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Opa, Vancouver Island Belly Dance Showcase

September 03, 2012

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I'm honoured to be invited to teach at this upcoming event in Victoria, hope to see you there!

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TRIBAL ROOTS part 3- Amazigh, Amazons, La Kahina and Kabyle dance

In the dark cold of Winter, sustained shimmies and reading have been keeping me warm, body and soul. I've been re-reading a classic book on the subject of women's dances from the Arab world, Serpent of the Nile by Wendy Bounaventura and rediscovering many jewels like the following quote- "The dance is a showing rather than a showing off, a showing of the physical self in the best setting of all, an atmosphere of encouragement and appreciation. It is assumed that all of us, rather than the specially gifted few, are dancers; that everyone can do something, even if it's only two or three movements, and that there is no need for a girl to feel embarrassed or inferior if she is not as skilled as her friends". Wendy Bounaventura is talking about how women grow up dancing together traditionally in the Arab world, much like how in many cultures everyone sings whether you are a 'singer' or not. Singing and dancing together are ways we can connect as a

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