Just got my confirmation email yesterday from the organizer, Mark Blevis, that I will be part of the very intimate group of presenters at the upcoming Creator Camp Ottawa on Sunday November 18th at Pressed, 750 Gladstone.
What will I be talking about? Well they always say to focus on what you know…so:
Bellywood: Creating dance, fusing cultures and styles.
I think every dancer has their own way of creating choreographies as well as improvising and I am grateful for the chance to briefly share my own approach. While I suspect the participants will be seated, I hope to inspire and move people. Or … get people moving…that’s a bit of a forewarning I guess!
Based on the Eventbrite page, there is still room for folks to sign up to attend this free event, with the suggested donation of $10 for the Ottawa Food Bank.
So what are you doing Sunday, November 18th?
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UPDATE:
I had a great time – all the talks were inspiring – thanks again to Mark Blevis for letting me come out to play! See a couple of photos on my Flickr page and check out the video of Derek DeBeer getting the folks to be musical:
This year, we celebrate Samhain with some of Ottawa’s finest at the 14th Annual Charity Witches Gathering on the Saturday before Halloween.
We have been judges for many years with Auz and Marianne as our cohorts for the evenings adventures and it’s always a fun but challenging experience!
If you click on the photo, you’ll be taken to my Flickr page where there a handful of great shots from the party, which featured the theme of Day of the Dead.
And if you are one of my Flickr contacts, you will see a couple of shots from my youth which inspired by hair for Saturday!
We were actually characters from “Weird Science” from the end of the movie when the nerds were now cool. But for those who just thought we were Duran Duran, I’ll accept that too!
http://zoolegacy.bandcamp.com/album/city-light-glow
Downloaded from their website linkage! http://thezoolegacy.com Never heard you guys before, but Dying Song is already stuck in my head!
So while my dancing will be confined to the dance floor, I am looking forward to seeing some of my dance friends there!
A while back, I picked up Amrita Choudhury’s book on mudras to help me explain them in class and practice them myself! Here’s her latest promotional video:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYaDm7MRzSw?rel=0]
And since I am talking about the Bellywood fun in my world, I’ve also got plans to see Delhi2Dublin when they hit Ottawa at Maverick’s on October 25th.
They often seem to be here on a weeknight, but since it’s right after my Thursday Bellywood, class, I think I can manage to be a night owl for one night!
I totally love their new album and have used 2 of their songs for class routines already! Here’s one of their early songs that I have performed to at some events in the past:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFuVXzg_gkg?rel=0]
As I take a break from putting the few bits and pieces I brought home after yesterday’s Ottawa Dancers Bazaar, I easily know this is the right choice for me. Letting go of organizing this event after 13 years, took me about a year to process, think about, and accept.
I have met some amazing people over the years and am glad to have been a part of the Ottawa tradition of creating a Belly Dance Community. I did not start it. I came into it when I was a beginning dancer by being introduced to it by my teachers, attending workshops organized by OMEDA, the Ottawa/Outaouais Middle Eastern Dance Association, which was run by volunteers and lasted for over 20 years. It has since faded, but many of it’s members are still strong in the Ottawa Community, supporting each other as best they can.
Memorial table for Rosemary ” Zahra Haddad” Corfield
The vendors who have come through the doors of the Ottawa Dancers’ Bazaar have come from Sudbury, Barrie, Toronto, New York state, Sherbrooke, Montreal and area, and of course, our local designers/teachers/artisans have been well represented. And I thank all of you who have made it a remarkable experience in my life. Challenging at times, but always full of energy and learning.
Folks who have stepped up to volunteer have been amazing. Giving their time and energy to hep in whatever way they can, being part of the bigger picture and creating their own whacky experiences – they all rock. Thanks Dudes.
Thanks Linda – my longest volunteer, and Trisha, one of the newest volunteers! And Melissa in the background on door duty – she won the volunteer prize!!
Eurika may be in the back, but she’s gonna be moving to the front with Farasha!
So, with a sigh of relief and a nod of gratitude, the torch is passed. Eurika and Farasha, the newly crowned, “The Queen of the Bazaars” and “Bazarina” – we get very silly in our community – will be “strategizing” and coming up with their own adventures to bring to Ottawa’s Belly Dance Community. And I’ll be there with my full support – but no longer at 8:30 a.m. 🙂
Post Bazaar Supper – thanks for the memories folks!
In early September, I had the pleasure of being part of this group of ladies, dancing at a wedding.
It was an amazing event { thanks Eurika for inviting me} not only having the chance to dance with live musicians, but also working one more time with Rosemary/ Zahra.
For many years, when I first began dancing, I really only knew her in passing. I first danced in her husband’s restaurant at OMEDA events, [ Sam’s Falafel and Tabouleh Garden, on Rideau Street; Ottawa/Outaouais Middle Eastern Dance Association].
She was this quiet woman who had such a history, but I would only be in a position to access it on occasion, and more so after her husband passed.
I kept running into her, working with her on occasion over the remaining years, and would keep in a larger loop of concern and information as her own life took so many turns.
