Tag Archives: Belly Dancing For Fun!

The Ottawa Centre Class Party – what a way to end the season!

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Hey Kids,
I have finally recovered enough to start looking at pics and video from our fabulous show on Wednesday June 10th. You ladies rock! Or Rak as the the pun goes!

So what does this mean for the blog post? It means that I will direct you all to the little final video clip that my good friend Linda took of many of us at the end of the show! Click on the still image to take you there!

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Colour and motion - can you hear the music?

It also means I will say a huge sloppy thank you to so many people – I hope I have not forgotten anyone, but someone can leave me a word in the comments in case I did!
The teachers who helped provide student performances to fill out the evening. Click on their name and if they have a website – you get to see it :-):

Bahyia/Brenda
 Anna and Safiya
 Jalilah
 Zamira
 Loulouh
 Leslie
 Sha Vega
 Julie
Randi
 Oksana

The student group dancers:

Thank you for all of the class time and extra time you put into preparing for the show – you’ve done your teachers proud!

I am not going to list you all by name – you are all given credit in the performer DVD! But thank you to each and everyone one of you for coming out and sharing your love of dance with us!

The Rogue Dancers:
These dancers took time on their own to develop and practice the pieces they danced completely on their own! Congratulations to you all for your efforts for the evening!
Niki and Shade
Pink Pandemonium: Linda,Diane,Ameenah,Sadira,Esmerelda
Anadil: Siddiqah,Farasha,Wendy,Rebecca,Lisa
Ameenah and Sadira
Hipnotic Hips: Bahiya, Zaida, Zeevah

The Teacher Soloists who graced us with their elegance.  Thank you ladies!

Jewel
Zena

The amazing volunteers:

Ticket and DVD order ladies: Julie T and Linda B

General Help: Brenda,Megan,Katheryne, Diane, Zamira, Jewel, Nat and Andrea, Erika

Decor: Michele Roy [ OMG thank you!]

Backstage/Stage Manager: Catharine Crerar

Official Photographer: Lainie Cambria

And the underpaid staff:
Tom of Darner Media
The Bronson Centre Staff and volunteers
Wall Sound

And the supportive members of the audience deserve some recognition too!

Thank you for your feedback, your participation, your support and your presence – it brings the end of the season to a fantastic close for me!

Remember to sign up for the weekly Dancers’ Newsletter to get news about workshops, classes and more belly dance related fun that is happening here in Ottawa-Gatineau and beyond!

A drama pose!
A drama pose!

Backstage at the Bay, St. Laurent and More!

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Click on the photo to go to my Flickr Page!

 

IMG_0719.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

Hey folks,
it has been a while! I’ve been fabulously busy with my sewing work! But I wanted to get these shots up so that the wonderful ladies who came out with me for this show can see how great they looked!Click on the photo to see the whole set!

Pics are also up from the National Women show ! Check them all out!
IMG_0500.JPG by you.

My thanks to the lovely ladies who came out with me for these two events!  

The Bay: Farasha, Shade, Isaden, and Ameenah! And Miriam, who took the pics! And Tom of course who shot video – but we are still working on getting that footage up!!

The National Women Show: Jewel, Zamira, Shade, Isaden, and Bollywood For Fun And Miriam, who took the pics! And Tom of course who shot video – but we are still working on getting that footage up!!

Halyma’s Belly Dancing For Fun~ At the BAY

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What a fun time!

IMG_0444.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

I won’t go on too long – suffice it to say I am very lucky to have such gorgeous ladies to work wit – inside and out! Click on the pic to take you to see more fabulous shots of this fun event!

Also please check out the Current Events box on my website  for all of the many shows and events we will be appearing in – a variety of ways to see what fun we have!

Okay – on to my next events this weekend!  Sleep, then Hersource!

A Busy Weekend – come on out and see me!

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Being self-employed means spending a lot of time working, and then a lot of time self-promoting! This weekend will have me doing a lot of both before I get to take some time off on Sunday!

