Rakkasah Sring Caravan Festival

Hello Tribes!
My friend Ninarrah and I trekked to Somerset, NJ from Meriden, CT to oooh and ahhh over the plethora of dancers at this years Rakkasah Spring Caravan. We shared a vending space with a friend hoping to sell, sell sell. Arrival went smoothly despite the weird color in the sky on Friday, shall it rain? We arrived early enough to check into our suite at the Staybridge Suites (excellent 2 bedroom suites and a kitchen) and get to the Ukrainian Center in plenty of time to dress up our table with lots of Tribal Belly Dance tidbits and hang our HipZies on the rack.
What I like about the event is how the event runs so smoothly. To take on the job of just getting the dancers organized and in the right spot is incredible and they really have it down with the timing. One right after the other.... and oh... there is Djinn & Pangia...already set up and performing without a seconds wait. Amazing!
Kudos to the security guys, job well done! The stage director and the back stage folks really deserve a zaghareet for keeping the show running smoothly. I've been in shows all my life and I can't express enough how difficult productions are. Excluding a few minor dancer "CD" glitches the sound crew did a spectacular job as well.
In the vending department the weekend starts long before we go, really at the end of the last big festival, if you make any of your product to sell you are constantly working on predictions..what color will be hot this coming year? Well, it was so obvious this year, creams and all the shades alike including the gold family were the hot, hot, hot colors this year. Who knew? Looks like, as with the hair styles the East Coast is still several years behind in the color department. I remember Rachael Brice performing 3 years ago with the same color scheme, well it finally caught up here. Don't get me wrong Black is still the new Black! Lots of that.
Well, you make, design, create as much product as you can and get it packed into your car and get yourself there. For me, I was slightly disappointed with my table, the set up had changed slightly and my table had a significant sag in the middle, needless to say I dealt with it and kept a smile on my face. I am one of those people who can deal at the moment and make things work, but I may have something to say about it in a review or Blog, after I mull it over and process it.. Big deal, we couldn't change the table out after the fact..but next time I will be checking the table for broken parts. How about a break in the cost for vendors if we bring our own tables and racks? Sales were down this time...maybe because of the economy, or they allow too many vendors with the same product to vend, or low and behold you have a creative product and the following year someone steals your design and makes a knock off and now there are 15 vendors with a low grade, cheap version of your product that you spent time and money on creating. Do I sound troubled? I am. The people who attended that I know, will know exactly what I am talking about!!! Shame on you in the corner!
Rakkasah is a week long event, hosting incredible teachers from all over the world, sweating you through fabulous workshops and hosting after parties. Letting you have your 15 minutes of fame, 7 if you are doing a solo. Performance after performance of Tribal dancers and troupes, Fusion, the Hip Hop fusion on Friday night was especially one of my favorites, a couple of Egyptian dancers, and great bands.
I highly recommend Rakkasah for it's workshops, performances and after parties. As for the vending issues, I have all the confidence that things will change for the better.
~Maroznia

My Carbohydrate Addiction Story

When I was a around 7 years old my Mom took my sister and I to gymnastics class, boy did I love that. I was a very social kid so this was a perfect way for me to meet more kids and have lots of fun. I remember this one time standing in a line to use the uneven bars and there was a girl who was in the line next to me, she was waiting for the balance beam, well she came right over to me poked me in the stomach and said "you're fat." Now, 30 something years later, I still remember that confrontation vividly.
This brought on years of binge eating, starving myself, taking over the counter diet pills, exercising furiously. Coming from an Italian family everyday was pasta day, even if it was Thanksgiving, pasta was included somehow.
When I was in my early 30's discovered a book called "The Carbohydrates Addicts Diet", with most of my fathers side of the family diagnosed with type II diabetes I was sure I would be following in their footsteps, so I followed it and found that "oh, this really does work." Then I saw an infomercial with Dr. Atkins and thought wow.. that would be really good for me.
So, I followed that. Got to my goal weight and felt great.
Now...after trying to get pregnant, taking fertility drugs, dealing with my husband having cancer and numerous stressful situations, I gained all the weight back plus more... this happened over a 9 year period.
Here I am, re-living the reduced carb lifestyle and feeling really good! It's not about completely shutting carbs out of your life but to eat foods that work with your body and not against it. It is amazing that in 2 short weeks I have lost 9 lbs. I've been tracking my intake on a website called www.fitday.com Check it out!
I am slowly getting back the feelings of self. Bellydance has helped over the years to acheive confidence no matter what weight I am, but now that I am eating a new lifestyle, I can't put into words how GREAT I feel. I will reach my goals, I believe in me!
Blessings to all who read this!

