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

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Paulette In Western Australia, January, February 2011

Workshops plus Collective Soul and Teacher Training!

contact Becky
ziva@omninet.net.au

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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!

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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!

Collective Soul Levels One, Two, and Three, plus Teacher Training Level ONe is done! Whew… 2 weeks, 4 intensives…woo hoo…

congrats to everyone who came and sweated and danced and felt the love,

I”ll tell you more, but first…

only four more days of the summer blowout sale, through August 20th… see below.

DVDs and CDs… oh my…

get it now!

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!

I just read this on my student, Brandy’s, pages…

I thought so appropriate…especially because I’ve been so absent in my blogging, working on so many new things right now—a new webpage, a new blog idea, some scrapbooking,  working at the Cultivator of course, and now, getting ready for two weeks of dance instensives, Collective Soul Level’s One, Two, Three, and Teacher Training Level One. Dancers from California, Portland, Scotland, Washington, Florida, and Australia are heading my way to undertake the challenge!

woo hoo…

so in the meantime, read this and tell me what you think!

“The mind should dance with the body, the whole Universe is your stage, the soul your choreographer. Try to feel that whatever you are doing is the most beautiful thing, the prettiest dance, because you dance with the whole Universe. Don’t resent anything. Forgive everything. Express your essence. Let your heart guide you, free of all limitation, regimentation, and fear.’ Yogi Bhajan

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…

Ah, we had such a great time on our last roadtrip…to Sepastopol, CA and Tribal Fest. The Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, with the Caravan Dance Collective and the Caravan Soul Collective International dancers, 11 of us gals, drove the 12 hours from Portland to dance, shop, watch other dancers, and schmooze with the tribes…

and this just emailed to me…makes it all worthwhile! (thanks Lia!)

Hi, Ladies.
Just wanted to let you know that watching your group dance at TF10 moved me to tears – it was so lovely and for me, epitomized what Tribal Bellydance is all about.
Thank you!
Lia Carotta

more photos and info to come

Well, it has happened. My delightful blog has taken a back seat, but just for the time being. And why, you ask? Or, better, I  assume you ask. Because my new shop, Cultivator General Store, has opened. Last Thursday was our opening day, with an action packed couple of days, with wine and cheese tasting, bellydancing with my fabulous troupe who braved the commute to come and dance for me and to honor the new adventure.

The community has honored Jeff and myself by coming to visit, and shop, and drink and eat, and I am beyond thrilled. What pleasure it gives me to serve a lovely little lunch of fresh soup and salad made up by my kitchen wiz, Heidi, or myself, with wines or coffees, and add chocolates, and a new apron, and wow….

But it does make other things in my life take a back seat, like emails. this blog, and even my dance world, just to get the store up and open and stocked and running. And it is a beautiful shop, with most of it built by Jeff the husband and amazing carpenter, and designed by moi.  A paradise to visit, sip, shop, and be inspired by organic foods, cheeses, and so much more. Fresh, some local, improvisational cooking at its finest! Soups, salads, cheese plates, oh my…

I will share tales and photos of the whole process when I can breath again, but for now, I am still here, but lurking with thoughts of garbanzo bean and mushroom stew with a garnish of avocado and a roasted red pepper couli, platters of Oregon’s Rogue blue, Washington’s Beecher’s No Woman Jamaican spiced cheese, and a fried up plate of Holoumi (from Cyprus) with capers and lemon, with a full glass of Goat’s Head Red from down the Cascade Cliff Winery (WA)…I’m a happy girl.

and I do plan to give you updates on my dancing journey to Cues and Tattoos, Seattle, last weekend, and my upcoming week in Huntingdon Valley, PA, doing CS1 and CS2 this coming week… but first I must go get off my feet for a spell, and have a sip…

Thanks for hanging on….

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.