Friday evening, I will be out in Kanata, doing some lesson demos and promoting my two instructional belly dance DVDs which I produced to fill a niche in home lesson DVDs. Halyma’s belly dance lessons on DVD are for a beginning student who wants to learn the movements in a fun and safe way! I had a lot of fun making them, and have them available online , but also in the Chapters in Kanata in their local authors area – as they are produced and distributed from here, Ottawa.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XApEfM3esMg&hl=en&fs=1]

Saturday morning takes me bright and early to the RA centre on Riverside drive here in Ottawa to set up for the Ottawa Eco-Fair. There I will be promoting and selling my Eco-TAV green textiles product line in person.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLe6SlYQDlg&hl=en&fs=1]

Though you can buy the Eco-TAV Napkins and Pouches online here, and the Blossom Bags and MP3 player/camera/phone cases here online! After I do my best to save the planet one napkin at a time, I then head off for an evening of dance for charity!

Saturday evening takes me to the Glebe Community centre where I will be presenting two performances for a good cause. One is my Tuesday intermediate student group. A lovely group of ladies who have been practicing our new routine to get ready for this show, and then we’ll be embellishing it and adding more layers and fun for the June 10th show at the Bronson Centre [ details about that later]!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbmCKyptN5Y&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca]

The second presentation involving me that evening will be as a member of a new dance group that I have helped found with 4 other dancers: Bollywood For Fun. While not quite our inaugural performance, it will be out first show before a large number of our peers in the belly dance world, and hopefully they will be kind!

So where ever you may be this weekend, I hope you can find some time to come by and say hello!
Now back to some of my other work!
Blessed be…

Upcoming Events in Halyma’s world!

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Life is getting busy!  And that’s fabulous!

Sometimes I like to sit and make lists of all of the events, workshops, classes, and shows I have in my calendar for the next while, just to get my head wrapped around it all and sort of my timing.I’ll be performing in a few charity shows, as well as  baking cupcakes! I’ll be teaching along with a colleague of amazing status how to out together fabulous belly dance costumes! And I’ll be promoting my eco friendly products, in the hopes of spreading some awareness and joy!

I hope that if you are in Ottawa during the next few weeks that you’ll be able to come out to paricipate in some of these fun activities! Be sure to say HI!

March 21/22, 2009: TAV Creations/Eco-TAV at the Ottawa Go Green Expo

New products along with the growingly popular Eco-TAV Napkins and Pouches!

pouch-napkin promo shot

March 29, 2009 Featuring two charity events!  

s52492299268_9978The first will be in the afternoon and I’ll be participating as a baker at the first annual Ottawa CupCake Camp. They are hoping that over 2000 cupcakes will be there for the tasting!

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In the evening, I’ll be part of a group of creative souls raising money for another at the Mercury Lounge in  Ottawa….Halyma performs at:pARTicipate! A Benefit for Hollis Hawthorne.  


Saturday, April 4, 2009: Randala and Halyma’s Costuming Extravaganza or How to Costume the Belly Dance Goddess in You!  Check out our Promo video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76p5KVdgIIQ]


April 18, 2009 – Another double header!  

Not only am I, TAV Creations /Eco-TAV, in the Ottawa Eco-Stewardship Fair during the day, but that evening I will have students performing as part of an eclectic  charity  ” Belly dance” show at the Glebe Community centre! It promises to be a great show with a wide variety of performances demonstrating the evolution of belly dance!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F3BmhnLA90&feature=channel_page]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbmCKyptN5Y]

Am I pretty? Costuming post…

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I was a guest blogger on DanceAdvantage.net:

contributor
Guest Post: Am I Pretty? Exploring How Costumes Can Make The Dancer

The following is a guest post by Halyma [aka Tracey, designer, TAV
Creations]. She is a belly dancer and costumer, however, she offers
pointers and considerations on costuming, color, and expressing
oneself through their own creations …

Go to Dance Advantage’s blog  to read it!

The Dancers’ Bazaar – Thank you!

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Click on the pic to see more shots by @wtl

Tracey/Halyma (The Dancers’ Bazaar Organizer) flinging her hair in her booth with Linda, originally uploaded by WTL-Ottawa.

Sunday, February 22, 2009 brought out over 20 vendors with oodles and oodles of belly dance wares, music, chocolates, health make-up, and more to the Knights’ of Columbus Hall at 260 McArthur.

