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May 4th
Workshop with Tamra Henna at Rick & Z-Helene's
Master Sunday Series

REVIEW    by Juli Dearrington
 

Tamra Henna

As a brand new member of this wonderful world of belly dance, I have viewed videos and performances like a wide-eyed kid in a candy store and Tamra Henna is one of the performers on my list of those that I admire. Her poise, style, artistic flare and ability to interact with her audience are captivating. The chance to study under her for an afternoon at a Master Series Workshop and glean some of what she was willing to share was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

Rick Fink & Z-Helene Christopher

The day began with a wonderful brunch including a spread of cheeses, breads and a delicious and healthy fruit salad prepared by our hosts Rick and Z-Helene (pictured above)  not to mention the tasty mimosas to get us prepped and ready for our workout. Who says workouts have to be stringent? This is a fun society, right?

 After munching and mingling for a bit, we headed off to the studio and warmed up with zill rhythms and walking patterns to challenge both body and mind. After we’d been through the zill warm-up we stretched and warmed the body up in preparation for a more vigorous workout.

The day’s instruction centered on the Lebanese style of dance. Tamra relayed that she prefers not to choreograph an entire routine because situations change from venue to venue and music tends to sound differently, inflecting different beats here and there. She prefers to be very familiar with a piece and dance what she feels at that particular time. She did, however, teach us some combinations that are the Lebanese style. Where the Egyptian style is typically a drop of the hip, the Lebanese style is the reverse with a lift. The Lebanese perform in large settings, such as theaters, where gesturing and movements need to be big so we learned moves that were indicative of that.   At each point along the way Tamra would interject with her personal philosophy as to why she did things a particular way and why they were meaningful to her. She would also include bits and pieces of historical data that helped to tie things together.

 As we wound down the afternoon, we shimmied our way to a cool down and parted ways. We gave Tamra our email address so she could see each participant the workshop notes and her own personal YouTube video list of those to watch for ideas and inspiration.
It was truly another wonderful Master Series Workshop.   Looking forward to Dilek in Corpus & ABD Convention & Unmata !!

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Saturday, April 5th
Workshop with Urban Gypsy

"Take the Dance Back to it's Roots"
 Inspired by the folk dances of Upper Egypt, Urban Gypsy brings you
a “brand new” (but really old!)  vocabulary of sassy and earthy movement combinations from their time spent with the Gahwazee and folk dancers in Cairo.
Hearken back to the days of dancing in the desert with Urban Gypsy. 
 

What's the difference between American Tribal Style and Egyptian Style belly dance?  This is by far the most common question I am asked by new dance students. While there have been entire books devoted to the tribal style (check out The Tribal Bible, by Kajira) the short answer is this. When most people think of "belly dance" they see a single performer in a sequined costume performing solo, perhaps with a silk veil or finger cymbals. This is most likely the Egyptian, or perhaps the American Cabaret style belly dance. American Tribal style as Urban Gypsy teaches it is always done in a group, and the costumes are more covered, with layers of pantaloons, skirts, antique textiles, fringe, tassels and old Kuchi jewelry creating a very distinctive and more folkloric look.   ATS is a fairly new dance form with its origins in traditional Middle Eastern dance. The lineage begins with the gypsy dancers of North Africa, particularly the Ghawazee of Egypt and the Ouled Nail of Algeria. The dance focuses on the strength & beauty of the female form and is usually done as a group using improvisational choreography techniques.        As far are the movements are concerned, at the beginning of your dance study, the differences are minimal - both Egyptian and Tribal style utilize basic isolations such as hip slides, circles, lifts and drops as well as chest slides, circles, body undulations etc. Tribal Style dance tends to be more postured and grounded than it's Egyptian sister, which is often more loose and flowy in style. In Urban Gypsy's Tribal Style classes you will learn a series of movements with their associated cues to form a sort of "belly dance sign language" vocabulary that you will then you to dance improvisationally with others in the class.

Saturday, April 5th Workshop with Urban Gypsy

 "Take the Dance Back to it's Roots" Inspired by the folk dances of Upper Egypt, Urban Gypsy brings you a “brand new” (but really old!)  vocabulary of sassy and earthy movement combinations from their time spent with the Gahwazee and folk dancers in Cairo. Hearken back to the days of dancing in the desert with Urban Gypsy. 

 What's the difference between American Tribal Style and Egyptian Style belly dance?

