Cirque Passion Halloween Show at Karoun

Art by Karen E. Gersch

Melina Presents her Cirque Passion Halloween Night at Karoun Restaurant!
Come out for a Delicious Trick-or-TREAT circus show.
Come in costume! Prizes for best costume, best make-up, best attitude! Goal: FUN.
Family-friendly show if you want to bring the kids after trick or treating and get some protein into their overly-sugared little bloodstreams. You are welcome to do your own act after the main show!

Featuring..

Miss Celia's Scintillating, SPINtillating Hoops!
Sacha's Ghoulish Comedic Unicycling
Melina's Balancing of Sharp Objects on Body Parts
Aerial Dance
Belly Dance
and more!

Reserve your table at Karoun's: call 617 964 3400. Showtime is 9:30.

November 7 - Melina in New Hampshire Workshops

MELINA PHOTO BY DREAMER'S REALM PHOTOGRAPHY
Melina to teach workshops in Enfield, New Hampshire on Saturday November 7th. Registration details at http://www.raq-on.net! Right on Raq On!!!

2009 Fall Class Combo Notes

Kasik Oyun Havasi - Turkish"Spoon Dance Song" (When you see a Turkish song with the words "Oyun Havasi", it is meant as a song to dance to). Music we use in class for this combo is by the Huseyin Turkmenler Ensemble. Song is from the CD Turkish Belly Dance : Desert Night Dance.

We will not be dancing with spoons, but we will be using folkloric Turkish belly dance movements while we play zills. We will use two zill patterns, the triplet (RLR) and the "shave and a hair cut" rhythm. (doom ta ka doom ta - R, RLR, R).

Rough Combo Notes for Kasik Oyun Havasi
Begin after 45 second taqsim style intro in which you stand in place moving gently to the music and adjusting your zills:
Weight on left foot, right heel stomp two times (bending both knees in between)
Step right, step left (looking right, looking left)
Step forward, putting weight onto right foot with shoulder shimmy, (pin wrists to hips for the shimmy), then lean back into left foot with two knee-bend bounces
Step forward onto right foot for pivot turn, pivot turn back to front (arms in circular "give from first chakra" motion
Suzie Q step right foot over left traveling left (4 times) (add in hip lift as variation)
Hip pulls to right, right foot, left foot (4 times) (left arm pinned behind head, right arm extended right with forearm pulling in and extending in accordance with right foot pattern)
[Getting into PAIR FORMATION facing each other) Step forward on right foot, left foot folk-style kick up
Step on left, right foot folk-style kick up
Feet together, cutesy knees to right, bounce bounce left, bounce bounce right, bounce bounce left --
One partner does sit hip leaning back as the other partner shoulder shimmies forward, then reverse.

Combo Notes for Oglan Oglan, from the Album Kef Time Detroit by Richard Hagopian.
Suzie Q right over left (4)
Tunisian Tip Toes Twist in Circle (4) (with 'mechanical' spotting)
Turning to face your right, step hip, sit hip (2)
Step hip, sit hip with Peek-a-Boo Look behind for 2
Facing forward: Step 3 hips, Reverse Mayas with hug arms and paint the floor feet (4 times)
Lively step-hip forward for 4
Back, 2, 3 step with "pull on the long glove" arms.
Repeat step hip forward, Back 2, 3 steps back with glove arms
Back, two, one two three with hug arms for 2
Back, 2, 123 with circling 'flamenco' arms for 2
Back, 2 into 'ballroom' turn toward your left elbow, right arm raised high, foot work is: ball ball ball flat, ball ball ball flat to the count 'and one and two and two and two etc'

Here, at long last, is....
A VIDEO CLIP OF OGLAN, OGLAN COMBINATION FOR STUDENT USE!!!!


To be continued, check back for additions.

Cirque Passion European-style family circus: Tented shows and circus acts and entertainment

Melina's Circus!

Melina's Fall 2009 Belly Dance Classes begin September 9 & 10, 2009

Melina's next session of belly dance classes of all levels in Newton Highlands, MA at the Newton Highlands Women's Club (72 Columbus Street, Newton Highlands 02461) will begin on September 9th and 10th 2009. Drop-ins at the Women's Club group classes are welcome at a no-commitment drop-in rate of $20 per class (other payment options below).


