happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to PJ – teaching in mexico that’s me! 
Updates from pj RSS
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BIRTHDAY
Petite Jamilla
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UPDATES
Petite Jamilla
LOVE love L-O-V-E the new picts posted under “live shots” from the Shanghai performances!!! Check them out! ALSO so excited about my workshop weekend coming up this week Jan 30 and 31st in La Paz Mexico!! We’re gonna be Spinning, Double Veiling AND Drum Solo-ing! DONT MISS IT! go to Calendar for full details on registration and location…
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Pragmatic Peggy's
Petite Jamilla
In London this past year we did 5 shows at the Bloomsbury Theatre for a week run with an amazing turn out but i think often times the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in order to keep our company functioning and running smoothly so the shows look polished requires a bit of organized chaos behind closed doors. This particular day was no such exception. Moria was sick and taken to the Doctor by Stevo our tour manager, so we were ‘on our own’ in a sense – MOMENTARILY. Miles was there along with our awesome London crew but they were in up to their ears with merchandise and a sea of hip scarf’s and couldn’t waste a second playing mommy to us as they needed to get everything ready to sell by showtime. Brian, our sound engineer, bus driver, and assistant manager was there to help out, answer questions, and be our ‘go to’ guy. We’ve performed at the Bloomsbury many times before and we’re no strangers to the theatre layout. Dressing rooms are on ground floor, and floor 2 along with Green Room (coffee, tea and snacks/ general lounging area for the company), and stage is 3rd floor. Dinner, because this theatre is at a university site, is in a separate building in their cafeteria. In the past, they open a little early, you grab your lunch tray, pick your dish and drink, take a sit, eat and be merry. Schedules keep our wheels turning in BDS. A delay in anything throws a wrench in our entire day effecting tech rehearsal time, sound engineering, hair and make up and general preparation for the show. There is no room for error. We run a tight ship. But during our dinner time on this particular day, the odds were against us. WIth curlers in our hair, one eye with fake lashes glued on and one eye naked, lunch trays in hand – we eagerly awaited our dinner server to show up. We waited and waited and waited. 15 minutes later (this is an ETERNITY in BDS time), the lady comes at her regularly scheduled time unaware of our special programming needs only to be met with panic stricken faces concerned that we just might have to perform with one eye naked and one eye complete if we didn’t start eating right away! We quickly one by one troll through the line asking for what we want and don’t understand why you can only have the salad if you get fish, not pasta. Or why the ‘vegetarian dish’ is a sausage of coriander and sweet potato and we try to work our sisterly magic by trading one another for what someone else got after our disappointment from the set menu. See, we try to cut dinner options to a minimal in our own setting to prevent this very thing from happening. We usually offer a red meat dish, and a fish dish, with some steamed veggies, potato’s of some sort, and salads. So for us the choice of pasta and looking at a salad, but not being able to ‘get it’ – is foreign. It’s out of our norm. Sitting and scarfing our food down in 10 seconds flat we began feverishly discussing how this delay was now going to push our dancer tech rehearsal back, then effecting Issam’s sound check, and delaying our make up/hair and preparation time… Lauren and i looked at each other and lost it laughing! We began remembering how things like this always seem to happen anytime we’re left unsupervised for longer than 10 minutes by Stevo, and we began to realize how ridiculous we must look to that lady and all the people on the outside who don’t operate under the same intense scheduling that we do. Let’s just analyze this from her perspective for a moment: She shows up to work at her regular time to be met with a line of 20 (including crew) oddly fashioned women and men who must be starving because they are panicked about eating right away and don’t understand the concept of a set menu; which to her knowledge is how every day runs at her job and unintentionally, we just made her job so much harder! It became so obvious to us how funny it must be to watch us take everything so seriously in such weird make up and the fact that we’re panicked about food! OF COURSE even though tech rehearsal was delayed, THUS CHANGING THE REST OF OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM for the evening, Moria came back from the Doctor feeling better, Stevo re-joined us, everything got accomplished and we put on a stellar show met by a generously applauding audience to kick off our week run at the Bloomsbury Theatre! ! Sometimes it’s better to bend like a willow tree than to stand unwavering like an oak tree because that humor and ability to adapt can get you through things less stressfully in life!
