Don’t miss out on your chance to take advantage of Early Bird pricing for the upcoming Weekend Workshop featuring Jasmille!

Prices are as follows:

For only one day of the workshop (either Saturday OR Sunday)
Register before March 12th ~ $55
After March 12th ~ $65

For both days of the workshop (both Saturday AND Sunday)
Register before March 12th ~ $100
After March 12th ~ $120

Show tickets are $15 for all students/workshop participants, $20 for the general public.

Remember you can get all the information you need from this web page: http://www.kesavah.com/blog/jasmille-workshop/

Jasmille has been described as, “Vivacious” and “Red Hot!”, and she has been bellydancing for over 30 years.  We are very, very lucky to have the opportunity to learn from her right here in Prince George – and for two whole days!  I’m very excited that I’m able to bring her up here.

Also, if either you or anyone you know are interested in performing in the show or setting up a vendor’s table at the bazaar, please contact me and I will give you all the details you need to participate.  Remember we are only taking submissions for performances until March 5th so if you want to dance make sure to get in touch with me right away!

And of course, if you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime.

See you all there!

All auditions must be received by March 5th, 2010 to give us time to review all the submissions, and please keep in mind that each performance should be a maximum of 5 minutes long.

Don’t be shy, take advantage of this chance to strut your stuff!  Remember, without all of your wonderful performances we won’t have a show, so get in touch with me as soon as possible to make sure you get to participate.

Don’t let the word “auditions” scare you away – it’s not my job to judge your performances at all, it’s my job to make sure we don’t have 9 sword dances or 4 people performing to the same music!  Variety is the key word here, and so we welcome bellydancers of all styles and skills.  Would this be your first time performing?  Excellent!  You’re a 25 year veteran? Awesome!  Whatever bellydancing you’ve got tucked in your belt – bring it on!

So, get your yourself/your troupe organized, pick your dance, and get in touch with me ASAP!

P.S. Remember that if you’re in the show you get to see all the other beautiful dancers perform too!  No need to buy a ticket – Sweet!

Kesavah BellyDance is proud to present an exciting 2-Day Weekend Workshop and Show with Jasmille!

You can find all the details on the Jasmille BellyDance Workshop and Show page.

The Workshop is scheduled for April 10th & 11th (Saturday and Sunday) where we’ll be learning some sizzling technique and a fun Raks Assaya choreography.  The Show will be on Saturday, April 10th featuring Jasmille herself, local BellyDancers, as well as BellyDancers from all across BC.

Come join the fun!  Check out the Workshop and Show page for all the exciting details, feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all, and stay tuned to this blog for any updates as we get closer to the big event.

See you there!

I’ve been in contact with one of my most favourite dance teachers of all time, Jasmille, and we’re going to be putting together a weekend Belly Dance workshop here in Prince George, hopefully some time in April.  Hooray!

I’ve been wanting to bring her up here for the last couple of years and I’ve finally gotten my butt in gear to start to get it organized.  So, where we’re at so far is this:

1. It’s going to be a full weekend workshop – that’s two days of excitement and learning!
   • Jasmille is famous for her awesome technique
   • You’ll also get to learn a new choreography (in which style is yet to be decided)
2. There will be a professional show in the evening between the two days
   • Eventually I’ll be taking submissions for those that would like to dance in the show
3. There will be a bazaar, of course

And that’s as far as it’s gotten.  As soon as I know what the dates will be you can be sure that I will let everyone know, and from that point it will all start rolling.

Hooray!   It’s going to be fantastic!

Your homework last week was to choose a section from our chosen song that moves you – it doesn’t matter how long or short this section is.  In the end, this section that you choose will be the piece that you will be creating your own choreography to.  You should come to our next class prepared to tell us/show us which section of the music you have chosen.

Remember, it doesn’t matter if two people choose the same section; our intention here is not to create a complete choreography for the same song, we’re simply doing an exercise to help us learn to interpret what the music is telling us and translate that into dance movement.

And don’t worry, you’ll have a couple of weeks to compose your choreography!

As you may or may not know, there is no standardization to Belly Dance terminology, and as such when you’re trying to read anyone else’s choreography notes it can be very confusing.

For example, “Do hip circles travelling in a cirlce, going in a left direction, starting off with your right foot, hands together alternating touching your forehead and belly” can have VERY different interpretations between students!  It could be both entertaining and enlightening to see how your own personal notes are interpreted, however that’s not always the goal at hand.

Not everybody likes and uses choreography notes – I personally have a really hard time trying to follow notes and dance at the same time, but sometimes they can be useful in review after you come home from class and need a reminder of what happens where and when.

When you’re creating choreography then notes are absolutely essential, of course.  How else will you remember what you’ve decided to do at which section of the dance?  However, when it comes time to translate your quick creation notes into something that can be followed by someone else, that’s where the issues arise.

My advice to both the choreographer and the student is to not take choreography notes too seriously.  We choreographers can kill ourselves trying to describe every little detail of every move, but in the end it is our teaching that will complete the translation.  And by the same token, students can study the notes in great detail on their own if they so desire, but without proper instruction they could end up doing a completely different dance!  Use the notes for review only and respect your teacher’s creation.