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!
The first will be in the afternoon and I’ll be participating as a baker at the first annualOttawa CupCake Camp.They are hoping that over 2000 cupcakes will be there for the tasting!
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.
Not only am I, TAV Creations /Eco-TAV, in theOttawa Eco-Stewardship Fairduring the day, but that evening I will have students performing as part of an eclectic charity ” Belly dance” showat the Glebe Community centre! It promises to be a great show with a wide variety of performances demonstrating the evolution of belly dance!
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 …
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!
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!}
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.
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!
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!
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.!
Holly, a lovely young woman, also known as “the Chosen One” has been making some major efforts to get of her comfort zone for the past three weeks.
As the winner of a contest being held by Ottawa’s Hot 89.9 fm, she has been meeting every challenge set before her in order to win a nice stack of cash at the end of it all.
At the beginning of this week, I received a call from Josie, one of the hosts of the Morning Hot Tub radio show, inquiring about coming out to my class through the Old Ottawa South Community centre.
Now, I don’t actually listen to Hot 89.9fm. I had no idea what was going on, but I am sure Josie thought I would have some clue about the contest so did not really explain too much about it. As far as I knew, it was a cool idea, and that Holly would come, try the class, and if she liked it perhaps she would sign up afterwards.
I have a policy of “First Class Free” to encourage people to try it, as they either like it and sign up right away, or at least head off knowing that they were given a generous chance to experience it.
On Monday, I got a second call asking if Holly could recruit some people to come out as well. I said , yeah, sure, it is a small class, so there is room for some extra people, no problem.
That evening, I had arrived early as usual, was all set up and then headed out to the ladies room since I did not see anyone yet looking like they were lost. Oh – they were in the hallway, getting a bit turned around! I yelled down and pointed them in the right direction while I dealt with my trip across the hall.
I got back into the gym where I teach the class a few minutes later, and they were chatting excitedly about Holly’s new hair style [ looked very nice], some of her other challenges, and life in general as the ladies she had brought were friends.
Jenny, the other co-host of the show, had come with her, and was taking photos of the group { hope to see those soon} and everyone was having a pretty relaxed time, but there seemed to be a bit of underlying tension or uncertainty.
Since none of the other students had arrived yet, I thought I should try to connect at least a bit and was curious about the contest, so I was able to get more info about the whole thing by asking a few questions and joining in the conversation a bit. Then I started taking pics of them, so that also helped them relax!
Eventually, the regulars arrived, the 4 newbies were sheathed in chiffon veils, and we started class.
My usual caveats of “knees bent, hips tucked”, and “if it hurts, stop” were issued, and off we went.
They did as well as anyone would at their first class, and some of the group were actually already dancers I think, so they caught on pretty quickly!
Overall, I think they had fun, and while they may not take it again, I think there was some new respect generated for this fabulous dance form!
I am so gratefull to have received the first two of many more guest posts to come! Please welcome Aspa as she shares her journey into belly dance!
We Are All Dancers
By Aspa
I was never a woman who was comfortable with her body. As we know, there are a lot of social influences that affect women’s perceptions of their bodies. Being academically inclined, I had the additional challenge of always thinking of myself as a brain with legs. When I turned 40, my life changed drastically because of external circumstances I could not control. It was at this point that belly dancing came into my life.
There was so much change already, so much that was new. I think I had to challenge every limiting thought I had ever had about myself — including about my body and my relationship to it. My body was more than just a carrier for my brain, after all.
So I took a class. And to my amazement, I learned to move my hips — in front of other people no less! Flash forward in time, and I am showing my cousins how to do the camel at Christmas dinner!
When friends or colleagues ask me about belly dancing , I always tell them how important it has been to building my confidence and my self-esteem. I always tell them, too, how wonderful it is to see women of all ages and body types expressing themselves and their femininity through this form. More and more, too, I am growing to enjoy the sense of community I see — belly dancing brings together women from all walks of life to celebrate the beauty of movement and the strength to be found in that.
Ever being in the pursuit of knowledge (not everything in my life changed!), I have also come to appreciate learning about different cultures through belly dancing — it is truly cross-cultural. I have been fascinated by how belly dancing persists as a form not only across cultures but across time because it adapts to context. We can see this with the newer styles of belly dancing, which are very much adapted to contemporary times. This ability to adapt is what keeps belly dancing so alive and so vital as a form of expression.
I still consider myself a beginner belly dancer. But one thing I never say any more is that I am not a dancer. Because I am! I learned that I could be graceful and sensual in my movements, and that we are all dancers. The limiting thoughts I once had about my body are gone now. I have gone from “I can’t possibly do that” to “I can do that — with patience and with practice.” And a touch of bravery.
Belly dancing came into my life in a time of crisis. The crisis passed, but the dancing stayed, and for that, I am grateful. Through belly dancing, we honour our uniqueness and our strength, our ability to endure just as surely as the form itself has endured the centuries.
Aspa is a student of Zena’s at Dance with Alana Studios.
Quick thanks to everyone who was at the Witches’ Gathering last night!
I am sure I should write a long and fabulous exploration of the evening’s experiences but just click on the photo to see our own personal buds and fun of the party!
Let me start by saying I feel like I spend a lot of time praising Ottawa’s Belly Dance community – to the point where I am wondering if it is starting to sound like a broken record! So I am hoping that some of you will add your comments below~ so that it does not just seem like me saying how fabulous Ottawa is!!