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Miracle for the New Year!
Petite Jamilla
Today in ‘bama on this once warm southern dirt, a cold white fluffy substance is falling from high in the sky and local alabamians are in shock at the very sight! IT IS SNOWING IN ALABAMA!
Ironically, today is also the championship playoff games held in Pasadena CA between ‘Bama vs. Texas! ROLL TIDE ROLL!! Yes, this miraculous snow fall is proving that anything is possible for 2010! Happy New Year from Petite Jamilla! -
New Heights in Shanghai
Petite Jamilla
We just completed 5 shows in Shanghai at a beautiful theatre and we finally filmed our latest show “The Art of Bellydance.” I am closest to this show for many reasons but mainly for prideful reasons. The Art of Bellydance, to me exemplifies us pulling together as a collective group as best we can. This show was created and designed in 2 weeks only before being taken on the road and without Jillina, our fearless leader, there was a huge shift in how things got accomplished. Since 2004 when i first joined this company, Jillina is who i have always known as the leader of tech rehearsals etc… so needless to say, it’s taken a lot of adjustment for us to learn to organize this ourselves, and successfully, we’ve done so and excelled! In Shanghai we filmed with 4 camera’s only one show on the 3rd day, so the pressure was on to make sure everything was as clean as it could get and to make sure that we were really familiar with our staging before the day of filming. Because we were in the same theatre the 2 previous nights we were able to leave our costumes backstage and most props which saves some time and energy when setting up everything necessary for the show. We had help from a seamstress come to steam our 7 polynesian veils, 6 oriental veils, 2 finale veils, 6 ribbon streamers for finale, and my 6 veils for my spinning piece. That’s 27 different things that need steaming just from our props so you can imagine how long that would take for us to do it ourselves! Excluding any skirts that may need steaming before the filming as well. It was extremely helpful having her there! We had 2 days of rehearsals in Los Angeles prior to flying to Shanghai, but Samantha couldn’t make the rehearsals and Issam and Sonia were already in China teaching workshops so they were not able to make them either! Stevo, our manager, broke our day of the filming down into 15 to 30 minute intervals giving us fair opportunities to share the stage and clean each piece. We began at 11am with a company warm up and stretching session. We put on a funky music mix of music getting pumped up for our day listening to Jamiroquai, the Bloody Beetroots, Missy Elliott, Kid Cudi, The Gorillaz, Bob Sinclair, and Michael Jackson. We tried to utilize every moment possible doubling up on what was being rehearsed. If the stage was being used by Tribal, Cabaret went backstage with Issam and practiced drumming and dancing to his newest Party Drum music. We also added 2 new musical/dancing sections so that the dancers that were normally rotating out of the number would have an opportunity to perform it for the filming. See, there were 4 musical spots and 6 dancers so every other night 2 dancers would swap. But to be fair, 2 new sections were added after we arrived in China so everyone could have a chance to dance in the filming. Again, the pressure was on as the drummers needed to learn the new sections pronto as did the dancers so they could choreograph it and feel good about it by the filming! But the day progressed and all the movement from the stage rehearsals to the back stage rehearsals kept us warm even in the cold. We were more than prepared by the time the show rolled around thanks to our brilliant time cop and scheduling operator Stevo. Miles and Steve (our lighting designer) were running around hanging chinese lanterns to our stage to add dimension and safari tree’s to help bring some ambiance to our huge stage. Brian was setting up the sound so we would be ready to record the sound live during the show while simultaneously running the show sound through another system for the monitors and theatre to hear without interference. We functioned as a busy happy family all day, supporting each other helping with hair and make up tips on one another and dusting each other with bronzing powder on our backs since it’s difficult for us to do that to ourselves. Being the Southern Belle that i am, i am the teasing queen and can make beauty pageant hair on even the finest hair in under 3 minutes or my name isn’t Petite Jamilla! (thanks Byra [she's my hair dresser]) so i began rotating Cecilia, Stefanya and Moria out of my hair dressing booth for teasing finishing touches and to sprinkle a little of my magic dusting matifying powder to