Enter the world of the Somatic & Sacred Inner to Outer World of an Ancient Dance
Welcome to the world of embodiment throughout bellydance and the ancient wisdom of movement, the healing dance, combined with modern somatic awareness.
A deep listening to the the emotional body and your soul essence.
Holding space for the reverences of the shaping of the bone and the movement of fluid through the facia in experiential anatomy.
Honouring the BREATH in every aspect, as the glue to accessing the freedom to connect to all of this.
Embodied bellydance® was born out of my personal journey through Egyptian dance that began in 1989. As I explore the fundamentals of Egyptian Dance I felt an instant feeling of belonging. The belonging was of something most ancient, profound and wise. This feeling progressed to a curiosity for the connection the dance held to the spiralling flow of nature, life and the universe. It also spoke of the interconnectedness of the masculine and feminine energy through shape and form and the harmonic correlation to music.
As I journeyed on, I immersed myself in the study of various somatic movement methods that aligned perfectly with the essence of this dance. I also explored the therapeutic value through years of teaching Egyptian Dance and witnessing the effect the dance had on participants of my Dance Movement Therapy groups.
To be embodied in this dance is to be whole. It weaves a story throughout the spine and radiates out via the navel in all directions to all parts of the body. It take from the culture of it origin a joy and respect for life.
Embodied Bellydance® Intensives are designed to serve all levels and abilities of dance. Beginning with those who wish to explore this dance as a philosophy, to professional dancers with their own method who wish to deepen their knowledge and skills. Embodied Bellydance® can inform and give benefit to all styles and genre of dance. Embodied Bellydance® asks you to dive into your authenticity. It works through the Physical; to know the true origin of movement, the Emotional; to feel that every movement has an emotional response that can be identified, the Spiritual; to understand that dance is transcendent – to become conscious of things that are unconscious.
“Embodied Bellydance® is an essential foundation for bellydancers of any genre.”
For those who are professional dancers and teachers most of us know what it’s like to feel stiff in our movements. Some days you just can’t flow from one movement to the next. Other days you can’t hit good strong accents. Improvisation is a scary prospect for many dancers and performing can be very confronting. As for shimmies – well sometimes they just go missing! If any of these sound familiar for you or your students, then you must explore Embodied Bellydance®.
Embodied Bellydance® is an essential foundation for bellydancers and dancers of any genre. Through visualization and an insight into the workings of the body as a whole system, participants are taken on a journey to find the true source of movement. The result is effortless, integrated and dynamic dance. By creating an awareness of this richness, beauty, truth and harmony you will dance from your Authentic Embodied Self.
Embodied Bellydance® give you tools that you can apply to all aspects of your dance and daily life.
Life is a dance, when we can really bring the two together, the molecules inside us begin to change, our breath begins to change and our awareness is heighten so that we always have access to the place of NOW, in our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual Bodies.
Class and Workshop Framework
Embodied Bellydance™ framework is composed of all or parts of the above components, (follow the links) depending on the length of the workshop. They can be anything from 3 hours to 5 days or even more. Each Workshop or Intensive is different as each group is different. The amount of time dedicated to each topic will depend a lot on the group and the request of the school or individual who wish to learn about Embodied Bellydance.
I have laid down a Newtonian framework but I work in a Quantum way. (also supproted by DMT philisophy, IDTIA, Marcia Leventhal). This means that I use the framework that contains all the aspects of Embodied Bellydance™. Depending on the length of the work shop, we will basically follow the plan, but there will be freedom to vary the direction and to allow the focus to be more on one thing and less on another if need be. The focus will be will depend on the moment, the group or the request of the school or individual. It is important to remain fluid. After all fluidity is one of the essential ingredients of Bellydance.
The content is vast and to Embody it takes time.
Take a journey through the components and as you do, breathe and let the ideas wash through you. You will become aware how simply by reading the content something can have an affect on you.
- The Listening Body
- Experiential Anatomy
- Authentic Movement
- Foundation Technique
- Dance Technique
- Neo-Traditional Sha’abi
- Neo-Traditional Baladi
- Ashra Baladi – Improvisation Progression
- Contemporary Improvisation Techniques
- Participant Dance Presentation
Private Tuition, Consultation & Supervision
Private Tuition
One on one $140 to 1.5 hours + studio hire if applicable. other rates apply for workshop participants and for a long term commitment.
Consultation
Do you have a project or a vision that you don’t know quite what to do with? Are you needing to introduce a stronger grounding in your dance practice and teaching and you see the Elements in Embodied Bellydance® as instrument that can enhance and improve you practice? Do you have a choreography that needs a fresh eye? This an example of what a consultation can offer.
