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Special Skills n' Drills Workshop Series
For those of you planning on attending the upcoming 3-Day Level I Intensive with Suhaila Salimpour, I will be teaching the upcoming session (starting next week!) of Sharon Moore's Skills n' Drills series, and of course I will be focusing on Suhaila's format! This session is ideal preparation for the Intensive as well as a great way to dip your toe into the format and see if it's for you.This special six week series will emphasize muscle conditioning and drills to improve your bellydance technique. Each class will focus on the separate foundational bellydance movements (e.g. twists, interior hip circles, figure 8s, etc), that form the basis of our bellydance vocabulary. Each movement will be broken down and then drilled over a series of foot patterns and directions to ensure that students are using proper technique and building the movement into their muscle memory.
To register go to www.mandalatribal.com/classes/register
And yes! There are still spaces left in the Seattle Intensive! Contact me in order to register. Pre-registration with a deposit is the only way to guarantee your spot, so don't delay!
Renee
June Class Update
Hi all! I'm thrilled, *THRILLED* to have such wonderful weather tokick off the month of June, my birthday month! It just makes me want
to dance and stretch and sing!
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Old School Meets New School!
Everything old is new again! Check out my ongoing series of weekly
bellydance classes on Wednesday night. In this series of classes we
explore the Jamila Salimpour vocabulary format (old school) using the
Suhala Salimpour format for proper safety and technique (new school)
and tie it all to current tribal improvisation vocabulary. This makes
this class ideal for dancers or all styles, as there is something for
everyone!
Wednesdays 8-9pm
eXit Space, studio 2
414 NE 72nd St
Seattle, WA 98115-5409
$12 drop-in, $50 for 5-class pack.
Drop-ins welcome!
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Monthly Conditioning and Technique Workshops
Work hard, get fit, have fun, and become a better dancer! These
workshops are based on the Suhaila Salimpour format and are sure to
test both your body and your mind! This 2 hour workshop format will
allow us to really dig in and work! Come prepared to sweat!! All
levels welcome. These workshops are also EXCELLENT preparation for the
upcoming Three Day Level I Intensive workshop with Suhaila! [See
below].
Next workshop: Sunday, June 28, 1-3pm
Location:
eXit Space, studio 2
414 NE 72nd St
Seattle, WA 98115-5409
Cost: $25 Pre-registration is required, so do not delay!
For more information or to register contact Renee Drellishak (206)
568-1514, or via email renee.drellishak@gmail.com
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Save the Date! 3 Day Level I Intensive with Suhaila Salimpour,
November 6-8, 2009
That's right, Suhaila will be in town for 3 whole days. Can you handle
it? This workshop is specifically geared to give participants a solid
foundation in Suhaila's groundbreaking technique format. Many of the
hottest dancers in belly dance today have studied with Suhaila. I
could name drop, but do I really need to? Come see for yourself what
this technique can do for your dancing! Participants will have the
option of testing for Level I certification in Suhaila's format at the
end of the workshop on Sunday.
Familiar with Suhaila's format? Already know your singles from your
pelvic locks from your interior hip squares? Well sign up anyways!
This workshop is *not* exclusively for beginners. You know that
Suhaila has many ways of dialing up the challenge for people
experienced in her format. And if you're already certified this
workshop will earn you 15 CEUs!
Registration opens soon...
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Anusara-Influenced Yoga
This time of year the warmth and sunshine just makes everything bloom,
open, and soften. Come learn what this style of yoga can do for your
heart, body and mind.
Thursdays 6-7:15pm
Planet Earth Yoga Center
418 N 35th Street (Fremont neighborhood)
Seattle, WA 98103
$15 drop-in, $65 five-class card, $110 ten-class card.
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Namaste!
Bellydance and Yoga classes with Renee Drellishak
After a long hiatus I am starting to teach classes again, starting this month!**************************************************************************************************
WEEKLY bellydance classes starting April 15
Wednesday nights from 8-9pm I will be teaching a blended Salimpour
technique class. We'll be using Suhaila Salimpour's movement technique
to explore her mother Jamila Salimpour's vocabulary format. Jamila
codified and taught the movements she and other dancers were using in
the Arabic nightclubs of San Francisco in the 50s and 60s. This
vocabulary was spread throughout the US by Jamila's many students, and
if you've taken a bellydance class in the US in the last 30 years,
chances are you've learned parts of Jamila's vocabulary! This
vocabulary also provided the foundational movements of American Tribal
Style bellydance. As such, this class is recommended for cabaret,
tribal, and fusion dancers, and especially for those who interested in
the history of bellydance in the United States. All levels welcome.