hold it in place instead of stiff hair spray and we looked great! We had Texas hair even through the next day and i believe each one of them individually cursed me for over an hour as they tried to brush their tangles out after the show! But we were bronzed, with big sexy hair, warm, rehearsed and eager to document OUR show! The show in which we created, maintained and share with the world! And in the holding tank backstage just before starting the show, Miles came to give us a pep talk and Tiger tassel as 2010 is the year of the Tiger for China and wish us good luck! We were inspired, motivated, emotionally moved and ready to go Roar on stage and show the world what we can do in “Live From Shanghai!” It was incredible! The energy the whole show was just electric! I could feel love and support from everyone, the audience was completely charmed, and we were into like i’ve never seen us before! Something sparked anew for us. We were nervous at just the right levels, enough to keep us on our toes, but not to overwhelm us. There were mistakes as we’re not machines, but that energy can never be replicated! It took us to new heights! I know that film can never fully capture the energy of concerts etc, but i will always re-live and re-feel that awesome high (shang-high that is) every time i watch footage from this film and i can’t wait to see how it shows up !! THANK YOU everyone i work with for being the beautiful, powerful, Tigress’ Muses that you are because working with you is a pleasure and an honor! And thank you management for making my reality EXCEED my dreams !! I will always remember Shanghai fondly for that exact night! Granted, i was EXHAUSTED the next day, i think the adrenaline from the night before masked my tired muscles from dancing all day and night, essentially. We had a show the following night and then the next day 2 mall performances and an evening performance again to end our first endeavor in Shanghai. EVERY performance was a delight. We had full houses with appreciative audiences who were so excited to see us in China but for me, the highlight was the filming!
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Maribor Slovenia, a city for dreaming and peace! :-)
Petite Jamilla
i spent 14 fabulous days in Maribor Slovenia with Ksenjia (our BDS workshop sponsor there) preceding and following my workshop weekend where i taught Double Veil/Spinning on Saturday and a Modern Drum Solo Choreography on Sunday with a Saturday Evening performance. My workshops went well and i was pleasantly surprised by all the participants’ eager desire to learn. It seemed the harder i taught, the harder they worked, the harder i taught – and the circle went round and round. 4 hours of Spinning and Double Veil is a lot and the same for a drum solo workshop. I don’t mind sweating since that’s all i know when i’m on tour, but sometimes people aren’t used to that. My workshop weekend in Maribor was filled with dancers who couldn’t wait to sweat and work hard alongside me and thats always inspiring to me as an instructor. Where I stayed, was centrally located in the heart of this old and beautiful city with the availability of walking anywhere and everywhere i needed to go. There was a LUSH bath store staring at me every morning when i stepped outside of my hotel (LUSH and i are involved in what i consider to be a love-hate relationship: i love their products but i hate what i end up spending whenever i leave that yummy store), and a main square with cafe’s breathing life and singing music through the stone paved streets and artistic historical buildings that add to the charm of the Maribor Magic. I walked the twists and turns of these alley’s in my high heels each day clicking and clacking my way to Hisa Zahir (Ksenjia’s Dance Studio/Arabic Cafe) where i indulged in Arabic coffee’s to my hearts’ content, reading my book, and sitting on the patio enjoying Turksih Delight treats and taking in the view of Swan Bay in the winter sun rays. There was a stray gray cat that was living on the patio my first week there who seemed to love the warmth of my computer and always wanted to sit in my ‘lap’ while i was typing, inevitably sitting, not on my lap, but my lap top! I grew to love this fluffy gray ball of annoying hair and she was my buddy, but alas, she found a safer/warmer home with one of Ksenjia’s students shortly after our friendship began. I ate honey tea cookies that were really delicious and had homecooked meals by Ksenjia’s mother tasting some of the traditional Slovenian cuisine. I loved my time in the Balkans and i hope i can go back soon and enjoy some of the surrounding beauty as well in Croatia, Sariejvo, Serbia, Bosnia, and Austria (i have been to Vienna multiple times before, but would love to see other cities in Austria).
