tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331Thu, 31 May 2012 22:43:27 +0000movingbelly dancerehearsalreadingworkshopsbusinesslavishillusion studioconditioningaccessoriesnewsbelly dancing divamodernballetmusichandstechniquegoalsritualartphilosophyinspirationpracticedrillstravelproblemsgraphic designemotionproducingclasseschoreographyvideocostumesperformancedark side studiobloggingsoloswritingfusionfitnessprogressstudioteachingvocabularyfeetburlesqueheather labonte - modern bellydance and dance in toronto, canadahttp://www.heatherdances.com/noreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)Blogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-3754681628065053320Tue, 29 May 2012 19:54:00 +00002012-05-30T10:36:49.951-04:00performanceworkshopsnewslavishfusiondark side studioI know I say this every time I write but so many exciting things are happening. Like, I'm overwhelmed and overstimulated all the time because I'm so excited about dance. All the time. Of course a lot of that excitement is about this extremely awesome weekend and show. It's Rachel! It's Lavish! It's awesome! I've been looking forward to this for months and it's finally (almost) here. I'm http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/05/infusion-evening-of-alternative.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-7176322048294757330Mon, 14 May 2012 16:08:00 +00002012-05-14T12:15:19.327-04:00videoperformancegoalsproblemslavishbelly dancedark side studiopracticeinspirationIt's been awhile since I've written much of substance. But I've been dancing lots of substance so we'll call it a win. Things that have happened: This Ain't Egypt (The Dark Side Studio's student recital--video posted below) Attended and completed Rachel Brice's 8 Elements Phase I: Initiation I loved 8 Elements. I loved loved loved it.  Registered for the October 8 Elements Phase II: http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/05/thats-whats-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5152209520967107028Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:44:00 +00002012-05-16T13:42:14.454-04:00videoperformancedark side studio My latest piece from This Ain't Egypt 2012, the Dark Side Studio's student show. I had a blast making and performing this piece. I LOVE this song. As per usual, talking about my experience at 8 Elements Initiation™ is hard for all the reasons. Intensives are so hard to describe, and although I pulled so much useful stuff out of the process, so much of what goes on happens inside my head http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/04/my-latest-piece-from-this-aint-egypt.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-8754474911102771102Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:26:00 +00002012-05-14T12:11:19.385-04:00performanceworkshopsemotionprogresstravelbelly danceI'm a week back from Tribal Massive and as usual with that sort of thing I don't have a lot of useful thoughts I can share about the experience on the internet. Studying intensively is highly personal, and that kind of learning takes time to settle in your mind and body. So it's par for the course that I'm in a state of flux right now. I can already feel some new ideas coming through in my http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/03/tribal-massive-work-hard-play-hard-8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-1984660137451405493Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:35:00 +00002012-05-14T12:11:26.788-04:00inspirationI read a paraphrased version of this idea on a strength forum and wanted to repurpose it for dance, because damn if it ain't true-- As an advanced beginner, you'll start to notice your strengths. As an intermediate you'll get to know your weaknesses. Addressing those weaknesses is the only way to become great. Just a thought!http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/02/i-read-paraphrased-version-of-this-idea.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5983129180626540457Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:50:00 +00002012-02-03T11:43:46.927-05:00goalsprogressdrillsritualbelly dancestudioballettechniquephilosophypracticefitnessconditioningIn the comment section of my now not-so-recent rant about how people should practice their dance, a local dancer named Laura asked how I go about structuring my own practice. Being more aware and articulate about my practice is getting easier, since it's part of my Pewter curriculum and I've also started getting ready to take 8 Elements in April. So making this post is easier today than it might http://www.heatherdances.com/2012/02/my-practice.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-7062518939535946372Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:29:00 +00002012-05-16T13:42:24.191-04:00videoperformancechoreographybelly dancedark side studioMy piece from the Dark Salon/Opening Party at The Dark Side Studio on December 10, 2011. Choreography! Music is Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World" covered by Ellie Goulding (the version from BBC live lounge, if you know it). I had a lot of help from my kickass teacher Audra making, refining and dancing this piece. Having a kickass teacher is pretty much the best thing.http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/12/heather-at-dark-salon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5892197140430623041Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:16:00 +00002011-12-05T15:53:27.144-05:00artemotionproblemspracticeinspirationHere's what I think about practice and dance. Not even what to practice, when or how often. Just the concept itself. This obviously doesn't apply to people taking a class for fun, or