Gorgeous backdrops
Random shot of the Dancer’s BAzaar
Michele Roy’s displays
Michele Roy
This past weekend, of which I believe I have now recovered, issued forth two great events in which our community could participate [ the Zombie walk notwithstanding!]
On Saturday evening, the Belly Dance Teacher’s Fundraiser gave many local teachers the chance to strut their stuff in support of three charities close to the heart of the organizer, Catharine Crerar, owner of Daisies and Dragons Daycare. Money raised was donated to Kids Help Phone, Bereaved Families, and the Distress Centre.
While we all find ways to comment, constructively criticize, and whine a bit – we are human after all – I feel that every event has to have a benevolent dictator to make it happen. Committees can work, but often too much discussion amongst equal powers leads to inertia, so I would rather have one person lead the way, with a strong bevy of volunteers to help make it happen. This is also how I run my events, so I am a bit biased!
Catharine began these fundraising events years ago at Hartwell’s, and when they were moved to the Glebe Community Centre, the ability to serve food/ a meal was added. Some may not see it as a bonus for the evening, some do. There are waves of energy that put out the thoughts and comments that the ticket price is too high for the community to support, but perhaps the question we should be asking is, why would we not be able to support a $25 ticket price? If contrasted with other local Fundraising events I have seen advertised, $25 is nothing. I have been invited to $60,$100 and more events, some with a full sit down meal, some with only cocktails and some entertainment. Maybe we need to rethink our approach to these fundraising events from a bigger picture perspective.
And then, when I looked at how full the room was as the evening began, and there were plenty of folk willing to pay $25 to come enjoy an evening of beautiful dancers! For all of the comments begin tossed around, our hearts are in the right place and we do know that the right thing to do is support each other’s endeavors as best we can!!
The show was great – with lots of fabulous donated prizes – which I did not win – wonderful dancers and great volunteers. I could write an entire post just reviewing the show – maybe later once Lainie has posted pics!
Another topic of interest for me as a participant, volunteer, and general busy body at the event was hearing the energies brought up by the presence of the modern dance troupe from Makin’ Moves.
As I am primarily a belly dancer, and choosing on a path to enlighten those around me that belly dance is not derogatory, not shameful, not negative. The cliches, the assumptions, the inuendos are still there that it is a “hoochy dance“. Seeing it from someone else’s perspective though, are we suffering from an extreme case of denial? We undulate, we wiggle our hips, we pop our chests, we let our arms snake about sinuously – are we not aware of how sensual and sexy it can be? Maybe, just maybe, it is not wrong to be sexy.
This is your new mantra: It is not wrong to be sexy. Oh wait, positive phrasing required: It is good to be sexy!
This is the power we are creating when we dance – embracing that feminine energy which comes from our grace, our flow, our sensual energy. So, if we can embrace this kind of thinking – and maybe you disagree – leave me a comment below, I want to hear from you! – but if we can go on the journey of allowing ourselves to be the sensual beings that we are, why do some of us look down on these other dancers? The Dollhouse Dance Company were covered completely – albeit some great thighs were shown, but the shorts covered lots, and the tops were full coverage, so, nothing wrong there…A lot more flesh is shown on television on a regular basis that we saw up close and personal during their routine.
And they are strong dancers! I challenge most of us who only belly dance to take on some of those moves for flexibility and balance! I admire their strength, and their journey. I took a moment to talk to them after their show, because I was so impressed by their routine. They recognize that their style of dance may not go over well at a full-on, children in attendance, family event. For them, Catharine’s fundraisers offer them the perfect venue to show their skills in what could be considered a sister field of dance. As we chatted, they reminded me of the very things I spoke of above, the undulations, the hips moving – all very strong female power moves 🙂 Maybe we can think about the idea that, just because the costumes are different, the moves a bit stronger, we are still all sisters in dance.
Anything else I need to express? Hmm, well, I do re-iterate that we are a strong and community minded group here in Ottawa. We still express ourselves quietly in back rooms – perhaps the influence of it being a government town – we then come together, pull up our bootstraps and get down to helping each other. So good for us! Please feel that pat on the back!
About a week and a half before the Dancer’s Bazaar, I realized that I only had three volunteers, based on the emails I had received at that point from those offering to help. The other responses were from about 5 of my previous crew members who had other obligations and would not be able to attend!
AAAHHH !!
So, I hit my Facebook group up with a message to all of the Attendings and Maybe Attendings. My plea for help was answered whole heartedly by 12 people!!! And many more wishing they could help!
These fabulous souls showed up at various times through the day and did so much to help out that “thanks” is SO inadequate! I am hoping that the Brad cookie and drink helped express my heartfelt appreciation!
The day was beautiful, so I was very pleased to see that over 340 people had come in by 3 p.m., when we handed out the final door prizes and opened the stage to Zahra Haddad and her drummers. After that, though, even more people came through, so I am sure we hit closer to 370ish before we closed off at 4 p.m.
The vendors put so much work into bringing their goodies, and setting up their displays! I am always impressed by how creative these entrepreneurs get! Thanks to their participation, I am able to give this community a varied selection of products that hopefully everyone was able to find what they were looking for on Sunday.
And if you could not find it, you know you can contact me for some custom sewing work 🙂
So, immense thank you to everyone who came out, sent good wishes if they could not attend, and especially those who shopped!
Reminder to check my Dancer’s Newsletter to find out about more of these amazing belly dance related events! Workshops, Shows, mini bazaars, you never know what is happening next unless you check it out online, or subscribe!
The 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!
