Skirt Full of Fire | Tucson-based Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Instruction & Performance » Soapboxin’

Music Mapping 101

Jolie — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:59:25 +0000

The most challenging aspect of being a dancer is finding music that moves you, past that it’s figuring out what to do with it. Structuring choreography or improv for a song can be an arduous task, but I have a little trick I use to speed up the process. I call it “The Magic Arc” [...]

From Student to Professional to Teacher: taking the next steps.

Jolie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:01:37 +0000

I am not the type of teacher that wants to clip the wings of my students, as I’ve been lucky enough to have supportive and wonderful teachers that saw in me a potential and strong desire to move forward and they nurtured that fully. I want to be the person that says “if you have [...]

Honest and Compassionate Self-Appraisal for Dancers

Jolie — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:52:07 +0000

We all (hopefully) learned to give constructive criticism in high-school, it’s actually one of the more useful things you learn as a teenager. Compassionately aiding someone in their personal or professional development is a task that is often required of adults. It’s easy to give this kind of critique to others, but, so often, we [...]

Importance of Being Earnest…or Ethics & Self-Marketing: Sh!t Gets Real

Jolie — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:42:03 +0000

So, let’s just be honest here…nine times out of ten when you read “Jolie is –insert whatever ‘she’s awesome you should hire her also make her president’ verbiage–” on my site, I wrote it. Yes, I wrote it in third-person because it’s awkward to say directly, “I’m the shit and you know this, also I [...]

This is gonna get heavy…

Jolie — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:35:06 +0000

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of talk from performers about how unfair it is that they are not judged solely on their talent by booking agents, producers, and club owners, but also on their appearance. There have been many cries of “UNFAIR” “UNJUST” “MYSOGINISTIC” and, while I find that to be true in some [...]

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

Jolie — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:50:11 +0000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUKlhKG0leI&feature=player_embedded The BP oil spill disaster makes me want to put my head through a desk. Time for a revolution. Let's stop big business from getting away with murder, literally. Let's make our government work for us, not them. Let's have a planet to live on in 20 years. This shit is out of control, and our apathy is aiding and abetting a horrible situation. ...Read more after the break.

No one wants to hear about your sandwich.

Jolie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:59:42 +0000

If you can't say it in 140 characters or less, I don't want to hear it.

Alright, here's the thing. I love twitter. I tweet (twat?) more than I wash my hair. I keep a note on my phone with my random one-liners so I always have something to say. I am ashamed to admit that I've had dreams about tweeting. Having said all that and, quite possibly, removed any cool points I have accumulated thus-far, I have a lot of rules surrounding what I will and will not tweet.

#1: "FML"

Yeah, I get it. You're sad. Shit's hard. Your wife left you. Your dog died. Your brother's in a coma. DON'T FUCKING TWEET IT, JUST FIX IT. The last thing you need to do to yourself in this troubling time is give the entire world a play-by-play of your miserable existence. Not only does it make you look moderately pathetic, but it's a cry-for-help that never gets positive attention. I hate to get all "The Secret" on you, but focusing on the negativity in your life does nothing but bring more negativity. Continue reading...

I just want a man that glitters like diamonds and ejaculates rainbows.

Jolie — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:27:33 +0000

I'll admit it...I love the "Twilight" series.

Just close your eyes and pretend he's not underage.

I'm ashamed. I'm appalled by my own behavior. I look in the mirror every night and call myself a whore while slapping myself in the face. I cry in the shower with a rag in my mouth to muffle my sobs. Ok, I'm taking this a bit too far. I really do feel a slight tinge of embarrassment, though, when I am forced to tell anyone that not only have I read "Twilight" series, but that I also eagerly await every new movie like a 'tween girl. I won't go so far as to say I count down the days to the next premier on my calendar, but I think you can probably surmise that on your own. Alright, before we get into my "Twilight" obsession, let's backtrack about sixteen years... Continue reading...

Two-thousand-and-late < 2010

Jolie — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:48:26 +0000

Moody pic taken on NYE by Bob of Nichnet Visuals. Man, it's been quite a year. January was a rocky month at best, April gave me a pretty good sucker-punch of a break-up, June gave me another breakup of a dance partnership, and the December holidays were rough in general (as they always are for me). Now, despite all that, 2009 was an amazing year. I've seen quite a bit of growth in my dance career, my soul, and my relationships. I hope you all can look back on your year with some positive reflection. Continue reading...

Flying that Freak Flag

Jolie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:43:03 +0000

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. ~George Bernard Shaw The “freak flag” concept is one I support whole-heartedly. The idea that everyone has a side to them that is probably socially embarrassing, totally [...]