Finger cymbal instruction included.
Classes begin Wednesday, April 15.
8-9pm.
Location:
eXit Space, studio 2
414 NE 72nd St
Seattle, WA 98115-5409
Cost: $12 drop in. $50 for a 5-class card.
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Starting this April, MONTHLY drill workshops in the Suhaila Salimpour
bellydance format.
Dates:
Saturday, April 18, 1:30 - 3:30pm**
Sunday, May 17, 1-3pm
Sunday, June 28 1-3pm
Workshops will include conditioning and technique drills. This 2 hour
workshop format will allow us to really dig in and work! Come prepared
to sweat!! All levels welcome.
Location:
eXit Space, studio 2 (**except for 4/18 when we will be in studio 1)
414 NE 72nd St
Seattle, WA 98115-5409
Cost: $25 per workshop. $70 for all 3.
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Ongoing WEEKLY yoga classes based on the Anusara style of yoga.
Anusara is an alignment-based form of yoga through which you can open
your body, heart, and mind. Treat yourself to the powerful practice of
yoga!
Thursdays, 5:45-7pm
Location:
Planet Earth Yoga Center
418 N. 35th ST. Seattle, WA. 98103
Cost: $15 drop in, $65 5-class card, $110 10-class card. (Class cards
are also valid for Tuesday 5:45-7pm classes with Shawna Hartung)
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For more information or to register contact Renee Drellishak (206)
568-1514, or via email renee.drellishak@gmail.com
Suhaila in Seattle, February 21!
Happy New Year! If one of your resolutions has been to refine yourtechnique and drill, drill, drill, have I got a workshop for you!
Suhaila will be coming up to Seattle to teach a 1-day workshop on
Saturday, February 21 and registration is open and already
filling!
Content: Suhaila Salimpour bellydance technique format and
choreography. 6 total hours of instruction. CECs
available for students certified in the Suhaila Salimpour or Jamila
Salimpour formats.
Date: SATURDAY February 21, 2009
Time: 10:30am-5:30pm with 1 hour break for lunch.
Location: Skin Deep Studios
skindeepstudios.net/
2524 16th Ave S #311
Seattle, Washington 98144
Price: $150, 10% discount for Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance
Members. 50% nonrefundable deposit is required to confirm your
registration, with balance due by February 14, 2008. No refunds or
credits.
Space is limited, so get your registration in ASAP!
To register contact Renee Drellishak,
renee.drellishak@gmail.com
***** SAVE THE DATES****
November 6-8, 2009 Suhaila Salimpour Level I 3-day workshop with
optional certification testing
Suhaila in Seattle, November 9!
The Suhaila workshop is this Sunday and there are still a couple of spots! If you're interested, let me know ASAP!Renee
Suhaila Salimpour 1-Day Workshop in Seattle Sunday, November 9
It's confirmed! Suhaila will be coming up to Seattle to teach a 1-dayworkshop on Sunday, November 9 and registration is open! Don't
delay--I have already had quite a few people express interest in this
workshop and it may very well sell out!
Content: Suhaila Salimpour bellydance technique format and
choreography.
5 total hours of instruction. CECs available for students certified in
the Suhaila Salimpour or Jamila Salimpour formats.
Date: Sunday November 9, 2008
Time: 11am-5pm with 1 hour break for lunch.
Location: Skin Deep Studios
skindeepstudios.net/
2524 16th Ave S #311
Seattle, Washington 98144
Price: $125, 10% discount for Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance
Members. 50% nonrefundable deposit is required to confirm your
registration, with balance due by November 5, 2008. No refunds, credits,
or transfers.
Space is limited, so get your registration in ASAP!
To register contact Renee Drellishak, (206) 568-1514 or
renee.drellishak@gmail.com
***** SAVE THE DATES****
February 21, 2009 Suhaila Salimpour 1-Day Workshop
November 6-8, 2009 Suhaila Salimpour Level I 3-day workshop with
certification testing (optional)
Jamila Salimpour Weeklong Workshop Review!
