Thursday 28 October 2010

Music by meee

CouchSurfing Bellydancers

Hello
I would like to invite you to join my couchsurfing Belly dancers group.
CouchSurfing Bellydancers UK
If you are not aware of couchsurfing, it is a wonderful worldwide community 
of travelers who share hospitality with one another. I have hosted many CS'ers
and have so far couchsurfed in the UK and in California, all of my experiences have been very positive and I recommend couchsurfing as a wonderful way to travel and meet new people.
If you are unable to spare a couch, you are not obliged to host.
When arriving in a new city, many people are just looking for someone to connect with over a coffee and chat or have a local tour  There are active CS communities in most major cities worldwide and they have numerous groups and plenty of activities and events going on. In terms of Belly dance, with all the events and workshops we go to, it isn't always easy to find a suitable place to stay and hotels can be very expensive. I want to encourage the belly dance community to be involved in the couchsurfing community. When there are events taking place in your area, why not offer up your couches/spare rooms/floors, and also use this website as a tool for connecting with other dancers who are going to the same events, instead of ten people traveling from the same area in different cars, why not car share, saving on money and reducing the carbon footprint. Please spread the word and get your friends and fellow dancers to join the CS group. 


What is CouchSurfing?
CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. Since 2004, members have been using our system to come together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. Today, over a million people who might otherwise never meet are able to share hospitality and cultural understanding.
Our mission as an organization is to create inspiring experiences: cross-cultural encounters that are fun, engaging, and illuminating. These experiences take many forms. CouchSurfing's initial focus was on hosting and "surfing" (staying with a local as a guest in their home). Alongside these core experiences, we now also facilitate a growing array of activities and events.
We have a vision of a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Each CouchSurfing experience shared by our members brings us closer to that vision.

How does CouchSurfing work?

CouchSurfing members share hospitality with one another. These exchanges are a uniquely rich form of cultural interaction. Hosts have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. "Surfers," or travelers, are able to participate in the local life of the places they visit. We also give more people the chance to become travelers, because "surfing" lowers the financial cost of exploration.
The CouchSurfing community continues to expand its horizons. Members are always finding more ways to connect and learn about each other. Every day, people across the world share coffee, camping trips, meetings, language exchanges, discussions and all sorts of other experiences.

Yalla yalla YIP!!!!

Hello, finally decided to start a blog. I will be using this blog to talk about my adventures in Belly dance and to connect with other dancers around the globe, to promote events and workshops, music, costume and other resources. 


So, who the hell am i anyway? well, I am Beatrice Flowers, I am a Belly dance teacher and performer based in Nottingham, UK. I am director of Nottingham Tribal Belly Dance, we are a Fat Chance Belly Dance sister studio and specialise in FCBD ATS instruction. NTB began in early 2009 after I completed my FCBD general skills and teacher training in San Francisco.


I also teach and perform fusion dance, my style is heavily influenced by classical and contemporary dance which I trained in for many years beginning in my early childhood. Unfortunately I had to give up dancing for a long time after developing a neurological disorder, I was diagnosed with narcolepsy at the age of 12 after five years of severe unmedicated excessive daytime sleepiness, paralysis, hallucinations and various other nasty things that affected me through every hour of every day.


Although I studied dance and choreography and college, I never really felt I could fit in, so during my teens I pursued a career in music, keeping dance closely at my side, but never really able to have dance in my life the way it had been previously. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I was able to really dance again, this was mainly because one of my symptoms caused my muscles to go in to paralysis and a dancer that at any given moment can turn into to a blob of Jelly on the floor isn't really ideal, not to mention a dancer who is constantly falling asleep even on her feet! 
It was the decision to try a medication to treat this particular symptom that allowed me to remain standing without turning into a jelly. So, the new jelly free me began taking bellydance classes, soon discovered Tribal Belly dance, became obsessed and the rest is history. 


I never imagined I would be a teacher, but doors kept opening and I just go wherever the wind takes me, and It brought me here, so I want to share all these amazing experiences and my knowledge with everyone I meet along the way. 
The crappy void in my life that came from having to give up dance all those years before, has been filled ten fold by Belly dance. I like to call Tribal Belly dance 'Ballet without the bullshit' It has the poise and posture and grace of Ballet without the damaging effects on ones body image and in Belly dance, we can truly be who we really are, no matter who we are, what we look like, and most importantly for me, even if I am perpetually tired. No one is telling me I am too short or that I cannot be a professional dancer with my illness. I am able to be the best I can because the belly dance community encourages  me and gives me the support I need to be confident enough to just go out there and do what i love most. 


anyway, I don't want to talk about my condition for this entire post. 
I want to talk about what exciting things I have planned for the end of this year and for 2011.
So, firstly,  Our upcoming podcast...


BDUK.TV, is a  Belly Dance production company that I co-run with my partner chauffeur extraordinaire Doug. We specialise in showreels, videography, photography and promotion for performers, our sister company is Unit24 productions which is a small independent music production company, we are not for profit and everything we do is to support fellow performers and musicians. BDUK.TV will be doing a brand new Belly Dance podcast which will feature interviews, event announcments, costume tips,  music reviews and much more. 
I don't  yet have a launch date for the podcast but I will announce it here as soon as It is ready for lift off. 
I will sign off here.... the old sleepy thing is beginning to creep in and cause my typing to make no sense! 


So for now, take care, I look forward to sharing the shimmies and spilling the beans... the tribal beans of course.
Love and undulations, Bea