FWD had a post recently on singing in Sign where they linked to videos of people singing songs in ASL, BSL and Auslan. The signs are more dramatic/vivid than usual and worked into dances in some cases and they utterly hooked me. I've been particularly enjoying Lee's BSL Songs, which you can see on his youtube channel here.

I've been very pleasantly suprised by how many signs I recognise as-is, and am beginning to pick up a few new things as well. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have been.

We're seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D tomorrow evening, then I'm off to a yoga class. I've not done any Yoga in years, but I enjoyed it a lot back when and it helped me out a lot with my hips. I'm hopeful it may help me with the joint problems I've been having recently by being a low impact way to strengthen the muscles around them, improve my flexibility a little and generally be a reasonably fluffy yet effective form of exercise that'll go well with dance. Trip report to follow ...

Profile slow is the most wonderful trance high when it clicks - a deep, silent space of eyes hips body and being a part of something larger than yourself. It happened tonight and I'd missed it so much. The only drawback is it's very hard to muster conversation afterwards until you've escaped and come back up into the world.

We've focused a lot on coreography today - even moreso than usual, in preparation for the Hafla at the end of March I suspect. The idea makes me more than a little nervous but also feels very right indeed.

Cycling home afterwards with Gibby Haynes crooning into my ear as if he's sat there right behind me, rain in my glasses turning the streetlights into a mess of neon spiderwebs the world feels like a very wonderful place to be.

I should mention also that I am now the proud owner of a Bellynut 18 yard dance skirt, which is quite the most beautiful and fabulous things I have ever owned. The picture at the top shows you the fabric and the detailing on the brocade. If you want to see the full thing, nudge me via email/chat and I'll send you a picture .

Saving Sword Dance UK

Those of you in the UK are probably aware of the ban on the sale or importing of certain types of sword that was passed by the british government in 2008. After a lot of backwards and forwards arguing and some ridiculous handwaving from those in power, exemptions were eventually written into the bill for martial artists, SCA type re-enactors, etc.

But not for dancers.

The use of curved blades in bellydance, particularly Turkish and Tribal and in many forms of folk dance is well established, yet was entirely ignored by government when writing the heritage and sporting activities exemption to this bill. All attempts to raise this so far have been met with the same canned responses and no real result.

A UK BellyDancer named Melany is taking her case to a customs tribunal at the end of April, arguing for the right to import a sword for dance purposes. The tribunal do have the power to change the law, but she cannot afford any legal help. to counterbalance this, she is looking for testimonies from dancers, current and past about how their lives have been positively influenced by dance to help strengthen the case for a new exemption.

She has posted details of how to contact her and submit testimonies / get involved on a publicly viewable facebook group here (you do not need to be logged in or even to have a facebook account). If you're a dancer currently involved in some form of sword dance, or a Bellydancer or folk dancer who would one day like to be, please head over and give this some of your time.

And then there was fire! The night before the Camb 800 show, we all headed down by the river for a full runthrough with music, fire and frantic dipping backstage under the watchful eyes of our benevolent stage manager. I took the video above in full on grainy phoneovision during the last finale as it was the only time I didn't have my hands full of toys, dip jugs or a lighter.

This is the first chance I had to see the synchronised routines with fire; and they were absolutely stunning.

It was also the fire troupe debut of Aran's scary-ass S Staffs, which look absolutely beautiful but burn with the fire of a thousand suns.

And the amusing spectacle of dippers stood around holding burning toys ready to hand to performers while trying not to start spinning .

We were witness for the first time to the alarming spectacle of flaming ribbon fans (those things are a tad scary!)

Was also lucky to see some awe inspiring things done with burning hoops by the troup's pair of fire hoop acrobats, who just leave me wide eyed every time I see them perform.

This rehersal was the start of an incredibly fun weekend and the most dramatic performance of any kind I've ever been a part of. I'm looking forward to many more chances to do this, both dipping and spinning.

The week before the 800 show, we all descended on a snowy back garden in Burwell to practice routines, and to acquire frostbite.

There wasn't as much for those of us who were going to be dipping to do, but there was some lifting, shifting and setup to do - also I helped cook a rather ridic. quantity of vegge Chilli.

Once we were done, it was time for Bonfire!

Where many marshmellows were roasted ...

... Many, many marshmellows ...

Some poor souls were roasted in effigy ...

And some folk actually got around to playing with fire as well.

Whole thing was ridiculous fun, especially the parts including bizzarre tag variations, precocious small people, cooking and glorrrrrious underfloor heating. Next up, pictures and video from the night before ...