Tag Archives: ottawa bellydance

Thank you to all of the Seekers of Knowledge…

Halyma, , , , , ,

I was thinking this morning about how much effort it takes to get out and walk around in Ottawa in January; which then progressed to how I hope the side walks have settled back into walkable surfaces by next week, when I hope to being walking to classes in the evenings.

And then I thought about the participants in my classes who has made the commitment to get out there each week and join me in our learning adventure in dance.

So… wow…thanks ladies.

Screen Shot 2014-01-08 at 7.05.57 AM

It’s not that I am just realizing now how amazingly important it is having willing victims, er, I mean, students, in order for this path I am on to continue, but sometimes it’s good to be reminded that without them, my life would change significantly.

Maybe I would sign up for lessons myself, if I had more available time….

Maybe I would do more art….

Likely I would spend a lot more snuggle time with SprocketMinPin during these cold winter months and not be as active as I should be { knowing oneself is important too}.

Check her blog at sprocketminpin.com
Check her blog at sprocketminpin.com

So THANK YOU to everyone who has chosen to come play with me and force me off the futon!

Whatever classes run next week, know that I super grateful for you! And we’re gonna play with zills– just a heads up !

Here’s some of my ladies doing their thing at one of our volunteer events – Keeping it fun!:

Wow- I’m so uncoordinated…I could never do that.

Halyma, , , , , ,

Sigh…

When I tell people I belly dance, that’s one of the “admiring” statements I hear.

And my brain says, “WHAAT?”

and my heart says, “sigh…”

I would love to write an inspiring post that would lift up the self esteem and belief systems of everyone who says that to me, so that they can see how belly dance is SO MUCH MORE than just dancing.

I would love to flick that switch in everyone who says, “I can’t do that”, to ” hmm, I want to  see how I can do that”.

The most I can do is continue to share my love for this dance form, educate those interested in learning more, and flash a small smile to those who might be on the fence and encourage you to give it a try.

It’s okay if belly dance is not your thing.  Maybe you are a runner, maybe yoga touches your heart, maybe walking is your happy place – and to all of this I say “YAY. you go!” And the best way to find “your thing” is to try out all of the potentials – when the right activity comes your way, you’ll feel it!

My approach to this dance form began with the phrase, “Belly Dancing For Fun” and I still use that to describe our performance group of rogue dancers, the nature of my classes and my general philosophy.  If it’s not fun, why bother.

Belly dance can be fun – when one chooses to:

  • accept that it’s a journey
  • smile and laugh with classmates/troupe mates/audiences
  • slow down { journey, remember}
  • no really, slow down
  • take that time to explore what CAN be done
  • revel in those moments of achievement – you are learning!
  • breathe
  • go within and focus on what you are doing, ignoring the grocery list
  • BE THERE –  in class, in the performance, in the moment
  • Slow down.

Belly dance saved me.

It brought me into a group of whacky women with whom I could not have found myself.

It brought me the courage to leave a deadend situation for a much better one { married to the AWeSOME @WTL since 1998!}

It allows me to play! Halyma has fun sparkly  costumes, has fabulous long hair, a sense of feminine empowerment that permeates all of my life!

And while I never considered myself uncoordinated { except for those moments when I am taking a workshop with a master teacher and trying to figure out, What the heck?!? – then I slow down…} I never thought I would be dancing for an audience….

Ad it’s so cool now that I do it for a “job”!

125783968.bHQI4fXh.6365r1s8

Another dance season winds down….

Halyma, , , , ,

As I sit amongst a slew of costumes, paperwork, leftover bottles of water, and general mayhem after a night of barely sleeping { don’t have a burger at 10 p.m., just don’t}, I am grateful to read a slew of Facebook comments and emails that have been coming in since last night.

The simplest was:

Thanks, Tracey.

Great show.  It was a lot of fun.

M
And others include kind words of  support for a job well done { by more than me, but I’ll get to that}, awe at my costume { thanks to Shibori Borealis who created the skirt fabric}, and this snippet:

Just wanted to drop in a word to let you know that your performance yesterday was absolutely spectacular. The precision and the swiftness that you play with those bells (the ones you wore on your hands) is beyond me. And I have to make an additional comment to let you know that the best part I loved about your dance were your expressions and the way you connect with the audiences.

Makes me wanna take up belly dancing 🙂

And yes, a super duper congratulations to you for yet another successful event! D

And to everyone who was confused by the postcards with the dog on them – this is Sprocket and she was the dog on the postcards:

Check her blog at sprocketminpin.com
Check her blog at sprocketminpin.com

So there’s gratitude to be expressed.

Specifically: Erika, Megan, Linda, Laura, Michele, Tom, Katheryne, Emilie, Donna, Annie, Catharine.

Generally:

My students – you all did your best and I hope had loads of fun!  Hope to see many of you in 2014, if not in my classes, dancing somewhere at least!

The teachers: Safiya and Anna, Antonina, Marina, Siddiqah, Eurika, Zamira, Lois, Jalilah, Suhani, Niki – thank you all for helping make this even happen by encouraging your students to perform and spending the time and energy getting them prepared to show up and show off!

The Sponsors { and the ticket winners – email me if your number is below – I have these prizes as yet unclaimed!}:

Eco-TAV – Claimed by Siddiqah on behalf of her student!

Live2Dance – Claimed by Loulouh for her student!

Kalyani- prize claimed

Leila – Prize claimed

Eurika- Prize claimed

Zamira – Prize claimed

Anna & Safiya – ticket # 225

Jalilah – Prize claimed

And the guests:

Without your support, coming out to see these dancers do their thing, there would be a much smaller event happening with a lot less energy and desire to be the best we can be. We all get into this for ourselves, and only some of us move into performing, but when we do, it’s because we want to see the look on your face when we do our thing.  so thank you for honouring us with your presence and allowing us to glow a little brighter with your positive feedback!

There is a business aspect to these community events that goes beyond having an amazing crew of people who donate their time and energy. While I choose to invest time and money into creating this opportunity for all of my students and those of other teachers to be showcased, sometimes the numbers are very close to the line.  Thanks to some very wonderful people who gave more than their ticket price in financial contributions, this show, though we did not sell out, did cover it’s expenses and allow me to look at donating a little bit to some of my favourite charities.  Thank you- a LOT.  I hope it’s okay that I am not going to single them out, but I know who you are and you know who you are, and my gratitude to you is immense as you helped reduce the burden so much that I can in turn pay it forward.

I have also created an invitation only flickr.com group where I am hoping folks will share any great photos they took last night with respect for each others wishes on public sharing { it’s not public unless you want it to be}, and you can message me { halyma@bellydancingforfun.com} if you would like to join.

Thanks again – and remember to SIGN UP FOR THE DANCERS’ NEWS :

TO SIGN UP:

Simply send an email to news-subscribe@bellydancingforfun.com and within a minute you should get an email asking for you to confirm that you want to sign up to the mailing list. Just click reply and then send! Thats it!

TO SEND IN YOUR INFO:

Send your text only information to: newsletter@bellydancingforfun.com with “Belly Dance news” in the subject line [or something equally creative!].

And CLASSES start in about a month!