Shimmies for a Cure Quatro - Workshops and Hafli

I feel like I've gone through a long hiatus of belly dancing.  Though it's mainly been a time and money issue, I knew that I needed to push through some of the stress and continue dancing.  So, I've been continuing classes with Amira Jamal on Mondays, as well as with Najmat on Tuesdays.

But this past weekend, on March 27th, I was able to participate in the Shimmies for a Cure Quatro workshops and hafli.

Shimmies!

Baseema Moirae and *Samantha* are an organizing super team!  It was truly an eventful and awesome day, and really a great way to get more fully involved in the art form.  All of the funds went toward one of the organizer's involvement in the PanMass Challenge, which is a cycling event that benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

I had the pleasure to take part in 4 fabulous workshops from 4 master teachers.

Lots of ladies taking workshops!

Bolly Bellies with Jesi
Jesi is awesome!  Super high energy and funny, she lead us through an intro course in Bollywood style dance. It was a great way to warm up in a somewhat chilly room.  We all sported our flounciest skirts and tried to keep up with her fast-paced choreography.  Though we were only given an hour with her, Jesi was able to teach us all of the steps.  Granted, it was difficult to get every step perfect, but she really helped us feel the energy and drama that's associated with the popular Bollywood movies.

Raq Like and Egyptian with Najmat
Oh, Najmat.  I love this woman!  As one of my current belly dance teachers, she really knows how to help you hone in your technique.  We worked on a set of moves that really worked on our posture and muscle control, as Egyptian style is generally more controlled.  We worked on large hip circles, figure 8's, and pops.  And just when your body is starting to feel pain from all the repetition, she switches to the other side.  And then she puts a shimmy on top of it!  She really proves that practice makes perfect.

Balkan Beat Box à la Melina with Melina
Melina, from the Daughters of Rhea, got us to be silly and have fun with her choreography.  A mix of Turkish, Greek, and plain old good times, the choreography had us all laughing and enjoying ourselves.  Though we weren't able to get through all of the choreography she had planned for us, she seemed to mainly focus on feeling ownership over our bodies and our style, no matter how silly it may look to others.  I must admit that I had a really fun time during her workshop, and finished the workshop with a little bounce in my step.

Techniques for Stage Presence and Performance with Ela Rogers
Ela is one of the premiere tribal performers in New England.  She asked us to stand in a circle, and for each of us to walk around the inside and make eye contact with every other person.  Then, we were to stand in the middle, turn our head to look at one person then follow with turning our bodies.  Eye contact is so important in performance.  So it was interesting to see who really made eye contact with every single person, who skipped people, who took really quick glances, and who was able to linger.  We also worked on a short combination that helped us use what we learned about eye contact.

Goodness!   I would most definitely love to take a class or workshop with all of those fabulous ladies again!  Four hours worth of workshops later, I'm feeling pumped to do some shopping (which I did...a LOT of!) and watch some of my favorites light up the dance floor.

Sidebar:  Oh, the shopping!  But the one item I do want to highlight is the new Sassy Sparkles Eye Kandy color created in honor of this event.  With a name created by one of the dancers and voted on by the guests, "I Dream of Gaia" (gold, green, and brown) premiered at the Shimmies for a Cure Quatro.

I Dream of Gaia

Below are the "good" shots that I got of the performances.  It was difficult, I must say, without a fancy schmancy camera.  I tried not to use my flash so as not to blind the dancers, but I unfortunately didn't get the best pictures possible nor was I able to get decent pictures of all the performances.

Nepenthe, dancing to Mashaal

*Samantha*, tribal hip-hop fusion

Jemileh Nour, my gorgeous friend dancing for the first time in 2 years

Jesi, bringing down the house with her bhangra

Badriya al-Badi'a, an ode to the OG Egyptian dancers

Najmat, her moves and beautiful costume speaks for itself

Nikki, one of Boston's Best balancing a sword

Troupe Moirae, jazzy fusion

Melina, balancing a sword on a dagger in her mouth, yo!

Aepril Schaile, the Snow Queen graces us with her presence

Ela Rogers, closing the evening with a memorable performance

I feel absolutely blessed to have been a part of the Shimmies for a Cure day.  I'm feeling inspired not only by the wonderful talent I was surrounded by, but by the amazing community that was able to raise close to $4000 for the PanMass Challenge!

Congratulations to Baseema and *Samantha* for another top notch Shimmies for a Cure!

Point of Views on Middle Eastern Dance - "Civilization" Video Game

This lazy Saturday morning, my boyfriend is trying out some new games he's acquired.  I wake up to see him playing Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.

Taking over the world...one culture at a time...

Having very limited knowledge of video games, though I will admit that I dabble once in a while, I was at first shocked to see the representations of different cultures.  But as I was still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, my boyfriend told me that he was currently playing as Saladin, "a Kurdish Muslim warrior and self-proclaimed Sultan of Arabia."

If you take a look at the website, there's 16 different cultures you can represent, from Aztec Nation to Zulu Nation.  Each leader is accompanied by historical background, all factual.

So, from what I've gathered, you can use different tactics to win game - technology, culture, economic, and warfare.  But I'm assuming it would be beneficial to use all the tactics in one way or another.  But, as my boyfriend had already built up some culture points, there was a hall in the capital that featured acrobats, dancing bears, and belly dancers.

I managed to grab some video of the dancing, and thought it would be neat to share.

Not bad, really.  I see a couple of figure 8's, undulations, Egyptian hip hits.  I tried to find some information on the music, but I couldn't really find much of anything.  If anyone recognizes it, please let me know in the comments!

In general, it does seem like the game tries really hard to be true to history, so I didn't find myself too offended after watching more of the game play.  I did appreciate the presence of Middle Eastern dancers, and the fact that they weren't completely "Hollywood-ized."