MEDA’s most popular annual event is back - shopping, dancing, workshops, food, comraderie, and much much more!!!  Mark your calendars TODAY!

Where: Bonsor Recreation Centre, Burnaby, BC

Vendors: To reserve your table contact Shalazar at shalazar@shaw.ca.

More details to follow soon….

MEDA is very proud to present AUBRE HILL in a two-day workshop and theatre show!

Mark your calendars!!!

Location: Fire Fighters’ Club, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby, BC

***For a printable registration form please click HERE.

Saturday

9 - 10am - Registration and shopping

10:00 - 12:30 pm - Modern Egyptian Combos and Choreos
Learn new and fun Egyptian moves to incorporate into your own dancing. Technique drills and stylization discussion and exploration, plus choreography. It’s earthy, sassy, and so much fun!

12:30 - 1:30 - Lunch (provided)

1:30 am - 3:30 pm - Lebanese Stylization
Technique drills and combinations for Lebanese stylization, a form known for it’s subtlety and complex musicality. Aubre will also discuss posture and form differences of Lebanese versus Egyptian stylization.

Sunday

9 - 10am - Registration and shopping

10:00 am - 12:30 pm - Jazz Fosse Fusion
Learn how to incorporate the lyrical line of jazz with the subtle quality of bellydance. Including fun combinations based on Fosse’s sexy and strong style.

12:30 - 1:30 - Lunch (provided)

1:30 - 3:30 pm - Shikat Fusion
Working with 6/8 and Moroccan Shikat folkdance, Aubre will teach a challenging and fun combo with sagat. Technique drills and music & regional discussion. Finger cymbals optional.

(To view flyer click HERE.)

Cost

Saturday - $90 for MEDA members, $100 for non-members

Sunday - $90 for members, $100 for non-members

Both days - $170 for MEDA members, $190 for non-members

***Please make all cheques payable to MEDA and mail to:

Allison Thompson,
606 East King Edward Avenue,
Vancouver, BC, V6V 2C9

Registration for the full day is $150, or $85 for individual workshops.

More info to follow.

To register please email: leslie@shaktifusion.ca or call 613-296-2810

www.shaktifusion.ca
Start Time: 09:00:00
Date: 2008-11-26
End Time: 16:00:00

Info & Registrations coming very soon at:
www.littleegypt.com/caironights.htm
or call (972) 840-8450
Start Date: 2008-11-20
End Date: 2008-11-23

August 9th 2008: New veil choreography

August 30th 2008: Intensive Technique

September 6th 2008: Specific Rhythm combinations

September 20th 2008: Poïs Initiation

Then on August 9th, September 6th and September 20th, Aziza will be the star of the Gazelle Restaurant!

Don’t miss those events!!!

For more info contact Any at any_massicotte@yahoo.ca.

To reserve for the Gazelle, please call at 514.843.9598.

Featuring Aubre Hill from Los Angeles, California!
And special guests from across BC!

Show time: 8pm
Doors open: 7pm

Where: Fire Fighters Club, Banquet Hall, 6515 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby, BC

Tickets:
$20 for adults
$15 for youth and seniors
Free for children 6 and under

Info: allisonraks@gmail.com

Shakti fusion hosts Rachel and Kami for a one-day tribal fusion workshop. Six hours of instruction 9am-4pm.

Registration for the full day is $150, or $85 for individual workshops.

More info to follow.

To register please email: leslie@shaktifusion.ca or call 613-296-2810

www.shaktifusion.ca

Kalbelia dance of Rajasthan: Where the Romany trail begins!

One-day workshop and evening show with Cathy Stoyko in Ladysmith!

The Kalbelia are a semi-nomadic tribe living in the Thar desert of India, renowned as dancers, musicians and snake charmers. Learn a vocabulary of movements, tips on spinning and back bends, hand exercises, and ways to integrate this dance into your own bellydance style. Instructor Cathy Stoyko will teach this 1-day workshop inspired by her recent dance studies in Rajasthan.

Cathy Stoyko is a life-long dancer, with experience in gymnastics, western dance, and folk dance. For the last 12 years she has studied many styles of Middle Eastern, ‘Oriental Fusion’, and modern/tribal dance. In recent years she has studied, taught and performed dances from the Romany ‘gypsy’ trail, and is currently studying Indian classical and folk dances

Workshop/show contact: Deb pinchbeck@telus.net

In the Encarta the act of smiling is referred to as; “having a pleasant appearance, to appear to be in a state of happiness or enjoying good fortune or pleasure.” Just think about a smile for a moment. Do you ever let your smile be your umbrella? Has good fortune smiled upon you lately or do you smile even though your heart is breaking? A smile is a curious phenomenon. A smile from a stranger passing you on the street can make you feel warm and fuzzy. Quite simply a smile can change your day.

