Sacred Circles Tribal Belly Dance Retreat

Weekend includes cabin accommodations, all workshops and activities, Friday dinner, Friday evening henna party, hafla and drum circle, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, Saturday night show, Sunday brunch, plus some special added surprises.

Teachers & Classes

This year's teachers include:

Carolena Nericcio from FCBD teaching Energetic Body, Quiet Mind

Jennifer Nolan from Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance teaching Tamarind Tricks and Adventures in ATS (including Dueling Duets!)

Elysia from Carnivale Mijnoon teaching Arm Yourself and Who me, a Flirt???

Richard Harper from Unveiled teaching Stage Makeup - From the Ground Up!

Krisztina from Czigany World Fusion Dance teaching Tribal Skirt Techniques and Sword Improv

Rune Palland, musical director of Carnivale Mijnoon, teaching Beginning Middle Eastern Drumming and Intermediate Middle Eastern Drumming

Schedule

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Pricing

The price of the 3-day workshop is $345. Workshop pricing includes:

• Morning warm-up
• All workshop classes
• Lodging from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon
• Friday night welcome banquet
• Henna party and hafla
• Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Saturday afternoon hayride to local apple orchard (weather permitting)
• Saturday night show featuring Sacred Circles teachers and special guests
• Sunday morning continental breakfast and farewell brunch
• Healthy snacks, bottled water, hot tea and coffee

We expect the event to sell out very quickly. Day packages will be available only if space permits. However, the following events and classes are available "a la carte":

• Drum class $15 each or both for $25
• Friday night hafla $10
• Saturday Tribal Reflections show $15

Don’t forget to schedule your extras! Why not pamper yourself with a relaxing massage, pedicure, or photo session. We will have all of these available at special retreat prices.

Registration

Contact

For more information contact Krisztina via email or telephone at 586-321-1731.

Workshop Descriptions

Three 2-hour days with Carolena

Stop thinking and start dancing!

Through a series of engaging exercises your will turn your mind off and switch your body on.

Steps and gestures will translate from consciousness to muscle memory and ultimately to alpha waves. By virtue of internalizing the movements and releasing your thought process, you will be able to share a "thought bubble" with your partners and allow the music to move you. Trust me on this, it's going to blow your mind. I am excited to share this with you! Please join me!

Please be versed in the basics: Taxeem, Bodywave, Hand Floreos and Arm Undulations, Shimmy, basic Arabic, basic Eygptian, Pivot Bump and Choo-choo.

Bring: zils, a full skirt is recommended but not mandatory.

These concepts and moves are used exclusively by Tamarind and are not FCBD ATS vocabulary (yet!) but are based on ATS foundations and principals. Carolena likes them!

In this workshop we let you in on some of Tamarinds best kept secrets! Please feel free to use these in performance, as long as you credit the source, but do refrain from teaching them to your students as "Fat Chance moves". We are working on getting them accepted by Carolena, but in the mean time you can still learn some new slow moves and variations such as the Slow Diagonal Fade, the Strong Arm, the Ecstatic, and our favorite, When Camels Attack! We will also let you in on some Tamarind variations on the advanced fast movements covered in "Adventures in ATS".

Students must be proficient in Level 1 FCBD ATS moves.

Wet Dog? Water Pot? Sunanda? In this workshop we introduce you to our advanced ATS moves, many of them developed by Megha Gavin of Devyani Dance. The first half will explore advanced slow such as the Sahra turn, Wraparound turn and Barrel turn. In the second half we rev things up with the Re-Shamka, Sunanda, Water Pot and more.

Students must be proficient in Level 1 and Level 2 FCBD ATS moves.

Feeling pretty secure with your hip movements and just don't know what to do with your arms? Come take this class and learn beautiful, graceful and sensuous arm movements influenced by many dance forms. Middle Eastern, Oriental, Ballet, Flamenco, Rom, Persian, Rajasthani, etc. Empower your dancing by taking control of your arms and hands.

Learn the fine art of flirting with the people you are performing for. Honest, flirting is a good thing and can be a lot of fun for both you and your audience.

This 3-hour class will begin with a discussion of bone structure and facial shape. Your face is a blank canvas as soon as the lights hit you – it is important to reconstruct your facial structure to put your best look forward. We will discuss product type, application techniques, concealer techniques, products to avoid for specific skin types and setting makeups for stage work.

Please bring your makeup kit, tissues, towels, makeup remover, eye makeup remover, applicators (brushes, sponges, Q-tips), false eyelashes and adhesive to the class. This class will be completely hands-on with demonstrations and personal attention. Questions about problems with makeup and skin issues highly encouraged.

