Yay...it's summer time which also means vacation time for many. I've always enjoyed getting some time away from the studio to take part in a belly dance retreat...for me that's vacation bliss! Some place I can take off my teacher hat and immerse myself as a student along with other dancers looking for some dancer nourishment and revitalization. In addition to having my work days filled with teaching lots of classes at BellyUp, much of every day is spent researching, practicing and developing my class plans and curriculums, choreographies and teaching concepts for the studio and workshops. So the opportunity to get away and take a variety of Master classes with some of my favourite Egyptian dancers and teachers is heaven to me. Next week I'll be off to Dallas for Little Egypt's version of Ahlan Wa Sahlan festival and I'll be in classes Thursday through Sunday with Aida Nour, Asmahan, Lubna Eman all from Egypt and Zahra Zuhair from the U.S. I can hardly wait! And can hardly wait to get back and share all the cool things I'm sure I'll have learned.
Since many of you might be deciding where to go on summer vacation, it's also a good time to think about where you want to go with your belly dancing. And you have many options. Do you want to join a dance troupe? Perform at a student hafla or next year's student recital. Make your very first costume. Take some private lessons and work on your first solo dance. Work on some areas you want to improve on. Whatever option you choose, it'll require setting some goals and with September around the corner, it's a great time to map out your plan and get ready to dig into achieving your dream. And if you need help in mapping out your direction, you can always speak with me as to the best route to go. We'll take some time to sit down together and discuss where it is you want to go. An assessment of your dance and where it's at is a valuable tool in helping you to make progress. We're our hardest critics so the chance to sit down with your teacher one-on-one and find out what you're doing well and areas you'll want to focus on can really give you the big picture and a workable action plan to help you move forward. Know that whatever you choose to do, you'll do it well, with passion, dignity and pride in your dance and you'll look back this time next summer and reflect on how far you've come in such a short time.
