Just about every dancer out there has a blooper story to tell. Bloopers are almost like a right of passage and there are a lot of us out there that are seasoned!

Bloopers can happen for many reasons; like you forgot to check your costume and make sure your snaps and hooks are sewn on tightly. I mean, when you dance every weekend and perform 2 to 4 shows in a night your costumes will start to suffer.

I had ten costumes that I checked and made sure they were ready to dance in. Then, I just started to let the “costume check” slide a little. By appearance my costumes looked good but hidden from the general public were a few pins here and there. And that, my friends, is where the bloopers come to life.

I remember I was dancing for a recreational camp for kids and there had to be at least 200 kids ranging in ages from kindergarten up to teenagers all watching me perform. Before I knew it as I was doing my favorite turn, my back straps broke and there for a few seconds were my breasts bared for everyone to see. The younger kids didn’t quite get what had happened but the older ones did. Fortunately I had my niece with me who pinned my back straps together and I went back out to continue my performance. To my dismay the group leaders were already leading the kids out of the room and only a few stayed to see me finish. I don’t think I helped our community out much at that performance. To my knowledge they haven’t invited any belly dancers back. Moral of the story: Check your snaps and hooks!

Weight fluctuation is another blooper waiting to happen. I learned the hard way that my daughter’s socks are not a good substitution for bra pads. I had lost weight and fixed one costume but not the other. I figured that socks would give me the boost I needed while being hidden from view. So I decided to wear the costume that I didn’t fix first because what did I have to fear, I had my daughters socks. But socks, as I found out, have a mind of their own.

I was dancing for a huge group of diplomats from Iran and our FBI at a local restaurant that I perform at. Everybody was yelling my name and clapping as I came out ready to dance the night away. And that was exactly what I was doing until I noticed a few grins and giggles from the audience. One man pointed to my bra and from my vantage point, my breasts and bra looked fine. But when I did a chest circle there to my horror was my daughter’s sock hanging down my right side. So I did what any professional would do, I pulled it out and threw it. Everybody laughed and applauded and I continued to dance with one big breast and one small breast. After the evening was over and everybody had left I went looking for my daughter’s sock. I couldn’t find it anywhere and even had the wait staff (who were still in hysterics) help me look for it. But it was nowhere to be found. Weeks past and I forgot about the missing sock until the owner of the restaurant told me that my sock was given to the head diplomat as a gift and reminder of his stay here. So whoever took it had it framed and presented it to him. Also to go along with the sock were 5 video cameras that captured the infamous sock rolling down my right side. So moral of this story: bra pads!

Long skirts can be a bloopers’ best friend. I like my skirts long because I am short and if my skirts are just a little above my ankles they make me look even shorter. So the bottoms of my skirts get dirty and I have to wash them a lot. I had one particularly long skirt that I just loved. It was separate from my belt and I loved this because than I could mix and match to my hearts content. Well, one evening I wore my favorite skirt for a big dinner party at a nightclub I use to dance at. The family who had the dinner party filled most of the club. They had especially asked for me and I was very honored to dance for them.

So the night began very innocently with me dancing around tables and on chairs. They even put me up on the tables a few times. It’s amazing what your skirt can get caught on. There I was dancing and just finishing up my drum solo when I decided I wanted to end on stage. So I jumped down off the table and began to stroll over to the stage only to realize that my skirt didn’t want to come with me. As my audience tried to get me unstuck my skirt somehow got pulled down and was close to my knees. (Thank God I had on matching underwear). Finally my skirt was pulled free and I gracefully pulled my skirt up and was able to finish the last minute of my show. The family loved the little drama and said that they would remember that night for a long time. The moral of this story: Stay on the stage and don’t dance on tables!

Props can either be friend or foe. Sometimes I really believe my veil, cane or sword is on the side of the bloopers. You know how it is, you practice in the studio or home and everything goes great but as soon as you get out and perform something bizarre happens to your prop. I have often wondered if my props were possessed. It’s amazing how your veil will get caught on your costume or how your cane flies out of your hand. My sword was better behaved but would occasionally act up.

One evening in Fort Worth I was dancing in a very crowded restaurant and I was dancing with my cane. Everybody was enjoying themselves and the owner of the restaurant was sitting at a table not far from our little stage. I was twirling the heck out of my cane when to my surprise the cane flew out of my hand and landed on the restaurant owners lap. The whole restaurant applauded and yelled for more. So I slowly went up to the restaurant owner and asked for my cane and he gave it back to me with an amused look on his face. Fortunately for me my cane music was almost over and I didn’t have to try for another amazing encore with my cane. So the moral of this story: If you mess up with your prop, make it look good!

