TribalCon V1
My 5th TribalCon involved lots of travel, flying from Alaska to Seattle and then ultimately with a final destination of Atlanta. The travel to the con was an adventure that I won’t easily forget (you may read about in the previous blog entry), but the con itself was far more amazing that I can remember in previous years, perhaps because I now perceive things differently and have an express intent when I attend such workshops, or maybe because I find the whole journey and what it took for me to get there to have a great monetary value. Either way, my eyes are wide open right now and this year’s teachers and participants have touched me in a very personal manner.
Donna Mejia’s lecture on Thursday was amazing. Not only was the content of great value, reinforcing some things I have been contemplating lately that are personally very tough subject matter for me to deal with, but she presented them in a way that felt very safe, and the lecture participants provided lots of input in a similar manner. Her materials were presented in an intelligent and cohesive manner, and though she used some humor, for the most part she was very gracious, kind and gentle in the lecture. Thank you Donna for being such a great role model and for dealing with tough subject material with grace, eloquence, and tact.
Friday classes were without a doubt, fantastic. They were also the hardest for me physically and widened my eyes about what I need to work on for myself, and while I thought I might have trouble with some of the core work, there was a lot of information about shoulders presented that I have found most helpful as a teacher.
We started out with Ariella’s “Yoga Infused Bellydance†, and this class was packed with great information. I recommend her DVD for my beginner students since I really like her breakdown of the movements on it but I had only taken one other class from Ariella at Spirit of the Tribes a few years back and didn’t care for it so I went into this one feeling a little pensive about what I might get out of it. Was I ever wrong! She is beautiful as a teacher, with clear instruction, challenges the student without making it feel like a competition and her class reminded me how much I enjoy the peace that comes with yoga, and has hopefully inspired me to get back into a regular yoga practice.
“ATS Arms†with Megha opened my eyes on a few questions I had, and will change how I teach certain moves, especially with regard to floreos. Her class also gave me some more visualization techniques I can use in my own classes and I got a refresher on how to break down steps from Volume 7 like the Sahra and Wrap turn that I have been struggling to figure out how to teach well. Plus, it is so amazing to see a huge room full of dancers doing ATS steps all at the same time, all with Megha and her lovely assistant Deanna in the lead.
I got to enjoy Sushi for lunch with Monet, Clair, and a few other lovely ladies. Monet has this ethereal quality of calm about her that reminds me why I miss seeing her.
After lunch I decided to skip Heather Stanz’s class. In retrospect, I should have at least gone and sat down on the side to take notes, but I wanted to eat, do a bit of shopping, and given the class was called floorwork and I was already tired, I decided to sit it out. I hear they did not do a lot of floorwork after all because of the carpet, and learned some fun combinations instead. Oh well, I learned a couple years ago I should not try to do ever single class so of all the classes to miss on Friday, this was the best one to miss out on for me.
Donna’s class “Attending to Details†still has my mind reeling nearly a month later. This class was also a huge challenge physically but I am proud that I made it through the whole thing. Must go back and review my notes, though since I did a lot of participating in this class I suspect I did not get great notes. I do think attendance at a weekend workshop with this lady is in my future.
Saturday I woke up later than I wanted so I missed Jen’s “Yoga and Pilates for Belly Dancersâ€. I suspect that most likely still dealing with jetlag that kept me confused until I got back to Alaska. That four hour difference really messed up my routine all weekend…..
In “The Artist’s Workshop: A primer for the well-rounded dancer†Ariella reminded us over and over we are dancers. As a student of belly dance for just over 8 years now, I still found it surprising to be called “dancerâ€. And the memory of some feedback from one of the workshop participants still brings a tear to my eye; at the end of the class a woman spoke up and thanked Ariella for reminding her that not only was she a wife, mother, and worker but she was a dancer. Thank you Ariella for reminding me of what I am and what I can be.
“Salimpour Legacy in Tribal†with Asharah was my first workshop with this lovely dancer. I totally geeked out over the presentation she gave about history and time lines of how we get from Jamilla to Carolena, and was surprised and delighted with myself that I actually was familiar with most of what she had to offer. Then we worked on vocabulary and stylization from the original Jamilla format, and I am once again inspired to delve deeper into studying the roots of this fabulous family of dancers.
“Dynamic Fades†with Megha again reminded me that what I think I know is only part of the bigger picture. We went over basic fades with an Arabic, we learned the fabulous (yet not official) Turkish shimmy fade and we got a good breakdown of the ASWAT. And I finally got to dance with my long time e-friend Matthew which made it all the more fun!
Sunday I decided that I was going to honor the body and allowed myself to take the day off from any strenuous work and focused on listening to what was being taught in the classes. Jennifer’s’ “Experiential Anatomy for Belly Dancers “ class was FANTASTIC. Classes like this remind me how much I want to learn more about anatomy, yoga, and how to incorporate it all into movement.
Donna’s “Beyond Stationary Practice was amazing. I observed and took notes the entire time, more watching the teacher in her element (she really is the epitome of a professional educator IMHO) and have a new slew of ideas on how to incorporate more movement into my class’s traveling drills.
I also sat in on the Dance Discussion Group (thank you Monet for the noodles!) and was delighted and relieved to hear what felt like an echo of my own thoughts and practices from our panel of experts on several topics including personal practice, finding inspiration and dealing with burnout.
I skipped heather’s “Creative Dance Composition for Improvisation and Choreographâ€. As much as I love to watch this dancer on stage, I just don’t feel a personal connection with her style plus I needed to finish shopping!
Taking these classes is a bit of a bittersweet revelation. Some days I am so happy to live where I am, and to have found a niche for myself, and a wonderful community of dancers especially given how small my new hometown is, yet there are days and times like this weekend where I feel that I am doing myself a huge disservice by living so far away from advanced teachers specifics to my style and interests. Guess that just means more trips “Outside” : )
Sunday night after it was all over, I watched the FCBD Volume 8: Floor work that I bought over the weekend and feel like I have a lot of work to do before my next General Skills but after being a bit worried about floor work at my first General Skills (GS) in 2007, I now know I can do it and have all the tools I need. And the Yoga warm-up on the DVD is excellent,; I think I just found a way to incorporate more Yoga into my weekly routine! The universe told me this weekend to add yoga back into my life and then it showed me one way to do it. Double win! This was my fifth year attending, but my 1st year coming from Alaska, and even with getting stuck in Seattle for 11 hours (missed a flight), I still think this is and was worth every penny I spent getting there, and every hour of slept I lost being there (4 hour time difference made me a bit crazy!)