As a professional performer and instructor, it is imperative to continue to grow in this dance. As a performer, I want my dance to be multi-faceted and learn all I can of this art form. As an instructor, I want to insure the knowledge I pass on instills the best in others. I believe if you want to grow in this dance you need guidance, and as you grow you need to pass that on. A hand up and a hand down. I try to be an inspiration to my students as I’ve been given that.
This is the second time I have brought Hadia to Seattle; partly because she is one of my mentors in this dance and partly because she has such a knowledge of this dance. Below is a message from a workshop attendee, Imei, about her own experience at the recent Hadia workshop….
Yours in dance,
Nadira
www.nadira.com
A Modest Review of the Hadia Workshops in Seattle, WA – June 2008
B. Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC
I am something of a relative newbie to Egyptian cabaret. In October, I will be marking my third year of studying bellydance. Sabura encouraged me to take Hadia's workshops two years ago, but that was not the first time I had heard her name; many others had mentioned Hadia with the an aura around her name. With it came a sense of myth: Hadia would be "way out there", teaching elements that everyone in a room full of "who's who" in Seattle's bellydance scene would have already mastered, and newbies like myself would lag behind. Imagine, being fairly new to the style of dance, and warming up between the likes of award-winning dancers such as Tina Sargent and Sabura.
The reason I came back for Hadia's workshops two years later is because Hadia broke down those myths, both of what she teaches, AND what is mastery. Her first workshop on Saturday, based on her program of body logic, is an evolving epic of simple, natural movement carefully matched up with the anatomy of our bodies and her knowledge of how the body moves. Whether you are a master dancer or a newbie, or somewhere in between, Hadia had something for you. It was evident as she moved about the room: new dancers and veteran dancers were wrapping their minds and bodies around her teaching. Here's a short list of some of those teaching gems:
- unlock you from "arm prison"
- "tricking" the body into movement useful for the dance
- protect the shoulders and low back
- debunk myths about what you can and cannot do
- change the way you think about movement, so you can change your "I can't do that" to "Of course!"
- natural hand and arm placement
- breaking out of combos and choreographies
Hadia's second workshop on Sunday, "Back to Beledi" included elements of the previous day, significant time and correcting of movement essential to improvisation and interpretation of music, and a bonus -- a run through of everything using a piece of music, "New Baladi" by Mario Kirlis (BDSS Vol. 3 as well as his own album). Like the first workshop, I understood that we all had something to learn, and I smiled because this time around, I was warming up between Mish Mish and Sabura! Hadia inspired us to bring out more emotions, without necessarily dancing physically harder. In fact, I recall her shouting out, "Dance smarter, not harder" as an adaptation of the classic motto, "Work smarter, not harder." The incredible part is that after taking 6 hours of her workshop (on top of three hours of rehearsal and teaching yoga the same weekend), my body felt quite well. That's the magic of Hadia's technique and doing things small and large, not just large, and with proper alignment. By practicing what she taught in her body logic workshop, we were able to leave her Back to Beledi workshop feeling joyful and released.
What I loved about the workshop is that there was a wonderful, unintimidating environment for learning. Practicing in a circle helped to feel the motion in the body instead of looking at yourself in the mirro, and Hadia went around the room giving every person occasional corrections. She also added in instruction based on what she observed in the majority of dancers, giving her class a very organic and progressive flow. With alignment principles and "rules" that you could follow, she offered elements to lower our risk for injury in the long run or assess our own bodies and limits in case some wanted to do movement that she didn't recommend. As if that wasn't enough, we received an informative yet practical mini lecture on the roots and evolution of beledi, and with dancers like Zulaika and Mish and Sabura in the house, the wealth of shared knowledge on the subject provoked a lively discussion, again with an emphasis on teaching beyond choreographies and combinations. For someone who likes analysis (and would tend to be writing a lot of things down), this was more the kind of workshop to write minimally, and just listen and learn on the spot. I am sure that I was not the only one who went home and danced around my house that evening, just playing with all the possibilities Hadia so skillfully and playfully demonstrated.
All the while, Nadira was keeping the whole weekend rocking. I'm actually enjoying being in a place where I can take these kinds of weekend workshops and have time to digest it. Nadira and our many area promoters of shows do so much work behind the scenes, and I hope that at least part of the payoff is seeing our smiling faces, as well as our dances improve over time. Thank you Nadira.
I have many more things to say in the positive about the workshops, but I would rather end this review with a simple thought. I wish Hadia well in her decision to enter retirement/semi-retirement, yet we would all be thrilled if it's "just for now", and she would return to our neck of the woods soon. Otherwise, we might have to form a team of people willing to travel to Nova Scotia, and bang on her doors for more workshops and trainings.
B. Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC
www.dreamyogaanddance.com
