Shimmy News
New Class !
Sara is delighted to announce not only a new beginners class but also, following many requests from students, a new fitness class ! Both will be held at the beautiful Viables craft centre in Basingstoke. The beginners will cover all the basic moves, plus shimmies, travelling, undulating and freedancing – perfect for the complete beginner or as an additional class for anyone who wants to perfect their basics. The second class will feature all our favourite drills plus a specially extended shimmy – all aimed at increasing the dancers fitness and flexibility. Viables is very easy to get to from the M3, Alton road and most of Basingstoke. It has lots of parking right outside the hall and a variety of drinking establishments nearby for after class socialising.
Beginners will register at 7.30pm for a 7.45 start. The Drills and Thrills class
will register at 8.30 for an 8.35pm start. Both will initially be drop in, but may
change to pre-
Dancers explore their dark side !
Mersin welcomed Tempest and Sashi to a special evening of dark Bellydance while they were over in the UK. We explored our deeper emotions and discovered ways to show them in performance. Although physically and emotionally hard work we all left with lots of ideas and a wicked craving for cupcakes !
NEWS FLASH !
The Latest News. The Latest News. The Latest News. The Latest News.
*** SARA DANCED WITH THE BROTHERS OF THE BALADI ON THE UK LEG OF THEIR TOUR.
Thank you to those of you who came to watch. The great news is that they are planning to come back next year and would like me to dance with them again – Next year I’ll try to get them to perform in Reading or Basingstoke
www.myspace.com/brothersofthebaladi
***SUMMER FETE SEASON !
Thank you to everyone who came along and danced at Bramley and the Balloons over Basingstoke festivals. The feedback was amazing and you all looked beautiful. If anyone else if interested in a couple of performance opportunities each year then email me about joining Nashida Abla or the Tribal troupe (or both !)
*** MIDSUMMER MADNESS
This year our midsummer event focused on performance skills with dancers learning not only a choreography but how to present it in different styles to change the tone. Thank you to everyone who came along.
*** NEW MERSIN MEMBERS
Over the last few months advanced dancers from all over the area have taken part in the auditon process to help us find our new members. The standard has been exceptional and we hope that they have all enjoyed working with the group, learning combos and stage set ups. We hope to announce the new line up during September and all perform together at the Xmas hafla in December.
*** MINI HAFLA
On Wednesday the 3rd of September the Wednesday class will be having a Mini Hafla. The classes who run termly tend to have an “end of term” party but its hard to have these when the classes are drop in J. The group has been working on Choreographies during the summer, different ways of breaking down music, adding combos and adapting to suit the dancer and the audience. For their mini Hafla they would like to show off their work. Bring nibbles to share – a few performance slots are still available, but preferential allocation to those who have attended the last ten weeks. Let me know if you are interested.
*** THIS MONTH ON NING !
Ning is our social network site (like FaceBook or MySpace) for bellydancers in the area, discussing anything to do with dance or life in general.
Hot topics this month have included feedback from our summer madness event, the Daily Mails feature on Emma Chapman (who came to teach for us last year), make up tips and video clips that we enjoy. You can join by clicking on the link on the front page, answering a few easy questions and then just get chatting. And you can be my friend…..
Trip to Las Vegas !
Each year Sara makes a trip to the US to study with some of the top teachers in the world.
While much of this dance style comes from the Middle East, Bellydance has a strong American accent and nowhere in the world is yet able to provide the kind of intensive training to rival the big American events.
Two years ago Sara spent a week with Morocco in her New York studio, and last year she visited San Francisco to strengthen her Tribal and Cabaret skills.
This year she will be attending the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive, taking classes with some amazing teachers including Ava Fleming (2004 Bellydancer of the Universe), Kami Liddle (Tribal dancer with the Bellydance Superstars), Tsingani tribal group and Saida.
You can find out all about Sara’s trips to the US in her blog Here or on Ning
