Last Friday, I was pleased to have been a part of a great charity evening, Summer Sizzle Ignite the Night 2014.
The dancers were !!!!!! Amazingly phenomenal! I on the other hand, after giving my energy to our Bollywood For Fun performance, was hit by that wave of inertia that I try to keep at bay, but with everything else happening in my personal little universe…
So, instead of being an “awesome stage dancer”, which each and every one of the other performers that night showed how to do that, I chose my alternate route – for which I am known.
After a few fun moments on stage, I took to the darkness, dancing through the crowd, enjoying being a “community dancer”. I think I chatted with as many people as I danced around as I did during the rest of the evening when not performing!
So congrats to Catharine Crerar for another great event. And thank you for having me be a part of it.
This week I am preparing for our move, not far, but after 17 years in the same building, 16 in the same unit, I’ve had a lot of stuff to go through.
And the new place is still under renos < which are being done so I am grateful, but timing!!! So panic mode is gently running under the calm demeanour I am trying to maintain while I finish off 5 clients today and tomorrow, pack boxes and stack them, calm a stressed out dog < with the most appreciated help of Dar > and attempt to organize the generously offered time of friends and family who will help us move – assuming we can get in there Wednesday to at least stack boxes into a big empty room 🙂
Then August 1st hits and I am on SUMMER SABBATICAL.
Which means time is spent settling what we can in the apartment, dealing with outstanding website issues, business paperwork and sleeping if possible. But generally, heading offline, outside, unavailable, disappearing, socializing when possible and just taking some family time!
Then I’ll see you in September! < click for my class schedule 🙂 >
All posts by Tracey Vibert
Kickstarting Second Class Supers – Day One
Friends of our are doing something awesome! Check and support if you can!!
Hanging in there…
This weekend, we had a yard sale, checked out the new apartment we’ll be moving to within the next 2 weeks and generally had a bit of an emotional roller coaster time.
After 17 years in an “unusually large for the price” apartment, with access to a back yard that almost no one else ever used, it will be strange to start paying “market value rent”, for a place about ¾ the size of our present place, with a much smaller yard area and 5 other, fully occupied units.
It’s still an older building with “character”, it’s in our chosen area to live; due to the other aspects of our lives, it was most logical for us to stick around this area.
And it’s disconcerting, strange, and hard to always keep up the positive viewpoint since we really would not be moving if things were totally in our control. But we did make the choice to move now, instead of waiting to see how bad it might get here with the new owners doing renovations upstairs.
And we have so many blessings that even with this small change in our lives, I am grateful for the offers of many friends to help us move – STOP ASKING US WHEN- WE’LL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS WE DO! 🙂
Downsizing, living more simply, letting go of excess, all such noble sentiments and I am doing my best to go with the positives of it. Certainly, I am glad we were able to sell and give away a LOT of stuff yesterday and the few things I kept to sell online are items of value that someone will be willing to pay for – or wedding gifts !!
And there will be a grieving process that I will be going through as well. But I grieve privately, so while I am sure folks believe they are being supportive by making, “Aw, that’s too bad” type of sentiments, it is not actually helpful.
I know you are all there to support us, if and when we need you.
THANK YOU. YOU ARE APPRECIATED. But like anyone who has gone camping with me, worked an event with me, or generally been around me, I will ask when I need the help, but otherwise, as I’ve heard many friends say, “Stay outta the way! It’s safer that way…”
We have a lot of changes still coming in our existence, so if you feel you want to be helpful, keep sending us work to help us pay the bills, “like” my silly Sprocket pictures, and occasionally, when we have time for it, we’ll be out there socializing and enjoying your awesome company.
Ok – personal time done !
Come see me dance Friday, July 25th at Summer Sizzle and if you don’t have a ticket, you can win one from me here!
Protected: Information for camping guests
Sometimes it's like someone hung the moon in the sky
Taken by me , July 9,2014 at Bordeleau park in Ottawa. 
More dancing w/ Bollywood For Fun at Mercury lounge Saturday!
Welcomed once again by Kuljit of Galitcha to join in on a fun Saturday evening of Bollywood at the Mercury lounge, we hope to see you there!
And I’m getting my bellydance on in the morning at a private belly dance lesson – something fun for showers and bachelorette parties – think about it!
"Bollywood"ing at Carnival of Cultures this weekend!
This summer, I’m mostly dancing with Bollywood For Fun now that Emilie’s run is over.
For this weekend that means Carnival of Cultures!
Come check us out – only $10-/ day and there are loads of great cultural performances- right downtown!
Happy Canada Day!
Busy summer ahead- as usual but a little different!
This weekend, I danced at Community Cup with Bollywood For Fun.
Go see pics here:
Last weekend, I danced at Emilie’s Run with the amazing Belly Dancing For Fun Rogue Dancers:
And then I switched over to join up with Bollywood For Fun and headed east bound to the Blackburn Public library for a quick dance and lesson then off to Andrew Hayden Park for the MSMF picnic, meeting up with 2 more BWFF dancers there.
More photos:
Not a very dramatic telling of the weekend’s of fun but know that the dancing is what keeps me somewhat sane.
In the midst of all of the dancing, I still have sewing clients, though the universe has blessed me with more costumes and less bridal this summer! And we have more dancing to come, so I hope to see you out there!
I am also about to move a lot of stuff. everywhere.
Virtual world: this weekend, my main business website for both TAV Creations and Belly Dancing For Fun is about to undergo mitosis. So if anything goes wrong, it’s while people are drinking and carousing here in Canada, and won’t even be online to see 🙂
Virtual World: I also, as part of the above mitosis – what a great word – have moved my weekly Dancers’ News weekly email to a new distribution site and have had to comply with the new Canadian Anti- Spam stuff – so confusion and wackiness there!
