hoop, I danced with fire palms and my sword, and our lovely Glow Poi spinner, Psyryn did a beautiful  performance with glow poi to Dude Looks Like a Lady. Shinola closed out our set as she let the crowd staple money to her beautiful body....and Thee Inner Cirkus was done!

Mr Greenleaf and Shinola dance the night away

But our work is never done. We returned to the stage while Elby Brass played and continued to have a grand ole time!


SethFest XXX was a rousing success. We probably had as much fun as the crowd did! Now we have a new home away from home....and there are gnomes there!

Introducing Jaidra's Bellydance Calendar

The more computer literate I become (and I started at negative 0 - I swear), the more I come to appreciate google and all of the wonderful free gadgets and products that they have to make my life easier.

I am really enjoying my belly dance classes, but as I add more classes, I face the difficulty of disseminating all of this information to the public. I have facebook event invitations running and have sent out emails, but since I am using my blog as my major web presence right now, I was having difficulty trying to figure out how to add that information in here. I found the "gadgets" for calendars in the design section of blogger, but I couldn't find what I was looking for - a customizable calendar.

Da-da-da-daaaa....Google to the rescue. Once again, I find the answer in the simplest of places. Create a google calendar and paste the html right into my blog. So, without further ado - if you're looking for more information (including times, places, and descriptions) about my bellydance classes and/or any events where I will be performing, you can find a link to my calendar on the right side of this blog.

Introducing Bellydance Fitness and Fun at Equilibrium Zen Gym

I am very excited to announce that my new class, Bellydance Fitness and Fun, is starting TONIGHT at Equilibrium Zen Gym. If you've never been there before, it is a beautiful space in Greenville on the corner of Augusta Rd and Faris Rd behind Alpine Ski and Firehouse subs - look for the red door.
This class will run from 7:30 until 8:30 every Wednesday. In celebration, I am continuing my BUY one, GET one deal for your first class until the end of July, so if you know anyone who may be interested, get them hooked with this deal :)

Bellydance Fitness and Fun Class Description:

Come try bellydance in this fantastic, upbeat, low pressure environment.  Jaidra will introduce simple bellydance isolations and traveling moves and then combine them into easy to follow combinations so that you’ll be dancing by the end of class!

Each class will open with a brief warm up and strengthening workout followed by instruction in basic bellydance technique and moves. Then, once you’ve learned how, we’ll shimmy and hip bump all our blues away!

This class is perfect for the beginner dancer and anyone who has ever searched for a workout that they actually enjoy!

Classes cost 15$ per class OR 10 per class with the purchase of a 6/8/or12 class card. Class cards are good for any of my classes.

Bellydance Basics continues on Thursday at Taal School of Dance on Butler Rd followed by Advanced Topics : Sword Dance.

Drop in students are welcome in Bellydance Basics and Bellydance Fitness and Fun. Advanced Topics require instructor permission.

Sword Dance Workshop Follow Up

Balance Practice: Shifting your weight with Swords

Sunday's sword workshop in Williamston, SC was a ton of fun!

I spent hours working on my handout for the workshop, and what was supposed to be 3 pages ended up as 5, but no one seemed to mind. Luckily, I planned a day of placing the sword on the head, taking it off, and then putting it back. 3 hours is a bit long to keep a sword on your head (ouch!).

Sword dance: Angling the body

I began the workshop with a brief discussion on what to look for when choosing a sword for sword dance, sword dance history, sword care, and sword dance safety. We moved from there onto balanced body posture, exercises for balancing, and balancing the sword on your head. With the sword on our heads, we practiced shifting our weight from one foot to the other, onto the balls of our feet, and from there to walking.

Flat rotations with the sword balanced on the palm

New sword dancers are often surprised by the weight of the sword on their head, so we took the swords off our heads and spent some time discussion body angles, framing the body with the sword, and dancing with the sword before we place it on our heads.

The sword is an extremely dynamic prop  for dancing so we spent an hour swinging the sword around, dancing to and away from the sword, isolating parts of our body while we used the sword to frame our moves, and putting all of these concepts into dance combinations. I taught some of my favorite sword dance combos with coloful names such as "shave the gypsy" and "I'm gonna wash that sword right out of my hair."

Sword Dance

Personally, I am a huge fan of spinning and turning with my sword, so I spent a good amount of time teaching spins and turns as well as some combinations of rotations with the sword balanced on the palm of the hand mixed with turns, swings, and catches to round out this section of the class. After turning with the sword in our hands, we put the sword back on our heads and did some more spinning.

I love swords for a lot of reasons. I also love dance...and I love science. In spinning with a sword on your head, I got the opportunity to have all of my loves collide and give a brief physics lecture (really brief, I know not everyone is as big a nerd as I am).  So, we spent some time learning to start spinning, and a whole lot more time learning ways to stop spinning.

So many options on where to balance a sword!

 When I first planned the workshop, I also planned a time table for everything, and amazingly enough, I stuck to it, so we had time for 30 minutes of floorwork. I started out by teaching a variety of exercises that will help strengthen and tone the muscles that are required for safe floorwork, and then we spent a little time practicing hip circles and round the worlds with the swords on our heads.

I finished off the day with a short demonstration of some of the other places where you can balance your sword (and my caveat that utilizing too many of these in one routine gets a bit kitchy) and some strong poses.

Sword Dance Poses

We stretched, happy to have the swords off of our heads. I was extremely proud of everyone who came out and worked so hard to learn the basics of sword dance - everyone did great!

Thank you to everyone in Pelzer/Williamston, for being so welcoming. Thanks to everyone else, for driving out and spending your Sunday with me. Big super duper thanks to Kim Alexander for having me. Hopefully everyone now has the tools to embrace sword dance safely and with joy!


If you want to learn sword dance, my intermediate/advanced level topics class will be starting soon in Greenville, and the first topic I will cover is sword dance!