Rebellyon

This topic came to my attention via other dance forums and blogs, so I can't take any credit for it. British cab-punk singer Amanda Palmer was recently told by her record label to edit a fantastic music video because they felt she looked too fat and needed to expose less of her belly.

No one in their right mind would call Amanda Palmer fat. The costume wasn't lewd or overly exposing (actually, it may have well adhered to near-Victorian prudishness, considering what most pop tartlets are wearing in their music videos), her belly looked nice and toned...the idiocy of their comment has to be witnessed to be believed. It is a class A example of the media perpetuating ridiculously unhealthy stereotypes about women, as well as the pressure that women are under to appear impossibly thin and perfect.

We need to be proud of our bellies and proud of the fact that we are trying to keep them healthy. This is a difficult thing for most women to do (I certainly struggle with my belly self-image), and this incident between Amanda Palmer and Roadrunner Records highlights what we are faced with.

Absurdabsurd over at the Drestin Doll's website The Shadowbox has written up a fantastic release concerning this whole incident. She says it much better than I could and has requested the people spread the word about this. Click on the links. Watch the videos. Investigate this issue.

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AMANDA PALMER AND THE REBELLYON

Earlier this year, Amanda Palmer of Brechtian punk cabaret duo 'the Dresden Dolls' released her first solo album, 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' through label Roadrunner Records.

Recent relations with her label may be called 'strained' at best, but the conflict has just taken on a new dimension:

In October, Amanda filmed a video for the first single "Leeds United" , directed by Alex De Campi.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSULkXcVYw ) .

Upon seeing the final product, Roadrunner Records responded by telling her she was fat, and to re-cut the video to show less of her belly.

Amanda refused to make the changes demanded. Instead, she sent out a mailer about the issue and later blogged about it here:

http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/61263444/home-the-leeds-video-more-belly-solidarity

Since the release, Amanda Palmer fans have been flooding the online Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer forum with responses here:

http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?topic=6054.0

They have begun posting pictures of their bellies in support of Amanda and in protest against Roadrunner Records' actions and policies, as well as sending their pictures and personal stories to one of the forum members who has volunteered to collate, print and send all received bellies to the Roadrunner Records HQ. At the time of writing this, over 100 photos have been collected in less than 48 hours. Roadrunner Records attempted to appease fans by initiating a contest for the 'best belly photo', a move that provoked a cascade of angry replies from fans. The contest has since been removed from the Roadrunner website.

This issue is not just about Amanda Palmer's belly. This issue is about all the bellies of the world: big, small, hairy, stretch-marked, scarred, pregnant; every single belly. The aim is to reclaim the belly, to promote a healthy body image for everyone (not just females) and to protest against the "barbie dolling" of artists by record companies and the media.

For more information on Amanda Palmer:
http://www.myspace.com/whokilledamandapalmer
http://www.amandapalmer.net/
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/AmandaPalmer/

So JOIN THE REBELLYON. Take a picture of your beautiful belly, send it to Jordan (doritojoe89 [at] gmail [dot] com), make it your default myspace/facebook picture, do anything to promote the cause. Help spread a healthy body image for everyone. Just do it.


(retrieved from http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=9b497066b8edde1e6ae46c15d23b274a&topic=6054.525 )

Reflections on the past week

The following is a summary of my scattered thoughts on this week’s dance classes and rehersals.

I’ve been lazy. Outside of classes, I haven’t practiced the choreographies, haven’t worked on my own choreos, haven’t done any strength training, and haven’t done any cardio. Oh, I mucked about once or twice with some choreo sequences, but that only lasted for a few minutes. Nothing serious, nothing real.

The week started with being sick, and I’ve been stiff, sore, and feeling a little weak. The sciatica has flared up something fierce, but that will probably subside; it needs to be worked on, though, as I’ve lost some flexibility in that leg. The loss of flexibility is frustrating. Stretching needs to be more frequent and disciplined, as does strength training – need to work on those quads and biceps. Actually, everything needs to be more disciplined.

Glen thinks I’m being too hard on myself. I think I’m being realistic. No personal beat-ups about my rather pathetic attempts this week, though – it’s okay to be sick.

Also, I need to eat more. I’ve dropped a few more pounds, which wasn’t intentional. Part of my employee benefits includes a variety of non-medicinal health perks, including free consultations with a nutritionist. That should definitely be taken advantage of.

Clumsy and stiff in class, messing up on choreographies left, right, and centre. Also forwards, backwards, and sideways. And turning. This makes me chastise myself for not practicing this week. I’m able to mentally run through the majority of the new choreographies, which is usually the sign that I’m very, very close to having them down pat. This makes me hopeful.

Tonight’s rehearsal was particularly awkward. I did get some nice compliments on my character, though, and everyone likes to be praised every now and then. I’m worried that my lack of knowledge about the old choreos will bite me in the backside. The old choreographies definitely need to be worked on, but I can’t remember some of them well enough to be able to work off my notes. I’ll enlist the help of one of my friends on that one. It’ll all be good in the end.

Still, though, I wish that I was progressing faster. Impatience rarely does anyone any favours, but it is a hard feeling to suppress. I want to be much better – I’d like to be good enough to perform solo in more than student shows. I have done a couple of restaurant shows before, but those were conceit, silly notions of my unready abilities. I wasn’t ready, but the flattery of being offered the occasional restaurant show and the idea of being able to have dance pay for itself here and there was too much temptation. Next time I perform like that, in more than a fun student show, it’ll be real. I’ll be ready not only because my instructors and peers think I’m ready, but because I think I’m ready. This line of thought was strong in my head all week long.

It’s strange, really – I’d classify this week as a rather bad dance week. And yet…

And yet I’m satisfied. Actually, I’m pretty darn happy about it all. Some new stuff was learned, I got great instruction, classes were fun, and I enjoyed the company of the assorted dance folk. They’re a marvelous group. And while I was stumbling all over the place this week, while I could barely touch my toes in my yoga class and couldn’t pull off nicely extended arabesques, I know that there are other areas in which I’ve felt some progress. It’s been a clumsy week, but a successful week. I’m not jumping over the moon with the joy of dance, I’m just quietly and calmly happy about it.

It’s a nice place to be.