The holiday season approaches and along with it comes end of year recitals! A few of my Belly wood ladies were able to come out last Friday to help celebrate the end of the session for my good friend, Siddiqah, of FatCatBellydance
And we had a blast! Next up with be my own semi private OCCP – the Ottawa Centre Class Party where almost 300 of my closest Ottawa Belly dance and Bollywood friends, teachers, students and colleagues will converge on a local theatre to join me in sharing our love of dance! We are in a limited space so I cannot really open it up to the public – but if you ever want to join a class, you’ll get the chance to come play with us for sure!
Classes resume in January, so if you have a love of colourful costumes, fun music and wanna have some fun moving – even if you don’t think you would ever dance in public – check out the 2012 Class Info here!
Registration has already begun!
Halyma
All posts by Tracey Vibert
The importance of other interests
Every once in a while, I need to look beyond the “hobbies I’ve made into businesses”. This past weekend gave me mulitple opportunities to do this. We’ll call it a long weekend, as things really began on Thursday.
Thursday was kind of a transition into exploring beyond my boundaries – sort of. I don’t often go out on a weeknight. I don’t often go see live bands anymore. Heading out to see Delhi 2 Dublin was really an exploration – honest.
The fact that we are using a D2B song for my Bellywood with Halyma class routine this session, and will tweak it for Bollywood For Fun 2012 usage, is besides the point.
We went out for sushi first to make it more of an adventure and had a blast! Seeing Bellywood students of mine there and attending with some of my BFF troupe mates is again, besides the point.
Friday is date night, for the most part, so it was a quiet evening at home with the hubby – resting up for the next two days of fun. no photos – 🙂
Saturday took me back to exploring my celtic roots. 
Attending the Ottawa Storytellers encore of the Kymera’s Voice production: The Warrior Queen: Chasing Boudicca was an intimate evening of seeing old friends { who just happen to be previous belly dance students}, hanging with present friends { who just happen to be my BFF troupe mates}, and meeting some new folks who have great stories of their own! I loved the idea of just sitting and listening to these creative folk tell this wonderful story, and I hope to make time in my busy life to do this sort of thing again!
And then came Sunday. Final day of one friend’s 3 day birthday weekend, so it started with brunch as usual but with added folk at all ends of the table! SO Happy Birthday Erika!
And then the next adventure began.
Once again, with familiar and new faces surrounding me, practically hand-holding me through this afternoon of ethereal adventuring, I embarked on my first AD&D, 2nd ed gaming session in the guise of Theurvial MillTall, the halfling Cleric, created for me by my good buddy, Andrea, who along with her hubby Rob, our DM, were hosting this afternoon of chocolate eating fun!
OMG I have never seen that much Halloween candy consumed over an afternoon! We fortunately also had an amazing selection of healthy veggies, and a fabulous supper, so yay for yummy food, laughter and good energy galore and making my brain hurt from thinking so hard! With one side of the table being totally noobs and the other folks being totally patient, it was a blast. Thanks for your patience folks!
One major victim was our friend’s table – that was uber unfortunate and hopefully won’t be too hard for them to get repaired. Rule # 1: Never have two people lean on the table at the same time. But it was taken in stride, dealt with quickly and the game resumed with careful gusto!
All in all, having great company along the way, I really enjoyed developing some new interests and hope that I can make the time to enjoy them more in the future. I just have to make sure these new hobbies don’t find a way to become new businesses!
I guess I should touch on why I find it important to have other interests, but you folks are all pretty smart right? So you get it already! And this is really just a reminder to me to make sure I stop working all the time, and being such a strong creature of habit! You can choose to pay attention to that advice too, or not, as to whatever works best for you!
T/H
"One of"Bellywood classes…yes, I’ll teach your group!
I had a lovely time yesterday teaching a small group at Algonquin College for their Wellness week. First, thanks to Shakira from Kemptville for recommending me to teach the class – a supportive community is a great one to be a part of!
