Eat Dance Live

For all of you who actually got that joke, hah, sorry... So I have a new addiction: Hooping . By that I'm referring to the cooler version of hula hooping. It's not the kind you used to do as a little kid, but the awesome adult version, using bigger and heavier hoops. I totally recommend this to everyone! Why am I picking up this random hobby though? 1) As an avid summer festival go-er, I love to acquire as many miscellaneous talents as I possibly can. My long-term romance with tribal fusion aside, I've attempted poi (a skill I have left up to Andrew, seeing as how most people argue it was started as a flexibility exercise for male Maori warriors), have some pretty mad skills with the chinese yo-yo , tried Acro Yoga quite a few times, love love love our Om Gym , and more. Now I'm seeing hooping as part of my array of renaissance woman talents. Once my skill increases, I'm seeing LED hoops, fire hoops , and so much more... 2) As an avid dancer, hoopi...

Before I get into anything else, check out Katie's most recent giveaway for some awesome stuff from CSN . Today was Week 2, Day 2 of my Chakra cleansing ritual. After last week's successful one-on-one time with my Root Chakra , next stop was Sacral Chakra re-alignment, otherwise known as Swadhisthana . Located in the sacrum, your Sacral Chakra corresponds to the proper functioning of your sexual organs, and thus your hormones and reproductive cycles. A healthy S wadhisthana opens us up to the development of our creativity, our passion, our joy, and enthusiasm. Given its location, our Sacral Chakra pumps all our energy from our base of our spine to our brains, keeping it young, vibrant, and nourished. Given that function, it's directly related to our sexual energy and virility. That makes total sense: an open sacral chakra simply means you are able to feel, whether emotionally or physically. It allows us to emotionally and physically connect with others, and generally be o...

We are interrupting Man Wednesdays, for this special announcement: I can't believed I missed my blog's one year birthday five days ago! Mostly, I can't believe that on April 23rd, my humble little blog turned 1 . To celebrate my blog birthday, here's an absurdly non-raw cake I made for a friend's little girl in 2007. Yes, those are all cookies, and yes, I did use an organic hazelnut chocolate spread (aka. an organic version of Nutella) as mortar for my castle. P.S. It was filled with M&Ms. Happy Birthday , Eat Dance Live ! But like anyone on their birthday, this makes me think about what I have achieved or how far I've come since I began writing this blog. What was my intention when I started writing this blog? How much have I 'Eaten, Danced, and Lived' since April 23, 2009? Eat: I think anyone who reads this blog knows that I have done my share of amazing eating since last year, but I never would have imagined that within a few weeks of my st...

When people go to workshops, be they dance or otherwise, we have a certain conception of what to expect, and what we want to get out of the experience. We tend to want to "get out money's worth" or get the most bang for out buck. For dance anyway, we've become stuck in this paradigm that we need to learn lots of new combinations and dance moves, master a new choreography, and/or feel the burn by having a crazy intense workout with everything from yoga, warm-ups, drills, isolations, ab work, leg work, arm work, chest work... the list goes on and out need to achieve never ends. This weekend that paradigm shifted when I attended a two-day Rachel Brice workshop hosted by Sahara Dance Studio right here in DC. Like 99.9% of the tribal dance community, Rachel is something of my dance hero (read: total girl crush). After seeing tribal for the first time ever in Canada, my second exposure to the style was through her Tribal Fusion: Yoga Isolation & Drills DVD...

I don't know who wrote this, but it's become something of a mantra to many in the dance community. After reading it, I understood why right away. I love this poem because it very much incapsulates what dance means to me and just wanted to put that out there. For Some, dance is not just a pastime, Its an undeniable fact of living, A blissful slavery of mind, and body and soul. To rise above the ashes of mediocrity is rare, Yet the gift of dance is freely handed out to anyone Who cares to receive it Instantly shattering our daily drudgery. The path to pursue more than the usual More than what is safe and known Is wrought with time-sharpened jagged blades that cut deep, Blocking many from the road to something greater, Beyond the stunted imagination of their peers. Within the veins of the few Passion fills every sinew with sweet unquenchable purpose Calming the fear of those treacherous paths, Through each slice burns and bleeds, Still they take...