tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21232515767903013312012-01-19T14:57:37.013-05:00heather labonte - modern bellydance and dance in toronto, canadaHeather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-70625189395359463722011-12-15T21:29:00.005-05:002011-12-15T21:38:58.517-05:00

My 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.

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-58921971404306230412011-12-05T15:16:00.007-05:002011-12-05T15:53:27.144-05:00

Here'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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-61266033913605021972011-11-22T09:05:00.003-05:002011-11-24T09:33:46.436-05:00

What'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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-24236214107058583002011-10-25T13:51:00.011-04:002011-10-25T16:31:54.563-04:00

Warning: 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-18572989982957477722011-10-07T11:00:00.002-04:002011-10-07T11:32:39.931-04:00

I 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 of

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-8654639470448089112011-09-14T11:39:00.004-04:002011-09-14T11:58:37.951-04:00

I 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 by

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-45787349716897348112011-08-29T10:36:00.000-04:002011-08-29T10:37:24.892-04:00

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-23370294697982039222011-07-22T11:39:00.002-04:002011-07-22T11:41:39.859-04:00

I'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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-79650114029079967402011-07-19T16:28:00.003-04:002011-07-19T16:36:42.643-04:00

I'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,

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-55052651060107379962011-07-15T08:58:00.007-04:002011-07-15T09:35:58.098-04:00

So 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-7293942001159380732011-06-29T21:14:00.000-04:002011-06-29T21:15:17.375-04:00

Got 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 and

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-76354415317957601332011-06-27T14:34:00.005-04:002011-06-27T15:03:09.036-04:00

The 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-54675048909963394602011-06-02T16:14:00.006-04:002011-06-02T16:40:40.466-04:00

I'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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-23414487566354960432011-04-28T12:01:00.005-04:002011-05-16T11:24:11.965-04:00

So 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-92026151006657291062011-04-12T09:43:00.001-04:002011-04-14T10:01:27.535-04:00

I 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-24242618243246204442011-04-07T12:10:00.001-04:002011-04-07T17:12:21.779-04:00

Somehow 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-41524941892139491382011-03-31T15:01:00.003-04:002011-03-31T15:39:36.493-04:00

I 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 once

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-42511035322502665792011-03-15T10:16:00.009-04:002011-03-25T12:05:29.182-04:00

Things 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-58396474313690458702011-02-25T19:24:00.002-05:002011-02-25T19:40:08.799-05:00

Yesterday 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

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-35805663394891924642011-02-24T10:12:00.001-05:002011-02-25T12:06:44.183-05:00

Heading out to Tribal Massive tomorrow. Very excited, pretty much all packed up and ready to go. On my way back from a business trip right now, so I had to get it done early!I've taken class from Mardi Love before, but other than her, these are all new instructors to me. That's nerve-wracking because in the last year I've really been taking consistent classes for the first time since I was much

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-9684149748984251802011-02-11T15:40:00.004-05:002011-02-11T16:03:19.667-05:00

Things I've scrawled in my dance journal during personal practice, after rehearsals or classes or workshops or on the subway since the holidays.conflict to the point that you feel physically rooted, stuck in your bodypelvic locks: issues releasing the low back muscles in conjunction with the low ab contractiontransition from small to large and soft to loud movements; small, loud movements

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-68248262437837226232011-01-12T09:29:00.003-05:002011-03-25T12:05:09.242-04:00

My domain name expired and I somehow didn't get the memo and in the 24 hours I didn't own heathersara.com it got snatched up by squatters.Needless to say I remembered to check the "renew automatically" option this time.So I will be living at http://heatherdances.com from here on out. If you link to my site from your blogroll or anywhere else, please remember to update your bookmarks!

