Tag Archives: ottawa

Ottawa’s Weekend of Belly Dance – October 18 and 19, 2008

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Belly Dance Teacher’s Fundraiser – Halyma Performs

Saturday, October 18, 2008

7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Where:
3 RD AVE & LYON – Glebe Community Centre, Ottawa, Ontario.   Google Map

 

EAT-DANCE-PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and raise funds for:
“KIDS HELP PHONE”
“BEREAVED FAMILIES” & “DISTRESS CENTRE”

You are cordially invited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the rich culture of Bellydance in the Ottawa Region
7 pm, Saturday October 18th, 2008
Glebe Community Centre (corner of 3rd ave. & Lyon)

* Wonderful performances by your favourite teachers
* Surprise Guest performers
* Great FOOD !!! by Corner Cafe/Mona’s
* AMAZING PRIZES * 
Two Weekend Get-aways courtesy of STARWOOD Hotels
Authentic Dance Belt from Egypt courtesy of OASIS Dance
Beautiful Handmade Silk Veil courtesy of Shibori Borealis

Tickets: $25

 

AND on Sunday…..

 

TAV CREATIONS PRESENTS the Dancer’s Bazaar

Sunday, October 19, 2008

12:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where:
260 McArthur (Knights of Columbus Hall), Ottawa, Ontario.   Google Map

 

A Dancer’s Bazaar
The largest gathering of Ottawa area dancers with the best selection of new and used costumes, fabrics, music, accessories and more to buy, sell, swap and trade!

Open to all – free admission

Meet teachers, check out class schedules, get costume information, and much more!

Something for everyone – young and old – men and women! Come on out and enjoy the afternoon!

The Dancer’s Bazaar hosts over 40 tables of goods and services to appeal to the shopper in us all!

Looking for zills? Sticks? Veils? Skirts? Music? Anything you can think of, and many things you might not have thought would come in handy – tote bags and cover-ups, baladi dresses, and accessories to complete any outfit! Whew! There will be new stock from Egypt, Turkey and of course from our local artisans and designers. And be sure to check out the many deals for used costumes as well.

There are many vendors who are connected to the belly dance community who are offering products and services that might not automatically seem like a bellydance purchase, so come with an open mind! Remember this is a cash and carry event – credit cards are not likely to be accepted by most vendors. And as in the past, many new vendors will be coming out, so there will be a huge selection of products available!

Get the bilingual Miniposter (403 KB PDF) with all the details!

Vendors:

Randi Cherry ~Sahara Art~Carlos Rojas and Brigitte Chavez~Zamira~Gurel & Ayfer Karaocku ~Karen Jennings~Jocelyne Khan~Zahra and Jewel~Natasha’s Treasures~Samia/Enchantress of Egypt~Tara Heft~Half Moon Street~Imports by Nikita ~Shibori-Borealis~Patricia Zaid ~Julie Tierney~Dorothy’s Magical Fairy treasures ~Hollywood Music~Dalia’s collection~Boutique de danse baladi de l’Estrie ~Infineight~Boutique Baladi~DanceStudios.ca~Creative Clothing By Roxane ~Fashion Impex / Belly DAnce Supply~Suzie Lafrance~Sha Vega’s Tarot Tent~ TAV CREATIONS/Halyma’s Belly Dancing For Fun~B. Good’s cookies 

Live Artfully – backstage

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Click on the pic for a few more photos!

 

Live Artfully – backstage, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

My thanks to Vashti and Erika for being able to come out and join me at the Bay, Bayshore!

We performed as part of the entertainment between fashion show sets during the Live Artfully Funky Fashion show.

Performing at these events can be approached from a few viewpoints, but really adaptability is what is needed. That and professionalism! And these ladies were great for both!

Actually most of my Belly Dancing For Fun Dancers have behaved professionally and been flexible – that’s why I choose to work with them!

