My Left Foot- a funny story

As a dancer my feet are of obvious importance to me and I do my best to protect them. I only wear heels for certain occasions and only wear really high heels if I'll be mostly sitting. And, although I am a professional bellydancer I hardly ever dance barefoot. In spite of my attempts at protecting my feet through the years it has become clear to me that my left foot is doomed. And yes, it is only the left foot. While the right foot remains pretty much unscathed, my left foot has suffered repeated injuries due to incredibly unlikely accidents, the latest of which occurred last weekend.

In order to understand the strangeness of this you have to know the history. About 7 years ago I was cooking and dropped a large glass mixing bowl right on my left big toe. It was unbelievably painful and took many months to heal but what I didn't realize was this was the start of my left foot's stroke of bad luck. A few years (and toenails) after the mixing bowl incident I started getting an artificial nail put on my left big toe because it never looked the same and I wanted to wear cute sandals. One day I was at a summer party sporting my cute sandals and fake toenail when out of nowhere some overly exuberant husky girl with mammoth sneakers rudely pushed past me and trampled on my left foot smashing the big toe. That was actually a really bad freak accident which resulted in my entire nail bed and the surrounding skin being lifted off the toe. I had an emergency in-office surgery at my podiatrists office the following Monday. A year later I developed a bone spurs on that toe due to repeated trauma. And then there’s the everyday stuff. If an object falls from the dresser it falls on my left foot. If I accidentally stub a toe it’s on my left foot. My cat scurries past me and scratches my left foot. I guess I may be sensitive to it at this point but it is really strange. I have even asked myself is it possible for one body part to have bad Karma?

I hate the fact that I never dance barefoot because it takes away from the authenticity of the dance but I have become very protective of my feet. I have been privileged to have danced with some of the greatest dancers in our area and many of them never wear shoes and no harm seems to come to them. I have watched countless times as my sister dancers dress into their thousand dollar couture costumes while standing barefoot on a bathroom, closet or basement floor while the germophobe in me quivers to hold back from yelling out “No! It’s not safe!” Meanwhile I hop around taking special care to change into my costume in a way that neither bare foot comes within a meter of the floor. I want so badly to be faithful to my art form, shun the shoes and be a real gypsy bellydancer.

So every now and then I try to do something truly crazy and last weekend at a private event I made a spur of the moment decision to dance barefoot. The event was held in a hotel meeting room, which was carpeted and seemed fairly clean. The hostess of the event showed me to the bathroom to change. I decided I'd take my shoes off last to minimize contact time with the germs. After everything was tucked in, pinned and hooked I took off my shoes, packed everything safely in my suitcase and walked out of the bathroom feeling proud that I was not worried about my feet touching the floor. Just like a real diehard gypsy bellydancer.

As the door was opened for me and I was introduced to the crowd I struck my start pose and began working the music. Then without warning a sharp pain shot from the bottom of my left foot that could be described as the sting of a large hornet. Of course in the middle of a performance what could I do but pretend nothing was wrong? After a minute the adrenaline kicked in and I completely forgot about my left foot so I was able to give the crowd everything I had. I finished my set, exited the room and floated on a performance high toward the bathroom. Performance highs have a way of making you forget a lot of things. Yes, upon seeing the bathroom door the hesitation was there but I thought no not today. Today I'm a real gypsy and I'm not going to get OCD about the germs on the floor.

So I pressed though the bathroom door threw down my suitcase and began to change back into Melissa. Then, from behind me I heard "Maam...”. I looked down to see blood all over the nasty bathroom floor. I then recalled the pain in my left foot and quickly turned it over to reveal a gash, dark red blood steadily dripping from it. Seriously...just shoot me. A hot white sensation came over me upon realizing the bathroom floor germs were now ravaging my entire system and then I went to my happy place. Somehow I managed to change back into my party clothes and clean up the floor and pack up my suitcase without being able to put my foot down. I rode all the way home with my foot wrapped in brown paper towels. The bleeding stopped but the panic attack didn't. As my husband chatted with me about who knows what I was in a tunnel. All I could think about was water and soap and rubbing alcohol.

Thankfully, the cut turned out to be small and after bandaging it didn't even hurt anymore. I decided not to cancel plans with the girls to hand out flyers in downtown Akron for our upcoming show. I even decided to wear heels thinking if I was going to be handing out flyers for a dance show I should look hot. Another brilliant idea. These particular shoes were new and although they felt fine at first two hours later they were anything but. Obviously taking them off was not an option but the pain was so intense that I began to fantasize about crawling. We ended up hitching a ride with a stoner cabbie back to our car. In the morning I awoke to see the damage- five blisters and a raw sore on the top of my left foot in addition to the bandaged cut that occurred earlier. And the right foot? It was fine.

