In finding my quest earlier last month, on how truly to create the Egyptian eye look I came across some very important and fascinating stuff!  When we think of the Egyptians the one thing we all think of first is their eye makeup.  Both male and females wore eye makeup and they did this in order to protect their eye.  If the eye was left unprotected then it was subject to being in harms way of the evil eye.  They not only wore makeup for protection but also for medicinal purposes but spiritual and magical purposes.  The shape of the eye was done in either a cat eye shape or almond shape.

There where two main colors that where used when it came to applying makeup to the eye.  These colors that where used where either green or black.  I think we are all familar with the black that was used by kohl which was made up by sulfide;galena.  But how did they get the color green?  This color came from malachite which is an oxide that is obtained from copper.  It was believed that when the eyes of female’s adorned their eyes with green that it worked like an anti-depressant and was able to release postive energy in the body such as love and happiness.  Color had a meaning behind it and green meant new life or re-birth.  It is known that when the Egyptian’s lined their eyes with kohl this was done mostly to protect their eyes from the harsh elements of the sun and to shield them from ailments of the eye.

Have you heard the way to someone’s soul is through their eyes?  There is evidence of this and that our eyes really do tell alot about us.  For instance, we know just by looking at someone’s eyes if they are being truthful and sincere or if they are lying; the eyes say it all!

The information gathered were from:

makeup success.com & egyptianmyths.net

When it comes to Belly Dancing each one of us dance for many different reasons.  For some it is about getting exercise and or losing weight.  Then there are some women that dance because they have always been fascinated by the dance or have always wanted to do it but never had the opportunity.  There are also women who dance due to life changes or life celebrations.  No matter what your reason for dancing is a passion for the dance starts building up inside of you and with each of us our passion is unique and different.

When I started dancing my passion was not the same as it is now.  The passion I have for Belly Dance is teaching and sharing this wonderful art form to other women and sharing my experiences as a dancer along the way.  The other passion I share is to educate the community that I live in on what Belly Dancing or Middle Eastern Dance is really about.  My passion of Belly Dance has turned into a life style, which means it is a very important part of my daily life and I really could not imagine my life without it!  Dancing, sharing and connecting not only with my spiritual self but others is a passion that is deep within.  What is your passion?

Making a cake and what this has to do with Belly Dance?

This past week as I was working with one of my students during her private lesson we were  discussing choreography and how to try and make sense of it all.  For beginners it is not an easy thing and it can actually be quite frightening at first.  As we talked we discussed where to start and how to add movements; this is where making a cake came into play.  We talked about how when we make a cake we first have to make sure we add all the ingredients, mix it together, preparing and then waiting for the end result when it is done baking.  When we choreograph we can think about it in the same way.  First we must decide what the ingredients or moves are to make a delicious choreography?  It is important to put your moves down on a piece of paper these are moves that you do well and ones that you enjoy.  Once you have gathered all you ingredients and have picked you music which is another blog in itself is when the mixing and preparing starts.  Once it is mixed and prepared you continually work at the choreography leaving you with a finished project or cake but when it is done baking it does not stop there.  We must ice our cake and our choreography adding layers and layers of sweet gooey icing and moves and accents!  This is what adds to you cake and choreography and makes it not only complete but delicious!

In class tonight as we were working on choreography to Dance of Eternity and as I was teaching chest circles with snake arms one of my students asked me “where do you come up with this stuff?”  It made me laugh because sometimes I do sit and just think about what kind of moves that I can teach and how I can do a move in a different way my students may not be accustomed to.  As a teacher it is important to challenge my students because I want each one of them to progress as well as be very well rounded dancers.  Sometimes I come up with stuff at the strangest times while at work or even I have been known to have ideas when I am cooking or even driving which can sometimes be dangerous! My family and I went to a Christian Rock concert this past summer and my daughter turns to me and says “Mom your belly dancing!”  The music moved me and I just started moving and I was trying out different moves. Sometimes ideas will also stem from other dancers and I will change it completly around or seeing a dancer do something different will stir my own creativity inside.  We never know when the urge and creativity hits us and I have realized that when it does hit I just have to run with it!