These girls did it! I think this quote says a lot about following your dreams, or not…and these girls took the plunge to take time to study and do what they needed and wanted to do to achieve some sort of life and dance goal. Pretty awesome, eh?

Collective Soul Level ONe

Brandy, (OR), Tracy (CA), Kat (WA), Cayte and Sarah (UK)

Collective Soul Level Two gals!

Darby, (OR), Deirdre (UK), Sherry (FL), Sienna and Dee (AUSTRALIA)

Actually Darby and Sherry were the grads! the other gals did a refresher course…good to do…

Collective Soul Level Three and me!

Sherry, Sienna, Dee, Deirdre, and me!

Dee at the Cultivator

And Dee finished her Teacher Training Level One while here too! talk about intensives…she danced on for three intensives and then some…

I am a proud mama, let me tell you.

Tribal Bellydance Intensives with Paulette of Gypsy Caravan, around the globe–

Want to go to Bali and dance? I can’t wait!
Bali, in January 2011!!
Workshops with Paulette, Cinzia of Les Soeurs Tribales, plus yoga and Balinese dance–Jan 10/11th
and Collective Soul Level 1 January 12/13/14
contact: cinziadicioccio@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paulette In Western Australia, January, February 2011

Workshops plus Collective Soul and Teacher Training!

contact Becky
ziva@omninet.net.au

~~~~~~~~~~
JUST ADDED!
April 2011–Collective Soul Certification Intensives, Levels One and Two, and Teacher Training One, and Two…
around Paulette’s farm, Portland and Clatskanie, OR
Please email ASAP to let Paulette know of interest!
dance@gypsycaravan.us

Collective Soul Level One–
Teacher Training Level One–
Collective Soul Level Two–
Teacher Training Level One–
Around Portland and Paulette’s farm!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have finished a great two week dance intensive…

Congratulations to dancing graduate of Teacher Trainee Level 1, Dee Thomson from Brisbane, Australia!

Also to Collective Soul Level One dancers- Cayte Lawton, Sarah Jones, both from England, Tracy Carlton from California, Brandy Grey from Oregon, and Kat Abiola from Washington!

Congrats to CS2 grads, Darby Bacon from Oregon and Sherry Coffey from Florida,

and CS Three certified dancers from Sherry Coffey from Florida, Dee Thomson and Sienna from Australia, and Deirdre MacDonald from Scotland!
Thanks for joining us this August, 2010!

So nice to have a small intimate group of dancers to work with! My 2 weeks of intensives has started; yesterday was day one of Collective Soul Level One with five dancers from England, Oregon, Washington, and California. (One dancer got strep throat and could not make it at the last minute.) We had a great first day of dancing and lots of talking. That is what I love about this course. We really get to voice our thoughts, opinions, questions, and get down into the meat of tribal, what it really is, what it means, the evolution, the roots, and so much more. We began with the basic moves, (with the left side, thank you!) and several zil patterns, and eight rhythms. A fun group of women ranging from ages 27 to 53, how cool is that?

The girls got to visit my little farm and feed my two new baby goats, and enjoyed a quick lunch at my store, and then had time to drive to the coast after our session had ended for dinner and a sunset on the beach! Today is more intensive dancing and fun, then they get to join in my classes in Portland tonight. Tomorrow is testing already! A very intensive three days!

Then on to Teacher Training Level One, CS2 and CS3, for the next 1 1/2 weeks….love it!

Congratulations to some hard dancing dancers! Nina Martinez from Australia and Cinzia DeCoccia from Italy completed Collective Soul Level Three here in my little home town in Oregon! That takes time and dedication to get this far in my certification program, so

woo hoo to them! Awesome…

And if that wasn’t enough, Hilary Giovale from Arizona and Amanda Richardson from Wisconsin flew out to complete Teacher Training Level Three with Nina, and then all four of them continued on with CS4! They are the first to have completed this level of intensive study with me (except my own dancers, of course!)I’m impressed and amazed at the level of commitment these beautiful dancers have shown, lots of focus and stamina goes into this type of training, but I might add, a lot of laughs and good times too. What a lovely international connection these women have made, and to dance together is such a high, a joy, a passion…

Dance on sisters…

and thank you for your trust, loyalty, and desire to be the best dancers and women you can be. You are…

**We are proud and delighted to share the Tribal Fest stage with our troupe from Portland, Oregon, combining the Gypsy Caravan Dance Company with the Caravan Dance Collective and the Collective Soul International dancers!

Thanks for your years of support and for your tribal spirit.

Eleven of us from Portland and our dancing sisters from around the world will take the stage together on Saturday, just after 6 pm…Will you be there?

I’ll let you know how our road trip goes…

Tribal Bellydance Intensives with Paulette of Gypsy Caravan–

Collective Soul Levels One and Two,

in April (CS1 April 8-10, CS2 April 11-13) in Hungtingdon Valley, PA, near Philly. last Call!

email dance@gypsycaravan.us

Can you join us? I would love to dance with you…

www.gypsycaravan.us

Back on the farm and good to be home! 6:30 am, and it is getting light now, very happy about that. Frosty ground, not the sunny warm weather of Australia, but I love it! Visiting with all my little and big animals, and celebrate my man’s birthday while I dive back into the piles of work waiting for me. Unfortunately that does not go away while I do. Ah well…

paulette in brisbane

