Tips from the Hip by Melina

Sara Cabral's Keep Inspired Series at Moody Street Circus

2012-01-11T10:52:00.005-05:00

Sara's Cabral's 6-week fusion series begins Saturday January 14th and runs for 6 weeks at Moody Street Circus in Waltham, MA, culminating in a performance at Moody Street Circus on the evening of February 18th. Registrants must sign up for the whole 6-week session, no drop-ins allowed to this offering. Register at www.moodystreetcircus.com.

Melina Belly Dance Montage

2011-11-29T09:32:00.001-05:00

Melina presents Lisa Zahiya Shimmies Workshop November 19th 2 - 3:45 p.m. at Moody Street Circus

2011-11-10T10:00:00.002-05:00

Melina at Spirit of Tribal

2011-11-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Rhea and Fred Elias Concert Friday September 23!

2011-09-04T14:18:00.000-04:00

Belly Dance and Circus Arts Class Schedule at Moody Street Circus

2011-09-04T14:15:00.001-04:00

Here's a link to the latest Moody Street Circus class schedule.

Fall 2011 News from Moody Street Circus!

2011-09-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

Check out my #constantcontact newsletter

Melina's Moody Street Circus Matinee Recital Sunday June 12th 2011 at 3 p.m.

2011-06-06T12:48:00.003-04:00

MELINA'S NEXT STUDENT RECITAL IS COMING UP THIS SUNDAY JUNE 12, 2011 at 3 P.M.
Belly Dance and Circus Arts Performances.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids.
Visit www.moodystreetcircus.com for more details or to reserve your seats.

May 2011 Daughters of Rhea / Moody Street Circus Newsletter

2011-05-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

John de Kadt and Melina Concert at Moody Street Circus on Saturday May 14th, 2011

2011-04-04T10:49:00.003-04:00

$20 Tickets, advance purchase only, available at www.moodystreetcircus.com.
Doors open at 7 p.m., concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
Call 781 209 0950 for more information.

April 2011 Daughters of Rhea / Moody Street Circus Newsletter

2011-03-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

Melina in Athens 2011: Sunday April 17 Seminars

2011-03-19T19:46:00.003-04:00

Melina at Kripalu August 14-19: Wild Hips, Gypsy Heart: Belly Dance as Self-Empowerment

2011-03-14T16:21:00.007-04:00

Melina of Daughters of Rhea's Weeklong Belly Dance Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health is now LIVE on the Kripalu website so treat yourself to 5 days of belly dancing, 5 hours a day in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts! Sign up now for "Wild Hips, Gypsy Heart: Belly Dance as Self-Empowerment" with Melina. August 14 - 19th, 2011. Call Kripalu Toll Free to register for Melina's program: 1-800-741-7353.

Sunday March 20th: Melina to teach her "Gypsy Heart" combinations with zills in NH.

2011-03-05T15:21:00.006-05:00

Visit NHNBDA for more information on how to register for Melina's workshop and show in New Hampshire.

Come learn and enjoy Melina's Gypsy-style combos with
optional zills, culminating in a radiant & emotive choreography.
This workshop is open to all levels of dancer -
bring your wild hips, your open mind and your gypsy heart.
Melina teaches zills in a deceptively simple, community-based,
innovative way that embraces all level of dancer.
It is not mandatory to play zills throughout the workshop.
Melina has enough zills to loan out to a multitude of dancers,
so participants need not worry about having their own.

10:00am - 11:30a.m. workshop
2:00pm - 6:00pm dance show

Workshop Pricing
$25 (pre-purchased by March 10th)
$35 (purchased after March 10th and at Door)

Show Tickets
available at Door & you may also prepay
$10 per Person
Children under 12 Free
Workshop Attendees have free admission to the Show

VISIT NHNBDA TO REGISTER!

Reserve your seats now for the fabulous Fred Elias CD Release Party March 13th at Ancient Art Studios. Dancing by Aurel, Celia, Anneke, Melina & YOU.

2011-03-05T15:06:00.004-05:00

Visit Ancient Art Studios to purchase your tickets to hear live music by this wonderful group of musicians under the direction of legendary violinist Fred Elias.

Winter 2011 Moody Street Circus Newsletter

2011-01-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daughters-of-Rhea---Moody-Street-Circus-Newsletter.html?soid=1101982265231&aid=mVAupToiEUM

Baseema and Samantha present Shimmies V: Peace, Love and Shimmies! Saturday March 12th Fundraiser for Cancer Research

2011-01-05T15:35:00.000-05:00

Belly Dance Workshops, belly dance performances by a plethora of great Boston-area dancers (I'll be dancing!), vending, fun & great community -- all for a great cause.

1st Anniversary Party at Moody Street Circus!

