Bwitchs International Online Bellydance Festival
About
The pandemic has ushered in a new reality. On one hand the social distancing is almost like a tearing of the social fabric as we know it. There is isolation and turmoil at various levels – within and around with no clear sense of how long this would last. This time is uncertain and disempowering in many ways and most crisises, the poorest are always the hardest hit.
The plight of the migrant workers distressed me. They were forced to leave the cities they worked in with just a few hours’ notice, unable to pay for travel, rent or food. While all forms of public transport were stopped, several workers began their arduous journey by foot. With inter-state borders blocked, they were stranded in between. For those who made it, it wasn’t a pleasant welcome. They were asked to be quarantined for at least two weeks.
Our Prime Minister was asking the more privileged people to put up a spectacle of lights while on the other hand the poor man’s plight was becoming a shameful spectacle.
Not enough was being done for the poor who are biggest constituent of our society, our support system and the foundation on which the middle-class, the well-to-do and the rich build their lives.
Hence I strongly felt the need for us artists to rise up and use our resources to support those who need us most. I have always been drawn to art and activism as reflected in my past events.
Hence I conceptualised an event for the bellydance and artist community at large. It would include all genres of bellydance and provide a 360 degree view in terms of offering so as to inspire and connect us in times like these while serving the vulnerable who urgently need support.
Teachers
Offer End Date: 5th July
Terms & Conditions:
- The video access will be valid for 2 months
- All content is copyrighted under Bwitchs International Bellydance Festival. Action will be taken if the content is shared/hosted on any other platform without the owner being Informed
- Access is permitted to user email id who paid for the festival only
- The purchased package is non-transferable & Non-refundable
- Change of package prices & video access is at the sole discretion of the owners of the video
Workshops
- Group
Dance is one of the most ancient forms of devotional worship and ritual celebration as movement is life and life is motion! The human body itself is a powerful instrument of connection, communion and expression; literally a microcosmic manifestation of the macrocosm, infused with the force of creation. Through intentional awareness and movement (dance), we can access this power and consciously work with and through it. We can open portals of
catalyst, renewal, and healing, both for ourselves personally, and for the collective.
This workshop will support you in moving your dance practice and performance beyond the spheres of entertainment, fitness or socialization into the rich realms of ritual and magic. Approaching our dance as ritual is a way to cultivate awareness and direct intentional energy to create positive transformation in ours and others lives. It is a sacred act of honoring both The Self and The Dance in their highest potential. When we approach our dance journey with intention we are afforded a beautiful opportunity to know our inner power and move into a more uplifted and connected state of being.
This workshop will be half lecture/discussion/Q and A and half embodiment practice. We will cover:
Clarifying and refining the intentions of your dance practice and performance Creating structure in your dance life to continually align with and energize your chosen intentions Following the flow of your true inspiration to create meaningful work Make conscious, magical and effective choices for your costuming, music, etc
Taking care of your body as the ritual instrument it is/staying energetically clear Created sacred space for your dance practice or performance The importance of strong technique in our sacred dance alchemy.
A workshop to teach you how to look after your body and give yourself self care. Tired, aching and tight muscles are common in dancers, in this workshop you will learn how to take care of your body with easy techniques you can do yourself at home.
Please bring a towel, tennis ball and rolling pin or something similar like bamboo stick.
FatChanceBellyDance®Style (also known as ATS®) is a unique, improvisational style of dance influenced by the beautiful folk dances of India, Africa, Middle East and Spain. Students learn the movement vocabulary along with cues and combinations to create a unique dance experience in every class and performance. All while gaining better body awareness, learning a new art form and feeling more confident celebrating our unique bodies! In this workshop, we’ll focus on some of the core movements and concepts of this dance style.
Whether you are new to this prop or a seasoned professional we’ll get your confidence razor sharp as we go through our unique Florida Tribal Dance vocabulary of Improvisational & Fusion movements and combos! We’ll work on balance techniques to slow and fast music as well as holding steps to create a full movement repertoire.
