Author: jbaz

Let me introduce you to the three main styles of pole dancing: sport, exotic, and artistic. Sport typically requires the strongest dancers, as you may see them performing flag poles and other maneuvers that require ridiculous strength endurance. Exotic pole may be the first style that comes to mind when you think of pole dancing. It embodies an extravagent approach with a promiscious flare. Lastly, artistic pole describes a story delivered through graceful and elegant movements. This is the style a friend and I learned in the Intro to Pole offered at aUM Yoga.

Upon entering the studio, we removed our shoes out of respect and cleanliness and received a friendly greeting by two instructors. One of them named Sylvia, who has been practicing pole for three years, led a full class of beginners to understand the basics of artistic pole dancing. After a warm up, we tested our strength, creativity, and discipline once we came into contact with the pole. We applied wash clothes with alcohol solution and a sticky spray specifically for this sport to our hands to help fastened your grip to the pole. Besides keeping your hands in place, this dance requires an immense amount of strength smoothed with grace over the intensity, making the mastery of these moves in the first class nearly impossible. Overlooking the Ann Arbor nightlife on South University, the studio captured an atmosphere of both light and fun as well as expressive and determined.

Different types of music allowed various approaches to finding our rhythm as well as our voice through dance. Upbeat songs surged the energy through your muscles and encouraged you to harness your power with an fast paced tune. Slower songs seeped into your core and inspired you to discover a dormant art within yourself.

Her words “no two people dance the same” reinforces the concept that we all interpret the world in a unique way. What you may see as the color blue may differ from my perception of blue. Either way, it is still blue to both of us. Understanding this different can be a frustrating process. This is why there is conflict in relationships, government, and religion. No two people are the same. Even if they are genetically identical, the core being offers something that makes them special.

 

Please note that these images were taken after one class of experience.

On Monroe in a quad that evokes a mystical feeling,

You’ll encounter a library for students in law.

Let your eyes drift from your paper and up to the ceiling,

And you’ll find yourself astounded in awe.

The enchanted wooden shelves

And the ceiling ornate with flat dim lights on heavy chandelier

Are only a representation of their past selves,

For they are more magical than they appear.

Before calamity when things went tragic

There were pretty witches and warlocks who practiced some spells not to be found

Such beauty that roared with magic

Now screams without a sound.

In years past on the street called Monroe,

There was a superhuman haven that no person ever saw.

Into here stumbled a young wizard who had potential to show,

He with a name of Yim Yarbaugh.

Wandered the boy into a gala of potion

Where he was expected for a surprise just for him

In this place illuminated by fireflies in lamp and surrounded by portraits in motion.

The only being destined to find this world was young little Yim.

A vigilant dragon stayed on guard all through the day and all through the night

To protect the inhabitants from human discovery.

One day, the fairy of sleepiness robbed the dragon of conscious sight.

What happens next exceeds any hope of bringing the haven back to full recovery

On his way to a football game, a student in law encountered this camp.

What once was an enchanted encryption

Is lost forever and left were the spells and lightning bug lamp

To be replaced by bulbs and records of jurisdiction.

To say the team was undefeated would make the score keepers contradictors.

To the big house, young Yim he took

In hopes that his magic would lead the losers to become victors.

Is he a savior or is he a crook?

Maybe these ideas will touch that brilliant mind of yours.

Or maybe you will ponder these words with utter mental confliction

As you realize no one mentioned them on the campus tours.

I must tell you most of this story is only fiction.

For Halloween, you put out spooky decorations and wear crazy costumes as one may see in Ann Arbor nightlife. For any December holiday, you wrap the house lights and display a different set of festive decorations that remind people of the calendar. During the time between October and December, a holiday seems to be neglected. When it comes to family and friends, it may be one with the most obvious purpose with a blatant title designated to giving thanks. Thanksgiving. The excitement of dressing up and trick-or-treating quickly transitions into a stressful period of planning and shopping maybe for wrong reasons, reasons of competition and saving money. The moment the turkey dinner ends, people scramble to the nearest shopping mall in hopes of stealing a bargain. Not everyone, of course, but it sometimes appears that way.