2nd thanks to Valerie, for welcoming me to teach Bellywood there and I think she got some fun photos – but I may not see them, small private group 🙂 But she gave me a lovely thank you gift as I was packing up…
And all of this to say, that yes, you too can have me come and teach your group for a private lesson – birthday parties, work incentive days, showers, anytime you want to get a gang moving and laughing in a multicultural setting!
Check out my pricing and packages here, and feel free to message me for more details!
Halyma and WTL at the Witches’ Gathering 2011
Click photo to see more…
Okay, another fabuolus Halloween bash extraordinaire!
Tom and I were part of the costume judge crew and had a great time with Auz and Marianne as we sought out the best of the best to bring them forth on stage and doll out awards for the efforts made.
It’s not easy.
There are a lot of great costumes!
For more pics form other folk, be sure to check the Witches Gathering Flickr group!
ZOMBIE ATTACK!
Just a few shots from yesterday’s Ottawa Zombie Walk – more to come later plus video! CLICK ON THE PIC TO SEE MORE!
More Wonton Fun
In prep for a social gathering tomorrow, I’ve made some of my Halyma’s Cheesecakelets, and then I had a pile of leftover wonton wrappers and decided to get simply creative again…
Halyma’s Applewraps are simple wedges of Macintosh apples, a sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar, wrapped individually in wontons.
Bake them on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden.
Random Whimsy…
I’ve been working hard, so i thought I would take a break, a practically narcissistic break, and cartoonish some of my fave promo shots. This is me just being silly!
I have to credit Lainie Cambria for the last two pics and the first one was take by Tom of DarnerMedia for my Halyma’s Belly Dance Lessons on DVD – Level 1.
So, back to work now!
T/H
PS – If you wanna play: http://www.cartoonize.net/
October = a month of busy!
I just decided to flip my paper calendar ahead to just have easier access to next month’s blocks of time.
So while it is still technically September for a few more days, October is really rearing itself constantly with exciting plans!
Just ’cause I am sure you wanna know what’s so exciting about my life, { no narcissistic attitude here at all!} here are the big ones in my calendar now :
October 1 – prep for the OSCS, and possibly dancing with Bollywood For Fun at Cine-Musiq. $10 advance tickets – you should go even if I cannot manage to squeeze this in myself, the rest of the group will rock it!
October 2 – Ottawa Serenity Charity Screening – I somehow was named chair of the organizing crew for this amazing afternoon fundraiser event. The crew is all doing amazing work to get ready/fundraise/promote etc. so it’s really just a title and I get to pretend to be bossy – really, I am only pretending 🙂 If you are a fan of Firefly, ya gotta come – or even just make an advance $12 donation and you’ll get a Bicket afterwards!
October 3-7 : Sewing/ dancing – the usual deadlines loom
October 8,9,10 – Thanksgiving – still deciding on what we’ll do that weekend – camping? family?hermitage? we’ll see…
Oct. 10-14: Sewing/ Dancing/ the usual deadlines loom
October 15: 10 a.m. to 12 noon: SEWING CLASSES! Level 1 begins! I’ll be teaching the very basics of sewing, including hand and machine work.
SAME DAY: Gyspy [Turkish Rom] workshop with Zafirah of Montreal – I haven’t committed and if you folks all jump on it and it sells out, that’s cool – I have to see how the sewing is doing as I will have deadlines still for the next weekend
October 16: Ottawa Dancers’ Bazaar This is one of my events – so yeah I gotta be there 🙂 Shopping!! socializing!! Shinies!!
Weekdays – = sewing/dancing.. blah blah blah
October 22: Ottawa Zombie Walk!!! Woot!! I have not yet actually walked in it, but I gleefully head out to watch and video tape! I’ll decide closer to it what the plan will be for this year! But I’ll be out that day one way or another!