Challenge and improve your dance technique, learn how to transition smoothly between movements, connect with the music and lyrics and make it visible! Technique and combination on the beautiful and romantic notes by the Lebanese singer Fairuz.
Have you ever attended a dance practice workshop taught by a professional dancer who does this as their “day job” and thought “this just isn’t realistic physically or in terms of time”? Lisa has and that is why she created this workshop. This workshop is for regular, everyday dancers who have non-dance jobs, families, and occasionally eat doughnuts before heading to dance class. Lisa will teach science-based strategies for maintaining motivation, sustaining habits and using “cues” in your everyday routine to help these new strategies become second nature. You will leave this workshop understanding how to create a regular dance practice routine that:
1. Encourages the use of habits for short-term sustainability
2. Operationalizes the theory of motivation based on emotions for long-term sustainability.
Challenge your multi-tasking abilities with this fun layering drill! Start with a few basic moves and see how many layers you can create. A great practice drill for belly dancers of all levels. This drill focuses on layering shimmies with isloations. Challenge your coordination and isolations skills by stacking the different movements first slowly and then speeding up to full time.
And for those who love challenges, there is an exciting contest awaiting you and a chance to win prizes!
As dancers we make use of a lot of recorded music for performances, teaching classes and recording videos of our work. Like any artistic work, the music we use is copyrighted material and has certain use rights attached to it. Most of us want to do the right thing but navigating the world of music rights can be intimidating. This overview will help answer questions such as. .-What exactly is a copyright?
· What rights does buying a piece of music grant you?
· What is the difference between public performance, synchronization and mechanical rights?
· What does it mean when a piece of music is in the public domain?
· And more!
Note: The information presented in this presentation is in no way intended to replace the legal advice that could be obtained by engaging the services of an attorney. The following information is intended only as a general overview of music rights as it relates to dance performance.
Get your foundations strong for dance, in this class you will learn how to strengthen your posture, gain flexibility and understand how your core controls balance and power. Whether a beginner or advanced dancer you will love this class.
Join Terri Allred as she helps you to explore how to overcome the self doubt that can prevent you from actualizing your dance dreams. We will learn easy steps that you can start taking today, to become the bad-ass belly dancer you were meant to be!
A dancers journey doesn’t come with a manual. Art being individualistic means each ones journey is unique which can also be rather lonely. Every artist deals can relate to moments of doubt, indecision, fear around expressing themselves. This panel discussion discusses the journey of an artist and draws inspiration from two dancers Meher Malik and Darren Ho who have found their truest personal expression through their art and made their mark in the dance world, thereby inspiring and empowering others. We hope to in this interactive panel discussion along with Nidhi Thakkar and Leena Viie bring insight and inspiration in a way to help emerging and also establshed artists to see whats holding them back and pointing them forward to their next level. , Such that it feels authentic, true and satisfying while also carving out an identity in the artistic world with pointers of what it takes to be empowered and successful
Taking your dance onto the stage may seem like a daunting task, but in this workshop we will prepare you to be audience ready ! No matter if this is your first performance, your first solo, or you simply want to be more professional (and more bookable !), this workshop will navigate you through the pitfalls so you can delight your event organizer, your audience and yourself. Based on the bestselling book “Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage”, Sara will accompany you through the key stages of evolving a dance into a performance, presenting yourself as a pro, promotion, etiquette and stage fright. By the end of this workshop, you will feel confident, prepared and excited for your next performance.
Techniques and Combinations
1.5 Hours
Level: Intermediate
This workshop will cover: a warm up focused on stretching, primary gesture drills, isolation combos, technique training and choreographed dance phrases which express the beauty and sophistication of Colleena’s dance format – Indian Fusion Formation.
Stylistically speaking, this Indian Fusion movement vocabulary is inspired by cultural dances of India and the Middle East (including its modern evolutions). This dance bridges modern and folkloric Belly Dance vocabulary with extensive postures and spins of North Indian classical and folk dance, intricacies of eyes, hands and facial expression from Eastern Indian classical dance and draws in elements of Central Asian dances as well. Woven seamlessly together, Indian Fusion Dance is both Ancient & Modern – expressing timeless qualities and values. For more information on Colleena’s new INDIAN FUSION FORMATION program, please visit: http://www.colleenashakti.com/indian-fusion-formation. There are exciting prizes awaiting those who drill the combination, participate in our contest and win!