Add some flare to your dance with "gypsy" tribal skirt techniques. From slow and sultry to fast and flirty, skirt techniques are a fun way to liven up your dance. Includes steps and combinations designed to fit into any tribal improv style.

Add some danger to your dance! With steps, combinations and cues designed to fit into any tribal group improv format, you will take your dancing to the next level using this awe inducing prop without the need for choreography.

This class will cover the basics of Middle Eastern drumming, including the basic sounds and playing techniques on the doumbek, two beginning rhythms, and some warm-ups and exercises. We will also go over some tips on getting the most out of practice time. Although this class is targeted at beginning drummers the class will be tailored for the skill levels of the drummers attending - drummers at all levels are encouraged to attend.

There will be several extra drums in the event some participants do not have a drum but everyone is strongly encouraged to bring a drum if they have it.

This class will briefly review the basics of Middle Eastern drumming and will then introduce several new playing techniques on the doumbek, some new rhythms, and some variations on the rhythms covered in the beginning class. Time will also be spent covering additional drills and there will be a short discussion on the importance of good practice habits.

There will be several extra drums in the event some participants do not have a drum but everyone is strongly encouraged to bring a drum if they have it.

Instructor Bios

	Carolena Nericcio Carolena Nericcio is the founder and director of FatChanceBellyDance, a Bay Area phenomenon that has become known around the world. Her vision has delighted the audience with the exuberance, vitality, beauty and power expressed by the strong and agile dancers. Carolena has developed a method of improvisational choreography, using a vocabulary of natural movements and cues allowing the dancers to communicate via gesture when dancing together. The effect is a vibrant thread drawing the audience into the tapestry. This system is called American Tribal Style Belly Dance. To complement the system, she created a costuming style that includes full headdresses and layers of ethnic jewelry, celebrating the folkart of the old world. The music, a carefully chosen collection of both traditional sounds and modern fusion adds to the effect...Tribal Style looks "old" but it is actually "new."
	Jennifer Nolan Jennifer Nolan has been studying and teaching tribal belly dance since 2001 and began teaching FatChanceBellyDance American Tribal Style belly dance exclusively in 2005. She became a certified teacher and FCBD Sister Studio in 2007. She is the director of Tamarind Tribal Belly Dance, and teaches ATS classes and workshops in Milwaukee, and throughout the Midwest.
	Elysia Hafsa Elysia Hafsa is the Dance Director, Student Director and Co-Choreographer for Carnivale Mijnoon Music and Dance Company. She has a broad range of skills learned while studying a variety of Middle Eastern Dance styles through classes, workshops and events with various professional teachers. She has been performing since 1990 and teaching since 1993. She continues her study of the fascinating art of belly dance in order to bring new and exciting elements of dance to both her audiences and students.
	Richard Harper Richard Harper has had a successful career as a hair and makeup artist working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours and regional opera companies, as well as print work, portrait work and industrial films. He has worked for the Broadway companies of Les Miserables, Grease, Blood Brothers, Kiss of the Spider Woman, My Fair Lady, Cabaret and Sugar Babies, among others, and has been lucky enough to work with great stars of the stage: Vanessa Williams, Carole King, Rosie O’Donnell, Joel Grey, Debbie Allen, Ann Miller, Kim Criswell, Maureen McGovern, Andrea McArdle, Werner Klemperer, Lea Salonga, Regina Resnik and Kay McClelland. He holds cosmetology licenses in several states, has worked as a platform artist and colorist and also specializes in wig construction, repair and design.
	Rune Palland Rune Palland started his musical career playing trombone and baritone horn at the age of 12, and played low brass with the Wayne State University orchestra for three years. In autumn of 2000, he began studying Middle Eastern percussion and music, and has studied from Oussama Naja, Souhail Kaspar, Raquy Danzinger, Kevin Hartnell, and others. Rune has performed at local Renaissance Fairs and festivals, Lebanese and Egyptian weddings, Middle Eastern restaurants, the International Arab Festival in Dearborn, MI, Chaldean weddings and henna parties, museum exhibit openings, Pennsic, and other private events. His playing style has been inspired and influenced by his teachers and such performers as Hossam Ramzy, Issam Houshan, Faisal Zedan, and Setrak Sarkissan. Rune continues to study Middle Eastern percussion and music, participates in the local drumming community, and performs with several local world music bands. He is available to teach workshops, private lessons, and performances at various events.