What are your priorities?

So this blog post has been a long time coming - over the Christmas season I indulged and took some time away from dance to really focus on me and have some delicious "down time".

And I'm glad I did!

This year has already been a crazy year - and it's only the end of January!

I've started a new day job - working for an incredible Hospice within Fundraising, which is a blast! And really is a rewarding career. I'm buying a house with my gorgeous partner in dance, and in life, Jim, and to top it all off am teaching some amazing classes, creating some beautiful costumes and working on my yoga practice!

This got me to thinking - how on earth am I going to decide what takes priority, and how am I going to fit all this darn stuff in to my week!?
I thought I would share with you, ways to prioritise, organise, and work out your time, so that you get the most from all of your hobbies, dance activities, and your work!

1. Prioritise what you love - This is something that Amy Sigil says in one of her Datura Online classes that really stuck with me. If you LOVE dance - schedule that in to your week first. Make specific time slots in your diary, whether its an hour before work, or 15 minutes when you get home before you cook tea, make sure you schedule it in, so you get to do what you love. Same goes for other things - like if you love having a bath, schedule it in! Make time for the things you love! It may mean waking up half an hour earlier, but sometimes, it really is worth it.

2. Get rid of the things that don't make you feel excited - Is that Zumba class just a bind? Ditch it. Is trying to swim once a week just eating into precious drawing or sewing time? Ditch it. Do you resent having to sew a bellydance costume for your next show? Ditch it. Your free time is precious, don't waste it on sub par activities that don't excite you. Instead, dedicate more time to the thing you love, or find an activity that does excite you! It can feel tough, you may feel obliged to keep going to those rotary club meetings, or monthly bake sales, but if you aren't passionate about it, and it doesn't get your juices flowing - find something that does! Learn to be ruthless with your most precious commodity - time.

3. Plan Ahead - Make a point of planning things in advance. This will really help you to work out what works for you and your schedule, and also what you can fit into your year! I don't know about you, but I very often say I will do things, or go places, and at the end of the year, nothing's changed! Planning in advance will really help that - you will be more likely to stick to your plans, and it also gives you more things to look forward to!

4. Get a calendar - and use it! - It may take a bit of time to get into the habit of using a calendar, but by gum does it make life easier when planning, organising and arranging your time. I love my gmail calendar as I can sync it to my phone, laptop and emails, and can sort out nifty reminders and alerts. You should see some of the things I schedule in - sometimes stuff as mundane as taking an hour for a bath and pamper session - but if you don't plan it in somewhere, you'll never get round to it!


I hope these tips help you guys to start thinking about your own schedules and the way you organise your time, above all though - make sure you make yourself the top priority.

Final Note for the Day:

Play around with ways to plan your time - spreasdsheets, calendars, diaries - use what works for you best! I often use a mixtures of excel, diaries, and more often than not, post-its!

If you want to use this post in your e-zine, blog or newsletter, please go ahead! But make sure that you credit Louise Brooks - www.louisebellydancer.co.uk

Puttin' On the Ritz - The Glamour of Stage Shows!

Helen and Cherie

So it's been rather quiet on the blog front recently, and with good reason! This Wednesday just gone (22nd October) was the Sheikh It! Bellydance Show! Organised and put together by myself and Natasha with the idea in mind that we wanted to get together as many professional dancers as possible and put on a theatre show to the general public to really showcase the talent and skill of the dancers, as well as showing what a remarkable and versatile dance form bellydance is!

So What's it like to put on a stage show?

Left to Right: Cherie, Kassandra, Amy,
Mim, Sabrynah, Natasha

Well - it's definitely different to doing a normal showcase that's for sure! There is so much to think about! I think the biggest challenge for me was the technical aspect of the show, lighting, timings, rehearsals... It's all a lot to take in if you are just used to being able to rock up, do a bit of decoration, and then have the dancers do their thing!

But despite all the stress that comes with organising a big show, the best thing about doing a theatre show is the magic when it all comes together, and the audience comes in, everything goes quiet, and the first performance begins. It really is an incredible experience, and is worth every sleepless night!

One of the most awesome things about doing this show was being able to collaborate with so many different dancers, to form new bonds, learn from each other, and really create a spectacular show!

Is performing in a stage show different to performing in a showcase?

 Oh yes! The lights are brighter, the stage is (usually) bigger, and there is a lot more to think about! It's often harder to interact with the audience like you would do in a restaurant or a smaller more intimate hafla or showcase, and you really have to make sure you look out into the room, despite the fact that it looks pitch black because of the bright lights shining up at you! Plus, you can really go to town with make-up and costuming, as the lights will really pick up crystals, sparkles and glitter and more elaborate costumes look incredible on stage.

The backstage area is often more crowded as well in the theatre, and full of hustle and bustle, girls putting on makeup, practicing pieces, helping each other into costumes, swapping jewellery and sharing cosmetics. There is such a sense of camaraderie before a big show, and it creates a real "back stage family" feeling. There is definitely nothing like it!

Left To Right: Kassandra, Natasha, Mim, Me!, Cherie

What should I do if I want to put on my own show?

Research venues to start off with, think about how much it would cost to hire and how much you would need to charge for tickets and minimum ticket sales to make the show viable. Once you are happy with all this, then invite dancers to perform! Everyone loves to be invited to perform at a show, so send out some feelers and make some connections! Make this a chance to network with dancers in your local area and to make new friends. Also, think about if you want your show to have a theme or a story running through it, lots of showcases have themes that the dancers stick to which can work really well to build a show around!

Final Note for the Day:

Bellydance is a great way to meet people! In your next dance class, or the next event you go to, try and have a chat with a dancer you haven't met yet! It's a good way to make new connections, and you never know, you might just find a bellydance soulmate!

Want to catch up on my 100 day Belly Dance Challenge? Don't forget to check out my YouTube playlist here.

If you want to use this post in your e-zine, blog or newsletter, please go ahead! But make sure that you credit Louise Brooks - www.louisebellydancer.co.uk