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-11545581036681109382011-01-11T11:40:00.001-05:002011-03-25T12:05:17.461-04:00

I love Tina Fey. Like in the normal way where I saw Mean Girls and went "who's that nerd hot chick?" and secretly aspire to be Liz Lemon (I love sweater weather). But my favourite thing about Tina Fey is reading her interviews. She says some of the best things about improv/art/practice/study that I've ever heard. And just, art in general. What she says about her early experiences with Second

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-59121380698346310782010-11-17T16:52:00.005-05:002011-03-25T12:05:22.057-04:00

"Our arms start from the back because they were once wings"-Martha GrahamI posted this in tumblr months and months ago but I'm pretty sure no one reads my tumblr so I am reposting here.It's a beautiful way to think about posture and arm energy.And it's no wonder I'm so crazy about you, Martha.

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-56065253361396894172010-11-16T11:46:00.012-05:002010-11-16T12:38:47.383-05:00

The kind of music I dance to or that makes me feel dance inside me now, whether modern or classical, tends to be the kind of music that I grew up believing you could only dance ballet to. It was the only movement type I could imagine in my mind that would get across what I felt when I heard it. Soaring, lifting, sweeping hope or sadness. Big feelings. That always hurt me a little, because it was

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-75207349739551359512010-11-02T22:06:00.008-04:002010-11-02T22:21:37.448-04:00

Ok I am reading Dance History: An Introduction by Janet Adshead-Lansdale and June Layson and it is consistently blowing my mind. I have had cause to think about both dance history in general and belly dance history in specific a fair bit in the last year or so, because I realized that understanding the academic principles that guide art and dance is really important to my personal dance goals.

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-91487372455724639892010-10-27T11:52:00.007-04:002010-10-27T14:46:48.130-04:00

Inspiration and motivation is coming at me fast and furious this week. I spent all weekend in the first session of Triple Charm with Audra and am just overflowing with things to work on in the best possible way.On Friday night, Lavish danced in Belly Up's show with Carolena, and I saw her perform. It was incredibly, incredibly moving. It suddenly caused all the reasons I'm dancing to come rushing

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-29984430307161301972010-09-23T11:43:00.004-04:002010-09-23T12:16:36.944-04:00

Just a short note, but I need to say this, I think. I'm part way through writing a post about the Versatile Blogger award that Gray Fires has nominated me for, I just haven't finished it yet.But I'm interrupting regularly scheduled programming to talk a little bit about something else. Not a recent development so much as a slow burn since May or June.I'm so over picking on myself. Seriously. I've

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-69963685130864159782010-08-31T12:01:00.008-04:002010-08-31T12:50:53.106-04:00

A few months before Fringe, I asked Audra what would happen on July 11th, when STEP was over. I don't know if that question makes any sense from the outside, but it was the focus of life for a long time, and things on the other side actually looked pretty hazy from my perspective.I had no idea what was coming, because it's actually been a really busy couple of months. So, as I often do, I stopped

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-80788465367064878172010-07-27T14:25:00.000-04:002010-07-27T15:52:14.470-04:00

I read a site called Dance Advantage a lot. It has some absolutely phenomenal articles about training, professionalism, career development and practical advice for dancers. It has articles aimed at students, teachers and performers, and a lot of overlap in between. It's definitely geared towards professionals and pre-professionals which is great. I love it.Somehow this article, posted on May 13th

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-26298303061785228892010-07-08T13:35:00.002-04:002010-07-08T13:47:50.231-04:00

I can't even talk about what I'm going through this week at the Toronto Fringe Festival yet. It will be awhile before I can. What I can say is that I'm having about four hundred epiphanies a day. I've seen work I love and work I don't care for at all and it's all teaching me so goddamn much. I've performed five shows, seen ten and am not slowing down yet.I'm down in it right now and more sure

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-62575438508303845562010-06-17T14:57:00.006-04:002010-06-18T10:51:46.526-04:00

I don't know if your joints pop and crack when you dance, but mine have always done it. In particular my hips crack/pop quite audibly in a way that's quite disturbing during rehearsals and classes. It doesn't hurt but it doesn't feel entirely "right" to have your hips making noises all the time. Edit for clarity: by "feel right" I mean mentally, there is no physical sensation at all-- should have

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-39257274134909877082010-06-15T14:47:00.002-04:002010-06-15T16:01:09.766-04:00

Recent events/mini-rambles:Thanks to my partner in life/crime, I now have a Kindle. The first thing I went out and bought for it was a book called Your Move: A New Approach to the Study of Movement and Dance (Teacher's Edition) by Ann Hutchinson Guest. I struggle a little with reading dance notation and movement analysis in general (poor spatial reasoning skills ahoy!) and this book looks at

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-75581775398572387292010-06-10T10:39:00.004-04:002010-06-10T11:28:45.397-04:00

Note: I am experimenting with my update frequency and am going to try to update twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) for the next little while, so stay tuned for a more consistent experience. Thanks!Ok, full disclosure. I do not physically drill as often as I should. Some weeks are better than others and overall it's something I'm working on.Belly dancers talk about mental drilling sometimes (

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-69535610791489866162010-06-08T12:30:00.003-04:002010-06-10T12:53:23.764-04:00

I have a little trouble explaining it, but it seems like I have periods of negativity towards my own dancing followed by growth and positivity (I think this is pretty normal). It seems like my eyes improve at spotting issues before my body is able to correct them. So my perception of the quality of what I create fluctuates wildly, not just in studio but in terms of how I remember a given

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-23399468290213064952010-05-27T12:11:00.005-04:002010-05-27T12:33:51.809-04:00

I am getting really excited about all the cool things coming up soon.First, the annual recital for the Dark Side Studio, "This Ain't Egypt". I've been working on a piece that I'll be performing there so I'm nervous and excited. What I've been working on in practice and in class has been sort of different since I got here. I'm trying to relax into my own style but challenge my technique to be

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-33689184679679582402010-05-14T15:30:00.005-04:002010-05-14T16:27:28.977-04:00

I'm really interested in memory and how it relates to dance, which makes sense because although I guess you can record it, dance is ephemeral. It happens and then it's gone. I think about the idea of how people remember a piece and how that could be different from the real-time experience. It seems like an important distinction because that's the part that they'll keep with them forever.There's a

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-78744842557779831582010-04-29T12:52:00.005-04:002010-04-29T13:49:18.031-04:00

In celebration of International Dance Day I would like to talk about lots of important dance issues, but to be honest all I really want to do is go home and curl up and watch Center Stage*. For anyone who isn't a dancer (I will not entertain the idea of a dancer who hasn't seen it), Center Stage the story of Jody Sawyer, a plucky young ballerina who joins a workshop at the American Ballet Academy

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-34400377240410349762010-04-23T11:07:00.004-04:002010-04-23T11:56:47.067-04:00

Recent events roundup:Thanks to workshops with Samantha Emanuel at the Dark Side Studio last weekend, I am getting around to reading Conditioning for Dance by Eric Franklin. The imagery exercises are blowing my mind. A must-read for dancers.I am thinking of picking up a thera-band, having seen some of the stuff you can use it for in the book. Anyone have any experiences working that way?Also

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-29910178213678398602010-03-29T14:35:00.010-04:002010-04-08T08:57:10.826-04:00

I started wondering what you would call it if you choreographed something other than people moving their bodies. It's hard to think of non-obscure scenarios where it's even possible. What about if you choreographed a piece for remote control cars, or choreographed traveling mice by leaving treats in a set pattern? To be choreography, does it have to be deliberately executed by people? Can it be

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-85747521861369815352010-03-24T12:25:00.005-04:002010-03-24T13:13:22.001-04:00

I always got really nervous about teaching before. I get little messages from my old students and other dancers in Newfoundland asking me when I'm visiting and if I'll be doing any one-off classes or workshops while I'm in town. I came here to really focus on learning and growing in my own dance, but I keep having so many opportunities to be exposed to new ideas that it would be fun to share them

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-9875654733331855212010-03-17T15:23:00.007-04:002010-03-23T13:13:34.945-04:00

Longer update forthcoming, but I want to spread the word that if you are or will be in the Toronto area in April, you should totally pick up your ticket for Inversion: H20 as soon as possible, because last I heard there were only about 20 left (and I know I've bought another one since then).I'm really excited about this show, and the workshops that weekend! I'm excited that Samantha Emanuel is

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-63195716292406797762010-02-04T12:22:00.000-05:002010-02-04T13:50:53.877-05:00

I've talked about this before. How I feel that, to varying extents, people know how to watch movies, read books, look at paintings and listen to music. Granted, for everyone to get it, even these things have to be pretty accessible-- there are still many books and movies and songs that most people think are too "abstract" or "weird". I've felt that way myself.What I also feel is that somehow

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-87536201511557281422010-02-01T13:15:00.002-05:002010-02-01T14:33:35.832-05:00

Before I get into the meat of this entry:I have moved to heathersara.com, which is awesome! You can update your bookmarks to reflect that, or keep visiting me at blogspot. Expect a re-design shortly, I've got something in mind!I want to throw it out there that I've been noticing lots of traffic from Europe lately-- Croatia, Russia, Poland and Italy in particular! I'd love to hear what you guys

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-54865541263932082302010-01-05T14:00:00.003-05:002010-01-05T14:12:04.412-05:00

I've been working steadily on my pieces for Katharsis over the past few weeks so I haven't been thinking as philosophically about my dance. I find that any abstract thoughts that I have about dancing while I’m “in the trenches” of creating or producing or learning sort of manifest themselves later. Which has always been a really interesting experience for me. In the end I don’t dance so I can

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-40238755182460939272009-12-11T14:09:00.004-05:002009-12-11T19:06:57.248-05:00

Living here so far is amazing. Changing location has helped me refocus and re-establish healthy practice habits. I'm working as a membership/communications cooridinator for a travel industry organization, and I'm really liking it. I just finished the Mira Betz Performance Intensive. It was five days of total immersion in choreography, character and personal development as well as discussion about

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-67496236369579086182009-11-22T11:54:00.008-05:002010-02-11T11:39:09.821-05:00

So, moving. Even more challenging than I thought. Possibly "way more". But I am here in Toronto, safe and sound!This was my first experience moving from one province to another, so it took a lot out of me. Fun adventures from the experience included:Packing up an entire house in 24 hours (when we finally got in touch with the movers we wanted to use, they were leaving the next day)Consequently

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-9573648415316739922009-10-04T17:25:00.005-04:002010-01-21T08:57:23.524-05:00

I haven't been writing as much as usual lately-- crazy things have been happening in my life. That's what this entry is dedicated to!To start out then, I've been saying since I started keeping this blog that it's not easy to try to make it as a professional belly dancer in Newfoundland-- although it can be a very fulfilling place to enjoy belly dance and to learn. Some of the reasons belly dance

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-48504699726983010512009-09-16T10:49:00.011-04:002009-11-20T15:27:27.628-05:00

So this is generally my belly dancing blog, but one of the skills I've been working on is making my own work and being a better belly dance business woman. Organizing shows and producing them professionally is a big part of that, and I was recently offered the opportunity to produce for a local burlesque troupe. Again, I'm not a burlesque dancer, but as a belly dancer I work closely with the

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-31604751600993292022009-09-01T12:39:00.002-04:002009-09-01T13:04:57.876-04:00

I'm going to write a longer update about producing a show by myself for the first time later in the week, but for now I have a bunch of unrelated goodness to show you. I thought my head would explode a minimum of nine times last week, but I got through and apparently I fit the classic definition of insanity because I'm about to repeat the same act over again and I expect different results!First,

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-75871388547805611572009-08-21T11:54:00.001-04:002009-08-21T11:56:46.475-04:00

In Certification: Part 1 I talked about why it might be an ok idea to have certifications in belly dance, or at least a few really good ones. This is more about why I think we don't much of a separation between high quality and low quality.I'd suggest that the belly dance community needs to start creating a better separation between legitimate certification and low-requirement, resume filler

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-21966430657921910962009-08-21T09:58:00.007-04:002009-08-21T11:54:30.865-04:00

I've been reading a lot of really heated discussion about a Gilded Serpent article that Miles Copeland wrote recently about contests, competitions and certifications in the belly dance world. His thesis seems to be that:"in the end for me it’s “seeing is believing”! It is not the credits on your resume; it is what you deliver on stage, or at an audition, or in a workshop that counts. If you can

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-71007876553190684322009-08-18T10:04:00.003-04:002009-08-18T10:22:13.881-04:00

So, if you haven't read part of one of my dance-iversary entry, here it is. I talked about when I decided to go all the way and what's happened since then, looking back. Looking forward, here's looking at next August 18th. This seems like a really good time to establish some goals. So, without further ado, my goals for year two of Heather Sara trying to make it as a professional belly dancer.