2011-01-02T13:16:00.002-05:00

Purchase your tickets to the concert here. Advance purchase required.
SARA PERFORMS WITH OKBARI MIDDLE EASTERN ENSEMBLE AT MOODY STREET CIRCUS

Happy New Year! Newsletter from Daughters of Rhea and Moody Street Circus

2011-01-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Come Dance and Circus with us!

What's going on at Moody Street Circus Winter 2010

2010-10-26T12:14:00.001-04:00

The latest MSC Newsletter! Joyful movement with Daughters of Rhea, Cirque Passion & Friends.

Fall 2010 Daughters of Rhea/Moody Street Circus Newsletter

2010-09-17T17:02:00.000-04:00

Fall 2010 News from Daughters of Rhea & Cirque Passion at Moody Street Circus in Waltham, MA:
Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

Tuesday October 5: Dancing for Empowerment Fundraiser

2010-09-15T12:22:00.002-04:00

Helping Hips Gala October 16th

2010-09-15T12:05:00.002-04:00

Tribal:Pura Performance September 24th

2010-09-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

Upcoming at Daughters of Rhea/Moody Street Circus

2010-09-08T15:06:00.003-04:00

Online event registration powered by Eventbrite

Rhea of Greece Seminars on September 11 & 12 in Waltham, MA

2010-07-26T22:35:00.002-04:00

The latest newsletter - hot off the digital presses

2010-07-23T10:48:00.000-04:00

Summer News and Upcoming Events from Melina of Daughters of Rhea and Moody Street Circus

Sacred space

2010-07-02T13:55:00.002-04:00

Sacred space
is the place where you can
find yourself
again
and
again

'Okbari Concert, Aerial Arts & Belly Dance Classes at Moody Street Circus'

2010-06-25T13:27:00.000-04:00

'Okbari Concert, Aerial Arts & Belly Dance Classes at Moody Street Circus'

Please check out my June newsletter!

2010-06-03T13:52:00.002-04:00

Check out my June newsletter!
Full of great info on upcoming events that will inspire you, or if not inspire, be really fun.

Panayiota will be teaching an intro to Pondian Dance and Dances of the Greek Islands at Moody Street Circus on June 19th
Ali Arsoy will be flying in from Greece for his first ever U.S. concert on June 18th
We are privileged to host Okbari in a concert on June 25
Marria Grace will be back for a really fun Hoop Dance workshop on June 12
I will be teaching my ongoing belly dance classes designed to educate, entertain, inspire and delight!

Daughters of Rhea Class Schedule at Moody Street Circus

2010-06-01T16:46:00.001-04:00

Melina's Spring Student Showcase and ALS Fundraiser at Karoun Tuesday May 11

2010-03-23T14:27:00.014-04:00

Save the Date

Tuesday May 11th

7-9:30 p.m.

Melina's Spring Student Showcase, Fundraiser for ALS Therapy Development Institute and Birthday Bash for longtime Daughters of Rhea Company Member, the talented Panayiota!

This event sells out: Reservations for your seats are REQUIRED through Eventbrite. Additional details about the event can be found on Eventbrite as well.

Featuring:

Allegra

Anastasia

Marianna

Sara (and her students!)

Zia

Panayiota

Jen

Di'Ahna

Kaylin

Najmat

Susi

BellyBeat Dance Company

Roshanak

Celia

Kebi

Hesperides Trio

Daughters of Rhea Students

...and more

Fred Elias Live at the Karoun

2010-03-23T14:17:00.003-04:00

Melina at Kripalu Center of Yoga and Health

2010-03-23T12:39:00.002-04:00

Love

2010-03-08T20:45:00.001-05:00

Love, peace, kindness.

Melina Seminars in Athens, Greece May 15 and 16 2010

2010-02-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Rhea's Report on turning 61 and 1/4

2009-09-19T14:56:00.000-04:00

From the archives: Report From Rhea On Turning 61 & 1/4

Rhea's favorite examples of women she admires are Tina Turner, Cher, Joan Collins. Timeless women, always admired. Both by men and women, who, by constantly reinventing themselves & changing with the times, remain in the forefront of their profession.

These women are owned by no men, but have certainly loved enough in their lives. They are self-determiners, which does not preclude partnership with men.

By continuing to dynamically entertain and stay ahead of the pack, they embolden all women, even of a lesser dynamism, to remain in the fray as long as they desire, instead of being cast to the sidelines as the offical baby sitter for grandchildren (although they can also do that and grandchildren like peppy grandmas).

There is nothing wrong or paranoid or pathological in trying to remain youthful and attractice for as long as we can. Whey shall we "act our age?" For whom? Society? I think society can stand the strains of the results of wanton individual self-expression. "Do no harm," but be yourself as much as you can understand what that is. Death comes all too soon. What balm is acquiescing logic? "Oh well, we all get old and die. Might as well start now." Indeed, logic can serve us only so far, although of course it should not be abandoned altogether.