It was the 19th Dancer’s Bazaar organized by me, and run with the help of a pile of fabulous volunteers, and my wonderful partner/husband/floor manager extraordinaire, Tom [ aka @wtl] .

The Hall set’s up the table, and then we arrive at about 8:45 am to survey their work and re-arrange based on specific vendor requests. And signs go up outside, and balloons are blown up and attached wherever they will look effective and eye-catching.

By 10 a.m. the main onslaught of vendors begin arriving, though a few arrive earlier and help with the pre-set up. And the volunteers get to pre-shop and help the vendors as they set up.

It is a crazy and fun morning setting up for the potential of 100s of shoppers coming through the doors starting at noon.

We had over 300 patrons come through for this one, and many bags were seen dangling of their arms as they left, so we know that some serious shopping was done! Yay!

Upcoming events were advertised, photos were taken, door prizes given out and Zahra Haddad graced us with a wonderful drumming demo and our favorite Bazaar floordancer, Mel, came through and provided some energy feedback as she usually does!

Thanks to all of the volunteers – I feel like I am being a slacker by not mentioning you all by name, but you know who you are – so thanks! And Congrats to @elkae as she won the volunteer door prize!

Thanks to the vendors who make the trip to join us for the day – some coming from as far away as Montreal, Sherbrooke, Mississauga and Barrie. And the local folks are providing gorgeous stuff too – so I am glad to provide a place for us all to showcase our stuff!

Plans are in motion for the next one, but I’ll focus on other things for a few weeks!

Two Great belly Dance Shows in Ottawa’s Byward Market

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Ottawa Twestival pics by wtl.  Click on pic to see more!

 

Ottawa Twestival, originally uploaded by WTL-Ottawa.

This past week brought two completely different but equally important events to Ottawa’s Byward Market.

On Sunday, February 8th, Shakti Fusion presented the Dark Fusion Cabaret at the Mercury Lounge. The evening featured local tribal style dancers, raks gothique, and dark fusion performances.
This type of show brings “belly dance” into the community in an artful and creative style that can be appreciated by those who enjoy a darker flavour to their entertainment!

ATS or American Tribal style belly dance has been around in the US for a while now, and has been making great headway in Canada. It offers a different approach to belly dance that appeals to many dancers, be it in the costuming, the structure, the group dynamics and/ or the music.

Raks Gothique, and a variety of darker fusion styles also appeal to new dancers who are more interested in dancing in a belly dance style, yet to music that is less arabic in nature { although there are some amazing pieces that bridge the styles for sure!}

There are some fabulous photos taken of the show by Lainie Cambria, viewable here on her online gallery.

The second show that happened this week was presented at the Ottawa Twestival on Thursday evening at Suite 34. I am a member of the international online community/social media network,Twitter. In a very short time, one of the Canadian members, Amanda Rose, took it upon herself to start the ball rolling for a one day fundraiser to raise $1 million for the Charity: Water.

And it worked. In over 200 cities, all over the world, February 12th brought out many twitter members to their local Twestival events.

Online video podcasters got together to create a video to explain and promote the concept.

When I first heard about it, I realized that this might be a fun opportunity to bring the Belly Dancing For Fun Dancers out to play and asked the organizers if they thought this would be of interest. @bitpakkit and @sassymonkey { their Twitter ids} were my main contacts and they were very receptive to the idea! 

I contacted the ladies and we made our plans! We chose costumes and I mixed some classic cabaret tunes into a 15 minute track that allowed us to create an energetic and fun improvised dance show!

We had a blast bringing the awareness of cabaret style belly dance to a community of social media folk who, for the most part, have not actually had the opportunity to see belly dance in person before this!

I think we are already booked for next year!

Click on the main pic to take you to @WTL‘s flickr page to see more shots from the day!

Dancers’ Bazaar: Almost 10 years of shopping fun!

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Just a view of the hall...
Just a view of the hall...

The Dancers’ Bazaar has been an event that I have been organizing since June 1999. It began with 7 tables in the community centre that I teach at in the Byward market, expanding to two room, then moving to a larger, and larger hall for the first 5 years or so.