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-68498350831422253022009-08-18T09:00:00.004-04:002009-08-18T10:23:59.313-04:00

Scary.It's been one year since I decided I wanted to be a belly dancer when I grew up. I had recently finished my degree, I was 21, just performed outside Newfoundland for the first time and I thought I knew everything about belly dance. The important thing is that I promptly learned how little I knew, I haven't really performed outside Newfoundland again (Winter Sparkle potentially excepted),

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-26492198008048082582009-08-12T14:04:00.002-04:002009-08-18T10:26:25.040-04:00

I read the War of Art last year and it kind of changed my mind about a lot of things. I'm not an avid reader of self help books and I admit that I have been mildly perplexed by people who are, in the past. I don't know if that's what this book is, but if it is, perhaps I have been reading some of the wrong things up until now.One of the things recommended in the book is instead of trying to just

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-78088584270348250692009-07-30T08:52:00.007-04:002009-08-18T10:28:22.901-04:00

I am such a nerd. I've been reading Proust's In Search of Lost Time and it inspired me to make a costume. I realized as it started to develop as a costume that I have had a dance in mind for awhile that I haven't consciously been very aware of yet. I've been dancing "about" (and thinking about) memory and the nature of remembering a lot in the last few weeks and so this seems like a good fit.

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-79927976421387300152009-07-20T10:15:00.004-04:002009-08-18T10:29:32.807-04:00

I haven't disappeared, I promise! I'm working on a piece for Belly Dancing Diva, working at the new studio that opened last week (oh my god it's going so well!) and emotionally and physically processing the things that I did/that happened at Pewter earlier this month. The best workshop experience of my life, easily, but I honestly can't really talk about it. Not only because the things that were

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-77571895713792297362009-06-30T12:53:00.004-04:002009-06-30T13:24:33.229-04:00

So remember that post about how crazy I get before I travel?It might be getting worse. I spend two hours yesterday sitting down trying to figure out what to pack and I didn't even open the suitcase. This was all pre-packing preparation. I'm losing my mind.I discovered (just in time!) that Princess Farhana has the very best guide to packing for belly dancers, which has been indispensably helpful

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-27431441242729752292009-06-26T12:45:00.005-04:002009-06-26T15:27:28.960-04:00

I am a total softie (a softie who doesn't have television so I only just saw this today) so I cried when I saw this. I want to see belly dancers dance with this kind of raw emotion. I want to be able to do it too. New goal-- don't just emote 10% so I can say I did. Emote 100% so you can see I did and so we can all feel I did. I've mentioned a million times emotion in performance is something I'm

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-22813773456986924892009-06-22T18:40:00.003-04:002009-06-22T18:51:14.755-04:00

I just wanted to post with some news!First, the lovely and eloquent Shay of Adventures of The Tribal Dancer wrote an entry recently where she mentioned some of the thoughts I had in this entry. Her entry that refers to mine is here. I've been following Shay's blog for awhile now, so needless to say, it was highly flattering that she talked about mine. I'd recommend reading anything she posts

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-89779226198792789952009-06-15T10:22:00.000-04:002009-06-15T09:01:23.400-04:00

I've been keeping a paper journal for a workshop I'll be taking next month, and I'm finding that writing out my feelings has been really enlightening. I've learned a lot about myself and my dancing already. In particular I seem to obsess over the same issues all the time:Why am I dancing? Why am I belly dancing? The answer seems to change every single day, but I guess that's normal. Some days I

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-89401540447322639162009-06-02T10:46:00.004-04:002009-06-02T10:55:50.739-04:00

I just had to make a quick note because I'm really excited. Last year I choreographed a combo that I couldn't actually dance at all, and although it was quite rad I had to leave it be for that reason. This year I remembered it and it's babyfood to me now! I also started working on a drum solo around Christmas that had these hip accents that speed up and eventually they get to a speed where I