This one hour seminar will cover how to get the best results from your smartphone. Not everyone has a point and shoot camera or a professional quality digital camera, but you can still get decent results with most recent model mobile phones! We will cover photography basics like composition, negative space, and making your images “pop”. We will also cover lighting basics, and ideas for a home studio. Time will be left for questions and discussions. This seminar does not cover phone camera technique. It assumes you are comfortable using your phone’s camera and can adjust the exposure, use the built in filters, and basic features.
If you are willing to do mental work, almost anything can be healed.” – Louise Hay “Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness” – Amy Collette Affirmations are primarily the practice of positive thinking and self-empowerment. More specifically, an affirmation is a carefully formatted statement that should be repeated to one’s self and written down frequently. For affirmations to be effective, it is said that they need to be present tense, positive, personal and specific. Gratitude helps people feel more positive, relish good experiences and build strong relationships. It is a feeling of being thankful and appreciative and can bring a great amount of abundance in your lives. Here we have a practical class on how you can write affirmations and gratitude for situations like health, prosperity, positive thoughts, dealing with a disease, relationships and general wellbeing. Learn this amazing technique by sitting in the comfort of your own homes, with Madhura Vayal, a nutritionist, chef and entrepreneur who has mastered this technique practically for herself and her patients too!
The smallest things can change your dance in big ways. We do not often think about our breathing habits and patterns as we dance. Our prana, or life force energy, can be controlled to create a more powerful, energetic performance while also keeping us calm and increasing our stamina. We’ll learn the physical and mental aspects of prana and most importantly, the positive impact it can have on our practice and performance.
Kathak is an Indan Classical Dance form that originated in Northen India. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means “story”. Kathak dancers tell various stories through their hand movements, extensive footwork and facial expressions.
The focus of this class will be drilling kathak derived beautiful arm patterns and controlled, precise spins
We will begin with a breakdown of beautiful arm patterns and variations, a great way to begin to warm up the body and ground oneself. You will learn the aesthetic craft of using the fingers, wrists and forearms to create stylised spirals, circles and lines which can used to embellish your dance style.
These will then be combined with turns.
There will also be a spotlight on varied fascinating spins Kathak has to offer – from slow to fast, from on the spot to travelling.
Finally, we will drill a dance phrase that features arm patterns and spins.
India Classical Fusion Bellydance is an amalgamation of belly dancing techniques with elements from Indian classical dance forms to create a new aesthetic. It’s a blend that strikes a balance between ‘bold’ and ‘beautiful’!
Bollywood Fusion Bellydance:
Bollywood has come to become a global phenomenon. Integrating some iconic elements with the traditional techniques of belly dancing results in a fusion so elegant yet entertaining.
Belly-Bollywood fusion- one where every move is ‘hypnotic’. There is an exciting contest for those who want to challenge themselves.
The online learning revolution has been building for over a decade. And now with the current world-wide pandemic and associated quarantine, the online learning experience has become an even more important element of our daily lives. Whether you’ve always planned to take your dance online, or are forced to do so suddenly in this unprecedented time, this workshop is just what you need to take your presence online quickly and as easily and possible.
In this course we will dive into how you can use basic equipment you may already have to simply and effectively dance and teach in the online realm. We will cover the ins and outs of basic tech setup (camera, lighting, sound) and space arrangement to maximize your ability to translate your teaching to an online format as well as how teaching online differs from an in-person format.
At the end of the class you will have all the basics needed to move into the online world with confidence and grace.
I’ve been teaching online for the past eight years and have learned A LOT in that time. I pride myself in creating engaging, quality content while keeping my setup and process as simple as possible, allowing me to quickly and inexpensively create content on a very regular basis. In this course, I’ll share with you many secrets of both live and recorded class setups and answer your questions in order to help you design the perfect online situation for your dance.