Since I cannot make costumes for everyone, and I knew of teachers who were importing and making pieces themselves, it made sense to bring us all together and let the students and pros see everything in one place!  And so it began.  I have seen many of my friends and colleagues give it a go in one form or another, from selling hip scarves to jewelry to cleaning out their closets!

It is one of those projects that I do because I see the benefit of it to our belly dance community. It helps me feel l can be a part of something larger, which is important when self employed in my cozy home studio during the day!

The events I organize are always done with the intention of creating a “win-win” [ I apologize for the cliche] situation, and I learn a lot through producing them. I won’t get into all of that right now, but maybe a future post will share my learning!

This time around, on February 22nd, we’ll have new vendors coming in from all over the area, as well as many of our favorite exhibitors. I am pleased that there are so many new faces to show their wares – and many non-belly dance products coming to light for our shopping pleasure!

Chocolate is a big thing these days at markets, and a new vendor will be coming with specialty chocolates. Hoping the kids who frequent the Bazaar will not get too much in their little hands!

This one will help me warm up a bit more to the development of my Eco-TAV line – sharing this concept with those in my main community face to face will help get the word out of their existence!

 

Eco-Tav Food Napkins and Pouches! Saving the planet, One Napkin at a Time!
Eco-Tav Food Napkins and Pouches! Saving the planet, One Napkin at a Time!

 

 

While I could rave on and on about how fabulous the  Dancers’ Bazaar is, I am thinking that you’ll just have to come see it yourself to enjoy the community atmosphere, social aspect, shopping frenzy and belly dance spirit in action!

Come join us for the afternoon! 260 McArthur, Doors open from 12 noon to 4 p.m.!img_4517img_4515img_4514img_4513

The End of one decade, Beginning of the next Era

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No, I am not going to talk about the amazing moment in history that occurred yesterday in the land of our southern neighbors.

Well, maybe for a brief moment, just to give a tip of the hat to the US of A in congrats for what looks to be the beginning of a new Era in their political and emotional journey.

Here is hoping their changes are swift and painless and reflect well on the rest of the world as well!

 

ON His Big DAY!
ON His Big DAY!

 

 

Selfishly I also want to explore my own journey on this planet, this time around if I go with that reincarnation possibilities.

Today marks the end of 40 years for me.

And I am gonna celebrate for sure.

I am the youngest of my family, and am fortunate enough to speak to them all somewhat regularly. I have 8 amazing nieces and nephews that I am blessed with the chance to see on Facebook and in person to get to know them! My mom and her hubby are also within a short distance – and she’s on Facebook now too so I get poked often enough 🙂

I have a wonderful [ understatement of the year] husband who supports me in every way possible. Emotionally, he is my rock. Business wise, he is my tech guy, consultant, first line of brainstorming for new ideas. Lifewise, he is my best friend. I luv ya honey!

 

From our 10 year anniversary party Feb.2008
From our 10 year anniversary party Feb.2008

 

 

We have our little dog Boing to keep us company and make us laugh – and she does that often between the moments of insanity.

I have many, many friendships of all depths and levels of which I can only begin to extoll the virtues! Some are here and I see them multiple times a week, some are far away and I only touch base with them once ayear or less, but we have touched each other’s lives and hold a place in each other’s hearts.
And some are new, and developing acquaintances that may stay at this level or may blossom into close friendships, and that’s nice too!

I am part of a dance community that is supportive, talented and amazing – so very happy with that aspect of my life. May of these women are also part of my friendship circle!

 

At the Bay, Bayshore!
At the Bay, Bayshore!

And I love my many jobs – I get to be creative, hands on and ethereally! I get to dance, make pretty things, and try to save the planet with my endeavors.

 

I guess this is more of a thank you note to everyone around me for the many years of support, friendship, love, adoration, fangril and fanboy behavior you have all sent my way! [ Obviously kidding on those last few quips, kids!]

So, thank you all for the well wishes, laughter, and your presence in my life at this time.

I know that my new era and Barack’s are filled with promise and hope of even more greatness and potential for us and those who we touch!  Wow, that sounded a bit arrogant, but I’ll leave it in with the caveat that the potential and greatness comes from those around us as well as within ourselves.  Working together is what makes it all happen!

Blessed  be~