Rather, a search for the soul in all things, yearning to be free, will result, I believe, in a more sane society that is dying to be rescued from ideas and mores anchored in the past century. Because, in addition to the joy of expressing the soul, and maybe more important, in a kazantzaki-ish way (Zorba, Report to Greco), is the search for that expression. The joy is in the ascent, not necessarily in the end result.

My father once told me "the times allow of different expression." To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes).

So let it be with us. We are the result of a long line of women, not who suffered, but who responded to the times.

Don't give up the ship. Do not go gently into that good night. Neither a living example nor a martyr. "Just do it!" CARPE BELLY-UM. --Rhea

Cirque Passion European-style family circus: Tented shows and circus acts and entertainment

2009-09-07T10:40:00.001-04:00

Melina's Circus!

ESSAY: Belly Dance as Empowerment by Melina of Daughters of Rhea

2008-12-17T17:55:00.001-05:00

My mother Rhea taught me – both explicitly and by example, that belly dance can be both a dance of empowerment and an incandescent way of life. I am very lucky to have inherited this idea as a birthright instead of having to beat a path to its discovery later in life.

My mom is quoted in a 1973 article on belly dance that appeared in the now defunct Venus magazine:

“When I dance, I don’t want to be seen as a sex object; I’m an artisan. I try to mesmerize, hypnotize the audience. I’m a sorceress, a magical trickster, the master of my body. I say to them: “Watch me do this over here, but did you see this move over here at the same time.” And I relate to the men and the women in the audience, and they relate to me. Belly dancing is not just a sensuous dance. Its an extravaganza, showing the feats of human capabilities.”

I love what she says here! And its true - Mom is an artisan, a magical trickster.

When a new student embarks on her belly dance journey, whether by choice or because their friend dragged them to their first class – it often becomes a profoundly transformative and integrative experience for body, mind and spirit.

Undulations, isolations, articulations, trembles, shimmies, flutters and rolls awaken the body and its deeply embedded ancient wisdoms.

Sometimes, for new students, the unfamiliar articulations of belly dance dredge up inarticulate anxieties of the soul – anxieties I see expressed on faces during class:
“My pelvis is tilting! My hips are hipping! My stomach is showing! My breasts are jiggling!”

But the remedy to these anxieties lies in the very movements that dredge them up. The anxieties are processed through practice, they are alchemized into a serenity and sureness that only sinuous training, passionate concentration and dedicated study of technique can bring.

In post-modern American Society, the ancient art of belly dance raises many important questions: Questions about gender, body image, ethnicity, emotion, art, entertainment, social roles and while we’re at it: the meaning of life. It is up to each student to answer these questions for herself. As a teacher, I see my role as encouraging people to think for themselves: to never bow to fear to never be tethered to convention. To use belly dance as a tool of empowerment and joy. Because I am a belly dance fundamentalist: I was born and reborn to belly dance, and I firmly believe it can change your life for the better.

When I have student recitals, I discourage the tense pursuit of perfection and encourage the enjoyment of process. Perfection is overrated. Process is golden. We work hard in class on technique, but in performance we want to present ourselves with our natural grace and personality, incorporating in more and more advanced technique as we grow as dancers. I like to pay homage to process and the journey, accepting ourselves as perfect just where we are along the way. We’re on this earth to have fun and dance, and we’ve found the secret to a joyful and empowered life: Bellydance.

A SHORT HISTORY OF MELINA’S STUDENT RECITALS

I model my student recitals on the many inspired belly dance happenings my mother Rhea puts together in Athens, Greece. Basically, the formula goes like this: bring together a diverse set of dancers in a beautiful restaurant with a lovely large stage and let them work their individual and collective magic on a friendly and encouraging crowd that is intoxicated with good cheer. Mix in unbridled enthusiasm, fun, positive vibes, a few beautiful costumes, great music and a healthy spattering of nerves. Sprinkle in some creative solos, a couple of dashing duets and some group numbers. Practice as much as you can considering that you all have full-time jobs and/or are hardworking mothers, then put perfection to the side and just go for it. Spontaneity is encouraged: last minute entries are accepted. Experimental music is allowed. Self-expression abounds.

My mother and I differ in opinion on one point: I try to keep the recital short, about 1.5 hours. Hers can extend far into the night -- but then again, that’s in Greece, where folks are used to staying out until 3 a.m. on a regular basis.

The basic idea is: never bow to convention or fear. Just come on out and do some joy-fueled dancing.

Visit www.daughtersofrhea.com for more info.