I just wanted to send her a thank you for the many years of energy she put into education, community spirit and the blazing touch she left on so many people.
I will add updates here when I receive them, and feel welcome to add your own comments below which I will pass along to her children, or go to her Facebook page and add your sentiments to her wall.
At the October 14th Ottawa Dancer’s Bazaar, there will be a table set up in memory of her, and information about a future event in the works by Randi Cherry and friends, please stop by if you are attending.
UPDATE -thanks Julia –
“Rosemary Corfield June 8, 1948 – October 7, 2012
Rosemary danced into the light to the beat of her own drum at the age of 64. Loving mother of Nicholas and Virginia, beloved cousin of Irene Wanless, and John and Jim Lang. Predeceased by her husband, Samir Haddad and parents, Norman and Virginia. Rosemary was born and raised in British Columbia. She will be deeply missed by her many dear friends and family and by all those whose lives she touched with her joy and love. Rosemary lived her life to the fullest and in the face of the increasing limitations of her illness, adapted and continued to live every day with resilience, courage and passion. She loved planning and hosting gatherings – including her own celebration of life just a few weeks ago. She was a dancer, a musician, an artist, a lover of languages, entrepreneur, a friend and, above all, a devoted mother. Rosemary was an inspirational figure in many groups, including the Ottawa Middle Eastern Dance Association, the Ukulele Ladies, the Belly dance and Arabic drumming communities, the Just for Women group. Everything she did, she did with her all.
Her unbreakable spirit and love of life will live on in the hearts and lives of all who loved her. She leaves us with these words from Osho: “To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.”
Many thanks to all our family and friends, and especially cousin, Irene, dear friend, Noralee Goodwin and the staff and volunteers of the Hospice at May Court for their loving care during the past few months.
A funeral service will be held in the Chapel of Capital Memorial Gardens, 3700 Prince of Wales Drive Nepean, ON K2C 3H1 on Friday, October 12, 2012 at 1:00PM.
Internment and reception to follow at Capital Memorial Gardens.
In memoriam donations can be made to the Hospice at May Court, 114 Cameron Avenue Ottawa, ON.”
This snippet is from the weekly Dancers’ News that I send out to relay information about Ottawa and area belly dance related news – workshops, shows, events and anything that might interest us as belly/ bolly dancers. And since we all have a variety of interests, I also share bits about other things too!
Be sure to head over to the main web version to see the actual newsletter!
Good morning all,
Looking forward to a lovely fall week – yes – it’s now Fall! Automne! change of seasons! and cooler air – yay for those of us who like that kind of thing!
On Friday the 29th, I’ll be getting my ping on with some “puh-tock puh-tock” as I will be playing in the Ottawa Charity Ping Pong event in the Byward market – have you sponsored/donated a bit o cash yet? If not, please feel welcome to head over here and drop some coin for 4 great Ottawa Charities:
And if Creative Sci-Fi is more your thing, head on over to the Ottawa Browncoats site for the September 30th Ottawa Charity Serenity Screening – $12 advance donations get you your BIcket!
OR
Come and see us today @ http://www.can-con.org/ to get your bickets, we will be there all weekend in the vendor/fan table area!
Also wishing good luck to the folks in the Army Run today!
I have 4 more client projects to finish over the next few days then when my sewing machines go in for their month long spa treatment, I start mine as well!
I am really looking forward to getting a massage from Vera Sagram, and then walking away with an order of Vera’s Belgian Waffles!
I was scanning through my blog and saw the post I had written last year around this time, and the great pics of the fun stuff I did last summer. And I just don’t have the energy this summer to do the same.
Maybe while I am on my break, I will find the time to go through things and relive the fabulous spring and summer I have had – it’s been great. And it’s been BUSY.
But for now, I will look forward to the break and know that I’ll be thinking of each and every one of you while I am swinging in my hammock, drinking a toast with camping buddies, or viewing the amazing vistas in the park. Honest 😉
See ya in September – unless I get creative and bloggy in the meantime !
I, like most people, am super busy. And like many people, find the time taken to answer a phone call during my work day can really disrupt my personal ability to focus, taking work time away while I am potentially on a big deadline, dealing directly with a client, etc.
I also, like many people, forget things unless they are written down. So by having an email arrive with all of the details of your, very important to me, question, I can refer to it when I can focus on it and give it my full attention. I also have lost my prize winning penmanship skills { ask me to show you the book I won in Grade 1} and cannot read my hand writing anymore.
I also may just simply be physically away from the phone and don’t want to panic rush from the facilities to try to catch the phone call.
Where does that leave you, the caller. The person who “likes” to call because for you, it’s faster than typing out an email. Or you are away from your computer/smartphone etc. and just need a “quick” answer to your question. Well, a bit outta luck.
Sorry Dude.
You get 2 options:
1 – leave me an actual detailed message on my voicemail so that I know why I have to call you back. That way, I can send you an email answering your important questions as soon as I can take a break from whatever kept me from answering the phone in the first place.
2- Send me an email.
Oh, and if your number comes up “private caller”, I’m call screening. So again – go with option 1 or 2. Nothing personal, just the way I roll…