We arrived with the barest of information – only having been able to confirm the evening before what length of time our show was going to be. So, dropping from 15 minutes that included a few solos, to 5 minutes, of short and sweet intermission time dancing was not so bad.

Note: Sometimes organizers forget that the performers actually need to know what is going on, other than be there on this date for this time! We were not the only performers in the event and I think the others were given the same kind of haphazard information. What matters is how you deal with it – I don’t want to train this organizer that it is okay to wreak havoc by not giving out pertinent information, but I also want her to know that we can work with last minute changes to the plan in a friendly and self-sufficient way.

We knew where to meet, and that our contact would arrive to take us to the changing room when she passed by – she was dealing with a lot so no worries there. I always try to imagine the worst case, and in many situations it involves stepping around a corner and dropping the cover up and placing our stuff near the dj booth or backstage – out of the way, but handy. Fortunately, she arrived and we headed off with her so that final costume adjustments could be dealt with!

When we got there , we found the main stage quickly enough so before even seeing our contact, we met the Dj. I gave him our cd, so that was taken care of – I try to always make sure I talk to the dj directly if I can. The few times that someone else has offered to take the cd to the dj has seemed to go badly, so lesson learned.

We were told to come out when we were ready, so that meant we would use our veils as cover-ups for the few minutes that we would be waiting for our time on stage. That gave us a bit more time to see how the crowd was filling up and decide on a “game plan”.

With no advance knowledge of the staging area for events, it is not worth trying to establish much of an advance plan. You brainstorm when you get there and be creative and flexible, assuming that if one of the group forgets, everyone keeps smiling and works it out somehow!

The plan worked perfectly! Three dancers: Vashti with her large veil up on the catwalk first with Erika and I worked our large veils while off on the sidelines amongst the crowd, ready to be cued up. Then Erika took the catwalk and showed off her double veils [ I assume from the Veiled Eye] at the time in the music when she knew would work for them. Then she cued me up and I was able to play up the taxim and have some fun!

And then I invited them back onto the catwalk with me, sans veils and we all were able to improvise, switching places as we danced, taking turns at the front, and playing with the crowd!

It was fun, short and sweet, and a great experience! I even had one of the audience chase after us as we were off and done to find out where she could take classes! Her kind words included how she was sitting with her Lebanese friends and they were very impressed with my dancing – always a bonus for the ego!

We had time to head back stage, get some quick shots and then change into regular clothes as WTL and I were heading off to a wedding east of Ottawa.  I love the fast and furious shows – you get ready, dance and go!

 

And the video clip![youtube=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmbIcEphgo]

Wicked – What a fabulous show!

Personal time, , , ,

 

 

 

My souvenir of the evening!
My souvenir of the evening!

Okay, the posters have been all over town for months, various online newsletters and entertainment sites have forewarned you – Did you get a ticket?  Did Ya?

Wicked – still here at the National Arts Centre for a few week!

If you want to read anything bad about the show, the worst part was that I could not clearly understand the “ensemble” songs – when 10 people or more are combining voices to create amazing harmonies and powerful vocal energies, the lyrics would get lost amongst it all.  The rest of this post = “fangirl time”!

So,  I had taken a phone pic of the stage set up while waiting – and then I managed to delete it – so I’ll describe it.  The curtain is a large map of the Land of Oz, like you would find in a fantasy book, hand drawn with each area indicated and the central focus is, of course, the Emerald City, all sparkly with green lights glittering.  Above this is a huge dragon, nestled on the top of the map, overseeing it all, and us!

The show opens with the “ensemble cast”  power singing, then the lovely Glinda singing in the most blonde and bubbly voice you have ever heard!  Since I really don’t want to give away anything – I loved going with no foreknowledge of what to expect other than having listened to the audio book, Wicked, by Gregory Maguire – I don’t want to spoil it for any of you.

So this is a general rave about it!

Click here for all of the cast – I think this is pretty accurate to what i saw last nigth!