Melina's next student recital is tentatively scheduled for an early February weekday evening at Karoun Restaurant. Details TBA.

SHIMMY Rx: Dr. Weil prescribes undulation cure: Belly Dancing is Good for your Health!

2008-12-17T12:18:00.003-05:00

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP03141/Alternative-Exercise-Part-2-Belly-Dancing.html

“Women in Melina’s classes will embrace a new physicality that combats forces of depression and releases unadulterated joy!”

--Nassim Assefi, M.D.

ESSAY: Melina's Tray of Candles

2008-12-16T13:04:00.002-05:00

From birth I was thrown into all aspects of belly dance – both the art and the business of it. I naturally accumulated skills because I had no choice: my mother knew the secret of making it impossible to say no. I was thrown into it like a newborn is thrown into a tub of water and finds it can swim to the surface.

Mom never prefaced anything by saying: “This is a hard thing to learn. If you practice every day, maybe you’ll master it enough to do it on stage.” Instead she said “Hey Melina, come in here and see if you can balance this tray of candles on your head.”

I’d trot over and presto – I found I could move around the kitchen with a large bronze tray on my head. “OK now see if you can do a backbend.” And I’d find I could. “Why don’t you try it on stage tonight, just for a second, and we’ll put a few lit candles on the top, and then just take it off and give it to me when you feel it slipping or you don’t want it anymore.” How can you say no to this?

That was mom’s secret:

“Just try it this once, and then I’ll never make you do it again.”

“Why not just try it and see how you like it?”

Three decades later, that tray has never fallen off my head.

Just when I thought I was beyond my mother’s wild idea clutches, it happened again. Just last summer while we were dancing together at Karoun’s.

I had the tray on my head, and mom suddenly left the stage, shimmied into the kitchen and came back out with three water glasses. There was no time to protest, I knew what was coming. She set the glasses up in the center of the stage and took my hand and led me to them.

“Stand up and balance on these glasses, dancing all the while with the tray on your head,” she was silently telling me in her "let's try this thing" Rhea language. Gripping her hand as I gingerly felt for the glasses with my bare feet, unable to look down lest the tray should fall and trusting only in my feet, my mother’s idea and will to succeed, and the intangible higher power of my belly dance goddess guide, I stepped up onto the glasses and danced: flames flickering up from the top of my head.

Melina’s Tips from the Hip:

Just try stuff and don’t be afraid.
Just try something for a second and then stop.
Don’t be afraid of what others think.
Practice “What if,” as in: “What if we did that, and we did it while singing/balancing on water glasses/drinking ouzo from a glass without hands, only teeth to hold the glass/….”

That is the Daughters of Rhea way.

STUDENT INFO: Folkloric Belly Dance Circle Warm up by Melina

2008-12-13T18:14:00.004-05:00

Melina’s Circle Warm Up for all Levels of Belly Dance

You can also read my Circle Dance article on the Gilded Serpent, an excellent resource for belly dance information and articles (www.gildedserpent.com - search for Melina of Daughters of Rhea)

Melina’s Daughters of Rhea Folkloric Circle Warm-Up with Arm Variations.
Recommended Music: Nisim Al Amar by Ali Arsoy’s Ali Bi Ghanni Li Rhea CD, available through Daughters of Rhea
All written material copyright 2005 by Daughters of Rhea
www.daughtersofrhea.com

I like to teach belly dance in a circle. It's the way I watched my mother Rhea teach from the time I was born, and it makes sense to me. Dances have been performed in rings for thousands of years. The circle is a perfect, democratic & unending shape, the shape of an energized community, the shape of this lovely round planet. It is a good shape in which to learn belly dance, an ancient dance of with primal roots that transcends geographic boundaries. Shimmies, snake arms, head slides, spins, turns, undulations, body part isolations, hip articulations – no matter how you dress it up ethnically, this dance expresses itself with common movement themes all over the globe.

I have noticed the following facts about group dancing in a circle, like 'em or not:

Nobody can hide in a circle.
In a circle, if one person smiles, everyone smiles.
If one person goes the wrong way in a traveling movement, they are quickly brought into proper flow by the larger group. Fellow students are quick to help their neighbor.
In a circle, we are all in the dance together, and everyone thinks positively about their bodies because they are brought unselfconsciously into the flow and fun of the dance.

This circle warm-up is designed to bring you into the flow of dance with a smile on your gypsy lips, so have fun, do what you like with it and keep breathing.