The last of the bloopers are the hidden kind. You know, the kind that don’t show themselves until you are on stage dancing and then you realize that the stage is uneven or worse you just stepped on something that feels very slimy. And let’s not forget the shrinking stage.

Let’s face it, when we get hired to dance at a party or event, we can’t always check the stage out beforehand. I remember when I was hired for a party and I asked how big was the space where I was dancing and they replied that it was a good-sized space, at least half of a room. So I choreographed a dance accordingly to what I was told. Well, my stage was 4ft by 3ft. and by a raging fire in a fireplace with little kids sitting all around me. My choreography changed immediately and I was amazed that I didn’t pass out from the heat.

The uneven stage is the one blooper that hides itself very well. I have been on stages that looked even but when I danced on them turned me into a lopsided sideshow. I remember at this one restaurant that whenever I would spin that I would slowly but surely spin into a table on the right side of the stage each time. I would stop at that table just before I’d loose it. I finally asked the other dancers if they did the same thing and they all replied yes. Thank God! Who wants to be lopsided alone? The slimy story gives me shivers up my spine so I think I’ll pass on it. Besides I think you can visualize the scenario without me giving you the details.

So these are just a few of my blooper stories. The one thing I realized throughout my 22 years in dance is that even though we all strive for perfection in our dance, the bloopers keep us grounded. Sometimes I think back and have to laugh at the dumb and embarrassing things that have happened to me. If you can laugh at yourself then you have just given yourself a wonderful gift. Laughter keeps us humble and it keeps us healthy. So keep on laughing and keep on dancing!

Leyla Najma of Albuquerque, NM has been performing as a professional Belly Dancer for 22+ years. She offers workshops, private classes and has recently started producing a series of shows called “Cleopatras Courst” as benefits for local organizations. Leyla can be reached at leyla@leyla-najma.com, or http://www.leyla-najma.com

Born in Dover, Kent, England in 1987, Joss Stone spent her teenage years listening to a lot of music such as R&B, and soul music. Her favorite artist to listen to were Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin. Joss Stone adapted a soulful style of singing like the artist she grew up listening to.

At the early age of 14, Joss Stone made an appearance on Star for a Night on BBC Television. She sang Aretha Franklin’s “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman”. As Joss Stone put ito in an MTV interview, “I kind of clicked into soul music more than anything else because of the vocals. You’ve got to have good vocals to sing soul music and I always liked it ever since I was little.”

In 2002, Joss Stone decided to test the U.S. market by flying to New York City for an audition with S-Curve CEO Steve Greenberg. During that time I believed she signed a global music publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing in the UK.

Joss Stone, with a powerful soul voice, was ready to take on the world. Joss Stone’s career introduction was performances with Blondie and Gladys Knight. Rumors had it that she was leaving with the son of her record producer at 17 years old. I believe that cost her spokesperson for the megastore Gap.

in 2005 Joss Stone won Best Female Solo artist and Best Urban Artist in England.

Joss Stone signed with S-Curve records and immediately started working on her debut album The Soul Session. She flew to Miami to work with Miami’s finest producer and record hit makers such as Betty Wright, Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas and Little Beaver. She also worked with contemporary acts Angie Stone and The Roots.

The album consists of little known soul tracks by Wright, Franklin, Laura Lee and Bettye Swann. In late 2003 the album was released and quickly reached the top 5 in the UK Albums Chart, and also made the top forty of the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart. The single, “Fell In Love With A Boy”, which was a reworking of The White Stripes’ song “Fell In Love With A Girl”, reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart. The second single, “Super Duper Love Are You Diggin’ On Me?”, also reached the top twenty.

Although Joss Stone was already working on an R&B debut album when The Soul Sessions were recorded, the project was halted due to the success of The Soul Sessions. Soul Sessions remains her biggest selling album.

After the huge success of The Soul Sessions album, Joss Stone recorded an album of original songs in 2004 named Mind, Body & Soul. This album have seen an even bigger success than her first album, it debuted at #1 in the UK breaking the record for the youngest female ever to top the albums charts there, a record previously held by Avril Lavigne and just missed the top ten of the U.S. Billboard 200, after peaking at #11. The lead single, “You Had Me”, became her first top ten in the UK. Follow-up singles “Right To Be Wrong” and “Spoiled” both made the top forty, and “Don’t Cha Wanna Ride” the top twenty. “Spoiled” landed just outside of the top 50 of America’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at #54.

