"Return to the Goddess" by Suzanna del Vecchio – The "Challenge Dance" for Autumn 2012

Return to the Goddess (a Chifti Telli) by Suzanna del Vecchio – The “Challenge Dance” for Alay’nya Studio Members; Autumn, 2012

Challenge Dance for Alay’nya Studio Members: Autumn, 2012

Every quarter we select a different challenge dance: one that is sure to push us to our limits, both technically and artistically. Each challenge dance is one done by a world-class dancer, and available for all to watch via a YouTube clip or other (free) web-based source.

For the Autumn, 2012 quarter, we’re selecting Suzanna del Vecchio’s beautifully-rendered
Return to the Goddess from her DVD, Dances From the Heart. This is set to a beautiful chifti telli by Alan Bachman (Desert Wind).

The music for this dance is the Isis Chiftitelli, on Alan Bachman’s Kali Ma, and is one of the most-loved songs in the Oriental dance community.

Members of the Alay’nya Studio should begin by studying the portion of Suzanna’s dance that they can watch online, and practicing the first minute with her. (This would be up to the point where she starts circling the floor while doing a rib circle.

Be very careful about easing into your backbend. In our class, we’ll modify that aspect of choreography and defer it (for each student) until she can safely and confidently and comfortably do a backbend facing away from the audience (so that when she moves into the backbend itself, she’s looking “back” to see the audience and they can see her face.)

Alay’nya doing a backbend during Red Phoenix. Photo by Crystal Barnes. Used with permission.

Energy Dancing with a "Water Feeling": Flowing and Swirling Motions

Playing with Water Energy in Dance: Flowing and Swirling and “Fluid” Motions

The Autumn Equinox marks the transition from the fire energy of summer to the water energy of fall. The notion of having different “elements” (air, earth, water, and fire) comes from our classic Western European esoteric tradition, which teaches that each quarter is governed by a “suite” (swords, pentacles, cups, and rods), and that each of these “suites” is respectively associated with an “element.”

This is important for us not just because of our Western European cultural heritage, but because these various “suites” also connect us to growth stages identified in the Kabbalah, which is the earliest known “roadmap” for personal growth (leading, potentially, to God-realization). In a much more immediate and practical vein, these various “elements” connect us to a feeling of what is going on in our environments, and to how our bodies react to the changing seasons.

The “Ace of Cups” – the ultimate symbol for water energy.

It makes sense for us to invoke water energy into our lives after the fire energy of summer. This often correlates with what is going on in our weather, as well. After a late summer drought, we get rains once again. September is, in fact, a prime time for hurricanes!

And whether or not we’ve quenched the fire energy of our summer by going to the beach (getting a water energy infusion), by the end of summer, we’re often “burned out.” We desire not only the coolness, but the “swirliness” of water.

Practically speaking, how do we take this into our dance?

There are certain kinds of movements that almost shout water energy to us:

“Rounded” movements such as hip circles, rib cage circles, and figure-eights,
“Snakey” movements such as snake arms,
“Flowing” movements such as many veil patterns – whether done around our bodies while we are in one place, or as we move across the floor.

There are also certain rhythms – or musical sections – that speak a “watery” language to us:

Chifti tellis,
Taxims, and
“Lyrical” beledis.

This autumn, we’ll be studying and building choreographies with each of these different “watery” feelings.

"Geek to Gorgeous" in 60 Seconds – Two Opportunities in September, 2012

Learn Alay’nya’s Sixty-Second Geek-to-Gorgeous Body Transformation Secrets in September, 2012 – on Channel 10 Cable TV and in Alay’nya Studio Open House

Do you feel (let’s be honest here) just the slightest bit frumpy? As in, stressed, harried, hunched down, worn out? Do you feel that – no matter what you put on in the morning – you’re still wearing last year’s clothes?

And do you sometimes feel that no matter what treatments that you get at the spa, and no matter how hard you “hit it” at the gym, and no matter how many supplements you take, or affirmations that you say, that there is a vital something missing in your life?

If so, you’re probably right. You probably ARE missing something. And there really is a “secret something.”

The reason that most of us don’t know about it is that it can’t be packaged as a pill, or provided as a “treatment.” There’s no advertising money to be made with this “secret.” No doctors will get you to come back for repeated injections or laser “therapies.” And the major cosmetics houses are not able to sell this to you.

There is, however, a “secret” that has been known for thousands of years. It’s not something you can buy, and you can’t pay someone else to “provide” this to you. However, you can learn this. And with sufficient determination, you can master this skill and transform your life.

But let me “come clean” – at least a little bit. There’s really not just “one secret.” Rather, there are layers. There is a whole art and science to this. While you can learn it, this is not an “all-at-once” process. It involves learning some new things, unlearning others, and practicing a whole lot.