Go figure. I have no idea what is up with my left foot but one thing I've learned- it can always get worse. So I'm trying to be happy that I at least have a working foot although I can occasionally be heard joking about cutting it off.

Love 2 Dance Instructors

Come check us out at Love 2 Dance Studio in Fairlawn, Ohio. 2872 W. Market St., Fairlawn, OH 44333

Summer Show Booked!

DDS Summer show booked at the downtown Akron main library for Friday July 31st 7-9 pm. Featuring dancers from DDS, Love 2 Dance, Cassandra Al Warda, Shanrae and Danielle Muad'dib!

Just a Reminder

Love to Dance Studio will be closed the week after the recital (June 1st- 7th) for summer break. Classes will resume with a full adult program June 8th. See you then!!

I Got Zumbafied!!

I did it!! If I look a little haggered in the picture it's because the weekend was a little greuling to say the least. Initially I had planned to go to a Zumba workshop in Youngstown, which would have been much easier but I waited until payday to purchase the workshop online and it was sold out! And that was at the early bird price too!! So I decided to go to the next closest one, which was in West Virginia, so that I could begin teaching in June as I had planned. I knew this was going to be pushing it because we had a hafla at Kan Zaman the night before. Craziness...why do I always do this stuff to myself?! I got home from the hafla at 1 am, which is actually really early on Kan Zaman time. I had my bags packed but we still had to get up at 5 am in order to be arrive promptly at the workshop. Thankfully, Joe drove with me because I really don't know how I would have coped with all of this without him. Still, anyone who knows me knows that I cannot sleep in a moving vehicle. Ever. As we were driving and the sun began to rise I started to notice I had a sore throat and felt feverish. Great. It was about a 3 hour drive and by the time we got there I was really more zombified than zumbafied lol. The class was hard. It was an 8 hour day but considering we spent a lot of time listening to the teacher and taking notes it was probably about 4-5 hours of exercise that day, an hour and a half of which was super intense. Throughout the day my fever and sore throat turned into full on flu. I would have found the class challenging if I was on my A-game and I wasn't anywhere near my A-game that day. Honestly I was proud of myself for just finishing the day. If it hadn't been for the difficulties it would have been a great experience that I would recommend to anyone who loves Zumba. My instructor was a good teacher and a really good dancer, especially at hip hop.

Now that all that's over I can't wait to start teaching! I start at Love 2 Dance Studio Fridays and Saturdays in June at 9 am so come and join me!!

We Grow Together

Many of you already know that Dance du Soleil has been operating out of the beautiful Love 2 Dance Studio, located in Fairlawn Ohio since January this year. Well, things have been going so well Andrea and I have decided to take a leap further integrating our two schools. I know changes can sometimes be hard but we believe this is going to be a fantastic opportunity for all of us in the end.

We are really excited to work together on studying a new style combining Andrea's classical dance knowledge and my traditional belly dance knowledge. In order to work together more and continue to develop this beautiful style we are going to be merging our classes and our performance troupes. The idea is for students to get the best of both Andrea and myself.

We feel we are on the verge of creating something very unique and wonderful for the city of Akron and we want anyone who loves bellydance to come and be a part of it. We plan on hosting several haflas and other events in the studio over the next year so if you are part of the bellydance community come and visit us! And for the students who want to be a part of it you don't need to be a professional you just have to Love 2 Dance!

Love 2 Dance has put together a package so that you can take ALL of the bellydance classes (Andrea's and Leyla's) at the studio for one price and it's an awesome deal. For a little bit more you can add the ballet or Zumba. Ladies this can be your gym membership this spring. Why go to a sweaty yucky gym when you can come and sweat and shimmy with us?

www.love2dancestudio.com

Congratulations to Lifesource Yoga for Being Voted as the Best Yoga Studio in Akron!!!

www.lifesourceyoga.com

Cardio Shimmy Class at Lifesource Yoga!!

Cardio Shimmy with Leyla
6 week course Wednesdays 5:30 pm- 6:30 pm. May 6th- June 10th
The owner of Lifesource Yoga has offered all students and previous students of Dance du Soleil one free week of unlimited classes so you can try this and all the other classes for free!! Just come a few minutes early for your first class to register.

http://www.lifesourceyoga.com/

New Zumba and Bellydance at Love 2 Dance beginning in June!!

