Ahh, England again and having a wonderful time. But I am finding it hard to  get my work done, writing, blogging, emailing, etc. when access to a computer and internet are not to be had. So after a week of no access, I am back on my computer at my lovely friend Louisa’s home, preparing dinner, and sipping celebratory champagne, toasting to my lovely hostess and host for having my in their delightful home, and she is sponsoring my Collective Soul Level 2 that starts tomorrow.

We had a fabulous weekend at the Majma Festival in Glastonbury, my first time to that magical little town where the historically mystical Chalice Well is, and so funny to be driving to Glastonbury and right in front of us on the highway was Stonehenge. Oh my…just right there. Well then, I have now seen it, driven by it, and viewed it under the stars on our way back home after the festival. So much I don’t know about the magical history of these places. I so enjoy driving through all of these very old, crumbly farming towns, sheep covering the hillsides, as we wind our way to our destination, laughing often, and comfortably silent as we view the countryside through the windows.

Glastonbury, a town full of magic shops, fairie wings, soul readers, and of course, our bellydance festival. My workshops were great fun, sold out, and we laughed (as always), danced, swirled shawls, played zils, experimented with dance concepts, tranced, and more. The shows were packed with performers of all genres, the crowd was great and enthusiastic and I was honored to be a part of the event.

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and now, while I am on the computer, I think it is time for a monthly CD giveaway!

Gypsy Caravan’s Awakening

I love this CD, recorded by Jeff Rees and Bruce Beaton of Gypsy Caravan, with special guests, Jeremiah Soto and Wayne Gilbertson. Some slow and fast and in between danceable pieces, tribal-ly. I can’t sit still when I play this CD, it has memories that I cherish, and the music makes me groove.

**Write a comment here, on this blog, and tell me what kind of music makes you move, groove, and dance; and why. Short, long, or in between, send me your words by March 20th to have your name put in the turban to be the lucky winner of  that CD, Awakening, and include your email address. I look forward to reading your words to share.

Gypsy Spectacular

by Wendy Shortman / Vanguard staff

Gypsies: Jingly outfits and swirling skirts are all part of the package when you see Gypsy Caravan’s celebration of tribal dance.

You may have heard of them. You may have seen them, but this is the kind of show you can’t see just once. Inspired by, and based on “different styles of Middle Eastern dance, flamenco, Indian classical dance and modern dance,” as explained by the founder of the Gypsy Caravan Dance Company herself, Paulette Rees-Denis, this unique performance will surely seduce you and your senses.

Rees-Denis, creator and innovator of the Gypsy Caravan, got her master’s here at Portland State in writing and publishing. She recently published a book about the new form of tribal dance.

The book, entitled Tribal Vision: a Celebration of Tribal Belly Dance, provides the meaning and significance of the new dance style.

Rees-Denis, whose company has been based in Portland since 1991, has been a dancer all her life and finds it to be an important aspect in the celebration of the feminine community.

“It’s important that we dance as women today,” Rees-Denis said. “It’s a community-based dance, and it’s really about dancing as a group.”

The book about this style has been an ongoing process.

“I’ve been writing it for years,” Rees-Denis said. “It’s part memoir, my dance history and the history of the tribal style of belly dance and how it evolved, and what it means.”

The book talks about the feminine and communal nature of the dance, “and it also includes other women’s experiences [with the dance], it’s really important and it’s very profound.”

The tribal dance style is also unique in the sense that it’s unpredictable.

“They’re not really choreographed. The dance is based on improvisation, it’s a structured language of movements but it’s based on dancer’s attitude, inspiration at the time, music and audience,” Rees-Denis said. “The dancers feel like it’s a gift that they give to the viewers.”

With this kind of format, every performance is different, so even if you’ve seen them before, you can get a new experience out of it every time.

“It’s about being in the moment,” said Rees-Denis, whose company offers tribal belly dance lessons. “It’s for all ages and all sizes, it’s not discriminatory and it’s really fun!”

Gypsy Caravan Dance Company

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This was in the paper about a show we were going to do! What fun to read what others say about you, and how others view you. That’s all!

I just found another article, with some good info on tribal style bellydance. If you are curious to read about it, here you go…

go to this link

American Tribal Style Belly Dance | lifting anchor system

any comments?

A few weeks ago,  I donated my time to give a free workshop. It was an annual, special event weekend in Portland, called the 3rd Annual Siren Nation Festival!  (Nov. 5-8th 2009)
What an honor to be asked to teach, to share this dance with assorted women, to inspire and show why this dance that I do, this tribal bellydance, is so damn cool! The event was geared toward artists, or women who are learning how to be artists, women of all ages and backgrounds.The event include music, films, a gym full of beautiful handmade one-of-a-kind women art, and several free workshops to give them a taste of different artstyles. I was so happy to donate my time to this type of event. I believe so much in this dance form, as an art form, a healing experience, a community connector, and a way to personal empowerment.

One of my Caravan dancers came with me to assist in the workshop, Peggy, and we had a blast. The women danced together, trying something completely different, and all left energized, and excited about themselves. How can you not be, when you move your body in a beautiful way, get your blood pumping, and your spirits soaring? And I felt fantastic to be able to offer what I do to others to experience it!

