It was my first time dancing with the fantastical troupe, BENU! I'm a real Benubian!!!! Yipppppeeeeeee!!!! What a blast! What an absolute, action-packed fun-o-rama!!!

So I've been concocting something in my brainium with a possible choreography with a giant screen with Quay brothers stop animation movies in the background. A few props could even be in the foreground but then, we're getting into performance art here. I am thinking eventually, this is where my thesis presentation could go....(yes I've been working on an art degree for decades). It would be dark....So dark. There would be creepy dolls, creepy constumes and lots of pops and locks followed by impossibly slow snaky movements. Hmmmmmmmmm.....*ruminating*

I have to say that I am one of the most thankful dancers around right now. Sometimes, when you least expect it...wonderful people come out to support you and show love as well as encourage you to keep dancing even though you are down. I owe some huge thank you's! YOU know who you are! Much love!!!!! xxoooxxxoooxxoo

I know it took me a couple weeks to post on this one but I must tell all my shimmy buddies that I had a WONDERFUL experience at the recent workshop sponsored by Ashiya's group in Lincoln!!! So much variety ! The instructors were charistmatic, well-organized and skilled in presenting the information in a way in which we could practice and retain!! The first instructional was Karavan of Dreams with my personal favorite ATS!!! That energy, power and togetherness that is so strongly present in this style of dance was well presented by both ladies! They shared their knowledge and their personal experiences with the spiritual nature of the dance which deepened its meaning for me as well as presenting the material at a pace which allowed for retention and a real feeling of "belonging" to the dance as we learned. Truly stellar women, these two!! Next, the amazing veteran, Ashiya taught dance steps which were presented in an articulate and professional manner. Ashiya was unendingly patient with us as we requested in unison "again!" So we blazed through the steps presented by this Superstar instructor whose troupe could easily be a huge hit in Vegas or Hollywood!! A pleasure to watch and to perform these dances. We were treated to a lovely deli lunch after which Shira from Iowa City set us up to learn the art of "double veil.!" She makes it look so easy, but let me tell you, it isn't!! She was even kind enough to instruct on different "skill level" fabrics which allow a dancer to progress to more difficult to manage fabrics as skills are honed. Several gorgeously sewn veils of various materials were provided for dancers to experiment with as we twirled (wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) about the room mimicking Shira's complex moves. Finally, the amazingly graceful Wendy treated us to an otherworldly presentation and tutorial on the "Kathak" style of Indian dance. At times, I was so blown away by watching her, I forgot to dance! Her form and inner presence was captivating and radiant. It was all I could do to keep up! (I can still see her nimble form and hear the powerful jingle of the bells wrapped about her ankles.)

AND, we can't forget all the FABULOUS vendors who provided for our shopping fixes during the breaks at this exciting event. A sea of silks, fabrics and sparkly-jinglies to treat our senses and empty (pleasantly!!) our pocketbooks were spread in the foyer of the Lincoln Women's Club. The entire Athenian Dance Company and ancillary staff were amazingly cordial and welcoming! We are so lucky in Omaha to live close to Lincoln where so many quality dance experiences are offered!!!

Thank you so much ladies! It was BELLYONDERFUL!

To all you wonderful, compassionate bellydance folks who know her, please offer support and kind words during this difficult time!

If you click this link, there is a guestbook for encouraging words. Thank you so much! What would we do without our wonderful dance community!

Hugs,
Joan (Pelagia)

www.legacy.com/omaha/Obituaries.asp

I've been vicariously living it through Benu's pix! Everybody go to their site and check out the awesome pix!!! Immeeeeeeeeeediately!!

My Dance

My heart was just cut from my body.

To retrieve it I must dance. The tears fall,
the body moves.
The telling of birth, life, and death
occur in a moment...

My dance is joyful and it is sad.
My dance is painful and it is ecstatic...
My dance pulls in the pieces of me
that I had given away, returning me whole...
My dance is the dance of
Realization.

