Belly Dance Geek Blog
Haiti Giveaway Winner
The winner of the giveaway for Haiti is Tondo of Windsor, Ontario.Tondo made her donation to the Red Cross of Canada, and her prize is a personal video critique worth $125.Congrats Tondo!
read moreAuthentic Facial Expression: It’s About Doing, Not Being
I was a child actor. Not the kind who robs a 7-11 in their 20s. Just the kind that does a lot of plays and makes a little money, but never gets even locally famous. One of my most valuable lessons came not from my professional work, but from my high school acting teacher. While we were rehearsing for Steel Magnolias, she told the cast to try to “be sleepy”. We stretched, we yawned… and we overdid it. But when she told us to try to stay awake, it was a different story. As I watched my cast-mates...
read moreDonate to Relief Efforts in Haiti, and Be Entered to Win a Free Video Critique
Make a donation to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, or Heifer International by Tuesday, and be entered in a drawing for a free video critique worth $125. Here’s how to enter:1) Make a donation of at least $20 to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres), or Heifer International by next Tuesday, January 20th. 2) Email me confirmation by 5pm EST next Wednesday, January 21st.After you have made your donation, you should see a confirmation page with the details of your donation. You can print that to PDF or...
read moreWhat Can I Do to Help You in 2010?
My friend Dave Charest posed this question today, and it’s a good one. So now I’m asking you:What are your goals for 2010? What can I do to help you get there?Leave a comment below!
read moreHow NOT Winning the Lottery Helps You Get What You Want
TRANSCRIPT (Approximate)How NOT Winning the Lottery Helps You Get What You WantOne of my family’s Christmas traditions is that everyone receives a lottery ticket in their Christmas stocking. When I was little it was fun: you’d play the game, scratch off the ticket, and maybe win two dollars to blow on candy. But as I got older, I realized that there was a much more subtle present there: the permission to dream about what I really want.Small DreamsWhen we dream, we tend to dream small. We limit ourselves to what we think is...
read moreHow “Up and Over” Eye Contact Can Improve Your Stage Presence
When Jillina swept onto the stage and winked at me, I almost jumped out of my seat. I have mixed feelings about the Belly Dance Superstars, but in that moment, I felt like a star-struck fan: THE Jillina just winked at me! It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that she couldn’t possibly have singled me out. I danced on that same stage three years earlier, so I know that you can’t see any faces in the crowd when the stage lights are on. And then it hit me; she must have been using “up & over” eye contact. What is...
read moreHow Do You Like Your Articles?
In the last 15 months, I’ve been laid up with two serious injuries in a row. I’m still recovering from the second one, and I want to perform so badly that I’m practically crawling the walls! But on the plus side, that leaves me a lot more time to spend in front of the computer. And I haven’t wasted it on computer games!I’ve built up a whole stash of articles about improv, stage presence, teaching, video and video podcast production, the business of belly dance, etc.I’m really excited to share these topics...
read moreImprovisation Toolkit Volume 2 Pre-Order + Give-Away
Improvisation Toolkit Volume 2: Structure will be released on February 25th, 2010, and is now available to pre-order!You can buy just the DVD, or my special premium package, which includes a bonus DVD on expression in improv, plus a personal video critique worth $125.Pre-Order Volume 2 If you’re new to the series, be sure to start with Volume 1: Movement Recall. It’s tempting to skip ahead, but resist that urge! This series is sequential, so you won’t get the full benefit out of the material in Volume 2 until you have...
read moreThe Improvisation Toolkit Series is Expanding!
It’s been just over a year since I released Volume 1 of the Improvisation Toolkit. In that time, my vision for this project has evolved.As I’ve delved deeper into this program, and hear from you about your improv challenges, I’ve realized that there’s much more I want to share with you about improvisation than can fit into three disks.I tried revising my scripts to squeeze it all in, but every time I cut a concept or exercise, I felt like I was short-changing you. So I took a look at this project with the eyes of a...
read moreHow Opening Your Teeth Brightens Your Stage Presence
I can’t wake up in the dark. Rising before dawn is impossible, but even just waking up with the blinds closed feels like pulling teeth. And since I can’t sleep with the bright streetlights outside my window, that makes for some zombie-like mornings. The only way I can feel even remotely human is to open the blinds at dawn, so the rising sunshine can wake me up. A closed expression may be shuttering your stage presence, and preventing it from shining on your audience. Why Is An Open...
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