Praha 27, or Kissing Fingers
(written 2/27/07)

Last Tuesday, I started a second bellydance course, in addition to the one I’ve been doing every Wednesday night. The two classes are very different; the Tuesday class is Arabic bellydance, with a heavy focus on shimmy and small, isolated movements. The Wednesday class has more Indian influence, and focuses on choreography and whole dances, rather than just learning steps. I like the way the two work together.


(Note: I love this picture because the dancer in it has an actual belly, as opposed to a lot of the girls I dance with, who are totally curveless and clearly ballerinas who are looking for a new form. I like my belly when I dance.)

However, my Tuesday teacher speaks almost no English. When she realized that I speak very little Czech, she promised to learn some simple dance-related words and phrases for next time. This week, when I came in, she had a sheet of paper with very specific phrases on it, such as "do not bend the knees when you twist". I realized about halfway through the class that she not only remembered that I only speak English, but what my specific dance problems were! Very cool. The receptionist at this dance place speaks excellent English - she told me she's going to study in New Orleans next semester - and has been really helpful as far as translating goes.



Anyway, the title of this entry comes from something that happened during class last night. I was practicing the graceful arm and hand motions that accompany all the shimmy-ing and twisting of the legs, hips and torso, and my teacher came over and seized my arm. After showing me how to correctly position it, she pointed to my thumb and said



"You are calling this, what?"

"Thumb," I answered. Then she pointed to my middle finger.

"Thumb. And you are calling this what?"

"Third finger," I answered, figuring that'd be easier than "middle."

"Okay, the thumb and third finger, they kiss like this," she said, showing me how to touch the tips of my fingers together for a second before letting them fall. "Kiss, and fall, kiss and fall."

I'm learning to express sexy with my kissing fingers. Go me.