October 2004 Joss Performed for her Mind, Body & Soul DVD live in New York.

In November 2004, Joss Stone joined Band Aid 20 to benefit Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. The group, consisting of such luminaries as Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, re-recorded the 1984 song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, written by Band Aid organizers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Stone, born 2 years after the release of the original single, wasn’t initially aware who Bob Geldof was. The media gleefully reported that she repeatedly referred to him as Bob Gandalf. Despite some criticism of the single the single became the UK’s biggest seller of 2004 as well as the Christmas Number 1.

In February 2005, Joss Stone was nominated for three Brit Awards. She took home two; Best Female and Best Urban Act. She was also nominated three times at the 2005 Grammy Awards, where she sang barefoot on stage with rock performer Melissa Etheridge, in tribute to blues rock singer Janis Joplin. Their performance of “Cry Baby”/”Piece Of My Heart” was released as a single, and, through the aid of strong digital downloads, became Stone’s first top forty U.S. hit when it debuted at #32 then peaked on the Billboard Hot 100.

In July of 2005 she participated in the soundtrack of the Fantastic Four, singing the title song “What Ever Happened To The Heroes”, written by Pink, billymann, and Christopher Rojas.

In July 2005, Stone performed at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London, and did a duet with R&B/soul singer James Brown on UK chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

On February 5, 2006, she joined John Legend and Stevie Wonder at the Super Bowl XL pre-game show in performing a medley of Wonder’s hits and on the night of the Grammys 2006, she helped perform a medley of hits by the reclusive soul/funk singer Sly Stone.

Joss Stone will make her film debut in the fantasy epic Eragon, which will release on December 15, 2006. In the movie, Stone plays the witch Angela.

This a summary of Joss Stone career. As an England native she had taking the world by storm with her soulful and powerful voice. If you are interested in booking Joss Stone. Here is Joss Stone Biography

For over three decades, Aerosmith have been one of rock’s most revered and popular bands, crafting classic songs full of raw guitar runs and intensely energetic vocals. The band first reached fame in the 1970′s with a string of hits including “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way.” During this period, Aerosmith’s music defied easy categorization, falling somewhere between hard rock/blues and early punk, with occasional power ballads here and there. The band enjoyed major popularity throughout the 1970′s, but a split from 1979-84, and the serious substance abuse and drug addictions that contributed to their decline, would nearly relegate them to the annals of history. However, in 1984, Aerosmith was born again. They went on to enjoy resurgence in popularity that has made them one of the top-selling and most popular rock bands in the world today.

Throughout their rough and rocky history, Aerosmith defied failure and even defied mediocrity in a fast-paced rock-and-roll world abundant in tragedy and also-rans. Aerosmith signed with Columbia in 1972 and debuted their first album simply titled Aerosmith, which included a hit single, “Dream On”. After constant touring, the band released Get Your Wings in 1974, which did quite well on the charts, but it was Toys in the Attic in 1975 that established Aerosmith as international superstars. Originally pegged as Rolling Stones clones, Toys in the Attic showed that Aerosmith was a unique and original talent in their own right. Part heavy metal, part glam rock, and part punk, Toys in the Attic was an immense success, starting with the single “Sweet Emotion”, then a successful re-release of “Dream On”, and a new song from the album, “Walk This Way”. Both of the band’s previous albums re-charted as a result. Aerosmith’s next album, Rocks, went platinum swiftly and featured two hits, “Back in the Saddle” and “Last Child”.

Their next album, Draw the Line, was not nearly as successful, though the title track proved to be a minor hit. While continuing to tour and record into the late 1970′s, Aerosmith acted in the movie version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, covering the Beatles hit “Come Together.” As their popularity waned and drug abuse began affecting their output, Joe Perry left the band in 1979 during the recording of their sixth studio album Night in the Ruts and formed The Joe Perry Project. Perry’s role in Aerosmith was initially taken by longtime friend and songwriter Richie Supa and then later by guitarist Jimmy Crespo who recorded the remainder of the album.

