Spring Craft Faire in Beautiful Belmont

The Twin Pines Spring Craft Faire will be held again this year in beautiful Belmont at the Twin Pines Senior and Community Center. This woodsy area of Twin Pines Park has a small walking path with a quaint children's playground adjacent to the parking lot. The craft faire will be held in several small buildings on the grounds. The Spring Craft Faire offers something for everyone. Pick up a hand-crafted gift for someone special, a new decoration for your home, a unique piece of jewelry - all made by local artists. This is a free event and food is available for purchase. You will not go away empty-handed nor hungry. Don't miss out on the fun. Saturday, March 27th from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Your local artist friends look forward to seeing you there.

Twin Pines Senior and Community Center, 20 & 30 Twin Pines Lane, Belmont, CA 94002. Located near Ralston Avenue behind Safeway.

St. Patricks Day -Green Is In: Especially Green Jewelry

It is St. Patrick's Day and I am wearing green and having Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner. I am also part Irish. Anyway, "green is in" even if you aren't Irish and even if you are not excited about corned beef and cabbage... oh, and potatoes and carrots! I am not much into green beer though. What does all this have to do with jewelry? Only the color "green". These green flower pearl necklaces are in stock. Stop by my "Jewelry Studio"(sign on the building) on Laurel Street in San Carlos. Soon I will post these necklaces on etsy.com with a few other items. Check out my website for location, studio hours, and information about the Spring Craft Show I will be in coming up at the end of this month... www.beadcentric.com.

Happy St. Patty's Day and have fun doing whatever you like to do on a sunny day like today. Cheers!

Rakassah West and the After Party: L'Amour De La Danse

Five of us piled into a large vehicle and headed over to Richmond for Rakassah Saturday. Then there was the anticipated after-party in Oakland we looked forward to that evening. Rakassah was lively and exciting. Fun dance performances by talented dancers and a lot of wonderful vendors. Prepare to shop. I bought two pairs of earrings, a glowy pink to purple peony antique button pendant, a flowery blue and green wrap-around skirt made from recyled cloth, a large 3 -ring, shiny, gun metal gray marcasite bracelet, lavender and cardamom chocolate, dark sipping chocolate, and a feather arrangement for my hair by Wicked Smileys. Thanks Sarah! We walked around shopping and watching dance performances for 4 hours.

Then the anticipated party, L'Amour De La Danse. We had dinner down the street from The Oakland Metro Operahouse which looked nothing like an opera house. It was more like a warehouse. Buttercup is where we had dinner. It looked kind of like an upscale Denny's. It was fine. We all had chicken tostada salads and cheap wine. L'Amour De L Danse was worth the wait and standing for 3 hours. The "operahouse" had no seating. All of the dancers and performances were fantastic but I do have a few favorites. Of course it is always fun to watch my teacher, Malia DeFelice, referred to by the organizers as the "Foxy Siren of Belly Dance". Unfortunately, we arrived late as she was already performing. Jill Parker is also a favorite, watching her perform for the first time last weekend. Gina Bruno is a certified dancer from Suhaila Salimpour's school. Gina is breathtaking and mesmerizing. Tanja, closely tied to both Suhaila Salimpour and Jill Parker, is an award winning dancer and choreographer. Unmata is an amazing group of dancers and they were the most unique group. It seemed like lyrical dance and tribal fusion mixed into one. They used chairs and round metal circles as props. Ariellah gave an interesting performance gothic style. She was referred to as the "supreme dark fusion gothic goddess" I think that says it all. I wish I remembered who danced on two glass goblets! I believe it was Shabnam but not 100% sure. That was fun to watch. Google all of their names under "bellydance" and check out their websites. I hate to leave anyone out because they are all worthy of high recognition. I look forward to seeing them all dance again.

My First Belly Dance Show -Part Two- What Does Chocolate Fantasy Have To Do With It?

First, there I am in motion. Second photo, photojournalistic style, from top to bottom: April (me), Nicole, Gloria, Malia, and Monica. Malia's hubby sitting near the stairs with video camera.

I ended up doing well and no one could tell it was my first Belly Dance performance. I knew that I knew the choreography with my eyes closed. Practice! Practice! Practice!

Other comments to me earlier that day about how to calm my nerves:

"Find a space where you can close your eyes and relax your body totally at the performance venue."

"Wear a special amulet that is your "grounding stone" Focus on the stability of this amulet."

"Visualize flowing water - hear it smell it let it wash your nervousness away"

"If you know Yoga "Sun Salutation" do it five times before the dance. This will not only help you stretch - It will help you "breathe" Bring Lavendar essential oil or a sprig of Lavendar from your garden. Lavendar has calming properties."

"Today before the show - Google "overcoming stage fright" there are soo many articles online about this topic."

"One thing that trips me up is my tummy tensing up before a show.
It always helps to take big belly breaths ; )"

"What works for me is to stop fighting the anxiety....and just use it as excitement for the performance....!! Plus a nice margarita :)

"And if none of the above works take a Xanax and think about baseball."

I will perform again. And I will reference these notes and follow some of this advice. Well, except for the Xanax and baseball part. Isn't that from a movie? One thing I kept my focus on was that dessert drink at the end of the night "Chocolate Fantasy". Two scoops of chocolate gelato and Graham's Port poured on top. That was my Xanax and keeping my eye on the ball- or scoops rather- that was my relaxation technique. My reward for being brave. Lead me to the dance floor!

My First Belly Dance Show - How to Calm My Nerves?

First, pictured all of the New Moon Belly Dance Ensemble dancers, guests, and Jill Parker and the Fox Glove Sweethearts. Second Picture, the Bedouin Dancers (the first dance number): back row- Sarah, Basha,Regina, front row-Laura, April (me), Debra

I was more nervous in the days leading up to my bellydance performance then I was on the actual day.

By then I knew the choreography and I had practiced every day without fail and I even went through the steps in my mind as I slept. Some of the other dancers said they listened to the song and went through the steps in their minds as they drove in their cars. I could not do that without crashing I am sure! I e-mailed everyone asking what I could do to manage my nerves. Some said to use lavender. Brilliant! I have so much lavender already because I inhale natural lavendar for headaches. The day of the show I went to my jewelry studio for 4 hours (short day) then I went home, practiced the routine once flawlessly, then plugged in the diffuser and filled it with Lavender essential oil (Young Living). I watched it mist and hiss, I lay down for 20 minutes and slept for about 10 minutes, I think. With a lavender aroma filled room and bathroom, I got up and took a shower, got dressed, ate a small cheese sandwhich on wheat bread, drank water, and put on tons of make up. Apparently, not enough. They added more to my eyes when I got to Angelica's Bistro. Some of the other things people said to do to to calm my nerves:

Our fearless leader, Malia: Try to find my space of "Calm" and "Silence" before you dance.

Practice finding that space everytime you run through the dance in class and at home. That way you are conditioning yourself and you are comfortable with this routine when it's performance time.
Deep Breathe.

She said so much more... as did others... to be continued!