Long Hair Care

Long Hair Care


As your hair grows it is exposed to the elements. Blow drying and straightening as well as other chemical processes can pull moisture from the hair and leave it frizzy and lifeless. Taking care of it can be difficult and hard to manage but if you take some time on a weekly basis you can avoid breakage and in the long run maintain gorgeous locks!

• Invest in a professional product line that includes shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and styling products that work with your hair texture. Most lines work synergistic with each other. Examples are: Paul Mitchel, Nexus and Matrix Biolage.

• Be sure to trim your hair regularly by a professional hairstylist. Once a hair has a split at the end that split will travel up the hair shaft until it totally breaks off or becomes so weak it will fall out all together.

• Take the time once a week/month to give it a treatment of some kind. Wash hair and towel dry, do not rub vigorously... just blot dry with towel then apply your conditioning treatment and cover with a plastic shower cap. Let it sit on for 1 hour. If you have a way to add heat (hooded dryer or hot moist towel) you can leave on 15-30 minutes.

Some ideas for treatments are:

• Coconut oil
• Jojoba oil
• Almond oil
• moisturizing conditioner
• massage cream/oil
• lavender essential oil (1-2 drops)
  

Any or all of these can be mixed together with your conditioner and apply liberally to the hair, comb through and put on plastic shower cap. If you use mostly oils you CAN sleep with it on and wash your hair in the morning.

I hope these ideas help you maintain you luxurious long hair! ~Maroznia (Licensed Hairstylist, 22 years)

My Fruit Smoothies....with Acai powder

One of my favorite things to do is fruit smoothies...
Add acai powder to your smoothie every time and feel great everyday!!

My basic ingredients for a smoothie...

• Bananna
• frozen strawberries
• protein powder
• acai powder
• liquid vitamins
• one chewable calcium tablet
• orange juice

mix up in blender and enjoy!!

read on for Acai Berry Benefits!!

The Benefits of the Acai Berry (ah-sah-yee)

The Super Anti Oxidant Fruit

• Boosts energy levels
• Improves digestive function
• Improves mental clarity/focus
• Promotes sound sleep
• Provides all vital vitamins
• Is an extremely powerful free radical fighter
• Acai has very high levels of fibers
• Cleanses and Detoxifies the body of infectious toxins
• Strengthens your immune system
• Enhances sexual desire and performance
• Fights cancerous cells
• Slows down the aging process
• Promotes healthier and younger-looking skin

Find Fruitrients Acai Powder @ http://stores.ebay.com/Natural-Products-Store

Winter Relaxation Time

Did you give yourself time to reflect on the past years events?

Well, if you haven't now is a good time to allow your brain to process all the events... in the small bellydance community we have here in CT, which is growing expediently, we really have accomplished quite a bit. If you are willing to drive anywhere from 15 - 75 minutes you can have a bellydance experience virtually any day of the week!
Our troupe, Tribal de Luna held 2 haflas this year, and participated in "The Bellydance Connection" with Shalimar, a gracious host. We traveled to Hebron CT for 4 weekends at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire, 3-4 performances a day. I was so lucky to get at table to sell my bellydance goods at Rakassah Spring Caravan and Rakassah East with Mich, Uber Kuchi. Lastly, a crazy fun time performing with Headwrench at their outside "Rock" 0-ween event in October!
We held numerous rehearsals and personal gigs for birthday parties! So... it's time to get into reflection. Just writing it down really helps me to process all the time spent on picking out and counting out music for choreography's including solos and the troupe, burning Cd's for shows, fixing costumes, creating costuming, the list goes on.

so...

How can we top 2008?

We are considering a competition for later in the year, possibly another "Secret of Bellydance" collaborative with CT dancers...
all comments are welcome!

Welcome

Welcome to Maroznia's Muse. A muse is the spirit regarded as inspiring a poet or artist. Here is the place I promise to totally be myself, kind, loving, nuturing and forgiving. Many dancers and artists have inspired me over the years so I want to share my knowledge and understanding for the art of middle eastern dance (bellydance) and releasing your creativity!