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Slovenia
Petite Jamilla
I am in Maribor Slovenia with Ksenjia and her husband Tom. I taught a Double Veil/Spinning workshop on Saturday and a Modern Drum Solo Choreography on Sunday with a Saturday evening performance in a theatre here! I LOVE SLOVENIA it’s truly beautiful and it’s super fun because K and her husband also own an arabic coffee shop/dance studio so it’s a a really fun and yummy place to hang out at too!
I’m having a blast and can’t wait to share photo’s when i get a little more time! MISS YOU LADIES AND SEE YOU SOON IN CHINA READY TO FILM ‘THE ART OF BELLYDANCE” TOGETHER!!! So exciting… i can’t wait!! -
You Can Sleep When You're Dead
Petite Jamilla
So i just got home from our Fall ‘09 tour which started on the West Coast of the US in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and North California and then we flew over to England and performed in London and Basingstoke, Paris and then over to Morocco where we performed 2 shows in Casablanca, 1 in Rabat and 1 in Marakech! This felt like a quick tour but with a lot of moving around. My body felt like it was just starting to sink into the rhythm of things around the week we were finishing up! What an amazing adventure though! This is my 2nd time in Morocco (we performed in Casablanca last year around Spring/Early Summer i think) and i just love it there! I went to the Habous and the Medina (2 different kinds of markets in Casablanca – the Medina is more for locals and the Habous for tourists) in Casablanca. I bought shoes for my Grandpa. I got him a pair of camel leather shoes last year that he LOVED and made me promise if i went back, that i would get him more! I got 5 pairs of different sandals… Grandpa can take his pick!
And i bought myself a cool tea glass set (the mint tea in Morocco is UNBELIEVABLE and i’m so excited about getting those adorable glasses)! And, of course, i bought Argon oil for my hair. Argon oil grows on a bush only found in the Moroccan desert. It’s an ingredient in a hair oil (called Moroccan Hair Oil) that i found at my hair dresser Byra’s place here in Alabama and i researched the ingredients online before going to Morocco. I am sooo glad i found some over there!! (Happy Dance)
ok, enough shopping talk… In terms of the show success, it’s been a dream! I am just so proud of our new show ‘The Art of Bellydance’ that i seem to have a bias opinion on it all, but it’s being received wonderfully and with open arms – WORLDWIDE!!! I feel closest to this show for many reasons and i feel that our spirit as a team, is growing closer which propels us to perform better too. My piece in this show, is my baby! It’s my one truest sole execution of how i’ve always imagined my piece could be! I use a Beats Antique song and Zoe Jakes dances in the piece as well and we collaborated on the tribal portion of the piece, which was so much fun! Zoe is so creative and who better to understand the mood of a Beats Antique song than, Zoe herself, right? There are 4 spinners in the piece with Tanoura skirts: Lauren, Nathalie, Cecilia and Stefanya. Zoe and Sam (sometimes Moria and sometimes Kami depending on who is on tour) do the tribal section of my piece and pass off 2 veils to me and then at the end of the piece Sonia enters on stage and passes off 2 more veils! So i have 6 veils in total and a surprise at the end!! The colors are ice blue, black, white and raspberry. We are planning on filming the show in Shanghai in December so you can buy your copy of ‘The Art of Bellydance’ probably early next year! But in preparation for filming and my upcoming workshops, rest is pretty restless. I hear it’s over-rated anyways, and i can sleep plenty when i’m dead! I leave this week for Budapest for a workshop weekend with Sonia (go to the CALENDAR section for full details on subject, prices, and contact info), Slovenia the next weekend and then a performance in Holland! It’ll be cold this time of year so i need to pack warm and i’ll have tons of sewing projects with me to get everything looking good before filming and get back on track with my workout regime too so i can be in tip top shape! I’ve got my technique dvd’s to take with me, jump rope, resistance bands, P90X video’s and Tuna packs!! Ah, the glamorous traveling dancing gypsy lifestyle! -