Inayat Palden Shiva

Hello all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still riding the wave of effervescence resulting from this past weekend's extravaganza and you know me.....verbose to a fault so...here goes!!!

I had only heard of NBDS from my fellow Diva pals since I wasn't yet in the troupe during the last one. It seemed exciting and I was pretty glad to be part of the "next" one! I had no idea it would fly by so fast! Hours of practice and costume fittings brought all the divas closer together as we shared and laughed during the many hours of "will we ever get this right?" I even was asked to choreograph part of a dance for the James Brown Tribute! (A pretty big honor in my book!) Sapphire Phoenix deserves most of the kudos for that one - (maybe she has been imbued with some of the "Godfather of Soul's spririt?) That was a blast. There's something cool about seeing other dancers interpret moves I put together. Each dancer puts her soul and body into it and though the movements are essentially the same, they all take on an individual beauty once each dancer possesses a movement.

PLUS, this was the first time I had seen the Diva Soma stage put together! It was a marvel of construction and the fact that it tears down and is fits in my tiny garage still has my mind boggled beyond belief!!! Diva Dudes Rock!

The buildup last week was unbelievable. I can't believe at 45, I still get butterflies in my stomach prior to these events. I suppose that will happen way into my 80's. Eyebrows raised folks? You had better believe I'll at least still be trying to dance in my eighties!!!!! Our fearless leader Magdalene continued to posess a calm and cheerful exterior with just a few moments here and there of furrowed brow as she valiantly sliced her way through any arising snags with her bellydance scimitar of problem-solving! It was made easier for her by our amazing coordinators, Anahata, Azeret and Mirella who are extraordinary in their commitment, efficiency and enthusiasm!

When we arrived to begin the setup at the Benson Community Center, I was astonished at the cavernous interior of that building. It was like some sort of maze! And let's talk stairs! If you want a great quad workout, visit the center. Your knees will scream with fear!! (Giggle) Tamika and the staff at Benson were stellar in assisting us achieve the desired feel and cleanliness (My fault, I needed to swab down a particular bathroom as I have extreme stale urine-phobia). Her patience was terrific as Azeret and I insisted we remove the volleyball net to insure a more aesthetic stage. Again, a huge vote of thanks to the Diva Dudes for all the intense manual labor and U-haul driving!

The big day finally arrived! It was a pretty sleepless night for me, I'll admit as I finally tumbled out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and started packing costumes and reviewing dances. We all met at 9:30 for a meeting of minds and instructions from Il Presidenta!! On to the community center! Tables erected, signs posted, Divas assigned to tasks and errands, costumes deposited in dressing room and a smorgasbord of food placed out for hungry performers. Let the festivities begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now the one thing about being a host troupe during an event is that you can't see everything all at once (sigh - cloning is still not perfected, I know!) so I can only give you my point of view of the event! We had four phenomenal instructors teaching classes while the "Green show" was occurring. This was very lovely for me as I was able to man a table of T-shirts with lovely Basinah for first portion of the day so was able to see many terrific dancers as the teachers were teaching. I am always thrilled and amazed to see the wonderful talent we have in this area! And costumes? I was in overdrive, watching rich tribal hues and sparkling cabaret sets! I can't wait to see the DVD as I simply couldn't do everything all at once! The time came for the gothic dance class taught by Calliste which I had been looking forward to for months. At this point, I was torn, as I REALLY wanted to participate in the Drum Circle as well!!!! C'mon scientists! Get that cloning thing down!! Calliste taught a brilliant class, let me say and I was positively giddy to be able to remember the moves and not feel completely overwhelmed and brain-dead as I sometimes do after a workshop! I know we all enjoyed it! (Especially the demon eyes movement....Bwah hah haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!) Our most sincere apologies to the teachers who had to put up with us constantly running through the class as the elevator broke! Ashiya from Lincoln taught her skillful Greek dance which my friend Lori took and immensely enjoyed and Della taught her amazing floating veil work to an intent passel of students. Let's not forget Mama Diva MAGDALENE who kicked the day off with an intro class. She has a way of making you feel powerful and womanly after just one class!

