yer dancin’ photos – part 2

Remember Lan? From yesterday’s post? Whelp, this is a video of her dancing. It was shot at a Zombie 5k race. In the United States of America, they recently unleashed a massive effort to get Americans more fit. So they also unleashed a bunch of zombies. Here’s how it works: Americans run through a forest and zombies give chase. It had been working pretty well until they lost track of a few zombies, and now the American government is working hard to prepare its citizens for the impending zombie apocalypse. Anyhoo, that might explain why Lan, dancing with her running/survival medal, is so freakin’ jumpy at the end of the video.

http://youtu.be/BD2Miqv9JRY

Next up, Hilary. No zombies in this photo. Nope. Just Jasmine Hilary. Hilary used to dance with me when I lived in Fredericton. I did particularly enjoy living in Fredericton, but I liked Hilary a whole lot. I love the look on her face and those crossed arms. She’s all: I’ll pose for your picture, but know that I understand irony. Hilary told me that she was in love with this costume because it made her look like Jasmine from Aladdin. I know I’m stating the obvious here, but balloon pants? Who wouldn’t love ’em? Also, this costume comes with ankle bells. Enough said.

Remember Tammie (craftytammie) from Bake My Cake 2012? She sent in a photo of her creepy kids licking my birthday cake? Well, she’s back:

Tammie is the one on the lower left. This was her jazz/ballet combo outfit from 1982. People, ballet and jazz should not be combined into one class. EVER. That said, there’s a lot of glorious happening in this shot what with the feathers, the fans, and the teeny-tiny flower archway. At the end of Tammie’s email she said that her mother strung all the beads on the flapper necklaces you see up there. And then I was all: wait… what? They’re flappers? 

Next up, Shannon. You probably remember Shannon’s cake from Bake My Cake 2012. And you probably read her blog (A Periodic Table). This is a photo of Shannon and her sister, Ashley. Shannon is the taller of the two. Ashley is rockin’ a throw-down look. As in: she’s gunna throw down some moves. Hard. I believe Shannon is rockin’ the same look that 2.0 gets when he sees me getting ready to do an epic hitch kick in the kitchen. (It’s a combination of awe and fear.) Shannon was quick to point out that there are no photos of her actually dancing in her collection. Just a few like this, in which she is READY to dance. In skirted swimwear. Word.

Look down below. That’s Stephanie. And yes, that’s a sword on her head.

Stephanie sent an email to say that she wanted to take belly dance for like, a bazillion years, and was always too afraid to register for a class. Then, in 2007, she “… got to a place in my life where I didn’t care about what people thought of me.” Welcome, Stephanie. We’ve been waiting for you.

Stephanie says that she’s living proof that anyone can dance. She wrote: I am not the young, svelte, flexible nymph, but nobody can beat my shimmies! Stephanie is reprezentin’, people. What’s your excuse? Never mind. I don’t want to hear it. Neither does Stephanie.

Next up, Emma. You might know her from her blog, of agates and madeleines. You might also know her from my blog, because her comments usually outshine anything I’ve slapped into a post. Oh, and she competed in Ginger 2011!

Emma sent the following message with her photo. It’s funnier than anything I could write about that shot of her up above:

Dear Movita,

I found you a picture of me dancing. Good sentence. I was going to go outside and take self-timed shots of myself jumping about frenetically, a Spice Girls cd in one hand, a Hanson cd in the other, while wearing my *NSYNC shirt. But that would take work, and I’d rather eat five day-old cake.

In this exciting promo shot, you will find me in the foreground. I am the possessed-looking one. The one who looks like she doesn’t need a back brace to help out her posture. This is probably because I had already had a back brace for a few years before the picture was taken. Winner.

The musical, Redhead, dates back to 2003 when I musicaled regularly. In this particular gem, I portrayed a whore named Tilly. She was famous for singing about Jimey Jimes, his billycock, and his falling-down pants. That loony limey.

End scene.

FYI, Emma told me that she was going to send in some shots from another musical in which she portrayed a Miss Arizona beauty pageant contestant dressed as a cactus. I guess those photos weren’t zoomed in enough. And since Emma’s all about quality, we’re going to have to hope she can find that cactus costume and get some new photos taken.