Through this lecture-demonstration, Shruti will introduce you to the concept of the awalim and the ghawazee performers, who were considered some of Egypt’s early professional “belly dancers.” Way before ‘Raqs Sharqi’ gained status as a theatrical form, the performances by the Awalem and Ghawazee performers were central to the development of the arts in Egypt and were considered important for social gatherings/public entertainment. Even though Raqs Sharqi grew in popularity, the Awalim and Ghawazee performers continued to operate and are still an
integral part of Egyptian life in modern times.This class will chart the complex history of Egypt’s earliest performers. We will take a look at the evolution and the changes faced by these two factions of performers and how their
existence and fortunes were impacted by certain sociocultural and economic circumstances. We will also take a closer look at some popular examples of early performers, study movement, music, costuming and its impact on the Raqs Sharqi we know and practice today.
Madhura will share her insights from her rich experience of being a nutritionist, chef and entrepreneur. We will discuss and set out to answer
What is is a balanced diet? Do we need supplements?
Where does your energy come from?
What foods provide the greatest source of energy?
What combination of foods provide an optimum energy diet?
How nutrition can support our fitness requirements?
Why read your food labels?
What does the nutrition information mean?
How transforming your diet can change the way you feel and function.
The veil is our wings, an extension of our bodies during a performance. This classic bellydance prop can serve to express several emotions– joy, sensuality, sadness, passion. We will drill and dance many transitions, spins, flourishes and cresendos. All the movements will be put together in a beautfiul, show ready veil sequence. There is an exciting contest for those who wish to challenge themselves and a chance to win prizes.
Come join in for a high energy, easy to follow Bolly-Belly Fusion class. The fun combination will be to a popular Bollywood track. Feel free to bring a partner, buddy, sibling or anyone who youd like to groove and move with. Bring your enthusiasm and a bottle of water and leave with a sweat and a big smile.
A special workshop looking at essential oils and how you can use them to support physical and mental wellbeing. Maybe you need focus right before a performance or get good sleep before a big show. Whatever your needs, aromatherapy has something for you. You can use these wonderful magical oils in your dancers life and beyond.
There are Hundreds of Chakras in the body, The Chakra that is most required and used in Belly Dancing is the Manipur Chakra. It is the seat of Power. In this session, Aziz will explain the Characteristics of the Manipur chakra.
Learn
1) The description and characteristics of it
2) Its Location and Colour
3) Some Asanas to activate it
4) The Mantra to awaken it
5) The Devi associated with it
6) Its animal
7) And various other aspects, like no of petals, emotions, etc Most importantly
8) How to activate and energise it
This will be followed by a practical meditation and visualization to purify and energise the Manipur Chakra.
For thousands of years women have experienced the healing and transformative powers of Belly Dance. Like so many art forms Bellydance has its roots in reverential and ritual worship; particularly linked to Mother Goddess
and the feminine creative principle. It is an enchanting embodied language encoded with the ancient stories of life cycles, creativity, celebration, and divine energy.
Not only is it beautiful to behold and witness but it also works from the inside out healing, opening and enlivening both the physical and energetic bodies. In this workshop we will connect with belly dance movements in their transformative potential dancing our way into s state of revitalization and personal self-renewal. We will open to the mystical power of the dance as we align with the deeper meaning of serpents, undulations, waves, spirals, circles and infinity loops, Through embodied exploration , we will clear and tune our energetic centers, connect with our inner source of creative power and move vitalizing energy through the entire body.
This workshop will serve as a powerful consecration and celebration of our body temples! We will discover through palpable experience how bellydance can activate inner radiance and be a source of empowerment and enlivenment.
Open to all levels. This would be a beautiful workshop for a new dancer to discover how bellydance can be a powerful practice to support overall wellness and restoration. For an experienced dancer it will offer a path to deepening and connecting with belly dance movements for more enhanced, fully embodied expression.