And sometimes you – like I – have more time to practice than at others.

But you know what? I’m just like you. I’ve spent much of my lifetime studying these “secrets,” and have achieved some fair proficiency. In fact, I’ve devoted a whole chapter of my recent book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey, to some “frank talk” on this subject.

But despite all my knowledge, and years of practical experience, I’ve had (probably just like you), the occasional down-dip in my personal energy. That’s when I’ve really had to go “back to the basics.” I’ve had to practice what I’ve preached.

For several years, writing Unveiling consumed my life. My body and energy practice was still there, but it was at “maintenance level.” And I stopped teaching while putting attention onto finishing the book. It was a lot like having a new baby.

But now the “baby” is a year old. In fact, it’s actually “weaned” a bit. It doesn’t require my around-the-clock care in terms of getting the reviews, building the readership base, and all those other things that brand-new authors must do.

You’ve probably heard that old adage, “We teach that which we need to learn.”

Well, I’m excited about teaching again. I’m excited about the Open House that we’ll be having on the Sunday after Labor Day weekend; Sunday, September 9th, from 12 – 2PM. And I’m excited about sharing some of my favorite “secrets” with you.

In particular, we’re devoting this Open House (the first in several years) to one of my favorite topics, the “Sixty-Second Geek-to-Gorgeous Body Transformation.”

Imagine it. In one short session, you’ll learn my seven-step “transformation checklist” that will let you totally revise how you “are” in your body – how you “organize” your body from the inside out.

The results?

Immediate transformation. Once you’ve mastered the “seven point checklist,” you can apply it within 60 seconds (or less). And you will immediately:

Go from frumpy to fabulous,
Develop a compelling personal presence, and (perhaps most important)
Establish a “baseline” so that you can start learning – and applying – the “secrets” of increased vitality, energy, and the ability to command life to conform to your desires and wishes.

Are you ready for this?

Are you ready to become a Master of the Universe?

Join me at the Open House – the Sunday after Labor Day this September.

And if you can’t be with me on that date – or even if you just want quick reviews – I’ll be demonstrating the “Sixty-Second Geek-to-Gorgeous” body transformation on John Monsul’s Communicating Today, which will air three times that week.

Related Posts:

How to Prepare for Your First Class in Belly Dance

Advance Preparation Makes All the Difference in Learning Oriental Dance (Belly Dance)

Darlings – I have a confession to make.

If you’re tracking this blog at all, you’ll know that we’re having our first Open House in over two years. For all practical purposes, I had closed the Alay’nya Studio while doing the final rewrites, edits, proofs, and publication of my most recent book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey. And then, a first year of guiding it through public introduction. Think of it has having a baby, where the last three months of “gestation time” that we need for a human child transferred into 2-3 years to bring Unveiling from raw draft to finished product.

Now, of course, it is not only available (in both trade paper and Kindle download form), Unveiling is actually the first required reading for people who want to study with me.

Obviously, though, this is a dance class. And I’m having to get my “dance groove” back on, just as you will when you join me. (Mark your calendar NOW for our Open House on Sunday, Sept. 9th, and contact me for directions and details.)

So I’m practicing. And in addition to the yoga, core, and conditioning basics, I’m back to practicing dance (and developing lesson plans, reworking choreographies and practice pieces, and all sorts of things necessary to launch a great season).

One of my favorite training DVDs is Kathryn Ferguson’s Mid-Eastern Dance: An Introduction to the Art of Belly Dance.

Years ago, this was my most significant instructional tape; then available only in VHS form. During a summer when my dance teachers took a break, I had just refinished my living room. This empty room beckoned as a new “dance studio.” The big challenge was: could I get myself to practice all on my own, without the structure and security of a dance class to guide me?

My next big question was: could I ever look like Kathryn?

I was entranced and inspired by her tape. What was most mesmerizing about her presentation was that after each (well-explained and well-demonstrated) technique section, she’d have a little vignette in which she used those techniques in an improvisational dance.

I wanted desperately to look like her, to dance like her. Even after finding my “master teachers” (Anahid Sofian and Elena Lentini; read about them in Unveiling), Kathryn remained an icon. And her VHS tape was always my reference standard for introductory teaching.

Now, I’m using her material again. This time, she’s (so thankfully!) released it as a two-volume DVD. You’ll have to contact her to get a copy; it’s not available through Amazon, and not even as a “store item” from her website. But contact her directly. (I may place a bulk order for the class, once everyone has registered for the first quarter.) The extra effort is worth it. This still remains, by far, one of the most fascinating, beautiful, and useful introductory DVDs to this beautiful and gracious art.

But my confession? Right now, I’m looking nowhere near the way that Kathryn does in her teaching DVD. Full circle. I’m back to being a student before I can be a teacher again.