And finally, this photo comes from Teri:

This is Teri dancing at her wedding reception at the Fort Dalles Riders Club – December 29, 1977 – The Dalles, Oregon. Teri says that she learned to dance with cowboys and anyone else she happened upon for that matter, because her hubby was always in a band. He’s playing bass in that shot up above. She wrote:

I truly believe this picture shows my nature. Dancing through life – so many kinds of music, so many kinds of opportunities = life! It’s all in how you use your own rhythm.

Teri’s photo sums up everything I love about dance. It will free you. It’s joy, friends. And it’s yours for the taking. Your heartbeat is the drum. Now get out there and dance…

15 Comments

  1. spree on July 19, 2012 at 11:38 am

    that does it people, you’ve nudged me over to your side. I’m breakin’ out the hula skirt and those little fabric flower leis for my ankles … I’m doin’ it! mark my words. (but don’t expect to see no freakin’ photos. I’m dancin’ for the joy of it!) Thanks Movita (and all you other dancers) for the movita-vation!



  2. emma on July 19, 2012 at 11:53 am

    That wedding shot is priceless! It’s the most beautiful image I’ve seen in a long time:)

    In other news, I want a swimsuit like Shannon’s. But only if I can pair it with balloon pants, flapper necklaces, a cheerful zombie, and an eensy weensy flowered archway. Oh, and a bass-playing husband.

    Am I the only one who sees the shadowy ghost child dancer on the right of the jazz/ballet picture?



  3. craftytammie on July 19, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    oh, THAT ghost dancer. she was always trying to sneak into our jazz/ballet/flapper routines.



  4. Teri Byrne on July 19, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    omygoodness!!!
    I feel like I just won the “SO YOU THiNK YOU CAN DANCE” contest!!!
    Thank you thank you for sharing our lives.
    You are so fun to read + dance with :o)

    Carry on, girL,
    teri––––x



  5. Eggton on July 19, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    When I got to “I portrayed a whore named Tilly,” I almost wet myself.

    The picture of Teri, though, took my breath away. Maybe it’s the tippy toes or the tilt of her left hip, or the gentleness of her left hand–it’s just so graceful. When I look at it, I feel like I just read a novel or something, because you can tell there are so many stories and so much life in her body. It’s so much more powerful than any picture that could have been taken if she had turned around.



  6. Ann on July 19, 2012 at 5:56 pm

    If I get to see that cactus costume, I will leap for joy!!



  7. Stephanie Barnhart on July 19, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    Thanks so much for featuring me! It has been great fun looking at everyone’s photos!



  8. thekalechronicles on July 19, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    I thought there weren’t any photos of me dancing, but I just remembered one: when I was in college, my roommates, who were sorority girls, talked me into going to a square dance. They even scared up a Persian engineering student to be my date (because I never could have gotten a date on my own as a college freshwoman). He’s one of the handsomest men I’ve ever danced with! I’ll find it and send it (I don’t suppose he would mind).



  9. cravingsofalunatic on July 19, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    I am totally in love with Stephanie.



  10. Rock Salt on July 20, 2012 at 9:37 am

    What an awesome idea for a blog post, thanks for this! Great to see everyone getting their dance on. I have a few remarkable pictures of me dancing, including one where I seem to be getting ready to clout the G man round the head. I’m fairly sure that wasn’t the case. Fairly sure.



  11. shannon on July 20, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    all i know is that i’m going to find a way to blow that picture of Emma up and hang it on my wall. Every office/study needs a photo of a possessed-looking old-time hooker named Tilly on the wall.

    I love these posts. just please, no one tell my sister she’s been featured in someone’s blog; i probably forgot to ask her permission. she’ll totally thrown down some wicked dance moves all over my butt if she finds out.



  12. Savory Simple on July 21, 2012 at 5:45 pm

    That video of Lan cracked me up.



  13. Ashley - Baker by Nature on July 24, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    Just finished reading all three segments you’ve written on dancing – and now I feel the itch to shake it myself!! Lovely posts, my friend!



  14. movita beaucoup on July 26, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Dear friends,

    Thanks for sending your photos. And thanks for always saying just the right thing.

    I loves ya. I loves right hard like.

    xox movita beaucoup



  15. movita beaucoup on December 2, 2015 at 7:43 am

    Comments are now closed as this post was published in July 2012. Thanks for stopping by!