[Billion Belly March info]
[Belly Dance Convergence Week] [Calendar-at-a-Glance]
[registration form]
I can see that this blog is getting long. I canıt imagine anyone reading it word for word. I have titled paragraphs for easy skimming. I canıt afford to pay an editor to keeping my work so there are misspellings and punctuation that will get crazy from time to time. Thatıs just the way itıs going to have to be. I have a lot to say and not much time. I am a much better dancer than I am a punctuator and grammer fiend. I absolutely cannot spell. I reverse letters all the time (Iım dyslexic).
Six week Beginning Belly Dance class starts 6:00-7:00
WEEK TWO OF PARADE CLASSES coming TuesdayAny volunteers out there? You must wear Red.
Even video doesnıt tell the story because we are big and constantly passing by and we will have different things happening at different places and directions on the street. The still photos taken by Tim Grayhaven, Jerry Johnson and folks are my favorite memory catchers.
Anyway, we will practice as if it has to be perfect but when it comes time for the actual parade it will not be time to practice any more . What we know, what sticks to our hips, is good enough. We are going to smile, laugh and have fun! We are not doing this to stress out. We will feel our pride and joy for the dance!
I read over the political message the group had worked on and still there is a nagging question I can hear the readers ask: Why Belly Dance? We know what we know from the inside out. Belly dance is a powerful aspect in women's lives. We say it empowered us. How do you convey that power to someone outside looking in? Itıs as if the two do not speak the same language. Everywhere I go airports, bars and restaurants have TV’s showing male sports activities. I feel I as a woman am not considered a part of the audience in these public places. I have asked to turn the channel at times and they say the management requests sports stay on even if no one is watching it.
Seems to me women’s activities, choices, experiences, and actions are often being marginalized by media and politicians unless they think they can gain by it. We are sold a disempowering social agenda and made to feel all used up at such a young age. Fear is what our culture is selling us. It is very lucrative because it makes us go out and buy a quick fix new hat to feel more cool.
But what is important for us woman-dancers-Mothers-Daughters-sisters to remember is; WE BUY IT, lock, stock and barrel! We not only buy it put we push it on to each other in crazy sorts of ways. If we stop buying it, we wonıt have those messages wonıt be sitting around our house any more. The sellers of these messages will go out of business! No one outside of us is going to change the world situation for women unless we demand it. This realization is the next step for our continued growth of awareness and empowerment. I believe firmly this empowerment is being seeded in women by the very fact that women have taken belly dance and made it something for themselves.
So if we want changes we have to start making them our selves! We have to step out and do something extraordinary. Belly Dance is outside many peoples imagination. In less you are a woman it must be hard to imagine a womenıs world. What itıs like to have to wear a shirt when men donıt have to, birth a baby, have a period, walk with big hips, manage a pair of large mammary glands, or feel the heat of menopause. Our world is special and belly dance has become understood by women as a rewarding means of experiencing and expressing that world.
Anyway, I felt inspired to write a paragraph to send to BellyTalk@yahoogroups and to a few other dancers I know out there on Mothers Day.
Here it is
"Why belly dance?" you maybe asking.
It’s about thinking outside of the box a bit. Women's work, interests and actions are continually marginalized in our world. So much so, that a stereotype exists that is absolutely not in line with truth. Media, politicians, religious leaders and business men may think belly dance is either some sexy dance or else it’s a frumpy dance done by non important housewives. Frankly, we are tired of this misconception. Bellydance is supported by a vast ammount of women. Women have been staying with belly dance longer than most marriages can last. It is very important to them.
Belly dance is not a dance of the slave girl of the middle east or a dance done by naughty little girls. Itıs a serious dance done by women. Belly dance is a dance that teaches independence. It not dependent on a partner. It is all about birth (belly, hips and breasts) creativity (gestation, insight, organization of things), celebration of the feminine (women) and it breeds self empowerment (look out!). When women learn to accept their own bodies, learn to express themselves nonverbally, dance with every part of their body, mind and emotional capacity (freedom of speech) in a non choreographed way (trait indicative to belly dance), it is a revolution brewing! The next thing is they are going to use their power! Something new is being birthed!
We are sincerely celebrating beauty, power, strength, diversity and passion of the Great Mother in our Billion Belly March June 17th.
