Mirvana's Amazing Adventures

Kevin Ross took this lovely photo at YIV

Kevin Ross took this lovely photo at YIV
Originally uploaded by mirvana

I made the pants and arm warmers in this costume. The pants are based on Melodia's design.

Kevin Ross took this lovely photo at YIV

Kevin Ross took this lovely photo at YIV
Originally uploaded by mirvana

I made the pants and arm warmers in this costume. The pants are based on Melodia's design.

Inspiration or lack thereof

Warhol's dead, David Hockney's still alive I don't need to paint      (From Estelle, by Dan Bern)

A few more photos from Shimmy...

shindig1555
Originally uploaded by mirvana.

I uploaded a few more photos from the Shimmy event. I didn't get that many because my camera battery died. If anyone else took any photos at the show, please share!

Gypsy Night RAWKED!

octGypsy1347
Originally uploaded by mirvana.

Gypsy Night at the Rhythm House Cafe was hella fun! You shoulda been there!

Le Weekend update; random comments about the bellydance scene

Dance practice Friday--it's coming along. Sat.--dance class, shoppies, and female bonding. It rawked. Sun.--took mom to airport; recovering from above-mentioned female bonding. Random comments: The bellydance scene here in Pgh. is very cool, IMO. It's like all other things in this town--small and close-knit, yet also diverse. There are lots of different styles represented, and just enough good teachers and dancers to make us dangerous. However, one of the problems, and you see this with a lot of things in Pgh., is that we are quite clique-ish, and there are a lot of big fish sharing this small pond. For some reason, I guess because of my past and reputation, people come to me to vent about certain other people in the scene. That's cool. I understand. So, I just feel like sharing my opinion on some issues that have been discussed recently on various forums. Undercutting--the people complaining about this feel most threatened by it, and think they can only make themselves look good by putting others down. If you are truly worth the fee you want to charge for teaching or performing, then people will pay it and you shouldn't have to worry about undercutting from competitors. This is Pgh. There is no "bellydancers union" here. There is no scale or standard fees. Don't be ridiculous.

Photos from the Zenith

I didn't take any photos at the art opening but, nlanza did: http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~jacquez/pics/dance/album.html

Update

The art thing at the Zenith last Friday was hella fun. I danced with jacquez and other members of Yalla Yalla Hey!, accompanied by Jacques and Angus (Vlad's) on percussion, as part of the entertainment. There was another drum guy who joined us later, but I didn't get his name, and another dance-friend showed up and joined us for a few rounds of improv dance. There was also a guy who played keyboard and sang during our breaks, and he was good. The crowd was lively and I ran into several people I knew that I didn't expect to be there, for example, an old roommate from umpteen years ago, not to mention all the friends who showed up. I liked being able to get out and be social like this. The art was much to my liking. I wanted to buy some, and the prices were a bargain, but I was distracted with my duties as entertainer. I'll have to go back there sometime just to check out the art and get some eats--the place is also a vegan restaurant and tea room.

New photos

I recently did a photo shoot in dance costume: #flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;} #flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;} #flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;} .flickr_badge_image {text-align:center !important;} .flickr_badge_image img {border: 1px solid black !important;} #flickr_www {display:block; text-align:left; padding:0 10px 0 10px !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#3993ff !important;} #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:hover, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:link, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:active, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:visited {text-decoration:none !important; background:inherit !important;color:#3993ff;} #flickr_badge_wrapper {background-color:#ffffff;border: solid 1px #000000} #flickr_badge_source {padding:0 !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#666666 !important;}

www.flickr.com More of mirvana's photos

Bellydance classes downtown, Pittsburgh

I teach a beginner-level bellydance class downtown at the YWCA, "Dancin' Abs," Tuesdays at 12:30, and it is in danger of being cancelled if attendance doesn't pick up. I get 3-5 regular students each week, and that's enough to keep it going for a while, but the other class that was offered on Thursdays at 5:30 was already cancelled and I'm just getting worried. It could still be reinstated, if there is enough interest. So, if you work or live near downtown and ever thought about taking a class, now's the time to do something about it. Contact me or Carol Chatman at the YWCA for more info. http://www.ywcapgh.org. I still teach two other private classes downtown (I was renewed for another 8 weeks), so if I lose the YW gig, it's no biggie, but my regular students really love the class and don't want to see it go. I don't blame them. It's nice to have your choice of different fitness classes to break up the monotony.