for cross-training or just to try it out. I'm thinking more about the ever-growing number of us who more or less live for dance. And I know that there are a lot of us.I'm grateful to my parents for continuously http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/12/strong-feelings-about-practicing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-6126603391360502197Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:05:00 +00002011-11-24T09:33:46.436-05:00feetbelly danceballettechniquepracticeconditioningWhat's a tendu? Well it is a ballet term, so you can call it something else if you want. Personally I think calling it "the one where you stick your leg out" sounds a lot less pretty, but whatever, right? In essence, a tendu is this (though the person who made this image appears to have spelled tendu with an -e):Maybe that looks out of context.Here's another tendu:And another:This is probably http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/11/tendu.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-2423621410705858300Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:51:00 +00002011-10-25T16:31:54.563-04:00belly dancephilosophyfitnessconditioningWarning: So I'm not a certified personal trainer. I am YMCA certified in Group Fitness Leadership - Group Resistance, although I missed my continuing education hours last year, so I need to re-test. To be honest, I've been nervous about making this post, because I don't want it to come across as though I'm recommending anything. I've just been asked quite a bit about my lifestyle and habits, so http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/10/my-fitness-and-nutrition-habits.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-1857298998295747772Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +00002011-10-07T11:32:39.931-04:00teachingbelly danceclassesphilosophyinspirationreadingbusinessI just read a very insightful, well developed post by Lori, co-owner and operator of Wild Lily Dance Centre. It's about the qualities that make a great dance teacher. I found myself reading and nodding and thinking "yeah, totally!" and I wanted to share this with you.In the future, I know I'll be passing this post around to anyone when this topic comes up. My favourite bit:We all take a little ofhttp://www.heatherdances.com/2011/10/teacher-read-this.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-865463947044808911Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:39:00 +00002011-09-14T11:58:37.951-04:00performancegoalsprogressnewsteachingbelly danceclassesinspirationI am very proud to announce that I will be dancing with the stunning Danielle Davies at the Toronto Women in Dance 2011 Showcase at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on October 15!Danielle and I started working together officially in April of this year, but we'd been talking about creating work together for almost a full year at that point. We made choreography for the Bassnectar remix of Lights byhttp://www.heatherdances.com/2011/09/so-much-goodness-happening-this-fall.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-4578734971689734811Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:36:00 +00002012-05-14T12:13:27.696-04:00videoperformancehttp://www.heatherdances.com/2011/08/dancing-at-rockhouse-in-st-johns.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-2337029469798203922Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:39:00 +00002011-07-22T11:41:39.859-04:00workshopstravelnewsteachingI'm excited and a little overwhelmed to announce that within 24 hours of my initial announcement, Work Hard, Play Hard had sold out! I'm working on adding a second slot for the same weekend, and have received a few emails from people who would be interested in attending.Please contact me at info@heatherdances.com if you'd like to be there, as I'll only be able to go ahead with it if there is http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/07/work-hard-play-hard-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-7965011402907996740Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:28:00 +00002011-07-19T16:36:42.643-04:00workshopstravelnewsteachingbelly danceclassesbusinessI'm happy to announce that I will be teaching a workshop in St. John's on August 21!You can learn all the details, RSVP and chat about it on the Facebook event page, but here's the low-down on what I'll be teaching. It's called Work Hard, Play Hard.For the first time since moving to Toronto in 2009, Heather Labonté will be teaching bellydance in St. John's!Join Heather for Work Hard, Play Hard, http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/07/workshop-in-st-johns.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5505265106010737996Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:58:00 +00002011-07-15T09:35:58.098-04:00artgoalsprogressphilosophypracticeinspirationconditioningSo this morning I was listening to a talk by Ira Glass, of This American Life fame, who has a great perspective on the issue of self-critique and getting better. And some important advice, which is that you have to stick with it. If you're a longtime reader, you might remember last year when I was going through a major downswing. I felt like my work would never live up to my own critique because http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/07/and-i-still-love-word-sinusoidal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-729394200115938073Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:14:00 +00002012-05-14T12:13:40.331-04:00videoperformancenewsbelly danceGot my act together and made an official Heather Labonté YouTube channel. This is where you can find my work, links to some work I've done with Lavish and other collaborations. There's more to come in the next few days, but for now, here's some work from about six months back at the Dark Salon. Going forward I'll be posting a few more recent performance videos, tidbits from works in progress andhttp://www.heatherdances.com/2011/06/im-on-youtube.