I just finished attending the very first Jamila Salimpour Format Level I weeklong workshop (well, the first in the last 25 years, anyway.) It was an incredible week. Not only was it a chance to really dig into the roots of tribal bellydance, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to spend the week with Jamila herself. Going in I wasn’t sure how much of the workshop would actually be taught by Jamila, (after all, she just recently turned 82 years old,) but aside from the morning warm-ups which were taught by Rebecca, and the morning review sessions which we handled by Sabriye, the entire [sold out] workshop was conducted by Jamila. What a treat!We wore finger cymbals every day, and practiced all of the patterns on her finger cymbal CD, sometimes just standing, but mostly while dancing. It was intense and LOUD (earplugs were acquired and helped tremendously). We learned all of the movements from the first 3 Jamila Salimpour Format Archive videos and almost everything in her manual, The Danse Orientale. (The remaining steps are to be taught in the Level II workshop.)
Every day we had a lecture (storytime!) from Jamila, who shared with us her history, spanning from her childhood and her time with the Ringling Brothers circus, through her three marriages, learning to bellydance, owning two nightclubs, teaching dance, the creation of Bal Anat, and her first retirement from teaching (she returned to teaching weekly classes at Suhaila’s studio a few years ago.) She is a terrific storyteller, funny and frank.
We also got to see rare archival footage of Bal Anat in the early 1970s, Jamila’s classes, and some of Suhaila’s first stage performances, which were especially instructive in terms of understanding the evolution from Jamila’s format to Suhaila’s.
Suhaila was present at much of the workshop but yielded the floor to Jamila (with the exception of occasionally reminding her mother that certain steps were to be introduced *later* in the workshop when Jamila, in her enthusiasm, introduced them earlier than planned.) I could tell that for Suhaila hosting this workshop was a gift, not just to us, the students, but to her mother as well.
Jamila absolutely glowed during the whole workshop. It was clear that she was thrilled to be able to share her knowledge with such an attentive group of women, who were equally thrilled to bask in the presence of this icon of American bellydance and to learn as much as they could. The participants included women from all over the US, Canada, Taiwan, Korea, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. It was staggering to witness their commitment and hunger for knowledge.
At the end of the week, all but a handful of the attendees took the certification test, a requirement for admission into the Jamila Level II workshops which will be held in March 2009 and 2010. As I whispered during storytime to a friend who was waffling on whether to take the test, “How could you not want another week of this?” We came away with improved finger cymbals skills, a better understanding of the history and foundation of American bellydance, and many, many ideas and plans for how to incorporate more of these movements and cymbal patterns into our repertoires. And the tote bag with the Bob Mackie (yes, *that* Bob Mackie) illustration of Jamila on it was the icing on the cake.
My Favorite Compliment Ever
"Infusion Tribal Belly Dance was a handful of precious jewels. I am always amazedat how much work is involved in their preparations, with the costuming and
makeup being as elaborate as the exiting, entrances, staging, and improvisation
in their dancing. My own brief stints in tribal and tribal fusion student
troupes reminds me of the hours spent working with hair falls, wraps, and
adornment that draws deep admiration and appreciation from one who knows. But
when Sharon Moore and Renee Drellishak are in the house, everyone should know
we're getting a skillful performance with seamless transitions, edgy and artful
music selections and interpretations, slinky moves, and joyful expression.
Infusion Tribal draws people to let our their loudest zaghareets and shouts of
approval."
Awwwwwww! :)
inFusion performing at the Tito Seif show, Sept 13!
Egyptian superstar dancer and choreographer Tito Seif is coming toSeattle, September 13-14. Gigi Gulhan is sponsoring three workshops at
the Century Ballroom and a gala show at the Edmonds Center for the
Arts. Put these on your calendar!
The Show:
Saturday, Sept 13, 8 pm
Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 Fourth Avenue North, Edmonds, WA 98020
Tickets: www.ec4arts.org or 425-275-9595, $40 advance
Featured Performers
DELILAH: with House Of Tarab
GIGI GULHAN: Turkish Belly Dancing
ALIMAH: 2005 U.S.A Belly Dancer
NADIRA: 2007 U.S.A Belly Dancer
INFUSION TRIBAL BELLYDANCE
The Workshops:
Saturday-Sunday, Sept 13-14
Century Ballroom, 915 E Pine St, Seattle
Drum Solo: Sept 13 11 am-2:30 pm (30 min break)
Egyptian Oriental: Sept 14 8:30-11:45 am (15 min break)
Shabi and Cane: Sept 14 12:15-3:30 pm (15 min break)
One workshop $95, two workshops $180, all three $250.
***Register by writing to info@gigdance.com or calling Gigi at (206) 272-0583***
Fair Trade Clothes for Kids
Satch & Sol is my friend Susan's company (named for her two boys, Satchel and Solomon.) Check it out! Satchsol.comI am coveting the boots www.satchsol.com/catalog/index.php
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