Proud Gypsy with Saucy Shoulders and Steady Gaze. Hands on hips, right shoulder facing center of the circle, gaze fastened to the center of the circle as well so that your chin is directly above your right shoulder, step forward and back starting with your right foot. Make sure to put weight on each foot –R,L,R.L -- and not just tap your right foot front and back. When you step back and put weight on the right foot, turn your left shoulder into the circle and swivel your head so that your chin is now over your left shoulder. This keeps your gaze forward at all times, and warms up your neck to boot. Proper Dance posture to minimize injury/impact on back and knees: always keep knees slightly bent, never locked, step forward and back smoothly so that you are not bobbing up and down, keep hips tucked under (don’t arch your back), chest lifted, shoulders back, chin proud. Keep breathing throughout. Repeat each arm variation 8 times or so.

Reveal the Pearl. Start with both hands on hips. As you step forward on your right foot, extend your right arm forward at shoulder height into circle and slowly unfurl fingers, palm facing sky, as if to reveal a beautiful pearl nestled in your palm. As you step back on your right foot, retract your hand and bring it back in a fist to your right hip. “Here’s my pearl … but its mine…. You can see it for a moment, but it belongs to me…” Remember to keep your chin over each shoulder as you step forward and back and keep your gaze/focus forward to the center of the circle.

Wiping the Pearls of Sweat. As you step forward on right foot, right arm extends into circle, where you let your pearls of dance sweat fall to the floor from your fingers. As you step back on the right foot, your right hand comes to touch your LEFT shoulder. As you come forward again, your right hand maintains contact with your skin, pulling along the upper chest all the way to the right shoulder, then it extends into the circle again.

Ya Salem (“hi, how are you”). This arm movement involves a wrist rotation. As you step forward on the right foot, your right arm extends forward into the circle (shoulder height). At the same time your right wrist rotates in a tiny circle until your right palm opens to sky and your right arm is at full extension. As you step back on the right foot, bend your right elbow, keeping it close to the body to avoid the move looking like an army salute, and rotate your wrist in reverse bringing closed, straight fingers up to graze the side of your temple.

"You want me? You can’t have me!" AKA "I love you, I hate you!" Shoulder shimmy as you right-step into circle (you want me), then as you step back on your right foot your chest turns away from the circle’s center but you keep looking saucily back over your right shoulder (you can’t have me).

Feed the Tiny Unicorn: Right-step forward and extend an imaginary golden apple down to a tiny unicorn at your feet, then as you step back on the ball of your right foot, you reach up very high behind you with your right hand to pick another apple from the Golden Apple Tree whose laden branch is almost directly over your head. As you bring this new apple to the tiny unicorn, you wipe it on the back of your hair to polish it to perfection.

Flamenco Arms & Taffy Pull: Step forward, both arms reaching up over head until backs of the wrists touch in I Dream of Jeannie type pose, knuckles touching and fingers vertical and closed together, then turn hands so the palms face each other and pull imaginary taffy so that arms extend to shoulder level at your sides. The taffy image is designed to encourage you to use resistance as your arms pull apart. Repeat.

When you have completed all the arm variations leading with your right foot, repeat the moves on your left foot. The Daughters of Rhea dance philosophy aims to reconcile both sides of our brain and give strength to our weaker side by working both sides of the body equally. In this way we can bring right/left, yin/yang, feminine/masculine principles – all the oppositional forces that reside within -- us more into balance.

STUDENT INFO Boston Area Belly Dance Viewing, Vending & Info

2008-12-13T18:11:00.001-05:00

STUDENT INFO: Boston Area Belly Dance Resources

A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO MELINA’S PERSONAL PICKS IN THE BOSTON AREA

1. Visit Amy Smith’s on-line resource of teachers, performances, venues and events in New England at www.bellydancenewengland.com. There you can also subscribe to the informative magazine Middle Eastern Dance in New England (MEDINE) and get to know who’s who and what’s going on around town and beyond.

2. There are numerous on-line groups you can subscribe to such as http://boston.tribe.net, or Hanna Svarc’s “belly dance plus” newsletter hannas_hips@yahoo.com. The more you search the more you’ll find out. You can also subscribe to the Belly Dance Massachusetts yahoo group and receive e-mails about events in Boston and around New England. Send an email to: Bellydancema-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

3. Local stores that vend belly dance costumes and accoutrements (Don't forget to tell them Melina sent you!)

Anatolia Imports/Belly Dance Oasis
1703 Warwick Avenue
Warwick, R.I. 02889
401.737.4713 – Call first to check on their hours

Great Eastern Trading Company
49 River Street
Central Square, Cambridge
617.354.5279 – call first to check hours

4. Za-Beth’s workshops and hafli’s (dance parties) are always a great place to learn, see a great variety of belly dance performances & shop! Get onto Za-Beth’s mailing list for news up her upcoming events: email her at zills@earthlink.net.