Now I have time to reflect back on my fabulous trip down under, and finish telling you about it! I am sorting through the tons of photos I took on my journey.

After the delicious CS1 intensive, I gathered with my three Level One Teacher Trainees, Becky from Albany, Sienna from Cairns, and Christine from Auckland, New Zealand. They have been dancing and teaching for the past year, working with my training program while refining their teaching skills. So after a year since we started that program together, last February when I was in Adelaide, we were able to come together in person, review the processes, and I am happy to certify them into the small school of graduates! I am proud and they have been doing great work!

so turbans off to them…

Teacher trainee grads!

I then continued on with Collective Soul Level 2, still in Brisbane. Another great 3 days of intensive dancing and talking. What a joyful, and painful process sometimes too. We stretch ourselves, with tired bodies, excited minds, and emotional feelings, it is a lot to take in in three days. And as always, sometimes three days is not long enough. We must honor our individual processes while we continue our work, and enjoy the journey before we get to the end result. But it does feel good to get to the root of the dance, what it means, how it works, and where we can go from there as dancers and artists, and I so thrive on being part of every dancer’s journey.

Congratulations to the Collective Soul Level Two dancers and grads:

Collective Soul Level Two dancers!

Sienna, Dee,Becky, Christine, Nina, and  Heidi–thank you for your hard work, your dedication, and your beautiful dance! what an honor to dance with you all…

and lastly!

Congratulations to Nina for getting certified in my Teacher Training Level 2 course.

We worked  one on one and she has made me proud! great work Nina! And so glad you will be joining the Gypsy Caravan and the Caravan Dance Collective in Portland, with Hilary and Amanda from Caravan Soul Collective International, and also at Tribal Fest in California this May!

Nina and Paulette

woo hoo!

What a journey this has been, the last few weeks in Australia. I have had the opportunity to meet and dance with some beautiful women, who have undertook intensive study with me. Congratulations to them for getting their certification, both in Collective Soul Level One and Teacher Training Level One. And not without a few giggles!

Collective Soul Level One grads...

Back row: Kelly, Colleen, myself, Shanne, Kate, Julie, and Dee

Front row: Margart, Heidi, and Becky

Heidi, Becky, and Dee did the course as a refresher, to get ready for the next intensive that immediatly followed, Collective Soul Level 2, testing today!

Lately I’ve been discussing how the dance is empowering to the women, on so many levels. Appropriately on Chris Guillebeau’s blog today, he writes:

Empowerment, as I think of it, is all about the beautiful principle of transferring knowledge and helping people consider possibilities that previously seemed out of reach.

This was a perfect read for today:

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/the-small-man-builds-cages-for-everyone/

Fulfilling, rewarding, with sweat, tears, and joy… we reach for what we desire, experience our own journey along the way, and listen and share with the other’s we are joined with. Trust and community building: that is beautiful. I am constantly awed and rewarded by the women I dance with.

Thank you gals for giving me you trust, your time, and your dance! andhere is to the next step on your dance path.

Celebration!

Good work Teacher Trainees: Becky, Christine, and Sienna (photos to follow!)

Hilary, Amanda, Carol, and Karen

Carol, Hilary, Amanda, Paulette, and Karen

For our three day CS3 intensive, we were joined by Carol, from Gypsy Caravan, and Karen from the Caravan Dance Collective. They were there to dance with us, partake in the fun and the work, and refine and reinforce their own dance. It is so nice to see when dancers can let go of their egos, and just do more work on their technique. We are never done, are we? It is humbling, yet always encouraging for dancers to not always be the teacher. Since Carol and Karen are teaching many of the Caravan classes, they really do enjoy letting go of that persona to work on themselves, besides sharing in the intriguing dance discussions that we get into!

I, too, always look for learning opportunities for myself, as it is refreshing to uncover something new, to study a different approach to dance, or something all together different, which I am always doing. Yet it always brings me full circle back to my teachings. As I strive to be the best teacher I can be, which keeps me always on my toes. In turn, that makes my job of helping the student be the best dancer (or writer, or teacher) that they can be. I also continuously learn from my students, so there is that circle too.

It is an exciting occupation, teaching, and I am so glad that I realized years ago that was what I wanted to do. It is challenging and rewarding, grueling sometimes, joyous most times. Having been doing this for how many years now? about eighteen or so…I love the format I have found that works, both for the students to find delight in themselves and their dance, for the performers who have pursued that side of the dance, and for the dancers who have grown up to be teachers also.

I am glad that I went on to create the Gypsy Caravan Collective Soul certification programs, and the Teacher Training intensives, to share, and pass on this dance and the skills that go along with it, as it really revolves around all of life, not just dance. That is why this dance is a lifestyle for me. Supportive, creative, encouraging, all encompassing, hard, fun, and it makes the world go round! Besides, I get to laugh alot!

Crazy Amanda and Hilary