Cost $140 – 1.5 hours+ studio hire if applicable
Supervision
It is very important for teachers to understand the need to keep developing themselves in their work. Supervision is an important part of any practice. Even the supervisor has a supervisor. In supervision you have a safe place to discuss what arises for you as a teacher. Maybe you are tired and depleted and have lost you inspiration and path. Maybe you have a student in class that is disruptive for some reason and you may feel that you loose you kilter and you need strategies to deal with the situation and the student. It may be that a certain movement you are teaching is not getting through and you need some perspective on what may be going on. As a supervisor I can give you a fresh perspective on what you are dealing with and help you workout an appropriate way to deal with the issue and develop a plan of action for you to continue your teaching with more insight and grounding.
I am offering this service based on my 29 years of dance experience and a broad knowledge in the field of Bellydance and as a Qualified Dance Movement Therapist with much experience in receiving supervision and the benefits of it.
Fee $140 – 1.5 hours + studio hire if applicable
Zoom Sessions
No matter where in the world you can experience this unique approach to the dance via private or group Zoom sessions.
Through personal or group consultation, Zoom lessons allow dancers both experienced and inexperienced in Embodied Bellydance® to grow in their dance.
Receive immediate and personal feedback, a recording of the lesson and notes. Practice in the comfort and convenience of your own space. Zoom lessons are also an ideal way to prepare for future face to face workshops/lessons and consultations.
One on one lesson of 1.5 hours $140 AUD
Group lessons of 1.5 hours minimum of 4 people maximum 6 $50 per person AUD
Download ZOOM for free
Become a facilitator
Module I: Body and Breath Awareness and Anatomy
Module II: Technique
Module III: Dance Movements & Neo Traditional Sha’abi
Module IV: Neo Traditional Baladi
Module I: Body and Breath Awareness and Anatomy
Become tuned in to where your body is right now, today. Learn to feel where it may be inhibited so as to facilitate change. Learn through your own experience and become attuned to how you breath and your state of flow through fluids of you body. Learn to deepen your breath so that it can support you and your dance. Work with the breath to facilitate a deeper connection to the inner and outer movement of the body so that we can feel more freedom in our movements.
Get to know the Skeletal System that shapes and supports us in our everyday life and our dance. Allow it to connect us to the earth and to support us. Working from the Skeletal System inspires the muscles to work in a more organic and efficient way giving the overworked muscles a chance to release.
Explore organ response and initiating support and movement from your organs to give the bones a greater opportunity to respond freely.
Module II: Technique
Work through the circular and spiralling shapes that support this dance and that are
present in all universal life. Work with the Primary curve and the Navel as a starting point through which movement flows.
Use Body and Breath Awareness and Creative Visualisation and Somatization to achieve Soft Feminine Movements and Sharp Masculine Movements.
Explore how your walk is conditioned by your background, your psychological and emotional conditioning, the relationship you have to your whole anatomy and your feet. Explore how this in turn affects your dance.
Module III: Dance Movements & Neo Traditional Egyptian Sha’abi
Explore some of the fundamental movements of Traditional Egyptian Dance. This style of dance is a starting point that will support any other Middle Eastern dance style that is your preferred choice.
Explore Soft Feminine Movements including hip slides, circles, spirals, figure eights, camels/waves, pendulum, sidewinder and maya.
Explore Sharp Masculine Movements of Sha’abi: including basic hips, Egyptian/Ghawazee, Egyptian walk, release hips, half Egyptian, step touch family, Saiidi bob step and wada wanous. Sha’abi is the origin of most Bellydance. The Hips are the essential feature of this style of dance. To be fully authentic to this basic essential movement you must become true to your free body.
We explore the utmost importance of shift of weight and freedom of the supported Pelvis.
How a walk becomes a dance
The effortless:
Basic Egyptian
Half Egyptian
Egyptian walk / Hagala / ghawazee
Allow these movements to become new again, by exploring them from the fresh perspective of Embodied Bellydance™.
Module IV: Neo Traditional Baladi
Baladi is one of the most evocative styles of Egyptian music and dance. It calls up the mystery of Egypt combining the ancient past with not so long ago sounds of Mohamed Ali Street, where this style of music and dance began around the turn of the 20th century.
It was born out of Traditional Folk/Shaabi music and dance that we can still see and hear from the famous Musicians of the Nile and the few remaining Ghawazee dancers.
Baladi is the blues of Egyptian music and like the American Blues, Greek Rembetika and Spanish Flamenco was born out of migrations and loss of place amongst other things.
This workshop is dedicated to experiencing the essence of Egyptian Baladi. Learn to hear all the nuances and have the opportunity to embody the joy of how it weaves through every part of you on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.
Prerequisite for Embodied Bellydance™ Training to Facilitate
Prerequisite for Embodied Bellydance® Training
You must have completed at least 150 hours of Embodied Bellydance® in the form of classes, workshops and intensive with specific EBD content or by merit decided my Maria.
It is also to your advantage if you have other dance/movement background.
Contact Maria if you are interested in the Complete outline of the Embodied Bellydance Training Modules