5. For an original, custom-fit, beautifully beaded belly dance costume creation and not a “cookie cutter off-the-rack costume” call upon the talented Shadia Tohme for a consultation and fitting! Shadia is a wonderful belly dance teacher and costumer in the Boston area. Shadia: 781 461 0512. If you have a costume that needs some special fixing, she is also your woman.

6. Catch me and other belly dancers live in performance at Karoun Restaurant in Newton Fri/Sat nights at 9:30 p.m. Check the Daughters of Rhea website for my show schedule and make reservations for a great dinner and fun evening (I recommend the lamb kebob, and all the soups are homemade and delicious): Visit www.karoundining.com or call 617.964.3400. On Saturday nights you have to make dinner reservations and there is a minimum price of $35-$50 for dinner. Call them and ask what their current minimum is. It's worth it!

7. Other local venues that feature belly dancing:

The Middle East in Cambridge
Layaleena - check website for latest location (www.layaleena.com)
Sahara in Methuen
The Red Fez in the South End
Tangierino in Charleston
Athenian Corner Restaurant in Lowell
Byblos Restaurant in Norwood

I encourage all of my students to explore Boston’s vibrant belly dance scene and try out classes by other local teachers, attend workshops, performances and haflis (Arabic for “party”). The more you know, the more you’ll grow as a belly dancer. Keep an open mind, an open heart, and enjoy yourself.

More info on Melina and her dancing family at www.daughtersofrhea.com

STUDENT INFO: Melina's Belly Dance Music Recommendations

2008-12-13T17:59:00.003-05:00

Melina of Daughters of Rhea’s Belly Dance Music Playlists

Here are some of my belly dance music recommendations based on music I play in classes, perform with, or enjoy listening to. Not all of the music is traditional belly dance music - some is world music fusion, some modern pop remixes of belly dance classics. If you're just starting out, I hope the lists will jump start your music exploration in Bellydanceland. Most of the tracks listed here can be sampled on iTunes.

For warms-ups, stretches, hand undulations, body center circles, slow work, slow interpretive dance:

Omar Faruk Tekbilek songs Ask & A Call to Prayer
Dalia Carella Presents: Shuvani. Oud and Ney taksims
Taksimler from Alla Turka.
Rumi’s Passion by Mosavo.

For drilling and technique practice with steady 4/4 counts:

Saidi by Ali Arsoy from Ali Bi Ghanni li Rhea (available in class from Melina)
Saskin by Tanyeli - Turkish Belly Dancer
Shashkin by Omar Faruk Tekbilek
Tsiftetelli by The Toids from Unblocked Ears
George Abdo: Raks Al-Sultan
Karachi by Fat Chance Belly Dance
Earth Beat by Garden Play (My Fall 08 “Cultish Combo” is performed to this song)
Ron Wagner: King's Consorts from The Sensual Art of Belly Dance

Techno-fied remix fun for Dionysian shimmy practice:

Naked Rhythm: Babylon
Mosavo: Jil Al Hadis
Egyptian Disco

For fast Greek tsifteteli:

Check out the classic bouzouki-featured “Tsifteteli tou Bourneli” available for sampling on iTunes (Musician’s name is pronounced Vourneli in Greek). Tsifteteli is sometimes also spelled or pronounced chifteteli. The fast Greek tsifteteli - this is what Greeks love to belly dance to and the music I grew up with - is to be distinguished from the slow tsifteteli rhythm sometimes used by belly dancers in the slow work portion of their routine (with the ‘slow, slow, quick quick slow beat’).

I think the twin forces of Music and Dance were already present at my conception: My dad is a musician and my mom is a belly dancer. Live music was part of my daily life growing up, and when my mom moved to Greece, we danced every night in tourist tavernas with wonderful live Greek bouzouki bands. Music and rhythm is where everything begins for me. Love for - or connection with - a particular song or musician lies at the heart of most of my dance creations and movement visions. When I am planning my belly dance classes, I put a lot of thought into what my playlist will be, and I like to change it up frequently. I like to expose students to a wide range of belly dance music and, whenever possible, talk in class about where the music I am playing comes from, what it means, and what belly dance movements would work best with it: from Turkish to Greek to Rai to Egyptian to Techno remix fusion to Gypsy to New Age to Trance, Indie and more. When my students first tell me that they’d like to perform a solo in an upcoming recital the first thing I ask them is “have you found a song you love to dance to?” In performance, you want your body to speak the music and speak your love of the song. The dancer’s emotion immediately translates to the audience, and music is at the heart of the art.

Here is a quick list of a few of my favorite albums, songs and/or musical artists for belly dance. It is by no means exhaustive nor is it in alphabetical order, but it can start your exploration. Again, most of these artists can be sampled either on CDBaby, iTunes or Amazon. You can also often find them on your local dance vendors’ tables.

