This August heatwave encompasses every movement, makes sure I slow down, insists I drink buckets of water.The summertime vibe is in full effect, this city is live with art and music. Free stuff, waterfront stuff, dance floor stuff, all the stuff…!
Spring and summer have been more about practice than than performance. Lifetimes of stuff to learn and practice.
Reaching back a couple months, I completed the Lavender Intensive at the Darkside
Studio, a week of intensive study is always an inspiring challenge to body and mind. Not only was the week packed with content, but the feedback from Audra was from throughout the week as well as the testing day, was so detailed and informative, I just can’t recommend this enough for any belly dancer with a particular interest in or practice of tribal fusion for defining and refining technique and musicality. I’m a long way off from having the material from the intensive down but I have a ton of material to work with. These few months later, I am revisiting the course content, as I carve out more space in my life for studio time for solo goals and projects.
In June, I attended a day of workshops with the Magyar beauty Katalyn Schafer of Hungary, hosted by Toronto’s own Ya Amar. This woman is a powerhouse, of the most elegant variety. The choreography she taught us (modern bellydance and some jazz fusion) were truly challenging between the floor work freezes, spins and strong extended legs. I was invigorated by the big movements, taking up a lot of space in every direction…we all agreed she must come back, we want more!
I am on the tail end of the Bellydance Summer School course offered by Zahira at Dragonfly. A ten week long course on belly dance history, I have looked forward to this each and every week: learning of the Cengis and Kocek, Salome, Badia Masabni, the Golden Age of belly dance to Bal Anat and Reda troupe. So much to take in, tracing this history and how this art form shimmied its way to North America. What we have learned in this class from Zahira –whose extensive knowledge on the subject is rather mind-blowing, I might add –is fascinating, enriching and essential to those of us studying any style of belly dance. Dancers, keep your fingers crossed that Dragonfly runs this class again one day!
Sandy Watters 