The wind up for the spotlight show left me feeling so keyed up, I couldn't even eat one slice of the mound of pizzas provided to keep dancer energy up while we dressed and reviewed our steps one more time!!! The spotlight show was again a flurry of unbelievable talent! We had dancers who attended the workshop from as far away as South Dakota (Yay Liquid Hip Therapy! even though we didn't get to see you perform this time!) and Western Nebraska (Whoo hoo, Karavan of Dreams!!) as well as the lovely local favorites. It was over much too soon with a couple of fuse failures - Talented dancers kept dancing right through in the dark - (The show must go on!!!) and loads of wonderful, attentive audience members and thundering applause! The positive energy was tangible, baby! Thanks to the sisterhood of midwestern belly dancers and their families and supporters, I'm still convinced the building could have lifted off the ground a couple of inches!!

I simply can't wait until next year!!!!! (What? I heard that, Magdalene....okay you need a tiny break? Well.....maybe...Okay!) Thanks so much to all the wonderful class participants and performers that made this happen! DIVA SOMA - YEAH!!!!!!

Hi all!

Just a rant to cleanse myself of impatience. First, let me begin by saying I think videos of performances are AWESOME teaching tools. When I receive a vid of a performance I have done, the first thing I do is watch it and critique myself like crazy! It usually looks much different than it did in my mind and in the mirror! (That whole three-D thing, you know!) Recently, I noticed I really need to work on better posture, balance and definition of movements. Also, I need to lower my chin about five inches (or I'll drown in the rain!!) (Plus, see Joe Williams and the Delsarte technique - head, soul, body!) I am trying to focus on the joy of performing but I would be lying if I said I didn't want to present the absolute tightest performance possible. I always enjoy my fellow dancers and seem to present a much better group dance than solo and I think that is because we are sharing energy and joy (yay for the tribal element!!). That being said, I don't want to become so self-involved that I become some kind of monster! I just want to be the best I can be. Any comments on what you all have gone through at different points in your performance lives????

Hugs,
Joan

Okay, I admit, I thought myspace was a total teenager thing and I couldn't see wasting time on it. Well, I have become a myspace junkie. It's another way to network with creative people and find out about lovely artistic things. Of course, a random serial killer type occasionally wanted to befriend you but you never have to accept. I have seen more cool art on myspace than I studied in two entire semesters of art history! Wellllll......maybe neck and neck.

Anyhow, if you're curious, have a gander:

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm

Stay safe and warm, kidlets!

Hi all!
RN here and yes, it is good to warm up with some light movement (you want to warm the muscles) with the key being, do not overstretch a muscle when it is cold, ever, and when it is warm always, gently, gradually working toward more flexibility and strength. This goes for strengthening exercises as well with the key being "gradual" and "moderate." Otherwise, a person is heading for an injury which any sports physiologist or responsible physical trainer will tell you. I know if you are like me, you want more, and faster. That is why I have injured myself several times! I get excited, my adrenaline level increases and then I do not feel any injury I may incur due to the fact that I am riding a sympathetic nervous system high. One the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and my muscles concur, I am humbled. Hopefully , this will help. Gradual increase of muscle stretching combined with strengthening exercise or resistance is the best and safest approach. Now if I can take my own advice........

People sometimes say weird things happen in threes. I can see the reasoning behind this as in my life, this has often been true. I guess it's all in how you look at it. For instance, I had a tire go bad but was lucky enough to catch it and have it replaced before it caused an accident. Of course it cost me over $100 but sometimes, those things can't be avoided. Then the toilet downstairs started acting possessed. No matter how much I snake it, it is sluggish and on New Year's Eve, it overflowed simply delightful contents all over my bathroom floor. After cleaning up the mess and snaking the toilet again, I found that the bathroom floor has a large leak in it which allowed the bleach water to splash all over my clean and dirty laundry as the laundry machines are directly under the toilet. Sigh. A few ruined clothes, more cleaning and more loads of laundry later, the furnace began to squeak unbelievably. We had to turn it off overnight because it was so loud and bundle up. $3100 later, we have to have a new furnace as the motor is bad and apparently the furnace has been pieced together by previous owner with parts from 1950-1975. More sighs. This chick's going to be attending fewer workshops this year and working some overtime. Don't they say that this stuff builds character?? I'm working on a stainless steel one!!

