Date: September 26, 2014. Held at Dance Life from 6-8PM. Cost: $20. Come let loose and learn some new tricks in this sassy workshop designed to help students of all levels love the floor! Master a variety of rolls, crawls, flares, and kicks while getting in touch with your sexy self. Then learn how to put them all together to create a fun, foxy floor routine. Please wear pants, leg warmers, or knee pads to provide protection for your knees and bring a yoga mat if you have one. Get loose, have fun, and make some new friends. Adult beverages provided. Email us with your name letting us know you would like to attend.
Spoofla - Parody & Funny Performances
Date: October 24th, 2014. Held at Dance Life from 6-8pm. Cost: suggested $5 donation. BEFORE the illustrious Charisse teaches us how to move gracefully and fluidly, we'll be holding a special performance event! (Please note that this event has moved from Saturday night to Friday night.) For those who don't know what a "spoofla" is, it's a play on words of the Arabic "hafla". "Hafla" means "party" or "get-together" and is usually what we title our laid-back performance gatherings in Dance Life. The theme of this hafla is family-friendly parodies and funny performances, and if you're interested in performing, you can still join us! Send us an email with your name and song and we will include you on our roster. If you'd rather spectate, the doors to Dance Life will open at 6pm and the show will begin at 6:30p. Join us for some good, clean, side-splitting fun!
Grace, Fluidity and Arms
Date: October 25th, 2014. Held at Dance Life from 11:30A-2:30P. Cost: $40. Please note, the time has changed on this workshop! Moving with Grace and Intention... Fluidity is that quality that connects dance "moves," transforming technique into art. As dancers--especially bellydancers-we often focus on parts and tricks, isolations, exciting hip work... All fun and important! But without incorporating these moves within the context of the whole body - the moves are reduced to just that: moves... As a result: the dancer's presence shrinks down to these isolated techniques. And here's the thing: A dancer isn't an assemblage of isolated parts - she is whole, presence, a full embodied expression of the music... With a special focus on beautiful arms... Arms are often the "polish" that distinguishes the great dancer from the good - and arms are an integral part of fluidity. (For, if you're excluding or neglecting your arms, you're not dancing with your whole body... so how can you fluidly connect one move to the next?) Do you ever feel trapped in the same arm position for move after move? Are you looking to expand your arm "options?" Have you ever shaken fists at sky, cursing, if I just knew what to do with these things?! Not to worry, help has arrived! J Building from posture, to basic positions and variations, and through transitions, Charisse delves deeper, to the underlying concepts that govern our arm choices. Arms and hands aren't merely a "layer," but an integral part of your dance. Add drama, flair, grace and fluidity; accentuate, complement and dramatize by owning those appendages all the way to fingertips... And beyond! Explore: line, form, presence, continuity, breath, ease, intention, and putting it all together - in this presentation on fluidity, with a special focus on arms, by the creator of the 6 Steps to Stage Presence system: Show Them Something They Won't Forget, Charisse Sisou of Shimmy Shazam. About the instructor: A lifelong dancer, musician and writer, Charisse has taught bellydance for 10 years, drawing together her experience to form Shimmy Shazam, dedicated to using dance to educate, transform and free BLISS through workshops, performance and events. Having trained with Egyptian and international master instructors, she is now honored to share her knowledge of this art form, a dynamic meeting of physicality, music, play and soul. A finalist in this year's Bellydancer of the Year competition, Charisse is known for the clarity, passion, warmth, and humor that she brings to the stage and her students. Learn more about her at www.shimmyshazam.com.
Inappropriate Song Night
Date: December 5th, 2014 . Held at Dance Life from 7-10PM. Cost: Suggested $5 donation. We were planning on only holding one of these this year... But so many of you wished you had performed in it when we held ISN in May that we're doing it again in December! Adult ladies 18+ only, join us onDecember 5th for an outrageous night of fun. Possibly the best event we offer, performers of all varieties perform acts to their favorite inappropriate song, in their favorite inappropriate outfit, doing their favorite inappropriate dance- or all of the above! Courtesy panties are required, and otherwise no holds barred. Event is BYOB so bring drinks and snacks; we'll socialize for the first hour and a half before we get going with the performances; then, get ready to laugh until your sides hurt. Email us with your name letting us know you would like to attend. Interested in performing? We have plenty of space for performers! Contact us if you want to be put on our roster.