Focus: Travel
Patterns & Shimmies
There are very limited foot patterns used in Belly Dance.. let’s change that. We’ll begin the workshop with some interesting travel patterns and layer it up with various Belly Dance moves as we progress.
Shimmies. A self explanatory term. And a very important skill set required in every belly dancers repertoire. Second part of this session would comprise of breaking down the basics followed by multiple drills ranging from simple to intermediate.
In the last section of this class we shall pull out all the stops and top all the travel patterns with some crazy shimmies.
Workshop Level – Open For All
Workshop Material – Simple to challenging,
technique work, diagnostic tools, practice drills & performance ready combos.
As a dancer, our body is our instrument. Having even a basic understanding of anatomy will help you understand how to fine tune your instrument to find more range of motion, better isolation, strength and fluidity.
Join DeAnna for this brief, but exciting look at our bodies, the joints and muscles that create our most popular movements and tips on how to refine your skills with this new knowledge.
Have you ever wondered what is the life of a bellydancer in another country? What does it take to be successful? Are the formulas to success similar across the board? What are the struggles they face? What are their journeys? What did they learn along the way? This interactive, never seen before panel discussion is joined by top performing artists – Shahrzad (Egypt, USA), Zara Abdelrehman (Egypt, UK), Farah Haraf (Dubai), Bianca Ramos (UK) and Leena Viie (India). Come us them as they will take questions from the audience and yes this promises to be an insightful, entertaining, revealing and real!!
Baladi is the social dance of the Egyptian people that carries more than dance steps, it is culture and traditions. The workshop focuses on choreography to give you an idea of what kind of steps, feelings and personality you can use when performing Baladi. We will discuss the difference between baladi song and baladi progression as well, the essential technique and dance vocabulary of baladi. There will be “Taqsim” exercises that can help you to explore your inner dance voice for developing your own improvisational practice.
Let’s dive into the epoch of black-and-white movies in Egypt and learn the movements of the brightest dancers of 40-50s – Samia Gamal, Taheya Carioca and Naima Akef. There will be an exciting contest and prizes for winners for those who want to drill the combination taught and make it their own!!!
Join Dawn Devine aka Davina, as she presents her roadmap for business promotion using Facebook’s built-in marketing tools. Bottom line – Facebook is an advertising agency. So they have created numerous features and opportunities for using the platform to promote your business. Over the course of this talk, I’ll be presenting several systems that you can put into place to build a more interactive community, find new patrons for classes, workshops, and belly dance products. We’ll also explore the relationship between Instagram and Facebook so you can effectively share content marketing.
Techniques and Combinations
1.5 Hours
Level: Intermediate
This workshop will cover: a warm up focused on stretching, primary gesture drills, isolation combos, technique training and choreographed dance phrases which express the beauty and sophistication of Colleena’s dance format – Indian Fusion Formation.
Stylistically speaking, this Indian Fusion movement vocabulary is inspired by cultural dances of India and the Middle East (including its modern evolutions). This dance bridges modern and folkloric Belly Dance vocabulary with extensive postures and spins of North Indian classical and folk dance, intricacies of eyes, hands and facial expression from Eastern Indian classical dance and draws in elements of Central Asian dances as well. Woven seamlessly together, Indian Fusion Dance is both Ancient & Modern – expressing timeless qualities and values. For more information on Colleena’s new INDIAN FUSION FORMATION program, please visit: http://www.colleenashakti.com/indian-fusion-formation.
Kami will share some quick technical drills for clean, seamless arm movement. From there will take these smooth arm movements and apply them to combinations including isolations, shimmies and traveling patterns. These combinations are brand new and have never been taught before. Get ready for an exciting contest at the end of this workshop and a chance to win prizes!
These exciting workshops are donation based. We depend on your ‘give-backs’ to come a full circle and make a change.
Details on how you can contribute coming up shortly. Stay tuned!
*All timing are in Indian Standard Time. See time in various time zones, click here.
Collaborators
We would like to thank our collaborators for their support and generosity.
You will hear more about their heartfelt contributions and gifts during the festival
