Daily Belly Dance Wisdom

This week I'll be sharing little pearls from the poetry of Hafiz, along with images of the Tree of Life from various Asian and Middle Eastern traditions. Hafiz was a 14th Century Persian Sufi poet - not quite Rumi's contemporary, but in the same tradition of ecstatic, devotional, mystical poetry. (I'll be quoting from Daniel Ladinsky's translations.) The Tree of Life is a symbol common to almost every culture worldwide, a symbol of spiritual attainment, worldly abundance and spiritual gifts, even of the mysterious structure of the cosmos. The symbol is often found in the rugs and tapestries of the East. The one above is a tapestry from South India.

We have not come here to take prisoners,

But to surrender ever more deeply
To freedom and joy.

We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love.

*By the way, if you want to get Daily Belly Dance Wisdom (and my other posts) delivered directly to your in-box or reader, now you can! I've added subscription links in the right sidebar - Yay!*

Daily Belly Dance Wisdom

you are precious
you are golden
you are utterly unique.

when you express yourself, it is a gift.

honour us with your gifts today.

xo

Daily Belly Dance Wisdom

This week I'll be featuring vintage images of dancers for our Daily Belly Dance Wisdom - enjoy!!

Moving from centre. That's it - probably my juiciest, pithiest, most useful bit of dance-and-life wisdom, served up on this rainy November Friday. Modern dance brought to our consciousness what the belly dancers have known all along; emotion and meaning move through the muscle, from the core, and if we want to speak to our audience of the deepest things, we must bring it from the deepest place. How can you move from your centre, in dance and in life today?

Belly Dancers of the Golden Age: Naima Akef

1929 - 1966
Naima's parents were acrobats in the famous Akef Circus, run by Naimas grandfather. She began as a circus performer, then became a nightclub dancer in Cairo, and finally a star of cinema. Her film career was prolific, and she danced and acted until two years before her untimely death in 1966.

Dances of Hope - Benefit Belly Dance Show

A few weeks ago I had the honour of participating in a benefit show organized by my friend Bryanna. Bryanna, who is best known as a vegan chef, blogger, and cook book author, is also a fabulous belly dancer and a life long activist for social justice. She brought together the latter two passions by organizing Dances of Hope to benefit the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, an organization that brings much needed medical care to children in war torn areas of the Middle East.The show was a great success; the dances were beautiful and varied, the dancers had fun, and almost $2000 was raised for the cause! I thoroughly enjoyed performing, a cane duet, a sharqi duet, and a veil solo! Here are some pictures, taken by the talented Mike Van Santvoord. Top is Bryanna, middle is Gillian, bottom is yours truly.

American Tribal Style Belly Dance

A gallery of tribal style gorgeousness

Russian Belly Dancer Julia Ivanova

I just came across this on YouTube - what do you think of this belly dancer? I think she's beautiful, strong, and skilled, but what I really love is her joyful and relaxed stage presence. She really seems to feel at home on the stage... such a big, cold, empty stage, and she just heats it up.

Daily Belly Dance Wisdom

There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

~Vicki Baum

steampunk urban tribal gothic circus burlesque fusion belly dance... I think...

The Indigo's up to some wild&edgy stuff lately - I'd love to know what you think.