So, if you can give some of your time to a good cause, do it. It will make you feel great, and those involved too., and make the world a better and brighter place. Woo hoo…

Siren Nation
Siren Nation’s mission is to inspire and empower women of all ages to create their own art and to highlight the many achievements of women in the arts. Siren Nation promotes and showcases the original work of women artists by creating year round performance, exhibition, and educational opportunities. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We forget sometimes, where we have been and what we have done. At least, I do! Then I get an email reminder of some of my Gypsy Caravan past, and oh, it is exciting to revisit it. I am grateful for the work that I have been able to do in the dance world, tribal bellydance, through recordings, documentaries, instructional DVDs, performance productions. I have worked with brilliant dancers, musicians, storytellers. I am thankful for the dancers who have accompanied me on my journeys, giving their time and dedication and skills to spreading the joy.
I just received an email about the Giza Awards coming up, and they listed all the winners over the past 11 years. Gypsy Caravan won several awards through them, including Best Historical Documentary–Tribal Travels;

Best dance troupe; Best Live Performance, Best Video (unfortunately my earlier productions are not available on DVD) .
What an honor to be commended for my work, and what a privilege too. Many thanks to the Giza awards, and to all of you who have supported my work over the years. And how great to still be dancing strong, with many more projects under my hip belt!

http://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2009/11/17/gregory11gizaawards/

and you can still get our documentary, Tribal Travels: A Collage, by filmmaker, Christopher Ritchie, here!
http://www.gypsycaravan.us/shopping/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=223

Hi everyone,
I”m trying to switch over my Facebook pages to my business Facebook! Can you take a moment to click on the link below and please become a fan of my business pages?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paulette-Rees-Denis/71253377401
I will be doing all my updates here from now on to streamline my communications.
I appreciate you becoming a fan.
Thanks!

a bit of magic and power, and are your rings ever big enough?

just a shot when Gina, Dulcinea, and I were teaching in Barcelona and bought these rings,

and got one for Carol who was not with us!

photo by Dulc…

How do you get inspired? the ongoing topic…

A way for me to get inspired is by reading what other people do, what they think and write, it’s as if they were a mirror, or not, and gives me a time to reflect on myself and what I am doing and what I’ve set out to do… Derek Silvers, an ex-circus man turned musician then ingenious entrepeneur, the former owner of the amazingly successful CD Baby, keeps things moving for me…

HIs blog topic yesterday was…”What do you hate not doing?”

http://sivers.org/hatenot

Derek writes: We’ve all asked ourselves, “What do I really love?” or “What makes me happy?” I’ve wrestled when the emotion-based answers conflict with expectations. (I’m a musician, but I love working alone. Does that mean I should be a producer instead of performer? I’m an entrepreneur but I hate doing business deals. Does that mean I’m more of a CTO than CEO?) Last week I thought of it a different way, that I like better:

What do you hate NOT doing? (What makes you feel icky, irritated, annoyed or off-track if you don’t do it enough?) .

..and I thought this was just a super positive way to look at what I am, am not doing. So…

*I don’t like not moving my body every day, wether it be dancing, doing my personal workout, throwing hay to the goats, gardening…I am a pysical person, I need to move my body or I get super restless.

*I don’t like not reading every day. I must read, it does something to my psyche, me brain, my thought processes.

*I don’t like not writing every day. It helps to clear my mind, gets my ideas down on paper, gets my work done so that I can move forward on to the next project or idea or chapter.

*I don’t like not feeling connected, to myself, my family, my animals—every day. When I get too busy, it takes its  toll on my personal well-being, and my connection to my immediate community. Although good family and friends understand and accept those times of extreme busy-ness, no apologies necessary, it does not make me feel good. So there….do check out Derek’s blog…

How about you?

Can you approach your intentions and inspirations from that angle? Or think about what you want to do in terms of what you hate not doing? Bring it on!

~~~~~~~And down to my reading…

~~the $64.00 Tomato, by William Alexander Hilarious, made my howl out loud, which I love to do when I ‘m reading…

~~Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us, by Seth Goldin Here is something to get your brain cranked up!

~~Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything. by  Elizabeth Gilbert the ever popular book and author these days, and I still love it, and her! The writing is so authentic and soul-searching.

Here is a lovely clip from the TED conference with Elizabeth speaking about creative genius, what do you think?

Elizabeth Gilbert

How excited am I now? You can have me delivered to your home from Netflix! Tribal Gypsy Caravan’s Technique Volumes #1 and #2- learn the tribal bellydance basics, and the documentary, Tribal Travels, all about life as a Gypsy Caravan member! Way cool…

Tribal Technique #1

shattering sterotypes…yea baby!

The Gypsy Caravan performed at the Totally Tribal Festival in Washington (one of our three gigs last Saturday night!) and got written up in the Enterprise Newspaper, along with the other performers!

http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090819/ETP17/708199945/-1/ETPZONELT&template=ETPZoneLTart