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-54858913075700332262009-05-05T10:48:00.008-04:002009-05-05T11:13:33.237-04:00

I haven't been gone on purpose lately. It's just that since I came back from the Ariellah/Mira intensive I've had so many dance-related thoughts that I've been having a hard time concentrating on just one of them long enough to write a whole blog about it. There's also so much going on in my dance life!Point form news update:The studio! Illusion Studio, OhMaya's new home and a wonderful new art

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-39432113708352399712009-03-31T21:18:00.000-04:002009-03-31T21:18:10.083-04:00

The end of last summer marked my big push to start working with more known, well-established belly dance figures. I always hound these people with questions, and a lot of them involve performance skills. I grab a lot of technical stuff in workshops, but given the chance to pick someone's brain for five or ten minutes I will always ask who else they recommend I work with (hint: it's always Suhaila

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-57963787464871792382009-03-30T10:24:00.007-04:002009-03-30T10:54:39.257-04:00

Workshop prep.This is my third time traveling for dance workshops and I've translated most of my travel craziness to apply to dance related travel too. I'm going to Toronto, which is a city I've recently come to love after a good decade of indifference. Rhonda and Andrea (fellow OhMayans) and I will be taking workshops with Ariellah and Mira Betz this weekend. I really really loved Ariellah's

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-85232012910370621132009-03-10T09:30:00.004-04:002009-03-10T10:05:49.632-04:00

This weekend OhMaya had to finish work on a new piece that we've been on since just after Christmas. We'd had to put it down for a rehearsal or two now and then to finish up more pressing things (e.g. refining some stuff for the Women Who Rock event we did last week) so it's been on all of our minds that this past weekend was crunch time.Over two days we put in five hours of rehearsal (which

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-49557537728413088562009-02-27T08:17:00.003-05:002009-02-27T08:44:41.652-05:00

My dance roots are the Western basics-- ballet, jazz, modern. I think that because I studied them from a young age, they'll contextualize any dance I ever study for the rest of my life, amen. But I am rusty. Ballet, in particular is not like riding a bike. You forget. So when I got this big idea of being a dancer in any real sense, I realized I needed to go back to basics hardcore.So I got a

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-64522046170329235062009-02-16T10:50:00.003-05:002009-02-16T11:06:27.455-05:00

Another thing Winter Sparkle has inspired me to work on is creating negative space in dance. Staying still is a problem for me. I'm learning to be a little less frantic in the quality of my movements, but I have so much trouble posing, stopping, slowing or any other form of not moving frenetically.All of my favourite dancers stay still a lot. I admire dancers who say so much with just a little. I

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-66924740687591487242009-02-09T11:12:00.006-05:002009-02-11T08:40:00.447-05:00

Winter Sparkle was my second experience leaving the province for belly dancing purposes. I'm sitting here in the Toronto airport and I'm going to try to express everything before I lose the feeling.It was an incredible experience, I had a crazy amount of fun, and I really tried to push my body and my mind to go to some new places. I have a lot more to say about it, but the truth is that I'd

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-86322093540403593912009-02-02T08:33:00.006-05:002009-02-02T10:04:30.826-05:00

OhMaya performs sometimes in shows hosted by burlesque groups. I love burlesque, even though it's not my discipline of choice. I love the girls who do it locally, I love the aesthetic, I love the art, and I fully support the idea that it can be very empowering. And the way it's taught here in Newfoundland absolutely embodies everything I love about it. So OhMaya (and sometimes just me) performs

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2123251576790301331.post-26375236656028107772009-01-30T08:27:00.004-05:002009-01-30T09:07:51.620-05:00

Well we have the OhMaya site, but I have been tossing around the idea of a more personal place to talk about dancing and everything that goes along with it. So this morning I got up the energy/nerve/time to do just that, which is what you see here, now.I am resisting the urge to forgo talking about anything relevant right this second (I am a chronic procrastinator). Instead I'll dive into

Heather Labontéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03403162027141453302noreply@blogger.com1