… has been BUSY!
First – super belated thanks to everyone who participated in the June 9th #OCCP35.  We had a blast as always and I appreciate you all.
I received some lovely personal notes afterwards that reminded me of why I spend the hours and days preparing a safe place for our community to show off what they have learned, and I continue to be amazed at the phenomenal artistic adventures we are taken on by all of the teachers at every OCCP.
Housekeeping notes: there were some lost items that will have photos posted soon on both the flick group and the Facebook page – Cat/Suhani as well as Mia have these items.. If you lost something that evening, drop me a line and I’ll connect you with the ladies.
Also unclaimed door prizes:
DOOR PRIZES:
If you had the ticket number listed, You have a prize awaiting you!
#132 – EcoTav Haversack
#219 – Duniya Studio Free Drop in
#100 50% off Duniya Studio Registration

If you have your ticket still, message me to claim your prize! Or if you tell me you had that number….
and the links:
Facebook – where you can find RSVPhotography photos < scroll through the comments>:https://www.facebook.com/events/339196276274158/
Flickrgroup: https://www.flickr.com/groups/occp35/ Remember to use any of these photos you should be asking permission of the photographer first and giving credit to them.
Ok. that’s what I got for ya re the OCCP.
Next day, I was back at Luxe working on wedding gowns and then rushing home to work on prom dresses for my TAV clients.  so life has not really stopped.
I’ve also been having fun with Bollywood For Fun – and even today we will be out at Community Cup – hoping the rain takes a break for a while this afternoon!
We did manage a weekend with our families on Father’s Day weekend – with a lot of driving and some lovely socializing, it was very nice to shift focus away from work for a couple of days.
and every morning that I have time, I try to get in a walk so that I can see sights like this:

and otherwise I’m seeing this:

So, I will be continuing to dance and sew and look forward to when this will be my view – hope you are having a great summer so far as well!

UPDATE: Sadly, due to low enrolment, these classes will not be running this April.  I may try to offer a summer 1-day workshop, so keep an eye out!

 Halyma

My Awaken your inner Goddess classes are set to being on April 23rd  and running for 6 weeks.
In these classes, I will be venturing away from technique and into the ethereal – playtime- guided movement mediations, relaxation and still exploring how to connect with your body through gentle dance moves.
If you are interested in taking your own personal journey into dance, come play with us!

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Here’s my article from last year’s Tone Magazine:
Awaken Your Inner Goddess through Dance
Accurate dance moves matter, the physical form is important, and finding those perfect combinations of dance elements to make a beautiful performance are always extremely relevant to the growth of any dancer.
But what fuels that fire? What drives us, as dancers, to perfect those movements? What helps push us to dance even when we could easily be distracted by 100 other important day-to-day things?
Dancing has been part of human celebration for a very long time. It’s been part of our worship, part of our joy, a way to express our feelings and stories without words, and it’s universal appeal helps bring us together.
The dancer who performs for an audience has a big role in society, whether society realizes it or not.  She {or he} is a bridge connecting the etherial realm to the physical, connecting with powerful energy, transforming it into a physical representation.  Her movements can express the deepest of emotions with a single gesture, a pause, an extension, while allowing those witnessing this journey to travel with her.
The dancer who dances for herself also has a big role in society.  She is journeying to a place where she can explore all of those extremes of emotion we are asked to suppress in our daily lives and interactions.  Through dance, she can release the built up excesses, shaking it all off, being in that moment and then letting it go, come back to her daily life with a renewed sense of self.
Embracing that power and seeing the moments of connecting with something deep inside, that’s fundamental to taking dance to a deeper, stronger level.
To what do we need to be open, so that our dance touches ourselves and others from more than just a technical perspective?
Once upon a time, gods and goddesses personified our passions in a way external to our daily lives, so that we could get on with taking care of our basic needs.  These deities took care of the etherial for us, and were worshipped for it. Each had his or her own realm of responsibility, be it the  creative, hands-on arts, the harvest, the dark places, birth, death, war, tranquility, pretty much everything.
For many people, this still applies today.  And the elements these deities personify are reflections of what can find within ourselves in a sense of divine connection.
And touching that, through dance, to benefit ourselves and our dance, exploring the light and dark, the fear and the joy, what possibilities can emerge from this? There no limit!
Do you have to believe in goddesses to dance?
No, you do need to believe in you, or be willing to start.
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Tracey “Halyma” Vibert will explore this with dancers of all levels – beginners through pros. By looking at the many archetypes of female aspects personified in various goddesses worshipped around the world in the 6 week course, Halyma will be helping others bring their joy, their power, fear, anger, sensuality, creativity, all of it, into their dance.
With over the 16 years teaching belly dance, through weekly classes, private classes at women’s events, demos and lessons at cultural events as well as having co-facilitated a “movement mediation” workshop called Dancing With The Elements, Halyma has always been blessed by the participants as much as she hopes to have gifted them. You can find her classes and more online at Halyma.com and bellydancingforfun.com.

Bellywood Raks will be one of the featured performance groups participating in the upcoming fundraiser that is the FiNALE Event for Letsunlockchange, a fundraising month of events that Algonquin College’s Public Relations students are organizing in support of the John Howard Society.
Come on out and enjoy an evening of a circus atmosphere!  Get your Advance tickets today !  See you April 11!