I”ve mentioned SARK to you before, her books, her writing, her wonderful craziness!

Well here is a bit more info for you about some stuff that she is doing!

SARK’s Awesome Anytime Adventure

SARK’s Awesome Anytime Adventure is a 30-day tour to the most breathtaking destinations within you!

Check out her website, books, what ever, for some great insights to living a full and happy life… she is a delightfully colorful woman with a lot to share!

I always try to get some lovely little goodies available at a special price every month for you! See below for two specials from my Caravan Souk for the month of November…

enjoy, and thanks for your patronage…

November Souk Specials

Hoodie Special 1. Ready for winter? November Souk Special…

Gildan hoodie- with pockets, zip front, fuller cut, normally $42.00

This month, only $36.00 plus S&H…

50% cotton, 50% poly, snuggly and soft and warm!

Black–sizes small to extra large

Maroon- sizes small to extra large

through November 30th…

BUY NOW

DVD Special 2.  Buy any 2 Tribal Technique DVDS and get 20% off your purchase!

BUY NOW

One of the days that Louisa took me around the cute little town of Lewes, near Brighton, we went into a fabulous bookstore…danger, danger, I”m thinking of my luggage and the return flight home!

I could have bought several books, they were so unique and beautiful and different than many bookstores in the US, and and… but I contained myself, grabbing the new Tiniwaren CD, while leafing through many pages. I opened a poetry book by Peter Abbs, The Flowering of Flint, and the first page I turned to was a poem titled Artist’s Manifesto. It rang in my heart. I had to buy the book on that poem. And I have since fallen in love with his work. Evocative, questioning, stating what is.

The artist detonates his mind to let in God’s.
Under his loaded brush the world ignites.

Perception burns to vision. Metaphysics
Dance in his eyes. Under is finger-tips

All life’s transmutation, an alchemist’s laboratory
For experiments, Oh!-to set the imagination free

