Reading into December.. Books and Articles

Hello,

One of my most beloved pasttimes (next to dancing, ruminating, woodwalking, and very recently also Taekwondo!), is reading. Here are my favorite (dance and life) related book and articles of the month:

Book: Anatomy of breathing
by Blandine Calais-Germain

Anatomy of breathing

A wonderfully detailed and beautifully illustrated reference on the bio-mechanics and different variations of respiration. I especially love the preparatory and breathing exercises, and will be incorporating a few of them in my dance preparations and warmups in the future.

Chapters:
1. Initial observations about the act of breathing
2. The skeleton's role in breathing
3. Respiratory organs
4. Respiratory muscles
5. The principal forces involved in breathing
6. Forces affecting respiratory volumes
7. Relationships among anatomical structures involved in breathing
8. Analysis of the principal types of breathing
9. Practice pages

Goodreads link: Anatomy of Breathing
Amazon link (uk): Anatomy of Breathing
Amazon link (de): Anatomy of Breathing

Articles:

On movement and dance recovery:

• An ode to 'static back' by Pete Egoscue: http://www.sonima.com/fitness/static-back
• The (excellently illustrated) art of recovery by Aaron Swanson: http://www.aaronswansonpt.com/the-art-of-recovery-part-1-of-2/ 

On dance craft:

• Creating a BD routine - by BDNewEngland: http://www.bellydancenewengland.com/articles/2013/7/11/the-routine-roller-coaster.html
• Tips for dancing with confidence - by FlamencoBites: http://www.flamencobites.com/main/how-to-be-confident-when-you-dance
• Tips for remembering choreographies (I will be applying a few of these for the upcoming ballet recital December 19-20th!) by Flamencobites: http://www.flamencobites.com/main/5-tips-for-learning-and-remembering-choreography 
• More choreo-learning tips by Dance Advantage: http://www.danceadvantage.net/learn-choreography-quickly
• For balance - Tips on improvisation by Dance-Teacher: http://www.dance-teacher.com/2013/12/guiding-serious-play

Our ballet recital - 19th and 20th of December - I will report back if I survive

 On life and art in general:

• Embrace the suck - by DailyZen: http://www.thedailyzen.org/2015/06/28/embrace-the-suck

Sidenote: Embracing the suck (the article above) co-inspired me to finally take up studying Taekwondo this autumn, after years of fearing the unknown. An absolute beginning. And you know what? It is a breath (ha!) of fresh air to knowingly deeply suck at something, and at the same time enjoy the learning process. Every single class.

Our very first (half) belt grade! With huge thanks to Grandmaster Chae

Another one of life's small victories, after finally getting pain-free this summer, with help from the Dance Stronger project <3 Eternal gratitude from me to you and your work for dancers, miss Monika Volkmar!

DanceStronger - the love is still strong

As a bonus:

A podcast I heartily enjoyed - Inspiring interview with Jamie Foxx by Tim Ferris:
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/12/06/jamie-foxx/

Plus this lovely video of Dahlena (USA) teaching exquisitely elegant floorwork combinations:

Wishing you all a lovely remainder of the month (and year)!

x K.
www.khalidadance.com