So, where am I going with all this smiling business? I started studying ME dance a couple of decades ago and I keep doing it for a variety of reasons. The main reason I belly dance is because it makes me happy. It makes me smile. Lately, while observing a variety of performances in our ME community I have noticed quite a disparity in relationship to the simple act of smiling. Some dancers plaster on the “perma grin” and keep it there throughout the performance. Other dancers play with the smile, toss one out to the audience and then take it back. I call this the “terra firma smile.” Then there are some performers who prefer the “perma frost” style, that is, not to smile at all.

When I attend a dance performance, I want to be entertained. I try to observe all aspects of the performance. I look at the costume, the lighting, the choreography and the dancer’s interpretation of the music. In and amidst all of this I watch for the expression on the dancer’s face. That expression speaks volumes, it communicates the dancer’s inner world during each moment of that particular performance. Now if the dancer chooses to display the perma grin throughout the entire dance piece, at some point I start to feel somewhat uncomfortable. This constant flashing of the pearly whites makes me wonder, can anyone be having so much fun? I know that dance can be physically demanding at times, even teetering on the edge of pain, so is this something to smile about? When I witness a continuously unwavering grin throughout a performance I tend toward disbelief. Perhaps, this dancer’s smile is a smoke screen for performance anxiety. Or has the mind and body disassociated, and the facial expression is stuck on automatic, while the body struggles to deliver the performance. Is this dancer real or is the perma grin a mask to hide behind? As I sit in the audience and start asking myself these questions, I notice something. I am thinking too much and not experiencing the performance. I am no longer being entertained. Some dancers choose not to exercise their facial muscles at all. The perma frost style or non-smiling has become a popular option for some performers in our ME community. Quite often when I observe this style of performance I notice that my body begins to feel tense. I watch and wait for the slightest crinkle at the corners of the dancer’s mouth. I try to be patient and maintain my attention on the performance, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pearly whites, a shadow of a smile. As I wait I begin to lose focus and my bum wiggles in the seat. Tension continues to build and I want to scream; “OUCH, THIS HURTS!” I came here to be entertained. Toss me a twinkle of a grin to release some of this tension, show me you can still find some joy in the dance. I start to wonder is this performer in a state of fear, deep concentration or trying to be dramatic? Anxiety and over-thinking during a performance can be resolved by simply getting into the music. Dramatic expression is achieved through the dancer’s interpretation of the music. A shift in facial expression mirrors the performer’s intent and shows the audience the dramatic nature of the piece. I sit and wait for the perma frost to thaw. I start to detach and feel bored as there is no connection developed between the audience and the performer. I am no longer being entertained.

When we say the word YES, our lips shift upward into a smile. The word NO turns our mouth into a slight frown.

For me life is dance and dance is life. Sometimes we say yes and sometimes we say no. A dancer who displays the terra firma smile or the “grounded expression” offers an audience a balance between yes and no, life and death, tension and release. The smile is an inexpensive treasure to be mischievously hidden or generously given. When I witness this type of performer I feel endeared, truly connected and included. As an audience member I love a performance that takes me on a journey. The dancer is the guide, the music is the path and the performer’s facial and physical expression is the story. Sometimes the journey is playful and amusing, sad and dramatic, sensual and passionate. The simple smile or lack thereof has a profound role in this type of performance. As an audience member, I feel it and I am not only entertained, I know I am witnessing art in the making. Art is not created by rules like “To Smile or Not to Smile.” This dancer knows that artistry involves the balance between technique and improvisation and that the presence or absence of the simple smile creates dramatic tension or ecstatic release.

For over twenty years during the dog days of summer I go out in my back yard and pick blackberries. Blackberries are tough to pick, you have to avoid the thorns, wasps and spider webs. I have an unwritten rule to combat these hazards. A blackberry picker gets to sample along the way. I picked a berry and popped it into my mouth. I grimaced. It was sour, not ready for picking. The next one was too ripe, too sweet, too mushy. I carried on filling my bowl with berries. One blackberry fell easily into my hand, it was the size of a small plum. I gobbled it up and was instantly filled with profound pleasure. The berry was a perfect balance of the natural elements. It was a gift from the earth, fed by the rain, sweetened by the breeze and ripened in the sun. Simply, it was a work of art…and it made me smile.

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