The dancing - wanted to go into more detail...
You know, I was trying to think of a way to effectively describe the beautiful dancing of the Louisville event and I have it! All three dancers were wearing some form of violet so they appeared to be lovely winter flowers which added a great deal to the effect. Each dancer had the power of her style, Della with her fluid command and shining goddess energy, Cipriana with her playful and spritelike movements and Andromeda with her earthy, sultry flow.

They were like one of my favorite fairy tales in the ancient Anderson's Fairy Tales volume, "Little Ida's flowers." If you haven't read this, you should! It's a charming story of how a little girl named Ida cannot figure out why her little flowers are so fatigued each morning until she stays up to watch them escape to a dance extravaganza at night where they dazzle the flower ball with breathtaking floral pirouettes and curtsies. They positively dance their shoes off after which they are somewhat spent with the amazing evening. There is even a king and a queen rose of the floral ball and as fanciful as this is, I can picture these three belly dancers turning heads at the flower ball with their beautiful winter violet and periwinkle presentation. Okay, enough waxing rhapsodic. Those of you who know me always know I could go on forever about dancing of any sort but these ladies were truly the bouquet of Louisville during solstice. Okay Okay, I'm finished!
delete this comment

Recently, I attended some solstice celebrations I found to be quite interesting and enjoyable. One was a true pagan rite with the goddess and calling of the directions/corners, etc. There were a few of us drumming (I am just learning on a doumbek and hope to purchase a larger deeper-toned Djembe soon) and there was dance along with loads of food and great fellowship among artistic souls. I had never seen a Pagan ritual and found it really sort of fascinating

I loved the sage-smudging which I believe was borrowed from Native American tradition. Many of us got up to dance with "riguer" around the altar loaded with a chocolate Venus de Willendorf goddess figure, candles, oak, and fir. Energy suffused the room and all in all it was a wonderful celebration of nature.

The other event also had dancing, and was at the Louisville Art Gallery here in Nebraska. Heidi the poet hosted this event and it should be repeated yearly!! There were two real drummers and me available to drum for both poets and dancers. We were treated to a lovely light feast along with some spontaneous poetry from a broad spectrum of ages, lifestyles and point of view. The gallery was like a spectacular jewel in this small town which otherwise appears a bit sleepy. It was built on two levels of an ancient building remade into a loft style gallery with just the right lighting and art. Jean Mason paints with the most stellar color combinations and her work is so kinetic! No wonder she is able to call for the big bucks! My favorite poem was read by a spirited woman in her 60's. It was a eulogy poem which she wrote for her daughter to read when she passes. The poem described a true self love and acceptance and reminded me that our inner beings never age, just our bodies. Beautiful!

Normally, the winter gets me down a bit with the gloomy lack of sunshine and shorter days but these celebrations were packed with such positive energy, I have been riding their high for an entire week. Happy Solstice all, and may you enjoy winter this season!!

Okay, so I've been a bit fixated on ATS lately. I had a dream today (remember, I work nights) that I was trying to get my ATS outfit right and for some reason, my turban was huge and stuffed with the polyester foam that goes into pillows! I'm not kidding! I had three colorful crinkle skirts on over a pair of pantaloons, a big honking tassel belt, an unbelievable heavy tribal bra on over a simple black tribal choli and scads of the appropriate jewelry but when you got to my head....Oh Lordy, it was this gargantuan paisley turban with stuffing and had elastic all around my face like some kind of shower cap. I was asking Barb from Benu if it looked okay and she looked like she was going to have a seizure but she said politely in my dream, "I think you may want to refer to your FCBD on costuming and rethink your headdress!" Admittedly, I know it looked farcical but like many dreams, I was somehow powerless to correct my giant foam filled head. OMG! It was like the ATS version of being naked in public. Thank goodness it was only a dream. (sweating profusely!!)