BUY A 10-CLASS PUNCH CARD HERE (cut and paste link into your browser)
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/418331240

Fall 2009 Class Schedule (starting Wednesday and Thursday September 9 and 10)

Level I: Thursdays at 6:45
Level II: Wednesdays at 6:45
Level III (open mixed level for belly dancers with experience): Wednesdays and/or Thursdays at 8 p.m.


These Weekly Group Classes take place at the Women's Workshop/Club in Newton Highlands, MA
72 Columbus Street
Newton, MA 02461

Payment options:

Drop-in rate for a single class, payable before class: $20 (cash/check only)

Punch cards are new for 2009 and are available for purchase in class - 10 classes for $150 (again: cash/check only). Punchcard classes must be used within a year of purchase - please email Melina (melina[at]daughtersofrhea.com) if you intend to come to class and purchase a punch card so she can estimate class size.

PLEASE COME TO CLASS WITH AN OPEN HEART, AN OPEN MIND, A YOGA MAT, A BOTTLE OF WATER, AN EXTRA PAIR OF SOCKS, A NOTEBOOK AND PEN TO TAKE NOTES. If you have them already bring your hipscarves, zills, veils, etc. But NEVER FEAR: I will loan out to students, when needed: zills/finger cymbals, hip scarves, veils, tambourines, trays for balancing. I have enough for everyone.

More information as always on my family's belly dance website, www.daughtersofrhea.com

LIVE LONG AND SHIMMY!!!

Melina of Daughters of Rhea on Facebook

VIsit Melina's Facebook Page for more news and info

Melina to return to Kripalu Center of Yoga and Health

Melina of Daughters of Rhea to teach week-long workshop at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health:
"Wild Hips, Gypsy Heart: Belly Dance as Self-Empowerment"
August 8-13th, 2010

Visit the following link for details:
http://www.kripalu.org/program/view/AABD91/wild_hips_gypsy_heart_belly_dance_as_self_empowerment

Program may not be available for pre-registration until January 2010

ESSAY: Belly Dance as Empowerment by Melina of Daughters of Rhea

My mother Rhea taught me – both explicitly and by example, that belly dance can be both a dance of empowerment and an incandescent way of life. I am very lucky to have inherited this idea as a birthright instead of having to beat a path to its discovery later in life.

My mom is quoted in a 1973 article on belly dance that appeared in the now defunct Venus magazine:

“When I dance, I don’t want to be seen as a sex object; I’m an artisan. I try to mesmerize, hypnotize the audience. I’m a sorceress, a magical trickster, the master of my body. I say to them: “Watch me do this over here, but did you see this move over here at the same time.” And I relate to the men and the women in the audience, and they relate to me. Belly dancing is not just a sensuous dance. Its an extravaganza, showing the feats of human capabilities.”

I love what she says here! And its true - Mom is an artisan, a magical trickster.

When a new student embarks on her belly dance journey, whether by choice or because their friend dragged them to their first class – it often becomes a profoundly transformative and integrative experience for body, mind and spirit.

Undulations, isolations, articulations, trembles, shimmies, flutters and rolls awaken the body and its deeply embedded ancient wisdoms.

Sometimes, for new students, the unfamiliar articulations of belly dance dredge up inarticulate anxieties of the soul – anxieties I see expressed on faces during class:
“My pelvis is tilting! My hips are hipping! My stomach is showing! My breasts are jiggling!”

But the remedy to these anxieties lies in the very movements that dredge them up. The anxieties are processed through practice, they are alchemized into a serenity and sureness that only sinuous training, passionate concentration and dedicated study of technique can bring.

In post-modern American Society, the ancient art of belly dance raises many important questions: Questions about gender, body image, ethnicity, emotion, art, entertainment, social roles and while we’re at it: the meaning of life. It is up to each student to answer these questions for herself. As a teacher, I see my role as encouraging people to think for themselves: to never bow to fear to never be tethered to convention. To use belly dance as a tool of empowerment and joy. Because I am a belly dance fundamentalist: I was born and reborn to belly dance, and I firmly believe it can change your life for the better.