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-7635441531795760133Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:34:00 +00002011-06-27T15:03:09.036-04:00performancegoalsprogresstravelnewslavishinspirationThe Affogato tour is officially over as of yesterday afternoon! I am back in Toronto and back to real life. Everything that I put on hold until "after Affogato" is suddenly very real and I have lots of things to get done.Things I am currently thinking about:unconfirmed but upcoming performancesRachel Brice intensive this weekend!videos to make to apply for showsexistential crisisGoing to be http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/06/crazy-times-on-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5467504890996339460Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:14:00 +00002011-06-02T16:40:40.466-04:00performancelavishbelly danceinspirationI'm a bucket of feelings today.Excited, nervous, happy, empowered, overwhelmed, inspired. Preparing for Affogato's been a long road and I can't believe our very last regular rehearsal is tonight. Our premiere is tomorrow night. I am leaving for Montreal on Tuesday. It's all happening so fast!We performed some excerpts at Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sunday this weekend, to a very warm http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/06/on-edge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-2341448756635496043Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:01:00 +00002011-05-16T11:24:11.965-04:00workshopsprogressnewslavishchoreographypracticeconditioningSo I've been working my butt off on Affogato, which is Lavish's full length show, playing in Toronto, Montreal and Wakefield in June. Crazy excited. So much has been happening. You can learn more about it and buy tickets here.I've been mentioning it here and there, but it felt worth noting that it's where I've been focusing all my dance-related energy these days. It's so amazing to see what has http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/04/affogato-and-updates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-9202615100665729106Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:43:00 +00002011-04-14T10:01:27.535-04:00emotionprogressnewsphilosophyI said I was going to write about this awhile ago, and I did not. Now I think I can speak to it a little better, if only because at this point it may be a bit weird that I haven't really acknowledged some things yet here.A lot of things changed when I moved to Toronto a year and a half ago. My dance career. My non-dance career. My lifestyle, my attitude, my cat's attitude, my goals. My http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/04/on-body-image.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-2424261824324620444Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:10:00 +00002011-04-07T17:12:21.779-04:00performanceprogressinspirationSomehow this morning, looking through stuff online, I stumbled on pictures from the first time I ever performed belly dance. I was 19 or 20, and while I definitely had dance experience, I did not have belly dance experience and I was a couple years out of practice dancing on any stage. Whatever, irrelevant.Generally speaking, I always cringe at many older pictures of myself because they're http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/04/oh-look-there-i-am.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-4152494189213949138Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:01:00 +00002011-03-31T15:39:36.493-04:00artmusicinspirationI spend an absurd amount of time researching music for dance.About an hour or so a day, on average, of active research where I seek out new artists based on what I lack (e.g. "I have very little upbeat instrumental music"). That's usually my lunch hour. I leave music on almost all day and keep a running list of artists I need to check out more in depth.Most songs I never listen to more than oncehttp://www.heatherdances.com/2011/03/music-research.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-4251103532250266579Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:16:00 +00002011-03-25T12:05:29.182-04:00travelnewsteachingbelly danceinspirationThings that are going on.I taught my second full night of classes at the Dark Side Studio last night. It was a really good experience, and definitely made me realize how far I've come since I was teaching in St. John's. I used to be intimidated by teaching, for a number of reasons, but it feels really different and amazing now.The sense of legitimacy and authority is coming and I don't feel very http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/03/when-i-grow-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-5839647431369045870Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:24:00 +00002011-02-25T19:40:08.799-05:00workshopstravelphilosophyinspirationYesterday morning I posted an entry that ended like this:I had a dream last night that I had a gig in St. John's. On the subject of the passage of time, it's been a year and a half since I performed on home turf. That actually really saddens me--I haven't been home nearly enough, and never at a time when a show was happening. I've grown a lot as a person and an artist in that time, so I'm http://www.heatherdances.com/2011/02/life-is-funny.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather Labonté)1