I get to see you for delsarte? SWEET

Wow!!! The floor under my daughter's old room has oak floors!! I discovered this after starting to rip sad carpet out of the room. She has moved into her teenage "lair" in the basement and after I paint over the black walls and heart/pentacles (although I appreciate their artistic value) to lighten the room a bit, I think I may have a little practice studio!!!!! The ceilings are twelve feet high so no worries about banging my gigantic cranium with various dangly items I have in the living room!!! She and I have practiced dancing in the room and it fits about 3-5 people tops to practice comfortably! HOW FUN IS THIS DISCOVERY!!!! Now to get a floor sander...................

Okay, I've finally settled down enough to write about Tribal Dreams. First of all, Benu simply blows my mind with all the coordination, time and organization that went into this wonderful event. It was an amazing success!

Day one, raq sharqi captain's log: On Friday, I arrived to unpack in the motel along with Azeret at approximately the same time. I thought I had scheduled myself for the first John Compton class but I was mistaken. Soooooo, I signed up for the Saturday John Compton class and waited for the Scott Gardner's Drum class. While I was waiting, I was able to immerse myself in the decadent amounts of tribal wear and goods available from the vendors. When have I ever said "no" to shopping?? Azeret was dancing away in the folk dancing with all of John Compton's students and it sounded like the roof was going to fall in! That was some pretty high-energy joyful dancing upstairs!!! Scott Gardner's Drum workshop was very informative and much too short! Appearances were made by Sapphire's fiance, Yoda (not his real drum name) as well as our fearless Diva leader, Diva Mamma Magdalene!! When we were all together drumming like that, it was magic. That primitive part of the earth's rhythm reverberated in our chests. It was well worth it! I was looking forward to learning more already during the next day's intermediate class! After cramming as much meet and greet as I could in, we took our away team back to the room to collect Sapphire Phoenix and repeatedly embarrass her all night by singing Happy Birthday to her, forcing her to eat fried Ice Cream at Tico's and then off to the Drum gathering at the "Q" It was great to see all the troupes get crazy on the dance floor and of course, Michele Shazadi blew our minds with her floor work. How do you do it, Michele???? We were also treated to neon twirling of poi which was mesmerizing to watch. I kept running back and forth from the stage to drum to the floor to dance. Dance? Drum? Dance? Drum? It's the Gemini in me, I tell you!! Back to the room to harass Sapphire with more birthday singing and nonsense and then off to bed to listen to wonderful sleep talk brought to us by Azeret! I'm quite a snorer so I know she was just being polite when she said I wasn't sawing logs!

