3 Reasons YOU should join Shimmy Mob right now:

1. It's good exercise & it's open to everyone. No previous experience needed. All genders & all ability levels are welcome (instructors teach a basic & advanced version of the dance, and many show a version you can do from a chair)

2. It's supporting a good cause. It's to raise awareness about domestic violence & raise funds for local shelters. 50% of people experience DV at some point in their lives, so this issue is likely to have touched you or someone you love. ❤️

3. It's global & online. 🌎 You're connecting with a community of thousands of people in hundreds of countries around the world. There are videos on the website to learn the dances. And many rehearsals have moved online during the pandemic, so you can rehearse live over Zoom with other people. For performance, there's an option to perform online or with your local group outdoors.

Today is the last day for early bird prices. 🐣 So I encourage you to sign up & join us! 💃

I first joined Shimmy Mob in 2019, so I got to experience one year before the pandemic. Over the past three years, this has been a wonderful community to be a part of. I've met so many great dance teachers & dancers from all over the world. I took belly dance lessons online during pandemic working my way up from beginner to intermediate level, and I even took a special class on veil work. About year ago I joined an online dance troupe, the Shimmy Sirens of Zoom, which I love. And I've gotten connected to other online events, like the Night in the Global Village online haflas. 

For me being able to continue dance these past few years has been great. Good exercise, good social connections, doing something I love, and helping with a social cause I believe is important.

If you want to see some examples of the Shimmy Mob dances, I have a bunch on my YouTube channel & here's my most recent solo video.

Presence is one of the earliest noise pieces I worked on. It was originally created using an old 4-track bought from a pawn shop & it makes heavy use of loops. I took the original tapes into ProTools & remixed and arranged them.

One of the sounds in this piece was created trying to replicate the sound of a supernatural experience, thus the name Presence. You'll also hear the sounds of bells, chimes, chains and other noises that are often associated with ghosts.

The work itself was created in a house that dated from around 1900 that was haunted. My cat liked to play and run up and down the long hallway of the "shotgun shack" and she seemed to be playing with some kind of spirits. They were never clearly visible to me, the most I ever saw were vague orbs of light. There were also occasional breezes from nowhere that would move curtains, but I usually dismissed those as just being an old drafty house.

One day I was trying to recreate a sound someone else in the band had heard during a supernatural experience. When I managed to create a waveform on my synthesizer that they felt matched, it had a strange effect on the synthesizer where every other key on the keyboard ended up with it's own unique and odd sound that didn't match the waveform I had just created. (This should not have happened, I created one waveform that should have mapped over the keys in different pitches. It should haven't created a bunch of different sounds for each key.)

As we continued to work on the piece, I saw something invisible lift a curtain that was hanging in a doorway to enter the room. We decided to run with that theme and the song ended up being about ghosts.

So here is the song, Presence. It contains that waveform/sound that one of the band members heard during a supernatural experience. The song was created during the event described above when my synthesizer freaked out when I tried to recreated that sound & a spirit appeared to enter the room.

Many describe this track as hypnotic, meditative, and trancelike. And I love the way the visuals look and move with the music. I hope you enjoy it.

​Today is the Epiphany, also called Three Kings' Day. This is the day the magi visited and gave gifts to baby Jesus. And that's exactly what this piece is about. Trimagis is cinematic audio work describing each of the three wise men and the gifts they bring. I hope you enjoy it.

​I know I posted this before a while ago, but I think it's been long enough that it will be new to many people and I know some people have no idea I create experimental music like this with cool audiovisuals. :D

Happy New Year! Or at least I hope it's happy. I hope it's better than 2022.

I wanted to do more over the holidays. I wanted to write to friends, record a new dance video, take selfies in cute holiday outfits, post more, share more, but I've been sick and feeling fatigued so I wasn't up to much of any of that.

So if you're reading this, I ask you to please pray for me and send some of your healing light energy my way 😇🙏

In reflecting on the end of the year last night, I mostly felt grateful. I managed to survive 2022! I managed to survive another year of this pandemic (I can hardly believe it's been 3 years now & that it's still not over)

I want to share more, I plan to share more, and I will when I can find the time and the energy. For now, I wish you and your loved ones well. I wish you happiness, good health and good fortune.