SPOTLIGHT ON LOIS POSTEL at
DELILAH'S VISIONARY BELLY DANCE
RETREAT

In January 1998 we held our 7th Visionary
Bellydance Retreat on the beautiful island
paradise of Maui. In addition to studying
bellydance with Delilah, Hula with Nona
Kaluiokalani and drumming with
Armando Mafufo, this year's participants
also enjoyed special guest teacher Laurel
Victoria Gray, who taught Russian Gypsy
and Modern Persian. This was the most
aerobic retreat we've ever offered! The
group that came together was quite
diverse, from top-notch professionals like
Sapphira from Nevada to enthusiastic
beginners like Jace from Washington. Ages
varied from 18-70, and we had a couple of
husbands come along for good measure.
On their own time they managed some
rather interesting adventures. . . Michael
went wild boar hunting and Jim went
biking down Haleakala Volcano!

clear for snorkeling and the wind was soft.
We had a busy but blissful retreat.

Our sub-theme this year was personal
growth. Echoing out across the sea was
the question: How has this dance form
enhanced your life? All those who came
were celebrating this special relationship
they have with the dance. My staff and I
reflected on how putting on this retreat for
the past 7 years has enriched our lives.

For our mid-week show we decided to
prepare a special retrospective that would
incorporate various aspects of our previ-
ous retreats. I look at the bios sent in by
participants from across the country and
enlist volunteers who want to take on this
extra performance event. I like to include
all levels and ages, and give each some-
thing to work out that will fit the show's
theme; participants from previous years
would help a lot in this retrospective. We
had about 14 performers in the show.

We had perfect weather this year. We
didn't see many whales on our boat cruise
but we did see some huge sea turtles. The
waves were large, the water was very