Delilah
End of letter
read all about it!
Come join us!
We need every belly!
I know I’m making people sick going on and on about the parade on bellytalk so I will cool it for a while.
Later that afternoon the lovely Miramar from Virginia was out visiting and we all went out on her friends boat for a cruise of Puget Sound. A most glorious day!
I watched the DVD again. Man it’s really good! A lot of dancers should find this fun and educational even if they can’t make it to Seattle and just dance with us vicariously.
QUESTIONDo the out of town dancers have to sign up by a certain time? Earlier the better so we know what and how many to expect . As long as they have been studying belly dance for a while then it depends on their comfort level. If they are spending their own time learning the dances it will only take a few days for most people. The Seattle class is a once-a-week class room experience.
Later on we had a Middle Eastern music ensemble reversing in the studio. Steven Elaimy on Oud, Erik on Drums, Salah on Violin, David McGraph on Ney. So inspiringly beautiful!
We worked on one of the hardest parts of the choreography for dancers and drummers on this night; Line Balady with a masmoudi stop. We are having trouble with row alignment but by the end of class a marked improvement!
There are about 22 students. More coming next week.The total numbers are hard to tell because my office staff has been out with illness and the registrations are piling up.
SHOESWe have an official sandal for the parade this year. We are calling it the Egyptian Sandal because we are having our own custom detail of an Egyptian Eye of Horus and Ra pressed into the heals. I love this sandal. This is by no means mandatory but they are a great sandal for dancing in when you have to wear shoes. They look good with a belly dance costume and are made of soft leather and a very flexible sole. I have many pairs and my dark brown pair I take camping and on my belly dance retreats in Hawaii. Some folks donıt like the texture of the sole because their dog and cat hair sticks to it. But that is when they are brand new. Once they are danced in the parade on asphalt the texture wears down and that isnıt such a problem.
For the first couple weeks we are giving free shipping. We need to hurry to get them all made before the parade starts!!! Later they will be available on line at visionarydance.com. We will get a photo of it up on line soon.
Colors? Red, Golden Brown, Dark Brown, Tan, Black, Silver, Gold for the parade. All these colors have first priority cause the manufacture is very busy this time of year. There are other colors too. Purple Teal, White , Cream, Navy, just about anything.
The logo for my company has been the Eye of Horus since 1987
All the orders were put in on Friday and we can place another order next Thursday night. Any later and Iım afraid they will not be done in time. Dancers do not have to have these shoes but they cannot wear anything that is not attached buckle or tie.
Wow! alot of dancers at the door showing up for Dahlia Moons special Parade Cane Dance class contingent at 6:00 and then more at 6:30 for the main string class. Probably 60 in all but some dancers are taking both Tuesday and Wednesday classes for fun and exercise. The actual numbers for the parade remain to be seen because we still have Thursdayıs class and people wanting to start late, then we have the out of town dancers who can register anytime, and the guest dancer contingent as well.
THE FLOATErik, Tayissa and I met with artist Magi Erlandsen over a beer at the Buckaroo. We hashed out concepts, budget, scheduling and designs for the art for the parade. How to construct the conveyance? She is going to be the art director. Our goal is to erect a set that will follow us down the parade route. I want it real big! We are thinking of using 2-3 painters scaffolds that will jack knife apart. Her design is fabulous. Since the theme is ³Show Our Presence to the World² she is going to paint an earth in the lower portion and a sun with neon highlights illuminating hundreds of little goddess belly dancers on the earth. The heavens will host the planets and the presence of a large dancer with her arms raised in a pose from one of our powerful arm poses (Moon; from flip jerk).
QUESTIONCan dancers join us late? Yes, but they may need a private lesson to get caught up with one of our advanced students, Laura Rose or myself. We are thinking of adding an extra catch up class Friday and/or Monday nights, if called for, to work dancers into our billion belly goals. We will see and if need be, put it on the calender page. We are doing our best to include every belly who truly wants to participate.
CONFUSIONOne of our registration links had a bad paragraph . OOPs sorry. Not everyone used it to register with and we have talked to those who have.We have been doing a lot of stuff on shoe-string time budgets and mistakes happen. The out of town dancers paragraph was pasted onto the Seattle class so they got told to wear 90% red and 90% yellow. Oh Oh! They were also told that we were making a DVD for them but the DVD is for the out of town dancers . They have different steps for each dance in some cases. The Seattle class is live and the price tag does not include a DVD.
