The blood, sweat, and tears behind costumes

The picture featured above is of Ruby Jazayre modeling one of the various kinds of costumes in her closet. There are many different kinds of costumes to consider when purchasing a costume in belly dance. This is probably a more common version of the costumes you would see advertised through media. A majority of the…

Shoes are a girls best friend

Shoes are obviously a girls best friend, whats better than picking out what kind of shoes you want to dance in? Along with many variations of clothing, there are a couple of options when choosing your footwear. I was unable to capture an up close image of the most common dance shoe worn for belly…

What to wear?

The class as a whole had women of all ages participating in the dance class.  With that being said, there was a wide variety in what the students dressed in for the dance class. Most of the women were very confident in their bodies and were comfortable showing their stomachs off during the whole class. What you…

Veiling in The Zion Mennonite Church Community

Every day, many of the post-baptismal, Mennonite women practice something called veiling. Morgan Miller, a member of the Mennonite Community describes her take on veiling. “It’s a sign of submission. So, Paul was saying, be submissive to God first and foremost, but then man would have been submissive to God and we are submissive too….

So You Think You Can Dance?

Rachel and I have spent the past few weeks observing, participating in, and researching Contra Dance. With all of our posts we thought it would be fun to show how to do some of the more basic Contra Dancing moves, called figures. Here we will show you four figures: Allemande, Do-Si-Do, Balance, and Swing. Allemande:…

A Night Full of Dance!

In the beginning of the night everyone is invited to participate in a half hour dance lesson before open dancing begins. Bridget Hardy, the dance instructor leads the group lesson. Bridget walks everyone through the basic dance steps first before she begins to teach the partner sequences. Here are some photos of Sara and I learning…

Artistic Haven

“Langlab seeks to help foster cultural polyphony and good-natured jousting between different arts and aesthetic foxholes in the local community.” –LanglabSB  LangLab is also super family friendly. Whether it’s just you or the whole family, everyone is welcome! Sara and I have had the best experience going to Latin Dance Night. Everyone is so inviting…

Artmazing Race: Snite@Nite Edition

The Snite Museum (on the campus of Notre Dame) hosted an event on November 12th called: “Artmazing Race: Snite@Nite Edition.” At the event, students were able to “travel around the world of the museum” and explore the different galleries on a scavenger hunt. On the hunt, students were encouraged to take frequent stops to hear musical performances…

Contra Dance: Whirling the Night Away

On Saturday, October 24, I went to St. Paul’s Memorial United Methodist Church for my first Contra Dance experience, hosted by the South Bend Contra Dancers. As I pulled into the parking lot my nerves were overwhelming me as I noticed there was very few other vehicles, indicating I was probably one of the first…

Introducing Fiddler’s Hearth Irish Sessions

Welcome to Fiddler’s Hearth! Located in downtown South Bend, Fiddler’s is a restaurant and bar that hosts open Irish music sessions every Monday night. These sessions are open to the public, including musicians of all ages and abilities. So order a shepherd’s pie, pull up a seat, and join us as we take you through…