Aerosmith released its mammoth-selling Greatest Hits album in 1980, and in 1981 the band suffered another loss with the departure of Brad Whitford. Rick Dufay replaced Whitford and the band recorded their seventh album, Rock in a Hard Place. The album was considered a relative failure. The tour that followed this release is notable for Steven Tyler’s collapse onstage during a 1983 performance.

On Valentine’s Day 1984, Perry and Whitford went to see Aerosmith play. They officially rejoined the ranks of Aerosmith once more in April of that year. Steven Tyler recalls, “You should have felt the buzz the moment all five of us got together in the same room for the first time again. We all started laughing – it was like the five years had never passed. We knew we’d made the right move.”

Aerosmith embarked on a lucrative reunion tour entitled “Back in the Saddle”, which produced the live album Classics Live II. Their problems were still not behind them when the group signed with Geffen Records and began working on a comeback.

1985 saw the release of Done with Mirrors, their first studio album since the highly publicized reunion. It fared relatively well commercially, but it did not produce a hit single or generate much hope for their comeback. By the time the record was released, Tyler and Perry had exited drug rehabilitation. The group appeared on Run D.M.C.’s incredibly successful cover of “Walk This Way”, blending rock and roll and hip-hop and successfully beginning Aerosmith’s comeback. The group’s next release was Permanent Vacation (1987), which included the hits “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”, “Rag Doll”, and “Angel”. Their next album, Pump, was received even better; Pump featured four Top Ten singles: “Janie’s Got a Gun”, “What It Takes”, “Love in an Elevator”, and “The Other Side”. Aerosmith was definitely in the midst of a major resurgence.

Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990′s, the band’s 1993 follow-up to Pump, Get a Grip, was just as successful commercially. Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on power-ballads in promoting the album, three songs (“Cryin’ “, “Crazy” and “Amazing”) proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then fresh up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of “the Aerosmith chick” for half a decade. Steven Tyler’s daughter, Liv Tyler, was also featured in the “Crazy” video. Aerosmith signed with Columbia Records again in the early 1990′s, but they had to complete two contractual albums for Geffen before recording for the new label.

The next album, Nine Lives, was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins. Reviews were generally mixed, and Nine Lives initially fell on charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the US alone. It was followed by a series of late ’90′s releases, mostly earlier material that was live or retrospective. The albums sold relatively well, but also marked a second decline in popularity and critical respect for the band.

Aerosmith’s biggest hit of the ’90′s, and its only #1 single to date, was the love theme from the film Armageddon, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”. This song was conceived by Joe Perry and Diane Warren, although Warren alone received songwriting credit. Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv was featured in the movie. In 1999, they were in the Disney-MGM Studios ride (and later in the Walt Disney Studios Park ride), Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Aerosmith provided the soundtrack and theme for the ride, which is based on their recording session and following concert.

The band started its next decade with the release in 2001 of Just Push Play, which charted well. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Later that year, the band appeared as part of the United We Stand concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. Stubbornly, the band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, refusing to interrupt their Just Push Play tour schedule.

In 2002, Aerosmith released the 2-disc compilation O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits and embarked on the Girls of Summer tour with opening acts Kid Rock and Run-DMC. In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus tour. Their long-promised blues album, Honkin’ on Bobo, was released in 2004. The Album continues to be a success, helping to inspire the resurgence of blues and roots music across the US and Europe. A live DVD, You Gotta Move, followed it in December 2004. The band also lent its well-known “Dream On” to an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting their audience, which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.

In 2005, guitarist Joe Perry released his eponymous solo album. Many claim that it is in many ways truer to the Aerosmith of the ’70′s than any of their recent output. This is mostly due to its raw energy and lack of song doctoring. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD named Rockin’ the Joint. The band hit the road for the Rockin’ The Joint tour on October 30th with Lenny Kravitz and is still touring.

They expect to be on the road until some time around Spring 2006. Rumor has it that they will begin work on a new album at that time. It was announced in January that the band will embark on a 5-week tour with Cheap Trick in the spring. Rumors of a tour started a week before the announcement when Cheap Trick front man Robin Zander joined the band onstage for “Come Together” during a concert in Tampa, Florida. Early reports also indicate that the band plans to resume touring in the fall of 2006, most likely in support of the new album. According to insiders, an upcoming tour may see them alongside Motley Crue.

This article was written by F.R. Penn sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com If you’re looking for tickets for the next Aerosmith show, look no further than Stubhub.com where fans buy and sell the hottest tickets. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a link back to http://www.stubhub.com