For those of you in the Boston area:



The next 8-week session of my beginner class starts this Wednesday, August 6th, and runs from 6:30-7:30pm at Third Life Studio in Union Square, Somerville. This is an ongoing class, suitable for complete newbies through advanced beginners.



I'm also offering an 8-week series on Karsilama, which will run from 7:30-8:30 (immediately after the technique class).



Not familiar with karsilama? Check out this performance, which includes elements of American-style karsilama, a taste of the more folkloric Romani style, and a hefty dose of Dalia Carella's Dunyavi style:









We'll focus on stylings for American traditional style belly dance, but we'll also include some elements of the more folkloric Romani style. We'll be covering both skirtwork and skirtless karsilama, so you'll need a full circle skirt by the third class. (I'll have some loaners, but not enough for everybody, so please bring your own if possible.) We'll cover zils if the class composition permits, but they are not required.



No prior experience is necessary, but the Karsilama class will require some technical foundation, so you should also be taking a belly dance technique class. I strongly recommend that complete newbies take my own technique class (since it will cover everything you need to know for the second hour), but if you have some previous experience and are regularly taking classes with someone else, you'll be fine. Contact me to discuss your situation if you're not sure.



You can find more information and register at:

http://nadirajamal.com/teaching.html#classes





Parking is available, and Union Square is an easy bus ride from:

Central (91, CT2), Kendall (85, CT2), Harvard (86), Porter (87) Davis (87), Sullivan (86, 90, 91), Lechmere (87, 88), Arlington Center (87), Cleveland Circle (86), Wellington (90), Ruggles (CT2). Visit MBTA.com for schedule information.



For driving and parking directions, please visit Third Life Studio:

http://www.thirdlifestudio.com/directions.html





Email me if you have any questions!



Nadira Jamal

Belly Dancer

nadira@nadirajamal.com

http://www.nadirajamal.com

http://www.taktaba.com (video podcast)





p.s. workshops on this topic also available!

My apologies for the delay posting this, but congratulations to Joy Cavender, the winner of the CD drawing.



Thank you everyone for sending me your input on my upcoming improvisation skills DVD. Your feedback was incredibly helpful!



I've got the script for Volume 1 mostly finalized, and am getting ready to shoot in early/mid-August. If all goes well, I should be able to release it on September 8th. Once I have my studio time booked, I'll post information on pre-orders.



In the meantime, if you'd like to be notified when the video is available, you can join the Takataba mailing list.



Enter your email address:

BIG NEWS:



You may have noticed that it has been a while since the last episode of my Taktaba podcast. Well, it's going to be a little while longer before Episode 4 is released, but luckily, it's for a really exciting reason.



I've been reviewing the (incredibly encouraging and constructive) feedback from Taktaba viewers, and have decided that it's time to split the project into two different and complementary efforts: Taktaba Foundations and Taktaba Details.



Taktaba Details will continue the podcast's mission to explore individual elements of space, shape, time, and energy to give you new ideas for your choreography and improvisation. Taktaba Foundations will deal with the bigger picture: HOW to choreograph and HOW to improvise.



So I'm pleased to announce that I am working on my first instructional video: Taktaba Foundations Volume 1: Improvisation Toolkit. This video will include a series of exercises that will help dancers of all levels build the skills they need to improvise with confidence. These tools can also be used in class to help your students break their dependence on choreography so they can start buildling their own personal styles.





I NEED YOUR HELP:



I have a lot of ideas about how to improvise, but I need to hear what you want: what do you want to know about improvisation? How can I make this video useful to you? How would you like the DVD to be structured?



If you have any ideas, requests, or questions, please share them in my online survey.



To thank you for your input, I'll be raffling off a copy of the Belly Dancing for Fortune and Fame CD, which has all the music used on the Taktaba podcasts to date, including the Taktaba theme song, Sala Sala. To be entered in the drawing, you must submit your survey (answering all questions and including your name and contact info) by noon eastern time on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008.





I hope to hear from you!

Nadira

Congrats to Johannah B., the winner of the World Belly Dance Day drawing! I'll be sending her a set of Taktaba DVDs.



To those of you who didn't win, thanks for entering! You can still view the podcast online. You can find handy links in the sidebar.

Thank you everyone for entering my World Belly Dance Day podcast DVD giveaway. I was blown away by the response!



A winner has been selected, and notified by email. I'll post the winner's name once I hear back from him or her.



Thanks again!