I'm pinching this idea from fellow Edinburgh Bellydance Blogger Habiba Dance - can I summarise 2011 in 12 sentences, one for each month?
In January I decided I wanted to go to Cairo this year... but as I was counting up my pennies for the flight, the uprisings began and I decided to postpone my plans.
February brought my teacher and mentor Lorna Gow back to Edinburgh to teach, perform and - yay! - hang out.
In March I did my first half marathon on the year (and my first for a few years) - by October I'd done seven of the blighters, woop woop.
In April I got a horrible hip flexor spasm, leaving me unable to dance or even walk, but I still went to my first ever bellydance festival, Jewel of Yorkshire (JoY) and it was a fantastic experience from start to finish.
May all your Christmases be white!
In June I hosted a hafla as part of the Leith Festival and it was busy, great atmosphere, lovely dancing - result!!
July was the Musselburgh Hafla, and the first time I know a hafla's been delayed by pigeons.
August brought a fun teaching opportunity at a Fitness Convention, giving me the chance to combine my love for bellydance with my passion for sweaty workouts - I still use the playlist when I need an energy boost!
In September classes resumed in Fisherrow and among the new students was the lovely Nick Gardiner - yes, a man! - which is brilliant and adds something new to the class.
In October I danced as a Helwa Hurdie doing our khaleegy dance, complete with wig - I loved the wig but not as much as I loved being a Hurdie!
November took me to Orkney where I did a bit of teaching and experienced new extremes of weather.
December brought the joy of dancing with a great group of ladies in my first exciting experiences of the Dancebase Christmas show.
And 2012? Sadly there will be no more classes at the Thomas Morton Halls, as Dancebase have scaled back their activities there, but Fisherrow and Grassmarket will continue. And I have two teaching-related resolutions:
1. To be more conscientious about rotating the lines in class (responding to student feedback, thanks ladies!)
2. To wear more hip belts, jingly and otherwise, in class. Because I remember when I got my first coin belt after a few months of classes and I felt like a proper bellydancer and it was just a brilliant feeling which I'd like to encourage more dancers to have!
Have a great new year everyone.
