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dancingleafYesterday, November 26th I had the privilege of attending a "Pure" workshop with Kaeshi Chai of BellyQueen (and the Bellydance Superstars) in Warren, MI. http://www.bellyqueen.com/
PURE http://www.puredance.org/index.html is collective of dancers and drummers who take music and dance out into the streets for the purposes of healing and peace. (lifted off their website)
It had been advertised as a balance and fire workshop and I was keen to learn how to balance fire on my head. - I mean how could you NOT be?
Compliments to Roxann of Bellyrox who organized it. http://www.bellyrox.com She had water and light snacks available free of charge. It was held in the aerobics room of the Warren YMCA. It was a fairly large room with mirrors along the front wall.
The turn out was smaller than I would have imagined - about 20 people - which made for a very intimate group. The room was large enough to have handled easily 10, possibly 20 more. Attendance was low due to the conflict with the U.S. Thanksgiving, no doubt.
We began, gathered in a circle and introduced ourselves, where we were from, followed by what we hoped to gain from the workshop. There were a number of dance instructors present as well as people who had only been dancing a few months. Kaeshi asked the instructors to each contribute a warm up/stretching exercise. We learned two very simple folk dances - so simple in fact that I can't remember either of them. lol We did some very interesting team building exercises dancing with a single partner, switching partners for each exercise. One member of the team led, the other mirrored. The point of which was to lead without thinking or more challenging - attempting to suppress your own instinct to anticipate and simply follow without passing judgement on your partner.
We then took a short break - and started the balancing portion of the workshop.
We started by passing around Kaeshi's props - a couple of metal trays and some glass votive holders before moving on to the 'practice vessels.' Plastic tubs, with lids to be filled with water (80-90% full) Now you see why the lids were important!
We spent the next two hours practicing slow movements and getting used to the feeling of balancing something on our heads. Sometimes they were dropped. \0/ oh well. Towels and paper towels quickly remedied that problem. We split into groups of about 6 or so and learned a relatively simple routine that involved coordinating with the other dancers within our group - forming patterns, etc. Given my limited experience with tribal - namely none - it seemed somewhat tribal.
For a stunning final conclusion - we emptied our containers - put candles into them, (no lids) turned out the lights and each group took a turn running through the choreography, with candles/FIRE. Kaeshi did a stunning solo.
We closed with a short prayer of thanksgiving, to appreciated the space that we danced in and the events which led us to this point.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet and dance with dancers from close and far away. I'm looking for tray now and I actually feel confident enough to practice with unlighted candles in my own home, and maybe I'll even try lighting them once in a while : )
P.S. I'm furious with myself for forgetting my camera! sorry no pics.
crossposted to bellydancing
PURE http://www.puredance.org/index.html is collective of dancers and drummers who take music and dance out into the streets for the purposes of healing and peace. (lifted off their website)
It had been advertised as a balance and fire workshop and I was keen to learn how to balance fire on my head. - I mean how could you NOT be?
Compliments to Roxann of Bellyrox who organized it. http://www.bellyrox.com She had water and light snacks available free of charge. It was held in the aerobics room of the Warren YMCA. It was a fairly large room with mirrors along the front wall.
The turn out was smaller than I would have imagined - about 20 people - which made for a very intimate group. The room was large enough to have handled easily 10, possibly 20 more. Attendance was low due to the conflict with the U.S. Thanksgiving, no doubt.
We began, gathered in a circle and introduced ourselves, where we were from, followed by what we hoped to gain from the workshop. There were a number of dance instructors present as well as people who had only been dancing a few months. Kaeshi asked the instructors to each contribute a warm up/stretching exercise. We learned two very simple folk dances - so simple in fact that I can't remember either of them. lol We did some very interesting team building exercises dancing with a single partner, switching partners for each exercise. One member of the team led, the other mirrored. The point of which was to lead without thinking or more challenging - attempting to suppress your own instinct to anticipate and simply follow without passing judgement on your partner.
We then took a short break - and started the balancing portion of the workshop.
We started by passing around Kaeshi's props - a couple of metal trays and some glass votive holders before moving on to the 'practice vessels.' Plastic tubs, with lids to be filled with water (80-90% full) Now you see why the lids were important!
We spent the next two hours practicing slow movements and getting used to the feeling of balancing something on our heads. Sometimes they were dropped. \0/ oh well. Towels and paper towels quickly remedied that problem. We split into groups of about 6 or so and learned a relatively simple routine that involved coordinating with the other dancers within our group - forming patterns, etc. Given my limited experience with tribal - namely none - it seemed somewhat tribal.
For a stunning final conclusion - we emptied our containers - put candles into them, (no lids) turned out the lights and each group took a turn running through the choreography, with candles/FIRE. Kaeshi did a stunning solo.
We closed with a short prayer of thanksgiving, to appreciated the space that we danced in and the events which led us to this point.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet and dance with dancers from close and far away. I'm looking for tray now and I actually feel confident enough to practice with unlighted candles in my own home, and maybe I'll even try lighting them once in a while : )
P.S. I'm furious with myself for forgetting my camera! sorry no pics.
crossposted to bellydancing