This is by far the most common question I am asked by new dance students. While there have been entire books devoted to the tribal style (check out The Tribal Bible, by Kajira) the short answer is this. When most people think of "belly dance" they see a single performer in a sequined costume performing solo, perhaps with a silk veil or finger cymbals. This is most likely the Egyptian, or perhaps the American Cabaret style belly dance. American Tribal style as Urban Gypsy teaches it is always done in a group, and the costumes are more covered, with layers of pantaloons, skirts, antique textiles, fringe, tassels and old Kuchi jewelry creating a very distinctive and more folkloric look.   ATS is a fairly new dance form with its origins in traditional Middle Eastern dance. The lineage begins with the gypsy dancers of North Africa, particularly the Ghawazee of Egypt and the Ouled Nail of Algeria. The dance focuses on the strength & beauty of the female form and is usually done as a group using improvisational choreography techniques. As far are the movements are concerned, at the beginning of your dance study, the differences are minimal - both Egyptian and Tribal style utilize basic isolations such as hip slides, circles, lifts and drops as well as chest slides, circles, body undulations etc. Tribal Style dance tends to be more postured and grounded than it's Egyptian sister, which is often more loose and flowy in style. In Urban Gypsy's Tribal Style classes you will learn a series of movements with their associated cues to form a sort of "belly dance sign language" vocabulary that you will then you to dance improvisationally with others in the class.

                    REVIEW OF THE URBAN GYPSY WORKSHOP
                                             By Andrea Wagnon

 Walking into the Eternal Way Center’s main space, the eyes are treated to a well-lit space with tile floors, a pretty, softly-colored sunburst on the wall and lots of clear, soothing energy. The entire back space is charming and welcoming with a full kitchen, 2 large bathrooms and space for a vending table.     Urban Gypsy set up a feast for the eyes and like hummingbirds, as we explored our dance environment, we were all drawn to explore to the goodies laid out to peruse. Obviously, shopping was fun with lots of offerings from the Urban Turban, Urban Gypsy’s vending arm. Jewelry, belts, DVDs, hair sticks with flowers and feathers, tassels, DVDs and t-shirts. Gypsy Witch Productions’ Jeanie Godbout offered her lovely (and hawt) silk veils. I think at least a few grew some lovely legs and walked off with happy owners. (I’m still thinking about needing one of those for a great cover-up!)   The space was already filled with laughter and good humor as Zymirrah’s enthusiasm and boundless energy helped direct everyone to what they needed. Sahira’s calming, bright energy suffused us as she greeted us. We all found places for our dance bags, hip belts and dance shoes were donned and everyone began to warm up in our own ways as we chatted with friends, old and new, before the workshop began.  

The foundation of the workshop was earthy moves juiced up with sassy energy. Urban Gypsy is bringing back the folk dance feeling into tribal style bellydance. Arms were more relaxed and the pelvis made Ghawazee type swingy moves with lots of playful energy throughout the session. Sahira and Zymirrah began with a head to toe warm-up and stretch (along with some very good natured and silly posing for M’lilah’s camera). They followed by simple moves layered over one another, adding zills and forward walking in a big communal circle. Lots of energy and laughter with many smiles and interaction between workshop participants. The music was pulsing and inspiring, so much so that a woman who was at the beauty shop next door came over demanding to share in the fun!    Lots of dynamic turns, direction changes, and unanticipated left-sided starts livened up the two moderately advanced combos that were presented and broken down. Moves were done slowly, given a count and drilled. The pace was fairly fast. Most intermediate-advanced participants picked it up fairly quickly. Beginners and intermediate folk were challenged, but came away from the workshop with smiles and loads of information and inspiration. Cues were taught and information shared about cue driven improv tribal dancing and how to modify it for your own troupe. Both instructors really supported each other's dynamic teaching styles. Zymirrah's larger-than-life zest for laughter and creative energy balanced out Sahira's technical expertise and sparkling wit and charm. Both ladies were the epitome of professional and knew how to manage a room full of enthusiastic bellydancers while keeping it fun and light-hearted. Lots of historical tidbits were given. Colorful memories of their trip to Egypt and their lessons with Khariya Mazin, who last of the Banat Mazin Ghawazee. Time for note taking was supported at the end of the workshop with Sahira quickly running through the combos one last time while everyone put pen to paper. A great tip from Sahira’s extensive workshop experience: most workshop instructors are okay with video recording yourself or a friend in the workshop as long as the instructor is not in the recording. Be sure to ask the instructor beforehand because individual policies vary. I would have loved a hand-out... I am still trying to decipher my notes and I can’t remember everything they offered! They really packed those 3 hours! A rounded out cool-down was shared and everyone went away excited about the evening show.  Their performance in the evening show was a wonderful wrap up and really put the cherry on top of the combinations taught in the workshop. They concluded the show by inviting all of the workshop participants to come on stage and give a taste of what was learned that afternoon. Everyone looked like they had fun learning something new! These ladies know their stuff and obviously love their art and each other. They are highly professional with that great Texan love for life and fun! Exciting workshop with loads of information, short and long combinations, and tons of laughter and fun! I'll definitely be going to the next one they teach here in Austin! I certainly loved them at 3^rd Coast as well. Highly recommended and not to be missed, especially if you like tribal and ethnic-fusion and enjoy a fast-paced workshop.

"After the Workshop" L-R: Zymirrah & Sahira

PATRON'S COMMENT:  The EVENING'S show closed WITH their workshop students joining them to dance the elements they had learned that day. I've always heard that ATS is led, not choreographed, but with the smoothness of the presentations I've seen, I've doubted that. However, the students were able to follow closely, so I have to believe!
It was another great Desert Passion show.





 

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