– costumes: inspired!  Reminiscent of the movie, Wizard of Oz, but really that was just a hint of a direction that was then expanded upon beautifully.  I suspect there will be a lot of new characters gracing the Gathering, this coming October!

-Singing: Elphaba – blew me away. Glinda, also amazingly accurate to character!

– Monkeys: pretty good, though not quite as notable as the imps in Dracula from a few years back.

-the Wizard – hmm, I am torn here.  I found I immediately disliked him, but perhaps that was because he did a good job, the character being one that could go either way.

– Orchestra – great – although once in a while it did drown out the singing briefly – again making it difficult for me to understand all lyrics – but this is my obsession, so it may not matter to others quite as much.

Anyway, I am not the only person who saw it last night – the place was full.  Men, women, and teenage girls – and everyone had a great time.

My New T-Shirt – with some additions by me 🙂

 

made for kids maybe?
made for kids maybe?

 

I Defy Gravity
I Defy Gravity

 

 

 

Reminder that Row A in the Balcony is a good seat if you have no fear of heights.

So, did you go?  Are you going?  Post some comments and share your thoughts!

Dance clips – Finally getting these posted!

Halyma, , ,

The Ottawa Centre Class Party has been something I have organized for quite a few years now.  Starting as simply my end of session party for my students, it started in my back yard for the June event.  it has grown to bring in about 400 people, including about 60-80 performers.  The approximately 2 hour show features all levels of dancer from student to professional.  I invite colleagues and friends in the Ottawa belly dance community to join in the fun. They either dance themselves or if they have students who want to have a chance to perform for a larger audience, this provides a great chance for them to do so.

I don’t put up video of folk unless they know it is happening, so I have only included my own clip here – but enjoy!

[youtube=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VxyttNJwlg4]

Dancing With the Elements

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This past weekend, I was the organizer and co-facilitator with Michelle Hrynyk in presenting our annual spiritual belly dance workshop, Dancing with the Elements. After some health issues with my husband, 

I was able to head off and gratefully work with some amazing ladies!   

We use the Subud Facilities on Wilmont here in Ottawa, a fantastic split level house that is rentable for a variety of workshops, classes and other endeavors.

A welcoming place
A welcoming place
Subud Ottawa

 

 

We had a lovely number of participants, almost all new comers, with a couple of returning dancers.  A variety of levels of skills were represented, and that’s perfect as this is not a workshop about technique. It is a journey into your own personal space as a dancer, woman, and participant in a community of dancers and women.  [ Nothing against the boys at all – we just spent the time focused on the women for the day!]

 

Michelle mixes up great aromatherapy oils for each participant and the headiness of the room at the end of the day is amazing – energy, power, interconnectedness and the generosity of each woman as she has given to each of her colleagues throughout the day hangs in the air.  

 

Mixing the perfect blend
Mixing the perfect blend

 

 

As Michelle and I alternate in roles throughout the day,  we are able to play off each other and every year there are new lessons learned.  While I teach the basics in the morning, getting everyone warmed up and prepared to put their moves to use, she is finishing the oils so that they are as fresh as possible.  While she comes into the role of leader, guiding everyone through the movement meditations, I am lucky enough to be able to participate myself.  I just have to pay enough attention to work the music, and then I can float off and dance through the Air, Fire, Water and Earth myself, benefiting from the magical energy she exudes as she guides us.

 

Lunch is simply phenomenal – everyone brings something to share and there are some powerfully good cooks out there!  Thanks again to everyone!

 

The afternoon brings out the veils and the oils – I can just let you visualize that yourself! Until it is experienced, the practical description simply does the healing ritual no justice at all!

We end with food again to bring us back to earth, and a collaborative effort to clean up – again thanks to all!  And a bit of chatting /sharing etc. to let people express anything they feel they want to, and to give us some feedback for next year!

I’ll be posting the song list  in the discussion area of my Facebook group – Halyma’s Belly Dance

Now on to the next event on the calendar!