Leyla's Class Schedule in June:
Tuesdays- 6-6:45 pm: beginner bellydance- Love 2 Dance Studios
Wednesdays- 5:30-6:30 pm: cardio shimmy- Lifesource Yoga
Thursdays- 5-6 pm: yoga for dancers- Love 2 Dance Studio
Thursdays- 6:45-8:15 pm: advanced bellydance technique and Dance du Soleil troupe class- Love 2 Dance Studio
Fridays- 9-9:45 am: Zumba- Love 2 Dance Studio
Saturdays- 9-9:45 am- Zumba- Love 2 Dance Studio

Yoga and Dance- A Very Happy Couple

My first brush with a regular yoga practice came when I owned a dance studio a year ago and we hired a yoga teacher to help bring in extra income. The yoga teacher was fabulous, but the studio had issues which kept the classes very small. I felt obligated when there were not enough people in his class to take the class myself and during this time I fell in love with yoga. What began as an obligation ended up sometimes being the best part of the day. The physical benefits were all I had hoped for and more. My teacher was (and still is) the type of teacher that performs near perfect asanas (poses) during class and we wanted to perform near perfect asanas like him. Dancers understand copying body positions in the mirror so his teaching method translated well for us. My body became much stronger and more limber than it's been in years. I had better feet, better extension, better backbends, and fewer injuries. Not to mention I looked better, a nice bonus. My teacher talked a lot about breathing, focus and meditation but I never quite "got it". I was too enamored with perfecting asanas, which was all I could do at that time. Then, through a series of unfortunate events my studio ended up closing like many small businesses in our economy today. I am so grateful for the time I got to spend practicing with my teacher at that studio. I learned a lot.

After three long winter months I was stuck inside my house with no studio, no income, and no yoga I met Porsche Vanbrocklin-Fischer. Porsche is the owner of Lifesource Yoga located right across from Summit Mall in Merchant's Square Plaza. I knew the day I met her that her studio was going to be a success just because of her incredible energy. Porsche is passionate about yoga and she's establishing a studio full of great teachers (including my teacher, Ron White) and all different types and levels of yoga classes. She also has a child care facility for a very small fee so moms don't have to find a sitter for just an hour class. She sells yoga attire, mats, dvds, and other stuff in the boutique. I just love the way I feel relaxed the minute I walk through the door. Anyone who is a fan of yoga HAS to come and check it out. I was so happy when she asked me to teach a "cardio shimmy" class because now I'm officially part of the Lifesource family. We started shimmying in May and we are there every Wednesday 5:30-6:30 pm so please come and join us sometime!

So at this time I feel I'm in a whole new phase of my yoga journey at Lifesource yoga. I'm starting to learn what it feels like to train your mind through training your body. I am also finally starting to "get it" with the breath and that is huge. At this point I have realized how much dancers as a group have to benefit from yoga. Completely opposite the yoga world where you are supposed to let go of competition and judgment, the dance world by its very nature is competitive and judgmental because it is a performance art and not a practice. Everyone is looking to advance themselves to a solo spot or the front line or to own their own dance troupe, own dance studio, be a star, etc. However, my yoga practice has helped me greatly in this area. I'm convinced that yoga is essential for all dancers and should be part of every dance program. Any dancer who is striving for excellence will appreciate being stronger, and more flexible and learning to manage performance nerves. Like a baby learning to walk it happens in stages. For me, I had to learn the physical aspect of yoga first (I am still learning there are so many poses). Then came the breath/ body connection and finally training the mind through training the body.

Upcoming Performances and Other Events:

May 30th: Leyla, Dance du Soleil and Love 2 Dance Studios perform in "Fairytales" at the downtown Akron Main library. 2 pm. For more information visit: love2dancestudio.com.

May 30th: 11 pm: Leyla at the new Kan Zaman. Be sure to call for reservations and tell them you are coming to see Leyla. 216-621-2222. kanzaman.net.

June 14th: 10 am-1 pm improvisational workshop with Leyla at Love 2 Dance Studio. love2dancestudio.com

July 4th: Fairlawn parade- details tba at a later date.

July 25th: Art Expo- details tba at a later date.

July 31st: Dance du Soleil summer show- details tba at a later date

Sept 6th: 7 pm and 8:30 pm (2 performances) Dance du Soleil at the Berea Oktoberfest.

Sept 19th and 20th: Cassandra Al Warda and the Wind and Sand Dance company present Momo Kadous and Moria Chapell in one Fabulous Weekend.
Sept 19th: 8 pm- Leyla and Dance du Soleil will perform in the evening show featuring Momo and Moria. Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
www.windandsand.com