Weekdays – again with the sewing… and the dancing…
October 29: 13th Annual Witches Gathering!!!!Mega Woot! Again this year, @wtl and I will be judges – so your costumes had better be phenomenal!! And my fave drinks for those who know how this works: Baileys; strongbow; smirnoff ice; rum and coke – I cannot remember what Mavericks has at the bar – but that list should be a good start!
So I was about to start adding pics to make this a more visually interesting post – then realized how much time I’ve already spent writing it – so click through the linky goodies and see the pics on the sites of interest!
And back to sewing and dancing for me!
T/H
Time to get dancing!
I just took some time to check in on registration for my Byward Market location classes and hey – there’s still room for some new dancers to come on out and start learning this fun dance form!
NEWBIES WANTED: Bellydance Level 1 and Bellywood on Thursdays!
Here’s the deal – over 12 classes for $97.75 at the Routhier Community centre on Monday evenings from 7-8 p.m. or if you are looking to dance with a bit more high energy , join the Bellywood classes on Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
You have time to go home and have a light supper, but not get too comfy, and come on out and get moving – gently but powerfully!
Everyone who comes that first night leaves marvelling at the workout! From just gently isolating those body parts, laughing, shimmying and playing with a lovely piece of fabric, you get a fun head to toe adventure in cultural immersion! Well, at least a few anecdotes, exposure to really interesting music and loads of silliness and learning how to move in new graceful ways!
So, feel welcome to join me this fall in any of my classes – and there’s room in all, but I really hope to see some new faces this session 🙂
FAQS:
Do I have to bare my belly?
NO. Wear comfy clothes that you can move in, sweat in, stretch in and feel good in.
I have no co-ordination, will I feel awkward?
YES – but so does everyone else! So don’t worry about it! And every week, your muscles take over and allow those movements to feel more natural and elegant!
Do I have to perform?
NO – but you can if you want to. Over the 12 weeks, i teach techniques first, and choreography only towards the end of the session so that you feel comfortable with the moves. then you can either join us for the December OCCP as a dancer or audience member! or if you cannot attend, at least you’ll have learned a fun dance to show your close friends and family on your own time!
Do I need a jingly belt/ coin belt/veil/costume?
NOPE! I am happy to see folks with or without the coin scarves/belts/etc.. I want you to feel comfy and relaxed and take it at your own pace!
Of course,if you have one already and want to wear it, you are most welcome to – pretty skirts, fun tops are great – but I want you to break a sweat, so don’t wear your full on performance costumes!
I do organize the Dancers’ Bazaar in October so that you can come out and see the full wealth of pretties you can partake in, if you so choose, but again, do it your own pace!
Any other questions?
Leave me a comment below and I’ll be happy to let ya know anything you might need to.
Classes start Monday the 12th, so if you can come out to play – please check my class listings for registration info – and come play!
In the meantime, here are some samplings of past fun:
Thanks to my students who gave me permission to use theses clips of them from the spring 2011 session routine!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqeNbaqABVk&feature=feedu]
And Halyma [ that’s me!] doing some belly dancing :
Note: the music is obviously not arabic. I have always liked to dance to a variety of music, but especially music with which I already have a connection. I have loved this song since I was a teenager, and with the white and blue silk pieces designed for me by Shibori Borealis, I was really moved to just be floaty and as graceful as possible for this piece… this is me – not too worried about being sharp on the tech moves, more about the feeling…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ADQNpvCjs]
Halyma and Jeannie!
So, my gradual easing back into life in Ottawa included a jaunt to Fan Expo in toronto last weekend – and this was the moment of fun for me!
I am a bit of a fan girl in certain areas of pop culture and niche culture – some sci-fi, some fantasy, some nerd comedy, and a smidgen of horror cross-over type stuff { Buffy and Angel type stuff}!
And so this was year three for us, and we had a blast!
I could go on and on, but really – suffice it to say, it’s a blast in spite of being a series of line-ups to queues, but the folks there were fun and enlightening!