Greetings from South Carolina!
I'm about to head to the West Coast and am looking forward to teaching the Argentine folkdance Chacarera at the Beat in Berkeley this Saturday at the All Night Milonga.
ANAR DANA West Coast has its last two rehearsal weekends and then it's time for their reictal "Dances Under the Crescent Moon" November 10th and 11th at Theatre4 at Seattle Center. This is a very special recital, the first in Seattle since the pandemic, because it is a collaboration of the women in Seattle and the Bay Area. We are debuting a suite of archaic songs and dances from multi-ethnic Central Bosnia that I'm excited about as well as new dances from the Logar Valley in Afghanistan. Other dances in the program are Misket Spoon Dances from Central Anatolia, the Armenian bridal dance "Uzundara", dances of the Ouled Nail tribe of Algeria, a wedding from Upper Egypt, and Balochi dances from Iran. I will also be performing dances to classical Arabic music as well as dances from Georgia and Algeria. If you are in the Seattle area do please come and support and celebrate all the hard work and enthusiasm the women have put into this performance! If you cannot come, you can help support the production financially by making a donation online on Brown Paper Tickets. But we would of course really love to have you in the audience and entertain you.
In January 2024 you can join us online from anywhere in the world for the introductory session of the ANAR DANA projects in the Bay Area and Seattle. Even if you can't join a project this, seminar is a great in-depth survey of dances styles from North Africa to Central Aisa and the survey is always different. For those of you joining a project it is the opportunity to help decide what the repertoire of the next project will be. We would love to have you come join our amazing global community of women! Remember: ANAR DANA is for everyBODY from amateur to professional, from young to old. Our community of dancers reflects the dance of real people in real communities, where everyone dances! ANAR DANA is rooted in tradition and blossoming in YOU!
At the end of November I'll be back in Germany to work with the ANAR DANA group there and to teach tango workshops and private lessons in both Göttingen and Hannover. Then mid-December I head back to Buenos Aires.
My tango classes focus on close embrace tango as it is danced at my favorite milongas in Buenos Aires. This style is highly improvisational and the partners are in a constant conversation about the music in a delicious and comfortable embrace.
I'm really loving helping visitors explore the world of tango in Buenos Aires. My new house is shaping up nicely. We are currently 3 tango teachers at the house and we are happy to have the small dance studio where we regulary teach private students! The house is perfectly located in Villa Crespo (8 blocks from La Viruta) with good public transportation connections to all the best milongas! All three of us are happy to give you lessons and we have one of the rooms free to rent to visitors (although word is getting out and you do need ot contact me well in advance to reserve a space). Come let me help you explore the world of Tango in Buenos Aires!
We have a growing library of ANAR DANA Cultural Talks that you can still watch as recordings:
1) Uzundara shared (and disputed) by both Azerbaijanis and Armenians.
2) The multicultural, Bandari region of southern Iran with it's Afro Iranian population
3) The Algerian dancing girls of the Ouled Nail tribe
4) Multicultural Bosnia
5) The mountain peoples of Georgia
6) The Saidi region of Upper Egypt
7) Palestine and the Levantine dance Dabke
8) Afghanistan and the Logar Valley
9) Zeybek Dances of Aegean Turkey
10) Misket Spoon Dances of Central Anatolia, Turkey
11) Balochistan, a land divided
12) The Sapera/Kalbelia snake charming tribe of Rajastan, Northern India
You can sign up on my homepage.
Awaken Your Dancing Body! continues to inspire me profoundly. Even though I have been teaching it twice a week since the beginning of the pandemic it still gives me an unending source of inspiration and enthusiasm! People around the world join for this hour of deep exploration of the body. This is a class for all levels of experience and capability. In fact we have had people using the class to recover from major injuries and hip replacements. People who attend regularly have seen a big difference in their bodies.
Class is EVERY Wednesday and Saturday at 10am PT You can write to me to join the Whatsapp group for these classes. Come discover new things about how your body moves!
Here is what students have to say:
"Awaken Your Dancing Body is a wonderful amalgamation of information and practices. At the end of each session I always feel better than I did when I started, and my understanding and appreciation about how my body works is improved. I've learned how and why it's important to energize the muscles of my abdomen and lower back to support the upper part of my body. I've learned how to breathe better. I've learned about body mechanics that help me move with more power and agility and without injuring myself. I've learned to experience the energy of the earth moving up through my body and out the top of my head and cascading around me. While there are some practices we do every session, each session is also completely unique as Helene shares her ever widening understanding of the human body. This is so much more than an exercise class; it is a rich and unique sharing of a lifetime of learning about.... awakening our dancing bodies!"
R.F.
"I have been awakening my dancing body with Helene, ever since we moved our classes to zoom in March 2020. I was absolutely thrilled that she established it as a weekly practise ... I have gained strength and body awareness, which has a great impact on my dancing. Form and stability have definitely improved, giving me freedom to work on expression and other details. Love! love! love it!"
C.G.
"I have been intrigued by the power of Awaken Your Dancing Body! I started taking the class to increase my strength, flexibility, alignment and control in dancing, but have been delighted to find that the learning stays with me throughout my day. How I stand washing the dishes, sit down in a chair, find my footing while hiking, even pumping up a hill on my bicycle, all are more supported, free and energized. I have dubbed this class, 'Awaken Your LIVING Body!'.
H.R.
I am especially grateful to those of you who support my work on the ANAR DANA Patreon Page. You have all made getting through these difficult times more feasible. We have new material every month: performance videos of ANAR DANA and of me (including some cool vintage footage) as well as Cultural Talks you may have missed or want to review and interviews with some of our diverse and fascinating community members. Please check out what we have to offer!!! This is a great way to support our work even if you can't attend events.
I look forward to dancing and exploring with you!
Helene
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CALENDAR
Every Wednesday & Saturday
10-11am PT
Awaken Your Dancing Body!
18 Euros for drop-ins or 60 Euros for 4 classes in one month or 95 Euros for 8 classes in one month. Men & women, old & young are all welcome to join!
Join the Whatsapp group for easy communication (send me your Whatsapp number!).