Day two, raq sharki captain's log: Two classes today for myself, John Compton's movement with cymbals (zils) and Scott Gardner's Intermediate drum. That John Compton has boundless energy and could have been a russian ballet master in another life! So much fun! Don't forget the nodding sock puppet heads when we "got it." I felt a bit remedial in this class as it was somewhat hard to keep up but sooooooooooo much fun! Soooo many zils! The syncopated rhythm patterns were really challenging. I think I drank a gallon of H20 during that one. I will have to ask Azeret if she remembers the choreography. I remember bits and pieces of it but alas, my poor brain is like memory swiss cheese! On to the Drumming. We really got going on rhythms today. It's truly amazing how many sounds Scott could produce from the drum. All in all, I think we stayed together pretty well. I was able to purchase one of his drum CD's so if any of ya want to jam at my house - we're ready!! Back to the motel with unlimited spazzing by myself and running through the choreography for my wings piece, "Raga" by Shabaz. I talked to a student in my daughter's Latin club about the lyrics in this beautiful Indian song and they have to do with passion, color and transcendent love and inspiration I chose it for it's haunting singing and for the inspiration to do a wings piece. Barb of Benu was so supportive of my performing this - I was a little hesitant since it doesn't qualify for "tribal" but is much more cabaret. She was terrific. She said to do what the spirit moved me to do and so I did! I went with an Egyptian look and this is the first time I've worn a cabaret outfit with a full torso cover. It took some pinning and shifting and I kept laughing at the "no bellybutton" look. The stage was large enough to really take advantage of the wings without being too large to be overwhelmed so it was a great performance venue. I never get over that dry mouth stage fright!!! In the second half of the show, I and my Diva compadres performed "Tribal Dreams" choreographed by Magdalene. That song is always so much fun and I was having fun with a silk veil that Sapphire was kind enough to loan me. It is always a beautiful sisterhood thing to dance with my fellow Divas. Thank you, Sapphire for securing us a spot as a troupe and coordinating our choreography and wardrobe!! The many acts that made up the show were opulent, talented, powerful, colorful and amazing. I am so hooked on the tribal style of dance, I have been rerunning all the amazing performers over and over in my head. All the twirling skirts, color, synchronized movement and feminine power. MAGNIFICENT!! I know I will be watching the dvd over and over again - there was so much to see!!!!! We went back to the motel afterward, too tired to attend the party that night but needed sleep. More to come tomorrow!!!

Day three, raq sharqi captain's log: I awoke with a smile, remembering John Comptons devilish dance with the huge fire tray. What a guy! I have so many autographs on my TDF tee shirt, you can tell I'm a major groupie! Today I bid a fond adieu to my troupemate Azeret as she proceeds home to fly her airplane and unfortunately, I miss Sapphire and Yoda - they must have snuck home to get her fiance' to work as I know she is coming back for Bollywood later on! To the Lincoln's women's club after a panicky moment of losing my keys among my plunder (sorry I was late to tribal floorwork, Michele). The Tribal Floor work class and begun and two more divas popped out of the woodwork, lovely Kassara and Ananda Devika!!! Yeah! Michele took us through the challenging floorwork which requires much strength, grace and balance. Michele has such an encouraging teacher's heart! She really has a way of teaching this art that makes a dancer want to excel! I need to get some of those foot cozies. I kept getting stuck on the floor in the backbend and had to have help to get back up! What a granny!! So much fun!! Then, the gorgeous creatures of Tribe Marrakech came to instruct us in the sinuous and wonderful tribal fusion style. Chris and Elizabeth are top notch! Not only were they amazing to watch in the show but they were fun and patient instructors!! Brava, ladies!. I was please to have my Diva homies Aimee and Maurine in that class as well as my new fun buddy, Parvane. You all must look at the fun photos Parvane took - it really motivated me to bring a good camera next time! I got to hang out and shoot the breeze awhile with dancers in the women's club and then Della and I rode home together and had a delightful and positive chat about dancing and womanhood. Truly a delightful end to a wonderful experience! Time to beam myself to sleep!

Okay, now that I've put you all through the TMI experience, wipe that "deer in the headlight" glazed stare off your face - It's over!!!!!!

I am still reeling from all the beautiful dancers, costumes, ideas, choreographies and just enjoying one another's company! Truly a memorable event!!!!! Thanks to Benu! You ladies are AMAZING!!

Here we come....shimmyin' down the street....get the funniest looks from....everyone we meet....Hey hey we're the Divas! See you all today! Whoo Hoo!!!!

Hiya! Can anyone assist me in locating the Shabaz song "RAGA"'s English Translation?

Grazi in advance!

Can't......resist.....halloween.............candy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I missed the Morocco seminar and performance! (wah!) How was it? TELL ME ABOUT IT, ANYONE!!! I AM DYING TO KNOW ABOUT ALL THE SHIMMERING WONDERFULNESS!