It...is...finished...
I'm mailing out the last eleven audio feedbacks tomorrow. So, if you're waiting for yours, it will be there by Thursday (according to the post office, anyway.)
I found out one tidbit while mailing the last batch; the stamps "Do not bend" (or writing the words "do not bend" on the package) are no longer honored by the post office. But the carriers probably honor it, according to the lady who took my things. So, basically, the post office won't officially promise not to bend stuff, but the nice carriers will probably do their best not to bend. Um, okay. It's like everything needs a waiver these days. I keep joking next year's Classic waiver will be 20 pages long.
Secondly, I seriously miscalculated how long it would take me to do this task. I seriously undercharged for the amount of time it took to organize the tracks, burn them, address the envelopes, package and prepare, write notes with each one and then go to the post office, WAIT IN LONG LINES and then mail. (No, I'm not bitter!) Just kidding. But it will cost a lot more next year (if I even offer this option. I don't really want to talk about it right now.)
Thirdly, some tracks were inaudible or damaged and for that I sincerely apologize. Trust me, it wasn't personal! I did not sabotage anybody's stuff! I'm very sorry that happened and I hope you will understand if that happened to you.
Trust, I did not make any money on doing the audio feedback (in fact lost a lot), so I hope we can all just get along!
Zuleika
www.zbellydance.com

Yay, I did a good job!
The 2008 Classic is over. I just started feeling somewhat normal last Friday. My car is almost cleaned out, and all the random detritus laying around my house has been somewhat organized. I will pack it away soon.
I wish I had been able to say hello to everyone personally. I'd love to schedule times for me to just absorb the event and not have to do anything. One of my goals was to meet people and network and just get to see the variety of dancers and dance from all over. I fulfilled that goal, but I would have liked to say hello to every single competitor, and I didn't get to.
I got to spend some time with dancers from places like Canada, Washington and New York afterwards. They were very friendly and interesting people who I was glad to meet. All of them made a lasting impression on me.
I have a two day gig in Tennessee next weekend, so it's making it a bit hard to decompress. My dance buddy and I have 6 30 minute sets spread over two days (3 sets per day), so it's no small feat to plan and choreograph everything. We don't have as much info as we'd like about the stage and the drummers we're dancing with for part of the time, so I hope that all works out. We are flexible people, so I'm sure it will be fine.
I have had lots of inquiries about my classes since the media coverage for the Classic. Other dancers featured in the articles have said the same. That's pretty exciting and something I didn't know for sure would happen. So that's infusing some positive energy into the future as well. It was probably the most costly advertising of my life, though, if you consider the work that went into it.
I've gotten a suggestion to make the Classic even more high-tech by having the judges do their feedback on laptops. However, even if the funds were there to do this, I'm surprised how few people ordered their digital feedback. Also, the videographer said many people were puzzled by the offer to be interviewed on camera. [The videography company is editing the film of the dancers professionally and it was shot on a two-camera system. They had a four person crew working the event and they came from out of town to stay in a hotel. This was not a video done by someone's husband holding a handheld home camera.]
A wiser friend says that the audio feedback and the interview (for media kits) is ahead of the curve. Despite the belief we have that the internet is extremely prevalent and technology dominates our lives, people were surprisingly hesitant to implement the more cutting-edge tools. So another jump into another even more high-tech tool gives me pause...
I suppose if my instructor did not use audio feedback, I might not understand it, either. Even more disturbin is that I know many teachers use no feedback at all...meaning that they don't critique their students. A non-threatened instructor should feel safe in giving and receiving feedback to her/his students and vice versa.
Competition is an extension of the idea that we must receive feedback in order to improve. I have dance buddies who WILL tell me if my newest costume isn't great, if my hairpiece is askew or just bad, and I'll do the same for them. We have implicit and sometimes even explicit agreements to support eachother through thick and thin.
I hope that we can develop our skin to be thicker...I know I feel vulnerable sometimes and don't want to hear the negative words, but I must also improve. It's like the people on the shows where people try out their singing voices (I rarely watch TV and can't remember the name of the show?); someone told them they were good! Someone allowed these people to go so far they drove out of town, took off work and paid tons of money to humiliate themselves on TV!
I would just say, please don't be that person. Don't lie to your friends or your students. Sure, you can phrase things politely and give 2 positives for every 1 negative. But tell them. They deserve to know. And if you can ever encourage your students to compete, treat their hearts carefully as you train. Get them ready for some balanced feedback from sensitive people who are great at what they do.
Zuleika
www.zbellydance.com

Sometimes people make me very tired.

It's almost here, it's almost here!
I have a lot to do, but a manageable amount. I'm really proud at how well it's coming. I don't feel overwhelmed (not at this very second, anyway. Check with me an hour!)
Getting the program together is an adventure! That's all I'm going to say about that! I gave it to my graphic designers to make it pretty, then I'll get to look it over for a final check and then to the printer by Friday. My printer needs a week to proof it and print it.
I'm picking up the trophies Friday.
Prizes are trickling in. Anybody want to donate something as a prize? Send it to my snail mail at 520 W. 21st St. Ste G2, Norfolk, VA 23517 for arrival on or before May 14.
The show performers are ready! The judges are excited! The vendors are frantically crafting and ordering things!
Weee!
Oh, and Tidewater Women has me on their May cover and www.saborhr.com will have an article about latina bellydancers online as of May 9.
Zuleika
www.zbellydance.com

When it rains, it pours

In the course of a week, an article I wrote was published, I gave an interview about the job I do to support myself (non-bellydance), and a journalist came out to interview me for a cover story about my bellydance business. The timing was uncanny!
First, I realized I'm not as prepared as I should be for these types of contacts. I don't have a press kit pulled together, because I keep thinking "Oh, if someone gets in touch, I'll have plenty of time to get it together." Not!
Ironically, I'm going to be teaching "Primp your Press Kit" this summer at a workshop. So I need to practice what I preach and get that little lady together! (I also want to get a trademark on the title of the workshop, so don't steal my idea, okay?)
I also realized I need to get my little catch-phrases together. There are certain questions that most journalists are likely to ask. It helps to have some responses put together, whether you show them to the writer or not. So I'll be working on that as well!
Planning for the Classic is going well. However, I keep discovering more things to do. I just realized I don't know much about how the digital recorders work. I have them, so do not fear! This is how the judges will record their comments. Any performer that pays $10 will get a CD with her comments on there. This is a great tool because if you also buy the video, you can play the feedback and the video at the same time. If the judge says "Oh, gosh, that was beautiful!", you'll know what she means because you'll be WATCHING that same movement that she's watching. It's pretty darn cool!
I have a lot of volunteers helping me for the two days of the Classic. I wish I could hire an event planner to help me ahead of time. Maybe next year, we'll have so much money, that will be possible?

Zuleika
www.zbellydance.com
www.ecclassic.com

Everyone is so nice!
I am so pleased that the competitors I've spoken to are so nice! Everyone is really sweet. Even some people I didn't think were sweet ended up being nice. Maybe my past encounters with them were not true examples of their character. I really think it's cool.
I have a really bad cold and I'm on medicine, so I feel weird right now. But that's not related to my previous comment; I've been wanting to make this post for about two weeks. (In case anyone was going to suggest the medicine was going to my head...!)
Zu

One day at a time
Well, there seems to be a common theme about coping adages in the bellydance world. Why are people so mean to each other? Why can't people just work their businesses in a professional way? The amount of cattiness is out of control. So I, and other bellydancers I know, have to take it one day at a time. I find this helps. Another bellydancer has done something crazy? I'm just going to work my business for another day. I don't know what will happen tomorrow. It's a choice. Every day, you make the choice (if you're given the opportunity) to go out into the world. Some things might not be worth it, and I might decide not to do it anymore. Of course, you finish what's on your plate. Finish what you've committed to and then re-evaluate. We need some kind of Dr. Phil or Oprah for bellydancers. Serious counseling. Some kind of book about how women sabotage each other. Just venting here. It gets tiring sometimes.

Zuleika