Get Active – with belly dancer Karen Hartigan

Just because Get Active Month is finished, doesn’t mean you should stop with the Getting Active, and neither are we! OUr Get Active series was so popular that we thought we’d continue it a little, and chat to belly dancer Karen Hartigan.

Can you tell us a bit about the history of belly dancing?
Bellydancing or Raqs Sharqi originated in the Middle East as a form of dance by women for women. A lot of what we see today, such as glittery costumes baring bellies, is heavily influenced by the Hollywood movies trying to romanticize harem life and is not approved of in Egypt. However, originally it was a form of dance that was passed from mother to daughter, particularly in the nightclubs of Cairo.

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Get Active – with a Giant Theramin

Today we’re looking at something rather surprising but rather fun too. Have you heard of a Theramin? It’s a musical instrument that you don’t touch, pull, poke or shake to play, instead it picks up the movement of your hands as you wave them above it and creates sound from that. You can find out about the usual style of Theramins in the wikipedia article here.

What does this have to do with Get Active month, we hear you ask… Well, Melbourne City Council in association with Vicheath’s MOTION program have commissioned a giant Theramin from artist Robin Fox.

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Get Active – with Parkour teacher and student Zeke Beilharz

Today, we have another in our series of interesting ways to Get Active and keep fit. We’re pleased to introduce you to Zeke Beilharz, who teaches Parkour and works with the Australian Parkour Association.

Can you define Parkour for us?
Parkour is a method of physical training that develops one’s ability to overcome obstacles (both physical and mental). It involves movement that will help if one is in a reach or escape emergency situation. Underpinning this is a philosophy of altruism and useful strength, longevity, self-improvement and self-understanding.

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Get Active – Happy Harmony Day!

Today is Harmony Day in Australia! Harmony Day is a day when all Australians celebrate our cultural diversity and it gives people the opportunity to celebrate what makes each Australian unique and share what we have in common. The day is also the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The message for Harmony Day in 2012 is that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, regardless of their background. It’s a time to reflect on where Australia has come from, recognising the traditional owners of this land. It’s also about community participation, inclusiveness and respect – celebrating the different cultures that make Australia a great place to live.

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Get Active – with martial arts instructor Roz Quin

Welcome to our third week of Get Active month! Gosh, the month is jsut flying past, isn’t it? It’s almost like March is getting Active all by itself… Today we’re talking to Roz Quin, who is both a student and teacher from Firestorm Martial Arts.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a student and instructor with Firestorm Martial Arts. In teaching I mostly deal with Junior classes and the Women’s Assertive Self Protection (W.A.S.P.) workshops that my instructor and I designed for real-world application by women (a lot of styles don’t get that men and women have different bodies and so different pros and cons when it comes to assault).

In junior classes we focus on bully-proofing our kids, teaching them to disengage from a fight safely…along with techniques they could use on more serious assaults and of course a lot of fun stuff.
As for my own training – I’m a 1st degree black belt with a (currently neglected) love of weaponry and grappling. I’m currently studying to be ‘regular’ fitness instructor too. I attend karate classes as well as the boxing fitness classes we run at the dojo – because sometimes you just need to go nuts on a bag, ha ha.

Roz (second from the left) with other competitors from Firestorm Martial Arts

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Get Active – with burlesque dancer and teacher Willow J. Conway

This month we’re looking at different and interesting ways that people get active. Today we’re chatting to Willow J. Conway, burlesque dancer and owner of the Bottoms Up! Burlesque and Pole Dancing School.

Can you tell us a little about burlesque?
Burlesque is a form of dance and theatre that has been around since 411 BC, and since then has been developed into new forms and styles over the years being widely celebrated and practised through-out Europe and the UK in the 19th Century, and making its way to America in the early 20th century. Here burlesque boomed as a widely accepted, yet controversial, form of entertainment with hundreds of clubs and theatres dedicated to this sensual, creative, comedic and political art form throughout America from the 1920′s – the late 1950′s. A typical burlesque night included stand-up comical skits, song numbers and of course solo striptease routines performed by women clad in elegantly glamorous costumes, and sometimes with use of large props and feathered fans.

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Get Active – with games design student Chad Toprak

Welcome to our second week of Get Active month! Today we bring you an interview with Chad Toprak, an Honours student with the fascinating RMIT Exertion Lab.

Can you tell us a little about the Exertion Games Labs?
Sure! The Exertion Games Lab is a games-centric research lab at RMIT University. We focus on research in games that revolve around the body, technology and play. We create games that require intense physical effort as we believe it is important to play with our bodies. As we all know the obesity epidemic has become a big concern in many places around the world. We believe exertion games can help fight against this and aid us in keeping active and fit.

Bubble Popper

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Get Active – March’s Sunday in the Sun

On Sunday we had our second Sundays in the Sun, in glorious weather at Heritage Hill. It was a spectacular day, check out the photos below:

Up on the rose lawn, we had the wonderful Vardos playing their wild gypsy music.

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Get Active – guest post from Chris Serong

Today for our Get Active series, we have a guest post from martial arts student and teacher, Chris Serong.

I started training martial arts when I was a kid, because I was insecure, and I wanted to be confident that I could ‘take care of myself’. Even though that never came up – I have yet to experience some sort of street-conflict that I couldn’t talk my way out of – I’ve found my martial arts practice to be thoroughly rewarding, if a little inconsistent from time to time.

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Get Active – Getting Active as a mum and business owner with April Wood

Our Get Active series continues today with an interview with April Wood, a 28 year old business owner and mum of 2 who is clearly active, every day!

Tell us a little about yourself…
I am 28, I have two children (3.5yo and 11m) so spend most of my time at home with them. I also run my own business from home Nurturing Life- Acupuncture and Birth Services. I offer all of the services myself- acupuncture, doula support, childbirth education and breastfeeding counselling. I also am a doula trainer for Childbirth International. Needless to say- I keep very busy!

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