When I have student recitals, I discourage the tense pursuit of perfection and encourage the enjoyment of process. Perfection is overrated. Process is golden. We work hard in class on technique, but in performance we want to present ourselves with our natural grace and personality, incorporating in more and more advanced technique as we grow as dancers. I like to pay homage to process and the journey, accepting ourselves as perfect just where we are along the way. We’re on this earth to have fun and dance, and we’ve found the secret to a joyful and empowered life: Bellydance.

A SHORT HISTORY OF MELINA’S STUDENT RECITALS

I model my student recitals on the many inspired belly dance happenings my mother Rhea puts together in Athens, Greece. Basically, the formula goes like this: bring together a diverse set of dancers in a beautiful restaurant with a lovely large stage and let them work their individual and collective magic on a friendly and encouraging crowd that is intoxicated with good cheer. Mix in unbridled enthusiasm, fun, positive vibes, a few beautiful costumes, great music and a healthy spattering of nerves. Sprinkle in some creative solos, a couple of dashing duets and some group numbers. Practice as much as you can considering that you all have full-time jobs and/or are hardworking mothers, then put perfection to the side and just go for it. Spontaneity is encouraged: last minute entries are accepted. Experimental music is allowed. Self-expression abounds.

My mother and I differ in opinion on one point: I try to keep the recital short, about 1.5 hours. Hers can extend far into the night -- but then again, that’s in Greece, where folks are used to staying out until 3 a.m. on a regular basis.

The basic idea is: never bow to convention or fear. Just come on out and do some joy-fueled dancing.

Visit www.daughtersofrhea.com for more info.

Melina's next student recital is tentatively scheduled for an early February weekday evening at Karoun Restaurant. Details TBA.

SHIMMY Rx: Dr. Weil prescribes undulation cure: Belly Dancing is Good for your Health!

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP03141/Alternative-Exercise-Part-2-Belly-Dancing.html

“Women in Melina’s classes will embrace a new physicality that combats forces of depression and releases unadulterated joy!”

--Nassim Assefi, M.D.

ESSAY: Melina's Tray of Candles

From birth I was thrown into all aspects of belly dance – both the art and the business of it. I naturally accumulated skills because I had no choice: my mother knew the secret of making it impossible to say no. I was thrown into it like a newborn is thrown into a tub of water and finds it can swim to the surface.

Mom never prefaced anything by saying: “This is a hard thing to learn. If you practice every day, maybe you’ll master it enough to do it on stage.” Instead she said “Hey Melina, come in here and see if you can balance this tray of candles on your head.”

I’d trot over and presto – I found I could move around the kitchen with a large bronze tray on my head. “OK now see if you can do a backbend.” And I’d find I could. “Why don’t you try it on stage tonight, just for a second, and we’ll put a few lit candles on the top, and then just take it off and give it to me when you feel it slipping or you don’t want it anymore.” How can you say no to this?

That was mom’s secret:

“Just try it this once, and then I’ll never make you do it again.”

“Why not just try it and see how you like it?”

Three decades later, that tray has never fallen off my head.

Just when I thought I was beyond my mother’s wild idea clutches, it happened again. Just last summer while we were dancing together at Karoun’s.

I had the tray on my head, and mom suddenly left the stage, shimmied into the kitchen and came back out with three water glasses. There was no time to protest, I knew what was coming. She set the glasses up in the center of the stage and took my hand and led me to them.

“Stand up and balance on these glasses, dancing all the while with the tray on your head,” she was silently telling me in her "let's try this thing" Rhea language. Gripping her hand as I gingerly felt for the glasses with my bare feet, unable to look down lest the tray should fall and trusting only in my feet, my mother’s idea and will to succeed, and the intangible higher power of my belly dance goddess guide, I stepped up onto the glasses and danced: flames flickering up from the top of my head.

Melina’s Tips from the Hip:

Just try stuff and don’t be afraid.
Just try something for a second and then stop.
Don’t be afraid of what others think.
Practice “What if,” as in: “What if we did that, and we did it while singing/balancing on water glasses/drinking ouzo from a glass without hands, only teeth to hold the glass/….”

That is the Daughters of Rhea way.