Maybe what we need is a reminder? How would you decorate for Thanksgiving anyway? Putting out a cornucopia doesn’t quite trigger the holiday feeling. Typically, shades of orange and plastic autumn foliage, but that overlaps with plain fall accessories. Nothing really screams Thanksgiving unless you place a pilgrim memento on the table, at least not for me. Maybe the beauty of Thanksgiving is that you don’t need the ornate decorations or entertainment attached to the holiday. No characters, no ridiculous sales, no tangible items the enhance the holiday. Just gratitude. Without the accessories on an outfit, for example, you pay more attention to looking into the eyes of the person as opposed to how he or she is dressed. Likewise, without the accessories of a holiday, you are not distracted from the core meaning of the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Parents and Family Weekend, there was a tailgate before the Maryland Game in the Oosterbaan Fieldhouse for all umich families. Here, everyone was provided with great food, essential maize and blue game-day accessories, and entertainment by campus group performances. Many of which I had not gotten the chance to see until this event shed light on them. Featured student groups included Angels on Call, Harmonettes, GROOVE, FunKtion, RhythM Tap Ensemble, TAAL, Leim Irish Dance, Maize Mirchi, 58 Greene, U-M Dance Team, U-M Cheerleading Team, and the U-M Marching Band. Each act expressed completely different energies from a variety of cultural blends, music, and dance styles. While some, in addition to their voices and steps, harmonized their appearances with uniforms, others distinguished their personalities with their outfits. The synchrony of the groups and the layering of unique sounds complimented the idea of individuality molding with togetherness to produce incredible sound. I recognized a few faces from classes, my living complex, and friends I see around all the time. Little did I know the talent they had. That’s my favorite part about talent; it’s usually a surprise.

To keep your talents to yourself: Is it modest or is it selfish?

Modest: Holding a special ability under the surface could be like a treasure hunt; only a few people ever know you deep enough to find it. More introverts prefer to be the observers. They conserve the electricity with which they have the potential to illuminate an entire room. They astound people with their unassuming excellence.
Selfish: It would be a shame to keep such gifts hidden from the world. If it makes you happy, do it. If it makes others happy, even better. More extroverts prefer to be the performers. Ultimately, having the talent is like having the electricity to light the bulb. If you have power, turn on the lights. If you can play the harp, the allegedly the most difficult instrument to master, I would be disheartened if I never got the chance to hear you.

I suppose it’s how you carry yourself, but tell me what you think. Regardless of stance, you’re special whether your talent is eating six Saltine crackers in sixty seconds or carving Mount Rushmore into a Styrofoam cube with a spork. People like you keep the world interesting.

Every Monday, the Trotter Multicultural Center offers a Bichini Bia Congo Dance Class taught by the University’s own Professor Biza Sompa. He started his dance‐choreography career in 1970 with the Ballet Damar and the Congolese National Dance Company in Brazzaville, Congo and toured across Europe. In 1979, he founded the Bichini Bia Congo Dance Theater Company based here in Ann Arbor.

My friend and I decided to broaden our dancing abilities and try a new style of movement. Once we arrived in the studio, Biza Sompa greeted us with an enthusiastic welcome. Also in the studio were three other beginners, one regular Congo-class attendee, and a drummer. To begin, we loosened up to a few energetic Congolese songs. I braced myself for the actual instruction because the warmup by itself required ample stamina. Next, we learned a routine. Though it was not easy, it was so fun! Not only did we learn a Congolese dance, but we also heightened our understanding of the African culture through dance, music, song, and drum. Instead of dancing to the sound of a stereo, we found our rhythm with the beat of two “mother” drums that gave birth to music and helped “embody the value concepts and social philosophies of the Congolese people: man’s harmony with God and nature, group unity, and the celebration of life.” The pounding of the drums facilitated creative fluidity while the clapping of the hands maintained an inspiring energy. To conclude the session, we came together in a circle to thank everyone and everything that enabled us to share this dancing experience.

It’s amazing how dance and body language can often speak with greater power than spoken or written language. Through one common aspect of culture, we are unified. Though we might not all speak the same language, as Stevie Wonder once said,

“Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand.”

No matter who you are or from where you come, people have “an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance, and clap their hands.”