News and Special Events
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DG in the Press
CONGRATULATIONS to us!!
DanceGarden was awarded the 2012 "Best Place to Learn the Art of
Bellydancing" in the LA Weekly 'Best of' Award issue! Well, YOU knew
it, but now everyone else does too!
Read the writeup here!
May 2013
Special Master Class Series!
Wonderful Wednesday Workshops
with Roxxanne Shelaby
5 Wednesdays: May 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 from 6:30-7:45pm
A Master Class Series (Intermediate and above)
Intricacies and Intuition:
Technique, Choreography, Musical Interpretation & Improvisation
This Master Class series will focus on the intricacies of the movements
and a deeper understanding of the music to bring a modern refinement to
a traditional classic. We will be working on dancing to the Omm Kulthum classic
-- "Alf Leyla Wi Leyla", or, "A Thousand and One Nights".
The series will be progressive, and it is highly recommended to attend all classes or register for the series. Drop-ins will be permitted, but at your own discretion --you must be able to keep up with the pace of the class, as missed material will not be repeated.
Roxxanne Shelaby brings her Lebanese heritage and her lifelong experience in the Middle Eastern Music and Dance community to share her passion for Arabic Music and Raqs Sharqi and is committed to educating dancers about the Arabic culture, music and dance. Roxxanne is known for her improvisational ability and her musicality, bringing the music to life through her dance.>
PreRegistration is strongly recommended.
Students may also drop in for the regular class price, or class card
(No Beginner Flex, Groupon or Passports. No makeups for missed classes)
New Class
Intermediate Bellydance with DeVilla
Every Monday 6:30pm starting May 7, 2013
For Beginners ready to Move Up in the Bellydance World!
Where do you go when you've got the hang of the basics, and are ready to start putting some steps together? Right here! Join Devilla for a fun Monday class made for those of you who are ready to move up from beginers, but not quite advanced yet. Use your 5 or 10 class card or just drop in. Not available with Groupon or Beginer Flex Pass.
New Class
Beginner Bellydance with DeVilla
Every Monday 5:30pm starting May 7, 2013
A NEW TIME for Devilla's Beginner Class!
Open to even brand-new beginners. First class ever? Great!
Come sweat off those winter
pounds with a shimmy and a smile!! This class is onogoing, and open to drop-ins and those of you with a class card, Passport, Beginner Flex Pass!
June 2013
Workshop
Wonderful Wednesday Workshops
DRAMA QUEEN Intensive
with Princess Farhana
3 Wednesdays: June 5, 12 and 19 from 6-7:45pm
For advanced beginners through professional level dancers of any genre, to foster structuring strong, dynamic dance pieces of any style. You will learn to access your creativity, strengthen your performance skills, and decrease performance anxiety. You’ll gain a sense of focused professionalism both on and off stage- in performance, rehearsals, technical and lighting checks, and in the dressing room…and learn invaluable theatrical tools which will bring your dance piece from inception to a dazzling “finished product”.
Part 1: VISUAL & EMOTIONAL
Breathing and centering exercises designed to calm stage fright and get performance ready; creative guided imagery to eliminate fear and ease into accessing your emotions onstage. Learn the effects of theatrical lighting on costumes and stage makeup, and how to put together costuming and make-up that visually cues your audience to your character’s purpose
Part 2: TECHNICAL & CONCEPTUAL
Dynamic entrances and exits; show structuring concepts and using music to move your narrative; use of pauses and poses onstage, creative use of performance space, adding texture and intent to movement, introducing props to your audience, understanding theatrical directions; implementing your creative process; professionalism and dressing room etiquette, crowd control and troubleshooting for mishaps that occur on stage
PART 3 : THEATRICAL & LYRICAL
Improving your dance improvisation skills, dance fusion concepts; lyrical dance and performing to the melody; mime and non-verbal storytelling. Classic Theater Games including: audience ice-breakers, personal emotional access and dramatic portrayal skills; group trust, playful character-based exercises
Part 4: Option to perform your piece for family and friends at Princess Farhana's TIARA TUESDAYS showcase on June 24th!
* Mandatory Homework Assignments for the series, in the form of reading material and videos, will be emailed to all participants at least one week prior to the series. <
PreRegistration is very strongly recommended. Drop-ins discouraged.
(No Beginner Flex, Groupon or
Passports. No makeups for missed classes)
Workshop
"I'm With the Brand"
with Princess Farhana
Marketing and Branding for Bellydancers
Sunday, June 16 from 1pm-3:30pm
You’ve got the chops, you’ve got the look, you’re getting the jobs, you’re teaching classes…so how do you take your career to the next level? Savvy marketing and branding! Wikipedia defines Personal Branding as “the process whereby people and their careers are marketed as brands…leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable.” In this class we’ll explore branding, marketing and networking techniques for print promotions and flyers, hard copy and web flyers, and your own website You’ll also learn tried and true networking concepts for “real life” and especially for social media. This class will give you the tools for setting yourself apart from the crowd…without setting you apart from your cash!