CLASSICS

Classic international belly dance songs to get to know:

Ah Ya Zein
Aziza
Rompi, Rompi
Leilet Hob
Hebbina
Warda
Inta Omri
Hadouni

George Abdo
The Joy of Belly Dance
The Art of Belly Dance

Eddie “The Sheik” Kochak
Strictly Belly Dancing

John Bilezikjian (www.dantzrecords.com)
Belly Dance Classics

Bert Balladine
Bert’s Baladi

Setrak Sarkissian

TURKISH/MIDDLE EASTERN/GREEK/WORLD

Omar Faruk Tekbilek
The Sultans CDs
Fire Dance
Mystical Garden

Tanyeli
Turkish Belly Dancer

Asena
Asena CD

Tarkan
Karma
Dudu

Ali Arsoy
Ali Bi Ghanni Li Rhea
Karma

Dalia Carella
Shuvani

Belly Dance Superstars
I like all the compilations

Hakim
Yaho

Natacha Atlas
Diaspora

Amr Diab
Nour el Ain

Khaled (king of Rai)
Aisha

Bourneli - or Vourneli -
Greek Tsiftetelli bouzouki music

Ozel Turkbas
Alla Turca

Neena & Veena
Essential Bellydance

REMIXED/TECHNO-FIED BELLY DANCE

Electric Oasis 2

Bellylicious

Oojami: Belly Dance Breakbeats

Jehan: BellyFuse - Arabesque Lounge

PERCUSSION ARTISTS

Susu Pampanin & Cairo Cats
Dancing Drums

Hossam Ramzy
Immortal Egypt
Modern Egyptian Belly Dance Music

List of great musicians with whom Melina has collaborated live in belly dance, circus arts, or other arts experiments. I've listed them here as they came to mind neither in alphabetical nor chronological order:

Phil Marsh
My cool dad - NYC-based Guitar-playing Folkster, Songster and Snakecharmer extraordinaire. Phil has played with Country Joe and the Fish (of the famous anti-war 'F&*#$&' song), Co-founded Energy Crisis and The Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, served as band leader of the Pickle Family Circus and Circus Flora, occasionally backs up various jazz and blues greats and writes music for documentaries. He's seen more than his fair share of belly dancing and we have cooked up a few great shows together.

Harry Bedrosian
Talented and Boston-area versatile musician: Jazz, Arabic, Greek and Armenian music ... and more
Love his oud and vocals

Ali Arsoy
Middle Eastern/Turkish/World Tracks
Great Arabic and Turkish vocals, dumbek, keyboards. You can't help but dance if you hear Ali's music. Don't even try to stay sitting down.

John de Kadt
(www.johndekadt.com)
World Fusion/Drum Poetry -
I highly recommend all of John's percussive, poetic creations - I adore working with this talented musician.
John de Kadt's CDs include Eight & This Rhythm is Not Mine

Steve Gorn
(www.stevegorn.com)
Steve Gorn's beautiful music-making combines the essence of classical Indian tradition with a contemporary world music sensibility. Its always a delight and an honor to dance with him at Kripalu.

HuDost
(www.hudost.com)
Alternative/Folk-Rock/Experimental
My daughter listens to their beautiful music as she floats into dreamland....

Telesma
Pyschodelic-electroaucoustic-rock
Our Telesma favorites Ian and Jason always rock the BellyPalooza festival and show on didg and drum

Mademoiselle
(www.mademoiselleband.com)
Alternative-Rock-Indie
Incredible band featuring Sam Cabral - profound and poetic Azorean singer/songwriter. He will rock your world.

Aboudi Badawi
Boston-area Lebanese/Middle Eastern Music and Rhythms

Mitchell Kaltsunas
Boston-area Arabic Music and beyond

Jamal Sinno
Boston-area Soulful Qanun player

KDZ Drummers
Wonderful band of percussionists at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. My dancing feet become one with their rhythmic creations out at Kripalu.

David Edelman
Jazz, bluegrass, ethnic fusion fiddle player. David's always in the music.

BOOKING INQUIRIES: Email melina [at] daughtersofrhea.com
Don't forget to visit www.daughtersofrhea.com for more info on Melina's classes and performances and her belly dancing family

PiperMethod YouTube Channel

2008-12-05T11:39:00.000-05:00

Belly Dance Homework in between classes with your regular teacher!
Want to work on fine tuning your belly dance technique?
Visit my sister Piper's YouTube channel PiperMethod and hone in on the details of your dance technique.