You Can Sleep When You're Dead
Petite Jamilla
So i just got home from our Fall ‘09 tour which started on the West Coast of the US in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and North California and then we flew over to England and performed in London and Basingstoke, Paris and then over to Morocco where we performed 2 shows in Casablanca, 1 in Rabat and 1 in Marakech! This felt like a quick tour but with a lot of moving around. My body felt like it was just starting to sink into the rhythm of things around the week we were finishing up! What an amazing adventure though! This is my 2nd time in Morocco (we performed in Casablanca last year around Spring/Early Summer i think) and i just love it there! I went to the Habous and the Medina (2 different kinds of markets in Casablanca – the Medina is more for locals and the Habous for tourists) in Casablanca. I bought shoes for my Grandpa. I got him a pair of camel leather shoes last year that he LOVED and made me promise if i went back, that i would get him more! I got 5 pairs of different sandals… Grandpa can take his pick!
And i bought myself a cool tea glass set (the mint tea in Morocco is UNBELIEVABLE and i’m so excited about getting those adorable glasses)! And, of course, i bought Argon oil for my hair. Argon oil grows on a bush only found in the Moroccan desert. It’s an ingredient in a hair oil (called Moroccan Hair Oil) that i found at my hair dresser Byra’s place here in Alabama and i researched the ingredients online before going to Morocco. I am sooo glad i found some over there!! (Happy Dance)
ok, enough shopping talk… In terms of the show success, it’s been a dream! I am just so proud of our new show ‘The Art of Bellydance’ that i seem to have a bias opinion on it all, but it’s being received wonderfully and with open arms – WORLDWIDE!!! I feel closest to this show for many reasons and i feel that our spirit as a team, is growing closer which propels us to perform better too. My piece in this show, is my baby! It’s my one truest sole execution of how i’ve always imagined my piece could be! I use a Beats Antique song and Zoe Jakes dances in the piece as well and we collaborated on the tribal portion of the piece, which was so much fun! Zoe is so creative and who better to understand the mood of a Beats Antique song than, Zoe herself, right? There are 4 spinners in the piece with Tanoura skirts: Lauren, Nathalie, Cecilia and Stefanya. Zoe and Sam (sometimes Moria and sometimes Kami depending on who is on tour) do the tribal section of my piece and pass off 2 veils to me and then at the end of the piece Sonia enters on stage and passes off 2 more veils! So i have 6 veils in total and a surprise at the end!! The colors are ice blue, black, white and raspberry. We are planning on filming the show in Shanghai in December so you can buy your copy of ‘The Art of Bellydance’ probably early next year! But in preparation for filming and my upcoming workshops, rest is pretty restless. I hear it’s over-rated anyways, and i can sleep plenty when i’m dead! I leave this week for Budapest for a workshop weekend with Sonia (go to the CALENDAR section for full details on subject, prices, and contact info), Slovenia the next weekend and then a performance in Holland! It’ll be cold this time of year so i need to pack warm and i’ll have tons of sewing projects with me to get everything looking good before filming and get back on track with my workout regime too so i can be in tip top shape! I’ve got my technique dvd’s to take with me, jump rope, resistance bands, P90X video’s and Tuna packs!! Ah, the glamorous traveling dancing gypsy lifestyle! -
Petite Jamilla
really enjoyed the show in SLO tonight!