Please bring a pad and pen for notes! Non-belly dance performers of any genre are welcome, too!
Workshop
Bellydance workshop with Zahra
Dancing to Tarab Music
Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 1pm-4pm
Dancing to Tarab Music: Traditional Arab music has an intimate ambience and aims at evoking tarab, or musical ecstasy in the performers and listeners. In this Workkshop Zahra will teach a choreography to the classic Warda song: "Ekdeb Aleyk".
Register online to secure your spot or email us for information!
New Event
Sunday PERFORMANCE SALON at DG!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Doors at 6:30pm, no sooner
Show begins at 7PM SHARP!
Join us for this cozy event where the studio becomes the stage, and students become the stars!
Got a piece you want to perform? Want to try a new choreography? Need to practice improvising for a friendly audience? Email Jenna to sign up to dance at our next Sunday Salon!
July 2013
Holiday Closures
Independence Day!
DanceGarden will be CLOSED for classes
BOTH Wed. July 3 and Thursday July 4!
Wishing you all safe and plentiful fireworks!!
All regular classes are on Sat. July 6 and Sun July 7, so you can shimmy off the barbeque and beers!
Workshop
Wonderful Wednesday Workshops
with Zahra Zuhair
4 Wednesdays: July 10, 17, 24 & 31
6:45 - 8:45 (This special series will take the place of Zahra's regular weekly 7:45 class)
For those interested, we will perform the choreography at the Moun of Tunis Showcase in August!
Lia’s mission is to touch the lives of as many people around her and around the world as she can, showing them the beauty of dance while providing an outlet for people to feel amazing about their bodies, take time out for themselves, make new friends and see the beauty of this world through dance.
Guest Workshops
Lia Muniz:
All the way from Australia!
2 Workshops with this Brazilian Native!
Saturday, July 27, 2013 from 2:30 - 4pm
Samba Reggae/ Samba Funk workshop:
From the vibrant Samba hip movements of Rio’s Carnival, the ‘tropical sunset’ feel of Bahia’s Samba Reggae to the infectious beats of Rio’s ‘Funk’ parties…
Join Brazilian/Australian Samba Queen Lia as she takes you on a dance/fitness journey of Brazil and her hometown Rio de Janeiro in this jam-packed workshop.
Bring water and a towel as you will smile, sweat it out and shake those hips!
Sunday, July 28th, 2013 from 3 - 5pm
Belly/Samba Fusion Workshop
Two countries, two cultures and an array of fabulous hip movements beyond the veils and feathers…
From Brazil to Egypt, use your hips to showcase the similarities and differences of two amazing countries, cultures and costumes and then put this into practise with a fast and fabulous
Egyptian drum solo/ Rio Carnival choreography that will leave your audience ‘Hip’-notized…
(You are welcome to bring a Belly dance/ Samba costume and feathers if you have them!)
Special Series
ITS: Improvisational Tribal Style
4 Sundays: July 21, 28; August 4, 11 from 12:30 - 2:30pm
Now is your chance to learn Improvisational Tribal Style Bellydance in the style of UNMATA! Always danced in a group, ITS relies on a series of cues and combos to create a group synergy through improvisation. This cohesiveness happens very quickly - within minutes you will be following and leading dance cues you didn’t know when you walked in, with people you have just met! Once you know the basic vocabulary, you can dance with other ITS students anytime, anywhere!
We will dance Hot Pot ITS, as created by Amy Sigil of Unmata . HPITS is a wonderful introduction to bellydance for beginners, and an enticing style for experienced dancers to add to their repertoires. All levels are welcome! ITS 1 is usually taught as an 8-week course, but we will tackle two weeks’ worth of material each session to learn it all in 4 weeks!
Students should wear yoga pants or similar (flowy skirts are not ideal for HPITS) and a snugly-fitting top or bare midriff (so instructor can see body movement). Bring water and an eagerness to learn. Dance is for everyone! Women and men of all ages welcome!
Jennifer Knott Biswas has been dancing Hot Pot ITS for 5 years and is a certified HPITS teacher.
She dances with the ITS bellydance troupe, The Nautch Conspiracy (www.facebook.com/NautchConspiracy) and with the L.A. Bellydance Improv Academy, or L.A.B.I.A..
She is also a member of Belly Fusion Los Angeles (B.F.L.A.) (http://bellyfusionla.com/wp/). Her other love is fire, and she directs the Los Angeles-based fire arts company,
Entropy Arts Firedance, as well as the 50-person Burning Man fire conclave, L.A. Fire Brigade. Jenn is primarily interested in the fusion of dance with technical fire spinning,
large-scale choreography, the community-building and therapeutic aspects of ITS, and the transformational effects that dance, fire spinning, and all flow arts create in peoples’ lives.