Happy New Year!

Thank you most kindly to all of you for your kind comments, continued support and readership over the course of the last three years. I literally wouldn't bother if it weren't for you.

2013 is shaping up to be a mega-dance year for me already and I can't wait to get going! It also means that there'll be a whole lot more fodder for the ever-hungry blog: yes, I am actually going to start properly writing posts again. Don't pull that sceptical face at me and my soon-to-be washboard abs.

Here's a photo of me* on Christmas Day. Sorry I didn't get around to wishing you all a Cool Yule, but I hope it was filled with only wonderful and happy moments. May 2013 bring you a whole lot more sensational shimmying.

*It's Ann Margaret, but I look exactly like this. And our living rooms are also eerily similar.

Random thoughts on my first solo #1

12 Days of Christmas, Day 2: Oh, yes they do!

It's Christmas. For some reason, tartan is heavily associated with this time of the year. Pantomime is a staple of the English Christmas experience.

Tartan + Pantomime + Belly dancers = Scottish belly dancers doing belly dance pantomime:



Scrumptiously, they seem to do this every year. Visit Belly Dance Pantos for more.

More belly dance from a panto is here.

12 Days of Christmas, Day 1: Nutcracker: Arabian Dance

Royal Ballet performance feat. Cindy Jourdain, David Pickering, Fernando Montano and Johannes Stepanek (via I Dance Tribal At Night).



Ouch. Now THAT'S a nutcracker -- even if you don't have nuts.

Harem dancing: Vengeance of Ursus (1961)

Soon I will have the energy to blog about how the Thamesis Hafla went (damn well, actually -- we raised over £400 for Refuge and a good time was had by all. And no one did bloody Gangnam Style, even as a joke). In the meantime, Christina and I would like to thank all the wonderful dancers who gave so generously of their time and talent:

Maelle
Sarasvati
Hannah Mi
Norvell
The Saidi Sistas
Sofeya
The Brixton Bellydancers
Zara
Nuxya
La Zingara
Zana

To tide us over, here's this lovely and haunting dance sequence from Vengeance of Ursus, via the Peplums blog. With bonus leopard!

IMDB summary: "The evil King Zagro has designs on the beautiful Princess Sira. He wants to marry her so he can take over her kingdom and add it to his own. When Sira is kidnapped, Ursus leaves his farm to rescue her and to eventually lead a revolt against King Zagro."

Stars of the 1970s: Rafael and Juliana (pt 2)

I found it amusing to read this article
as though it were being read aloud by
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy

One of the delightful things about writing a blog -- that no one EVER mentions -- is that people dig Googling themselves and following links to posts about themselves, so you can probably draw in people you've always wanted to meet by mentioning them a lot. (Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender.) It's a bit like summoning up the Candyman by reciting his name into a mirror, but with a less bloody outcome.

In this manner, even a weirdo little shack like this, stuck as it is out in one of the lonelier badland fringes of the worldwide web, will occasionally be visited by Greatness.

The downside is that, once someone I've blogged about makes contact, I get struck with a case of Bad Housekeeping Nerves. "What did I say about that person? Was I polite? Was I too snarky? Was I too fawning? Did I spell their name correctly?"

But most often, people are utterly charming (see Calliope). A while ago I posted on the pulchritudinous Juliana, of George Abdo album-cover fame. In the comments, Feralhousecat and I indulged in some speculation as to whether or not Juliana was 'for real' because there is no video of her on the internet. Lo and behold, some time later Rafael emailed me with another article about her! And then he emailed me again to say that they'd put some videos on their website! Let me tell you, they are the nicest people. Ever. Hit the jump for a readable version of the article Rafael so kindly emailed me, and the chance to see him and Juliana in motion. I promise it's worth it -- among other things, the article is weapons-grade cheese and you get to see Juliana dancing in this little number: