UNMATA

gotta tell you, i've discovered UNMATA.
and alla y'all were right; i love them!!
i dropped in the studio for the first time last week. simply poking my head in the door, to make sure i had the right place~~the vibe felt immediately warm and friendly. the downtown sac studio doubles as amy's studio-apartment. even though she just moved in a week (or so) ago, it felt intimate and homey. i sat in for the beginner's bellydance fusion class and got my hiney kicked. amy's way of moving and putting things together is so innovative and refreshing!! and challenging!!
i attended a workshop with amy and heather stants last weekend. heather's workshop was nice and meditative and slinky. she taught us a sleek combination with some optional floorwork that was dramatic and fun. amy had us sweating and dropping our jaw as she whipped out these mind-boggling (to me!) broken-down, inverted, slid on top-of-each-other ami-figure-8-thingies. fast, with rib circles and head movements!
her style of teaching is fast paced, light-hearted, and bright. she doesn't talk and explain, as much as break movements down to their essence, and stack them on top of each other.
i took her "intermediate" tribal fusion class tonight. the class~~of about .. 15-20~~is learning this complex intricate FAST choreography with swords and lines that interchange and intermingle, segments of movements all on top o each other that, if i got a handle on even ONE of these sections, would feel good about a week's worth of practice. after we warmed up and learned a new segment of choreography, i sat on the steps leading up from the dance floor and spectated. this group of performers laughed and jogged right along jiggling and isolating and do-si-do-ing around each other to this INTENSE drum corps piece. i was razzle-dazzle mystified.

yea!


photo: hangin' with the UNMATA chicas in san francisco after the workshop on saturday. :) amy's feral ringlets swaying down her back.