Real world: Boxes and Boxes and Boxes abound in my home as the apartment building we have lived in for 17+ years has been sold and the new owners are doing major renos and we have to leave. So forced out by upcoming paint fumes, dust and an actual legal requirement, we have found a new home nearby and will be spending much of July purging and packing and hopefully trickle-moving over towards the end of the month with a binge move and yard sale to take care of the final bits.
Real World: Annual August sabbatical: yep, we still get our time off, and the time we’ll spend unpacking will be offset by some time in the woods – but at a NEW site – disturbing to not know where the trees will be, but our zero gravity chairs we got last year are at least a sold plan if the hammocks have to be configured in a less than usual way ( we’ve had 1 of 3 sites for the past 16 years, so now that we have to move to a new one, more adventures!)
And so, blogging may be limited for the next while, but keep an eye on my twitter stream for short bursts!
Happy Canada Day!
Another show…and some fresh perspective.
I usually write up a thank note of sorts here on my blog after whatever latest event I have organized has taken place and we’ve all started the recovery.
And this is sort of that, but I wanted to explore some of the other aspects of the event organizing business and maybe it should be separate, but we are all busy, so let’s get that stuff out of the way first.
Community verging on family:
That’s what our Ottawa Belly dance Community feels like for me. We cannot all be at the family reunions, we sometimes get irritated with each other, once we know each other really well, then we say things without reservation, and most of the time that’s great, and then sometimes it’s like the proverbial family sitcom where the journey is full of ups and downs.
But we all come through it in the end because we support each other. There will always be things that happen at any event both seen by all as well as behind the scenes, and we have to deal with it in the best way we can.
I want to send my first thank you to the folks who took care of a lot of little, and maybe not so little, things that took place without my knowledge. These women, who are my friends and chosen family, know me well enough to see the twitching near my eyeball and save me from the “1 more thing to deal with” that might take me right over the edge.
Anyone who has organized an event knows how many balls are in the air the whole time and you do your best to keep them going where they need to be, but it’s a lot easier to do when you have great friends who are there to step in and grab the balls that are heading for the floor before they shatter. < not a ball joke, A&S Advanced class, I swear!>
Honour system:
How cool is it that the wonderful system I go with for ticket distribution and collection works on an honour system. That sense of community allows me to trust that yes, everyone who has accepted responsibility to sell tickets and return either the tickets or cash on the night of the show, works. It just does. BTW – if you were supposed to pay for tickets and forgot, just send me an email interac payment 🙂
” My little sandbox”:
One comment I got on Facebook overnight was from a dancer I have known for years, but this was the first time her group was able to join us and dance at the OCCP. Being an invite-only party with a limited amount of time and space, I cannot always include everyone I would like to, and sometimes if people are not in my face about wanting to dance, they slip through the cracks. So I was very pleased to be able to add new groups and Rogue dancers to the show this time around to mix things up and give others a chance to show us how great they are. And her comment about playing in my sandbox { it was positive} reminded me that yes, I am a dictator < hopefully benevolent> , and yes, as much as it could not happen without a LOT of help, the OCCP is still my baby, my turf, and I am ok with that.
A LOT OF HELP:
Ok- outright thank you time! Thank you all for playing your own special role in making the evening great!
From the door help: Linda, Michelle, Erika, Laura, Gailene, and even Robert for a while; to stage manager: Catharine; to Decor: Michele; to photography: Robert, Yasmin and Ivy; Video < and general life support>: Tom; to food: Anna and Safiya and Melissa; to cleaning up afterwards: Emilie, I could not imagine how things would go without you all doing the things you do!
The teachers who spend months working with their students, the Rogue Dancers, who spend extra time working on their own routines, the performers, who should take so much pride in their accomplishments – from beginners through to pros, you all keep raising the bar for this show and I am so grateful you take advantage of this opportunity to be creative, exploring different inspirations and then sharing it with us.
The Sponsors who donate their gifts to add that little something extra to the event – go support them the rest of the year, ‘kay?
The guests- friends and family of our dancers who come out on a weeknight, staying out past bedtime, who come to support one friend and then share their enjoyment of the entire show and support everyone who dances – you are wonderful!
Thank you all.
AND FINALLY:
If you performed and wanted a DVD but did not get a chance to order one, email info@darnermedia.ca and make arrangements with Tom directly.
Unclaimed Doorprizes:
Ticket Number 25 { you are one of my students, but I don’t know who! }: Scream A Little Dream Dvd and a Gift Certificate from Dunyia Dance Studio for one 4 week Registration.
Ticket Number 97 {You are one of Bahiya’s Students}: 1 set of weighted veils from Zamira of the VeiledEye.com including a 1 hour lesson plus 1 free ticket to the upcoming Summer Sizzle in July!
Please message me to figure out a good day/ time to get your prize to you! email: halyma@bellydancingforfun.com
Share your photos on flickr.com:
Yes RSV Photography has spoken to most of you about the option to eventually put pics up on his pages both his private website to start and then Facebook, but I am a fan of flickr – it’s free, you get lots of space, and you maintain all of your rights for your photos.
So I have set up a semi-private Flickrgroup where if you can PLEASE share any shots you took, and share them with others who attended. When you click through, just request to join and upload your photos. If you are unsure of how to do that and prefer to send me your shots and I can upload them, giving you credit of course, that’s great too!
UPDATE: The Dvds have been shipped – if you missed your chance that night to order one { And are a performer} message info@darnermedia.ca and make your request before June 20. Let Tom know which performance you were in!