THE DVD’s PROGRESSThey are not easy to make. They take expensive equipment, man /lady hours scripting, rehearsing, shooting, editing and then there is designing and printing.This DVD was suppose to be fast, funky and simple for such a specialized project. However itıs not funky at all ! Itıs turning out real good! Our camera actually broke the week before shooting the parade footage and going to Hawaii and cost us a fortune to fix. Good news is we got it fixed and we are able to continue on schedule!
The video is only $29 (we underestimated the amount of time and such)
While the dances are aimed at the parade, the lessons are very clear, and the spirit of it exciting.The DVD is very instructive for all dancers and instructors so we will make it available to interested dancers even if they have no intention of coming to Seattle. But we hope some will come! So far we have 10 dancers registered from out of town and we have not really pushed it yet.
The DVD Includes:
Lessons on:
We had about 35-40 dancers in class. It was exciting and inspiring. A lot of new faces as well as a reunion with people who turn out each year. For many women this is the ONE belly dance thing they do each year. Many join us because they see us in the Parade each year and manage to get up the courage.
I explained to all classes that we are going to work hard each night on details; execution of movements, rhythms, counts, facial projection, balance, costuming. We will learn a lot in the process. The process is ultimately our own experience because the parade observers only get to see a tiny snippet of a dance as we pass by. They may not see even that, if we are on water break. We have 7 dances to do and ultimately we are the only ones who see them in them in their entirety. That is unless we have a videographer with us! (hint, hint)
CALL FOR A VIDEOGRAPHER
Any volunteers out there? You must wear Red.
Even video doesnıt tell the story because we are big and constantly passing by and we will have different things happening at different places and directions on the street. The still photos taken by Tim Grayhaven, Jerry Johnson and folks are my favorite memory catchers.
Anyway, we will practice as if it has to be perfect but when it comes time for the actual parade it will not be time to practice any more . What we know, what sticks to our hips, is good enough. We are going to smile, laugh and have fun! We are not doing this to stress out. We will feel our pride and joy for the dance!
BACK TO FIRST WEEK OF PARADE CLASSES
So I get home on Monday after a red eye flight and Iım handed a ton of e mail, phone messages, internet typos, and agenda lists while Iım knee-deep in tropical laundry and 4 screaming cats all starved for affection.
REFLECT
Well I just got back from Hawaii Retreat at 10 AM
Monday, and the Parade classes start Monday Night.
(Some of us like living on the edge! )
April 29-May 7 th 2006
The retreat was fabulous! It was a small and close knit group.We had the most perfect weather on the morning we danced into the sea in costume. The light was stunning for the video taping we did of those dances for posterity. We had a lot of sunshine and an amazing amount of rain at times (mostly at night and when we were too exhausted to move so it was no big deal). Rachel was an amazing teacher . Jeremiah taught a lot of drum classes and Jeremiah and Erik played live for most all the classes. All in all we did a ton of dancing as well as sun bathing, massage and adventure. The facility works very nice for our teaching and it is such a good way for dancers from other cities, states and countries to come and study with me and my crew.
We do not presently have one planned for 2007. It seems a shame not to continue to do these retreats after 17 years of them and so all during the retreat my mind was percolating on ideas, dates, guests, and themes. We shall see. We may still do one in January 2007 or focus on 2008. Anyways we will not work on it until after the parade and the Belly Dancer Convergence week.
While I was in Hawaii, I actually worked long-distance from my jungle retreat without a computer, no phones in our room and very little cell phone reception on various parade plans with committee members. Quite a trick. The color BELLY DANCER CONVERGENCE flyer was conceived, and then designed in color, printed, and personally delivered by Paige Clark by Monday morning ready for parade classes. Paige (AKA Noor) did the Billion Belly poster as well is really a good ad designer. Tamalyn Dallal has agreed to teach a drum solo class and perform in Belly Dancer Convergence week!
[Billion Belly March info]
[Belly Dance Convergence Week] [Calendar-at-a-Glance]
[registration form]
Visionary Dance Productions 4128 Fremont Ave. North Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-2353