In the hard crucible of nature, to begin
To murder fate, to let the incandescent angel in!

~~~~~~~

What do you think? The creative process is a wonderful and delightful adventure!

Dance and Winter

For the December D-Quad, Delicious Divas Dancing Dreams, our dancer/writer forum in my monthly newsletter,  (Caravan Trails/Tribal Travels–which you can subscribe to on my web pages– www.gypsycaravan.us) can you write a poem or a short about Dance and Winter! Whatever those words mean to you, put them together and send it in to me at dance@gypsycaravan.us and include your bio and a photo if you have one!

Due by November 20^th,  600 words or so…Thanks for sharing…

And watch for the Tribal Dancer’s Anthology, coming to you in PDF soom, very exciting!

for our October Tribal Vision Book Giveaway….

the winner is…..

Vikki Tracy!

Here is what she wrote, in answer to my request to write about something that you learned as an artist and dance in the month of September!

During September,  I haven’t danced even though I have been belly dancing for over 10 years. I have taken a break to find myself, to find nature and to find my dance self again. A 74 yr. old dancer by the name of Marguerite once gave me the advice to find your flexibility! When this society takes from us and we begin to feel it’s rigidness in our spines, take a step back, remember who you are as a dancer and remember your flexibility through this life, through dance. We must be as strong as the trees yet as movable as the reeds in the stream. I am re-learning to be flexible!

So many fantastic responses to this thought provoking comment…Thanks to everyone who participated in the October Book Giveaway, and wrote in their experiences! I so enjoy reading and sharing your comments.

Look for the next book giveaway, coming soon.

Friday, a day to rest, a day to reflect, and basically, a day off! We finished up Collective Soul Level Two Certification yesterday with five tired but elated dancers in Lewes, England, near the southern sea shore. What a fantastic journey it was for all of us.

But let me go back to last week, first arriving in England and being swept away to the sweet little town of Aylesbury, about an hour north of London, where I have taught on several occasions over the past nine years.  Starting with a long walk on a gorgeous hilltop, Steffi showed me the view, we took her dog and daughter so I could get some air after the long plane ride, and I really wanted to get my time zones switched, otherwise I would have fallen dead asleep and it was the middle of the afternoon!

Starting right in the next day with Collective Soul Level One, I had 3 five-hour, full on dance days with six delightful women from all over England and Scotland. Undertaking this tribal journey is different for every woman, but we come together for gathering and collecting tools and knowledge toward achieving a more thorough personal knowledge of technique, history, ethics, artistry, sisterhood, and more—each person so unique in what they desire, but yet collectively coming together to understand the mechanics of Tribal Bellydance, the basics, the roots. A great start to learning how to really be an artist, a dancer in your own body, mind, and soul.

We had good, sweaty, body-driving days, many many laughs, and some great coffees, food, and wine after hard days! And all six dancers received their certification straight on after the anxiety of testing (I’m not too much of a task master!) I am so proud, and to see the Collective Soul experience be so positive and rewarding for all of us, as the dancers gained new insights as well as joined hands to strengthen their dancing sisterhood bonds, knowing they have more friends around the world to meet and dance with. How cool!

Moving right on with only two hours to spare, I only changed locations to teach at Steffi’s Tribe Vibe festival, teaching Tribal Trance, a nice way to start off the festival. Her third festival, my second time to teach at it, I met up with the familiar faces of her troupe, Barefoot Bellydance, along with many others I have danced with before, as well as many new tribal influenced dancers.

Congratulations to the new CS 1 graduates:

Sharon,  Sarah,  Kay, Sandra, Chris, and Kay!

More to come about Tribe Vibe, CS2, and my tribal journeys….

So you want to dance? Get up and do it. What are you waiting for?

So many of my students have said that as a little girl they always wanted to bellydance. What happened between then and now is not important. Now is important. Now you can bellydance! And do it with intention. Get to that dance class now, while you can. Go after that little girl dream, or that adult girl dream! What a lovely gift to give yourself.

A favorite blogger is Cathy Stucker who helps bloggers network (http://bloggerlinkup.com) Last week she posted some of her favorite quotes. I love to take good quotes and change them to relate to my worlds of dance or writing (or whatever is relevant for me at that time.)

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” Margaret Atwood

Do you ever feel that way when you dance? You are trying to learn something new, or master a move, and you stop yourself because of fear or frustration. I see it often with new dancers. As much as I feel it is important to be able to laugh at yourself when you mess up, because you really do need to keep that sense of humor about what you are doing/learning/striving for. But I see dancers really poke fun at themselves in a way that makes me sad, as if they always put themselves down so as never to achieve anything. There is a distinct line between joking and tearing oneself apart. What has our society taught us? I am constantly confounded at what some women put themselves through and how they view themselves.

My goal is to help empower you through our dance, to help you move forward with intention, to assist you in accomplishing bits and pieces of the dance, which in turn helps you blossom into your own beauty, strength, and self-expression, both in dance and in the outside world. It does take practice, patience, and perseverance, and can be loads of fun to undertake that journey. And to remember it is about the journey. The end product, if there is one, will come in its own time. What have you learned during that journey? Sometimes it might feel like you are jumping off a cliff to get started, but go ahead, take the risk. What can it hurt? What it can achieve is so much greater than if you hold yourself back.

If any of you read the tarot cards, my soul card is the number nine, the Hermit. The Hermit is a teacher, and she holds a lantern to shine the light on the path in front of her, into the darkness. But it only illuminates a short distance, so she makes her way a little at a time, and trusts in her intuition to move forward with patience and wisdom. That works well for me, and I keep that image with me, because I can be too goal driven. But really, so much of my dance world has unfolded for me a little at a time. I never expected to be traveling the world teaching women to dance. It just became clear to me that that was my path after I had learned and created my dance. All I wanted to do was dance. So I did. And I do.

Can you wake up to day to do one more thing? What can you contribute?

As a dancer, a friend, teacher, mentor, artist, one who cares….

combining thoughtfulness, passion, and physical engagement in all you do.

You can make a difference and be remarkable!

Bring it on…

and thank you.

I just added my name to those across the world asking Obama to act on climate change. Add your name here. http://bit.ly/1Ugzqp #BAD09

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

http://www.blogactionday.org/

I have extended the deadline for this giveaway!

I would love you to have a copy (and read of course!) my book, Tribal Vision, A Celebration of Life Through Tribal Belly Dance! This October you can win one!

Here is what you do:

Write here, comment on this blog,

what you have learned about your self this last month of September, as a dancer or artist.

Due by October 25th!

Your thoughtful comments will go into the turban of life, and I will pick one out on October 30th. Woo hoo…

Please make sure to include your email address so I can let you know you have won and get your mailing address…

I can’t wait to read your thoughts. And then I will share mine too. Enjoy your writing time!

I have just arrived in England, a long day of traveling and layovers, but now I’m here with beautiful Steffi from Barefoot Bellydance. We’ve had a lovely walk up a hill to overview the land, get some fresh air and walk after sitting for so long!

I start Collective Soul Level One tomorrow, can’t wait to dance with the gals, before our weekend festival, Tribe Vibe. This is the second time to teach at this festival in Aylesbury, and so happy to return again, (maybe the 6th time) to teach in England and Scotland. I will perform Saturday night, and then to a week of Collective Soul Level Two in East Sussex next week, then off to Glasgow for A Day of Tribal sponsored by Deirdre MacDonald. I really appreciate the opportunities to come back again and again, to teach new tribal dancers, and to work with dancers I’ve been teaching over the years.

So no One More Thing from me for the next two weeks, you can post here if you have some great ideas. And I will be telling you about this journey.

Enjoy….