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WelcomeWednesday, November 4, 2009 at 9:50 PM |
Welcome to my blog. I am finally taking the plunge. My plan for this blog is to be a personal account of my experience in dance which
includes but is not limited to styles of dance, classes, teaching, learning, music, events, costuming, therapeutic movement, random experiences and anything else that strikes my fancy.
I figured I'd start with how i was lead to Romany dance...so lets get started.
If you have seen be perform in the last couple of years, you've probably seen me add a touch of Romany to my pieces. When I see performance, I often wonder, "How did they learn that? What inspired them to learn that style of dance and fuse it? How did they meet their teacher?
So, here is my story as to how it all began and it began at Tribal Revolution 2006 when I took Zafira's Gypsy Spins Class taught by
Christine. Christine had studied and Rajasthan and brought back what she had learned and experienced. I was hooked immediately
and it wasn't just the spinning. It was the foot work, the hip work, the attitude. I went home totally inspired and started reading about
Rajasthan and quickly made the connection to the word "Romany". I had a bit of an "aha" moment and wanted to learn more. However, my inspiration was derailed. The troupe I was dancing with disbanded and unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of it.
My father had been battling cancer for a while and it didn't look like things were getting any better. My focus shifted completely off dance. Tragically my father passed away on February 26, 2007. As I sifted through the wreckage, I tried to use movement as a coping strategy. I continued with classes and tried to create but it just wasn't there. I felt paralyzed and uninspired. Most days I just
wanted to quit. Luckily, my teacher, Stefanie Masters was extremely supportive and encouraged me to solo (Thank you, Stefanie!) which is an odd experience after dancing in a troupe for so long. It was definitely a mental block I had to get past along with everything else. I performed at a hafla and then at Tribal Revolution 2007. However, I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do or if I wanted to do anything...and then.....
My husband and I watched a film called "Everything is Illuminated". The film had me in tears. I related to the idea of a hard journey to find meaning and the music....OH MY GOD the music in this film!! two words...Gogol Bordello. I began to research the band. Yes, I can be a bit obsessive and the words "Gypsy" and "Romany" popped up again. I was inspired again. Here was a band that took the Romany sound and fused it with punk, one of my favorite music genres!!! This lead me back to my research I had begun 8 months
prior. I read articles, watched youtube videos, blogs etc but it wasn't enough. I wanted to learn actual Romany dance preferably from Eastern Europe.
Then, a fateful event occurred. I went with a group of friends (Lane and Kristel with significant others in tow) to see the film A Gypsy Caravan: When the Road Bends. After the film, there were several people passing out fliers for a concert coming to town, Yuri Yunakov to be exact so of course, we began to talk to them. One noted that she was a folk dancing teacher at Hart Park here in Milwaukee. I mentioned that I was looking for a Romany teacher and she informed me that she taught Romany Folk Dance from Eastern Europe!! Ever have one of those moments where you feel like everything comes together? Well, this was it! I went with Lane and Kristel to Hart Park for several classes. Not long after, I began private lessons and my dance started to show signs of life again.
Ode to my Romany Teacher
My teacher's name is Elaina Qureshi. I am indebted to this woman for helping me to breathe life back into my dance. The countless hours I spent in her basement learning dance after dance, song after song, styling after styling. The conversations we had about what we had read about Romany culture and not to mention her own experiences. I'm indebted to her encouragement to continue fusing this art form with bellydance. Learning Romany folk dance helped me to understand bellydance as a folk dance and the connections all dance forms have to each other. Thank you, Elaina!!!
includes but is not limited to styles of dance, classes, teaching, learning, music, events, costuming, therapeutic movement, random experiences and anything else that strikes my fancy.
I figured I'd start with how i was lead to Romany dance...so lets get started.
If you have seen be perform in the last couple of years, you've probably seen me add a touch of Romany to my pieces. When I see performance, I often wonder, "How did they learn that? What inspired them to learn that style of dance and fuse it? How did they meet their teacher?
So, here is my story as to how it all began and it began at Tribal Revolution 2006 when I took Zafira's Gypsy Spins Class taught by
Christine. Christine had studied and Rajasthan and brought back what she had learned and experienced. I was hooked immediately
and it wasn't just the spinning. It was the foot work, the hip work, the attitude. I went home totally inspired and started reading about
Rajasthan and quickly made the connection to the word "Romany". I had a bit of an "aha" moment and wanted to learn more. However, my inspiration was derailed. The troupe I was dancing with disbanded and unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of it.
My father had been battling cancer for a while and it didn't look like things were getting any better. My focus shifted completely off dance. Tragically my father passed away on February 26, 2007. As I sifted through the wreckage, I tried to use movement as a coping strategy. I continued with classes and tried to create but it just wasn't there. I felt paralyzed and uninspired. Most days I just
wanted to quit. Luckily, my teacher, Stefanie Masters was extremely supportive and encouraged me to solo (Thank you, Stefanie!) which is an odd experience after dancing in a troupe for so long. It was definitely a mental block I had to get past along with everything else. I performed at a hafla and then at Tribal Revolution 2007. However, I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do or if I wanted to do anything...and then.....
My husband and I watched a film called "Everything is Illuminated". The film had me in tears. I related to the idea of a hard journey to find meaning and the music....OH MY GOD the music in this film!! two words...Gogol Bordello. I began to research the band. Yes, I can be a bit obsessive and the words "Gypsy" and "Romany" popped up again. I was inspired again. Here was a band that took the Romany sound and fused it with punk, one of my favorite music genres!!! This lead me back to my research I had begun 8 months
prior. I read articles, watched youtube videos, blogs etc but it wasn't enough. I wanted to learn actual Romany dance preferably from Eastern Europe.
Then, a fateful event occurred. I went with a group of friends (Lane and Kristel with significant others in tow) to see the film A Gypsy Caravan: When the Road Bends. After the film, there were several people passing out fliers for a concert coming to town, Yuri Yunakov to be exact so of course, we began to talk to them. One noted that she was a folk dancing teacher at Hart Park here in Milwaukee. I mentioned that I was looking for a Romany teacher and she informed me that she taught Romany Folk Dance from Eastern Europe!! Ever have one of those moments where you feel like everything comes together? Well, this was it! I went with Lane and Kristel to Hart Park for several classes. Not long after, I began private lessons and my dance started to show signs of life again.
Ode to my Romany Teacher
My teacher's name is Elaina Qureshi. I am indebted to this woman for helping me to breathe life back into my dance. The countless hours I spent in her basement learning dance after dance, song after song, styling after styling. The conversations we had about what we had read about Romany culture and not to mention her own experiences. I'm indebted to her encouragement to continue fusing this art form with bellydance. Learning Romany folk dance helped me to understand bellydance as a folk dance and the connections all dance forms have to each other. Thank you, Elaina!!!