Whiskey Tent Dance by Melina

2008-12-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

WHISKEY TENT DANCE by MELINA - Choreography Notes
Copyright 2005 Melina of Daughters of Rhea
Music Abdel Kadir by ALI ARSOY from Karma CD (4 minutes 40 seconds)
www.daughtersofrhea.com ~ www.tipsfromthehip.blogspot.com ~ www.cirquepassion.com

On the day in December 2005 I found out that Sacha and I were to be the proud parents – I mean -- owners of our own, gently used French circus tent I was giddy with glee and tinged with trepidation (how does one go about importing a tent? I now had to figure that out - and a whole lot more...) I tried to settle down and plan my belly dance classes for that evening, but had trouble focusing. The previous month, after over a year of misty-eyed dreaming about this sweet little tent and negotiating various details, Sacha and I had traveled to the small French town of Vire in Normandy to check out the red-and-yellow-striped chapiteau that a local theatre company was selling. To see it in person took our breath away: it was a beautiful, charming, elegant, Oriental-esque two-masted tent, 17 X 10 meters, 350 -500 person capacity – it would make the perfect home for Cirque Passion, our bellydance-theatre-circus-fusion fantasy production company. We made an offer well under their asking price, which was too high for us, and kept our fingers crossed. They pursed their lips in fine French style and did not immediately accept our earnest proposition. I returned to Boston to teach my classes, Sacha stayed in Paris an extra week “just in case” they called and finally accepted our offer. Unbelievably, that happy day did arrive! Their fiscal year was coming to a close and they had no more need of the tent: she was ours! You can check out some pictures of our seafaring tentbaby in Cirque Passion’s cyberworld - www.cirquepassion.com.

I was alone in our home studio when Sacha called with the news, and as I had no champagne in the fridge I cracked open a beer and we toasted virtually over the phone. Then I immediately called my sister Piper, and as I spilled the news I began to hiccup wildly in between sips of Sam Adams. I could barely get the story out. Piper said in big sisterly fashion: “Wait a minute. Stop talking. Listen to me. Go to your kitchen. Look for a bottle of whiskey. Open the bottle. Pour yourself a shot. Drink it down in one gulp.” I did so without question, and my hiccups immediately disappeared. Piper had folk-cured me just like she used to when I was a kid (once she gave me a sip – ok, maybe I took more than a sip, could have been a gulp – or two -- of ouzo when I was 9 and mom had to walk me 3 times around the acropolis to get it out of my twitching system, but that’s another story)! I was left with a feeling of warm wellbeing and had a certain inspired zing in my veins. I had two hours before I was to teach class. I put on Ali’s Karma CD and began to dance, seeing what movements came my way with my blood infused with international bohemian spirits. I grabbed my notebook and began to channel a choreography that I am showing you here today, a dance that I had to name the “Whisky Tent Dance.” And there you go. A true Dionysian choreography from my heart and soul, inspired by real life events and supported by my family’s musical collaborations, movement traditions, and alcoholic remedies. -Melina

WHISKEY TENT DANCE by MELINA
Back turned to audience, arms up, chin over right shoulder “disco” beginning. Right arm down, left arm down, pivot turn – head stays in place. Repeat movement – right arm up, left arm up, right arm down, left arm down, facing forward.
8 counts of flat-footed two hip shimmies in place, “elbows in the doorway” arms
8 counts of flat-footed two hip shimmies traveling forward arms slowly rising outward to above head.
8 counts of two hip shimmies traveling side with left hand behind head, right hand out to right, gaze directed to right.
8 counts of two hip shimmies in 4-point pivot turn, circling right wrist as you pivot around counterclockwise.
Facing center, 4 Suzie Q steps to left with pelvic clutches with arms outstretched, wrists turning on transitions.
4 hip pushes (or 'tush pushes') traveling to right with pushing, wristing hands up at right shoulder level, gaze over left shoulder as you travel right. Repeat this paired sequence twice.
With drums, bounces to a swooning fall to right and then to left with “hug” arms, pulling out from elbows.
When Ali starts singing start refrain step: Dip back (left foot behind right, dipping back on the ball of your foot to your right) 2, 1,2,3, step with hug arms as you dip back. Repeat four. After completing the 1,2,3 of last dip back step, your left foot is free to travel left in a traveling turn to left.
Turn 2,3, to left into low-anchored lunge facing left with pulling torso and snake arms pulling back, front, back, front. Repeat four times.
Back forward step hips. Repeat four. When you step back on left foot, look over left shoulder, then ahead as you travel forward and hip. Same concept on right side.
Step, hip, hip, hip - stepping backwards and with hip to front, side, and back. Repeat four. Left hand cupping behind head, right hand outstretched.
Ali starts singing again: Quick Tunisian twist hips in place to right, then left then in tight “dog chasing tail” circle. Repeat in other direction. Arms straight down and near, but not touching, hips with bent-at-the-wrists, palm-downwards hands.
Refrain step: Dip back, 2 1, 2, 3 step with hug arms.
Turn 2,3 to left into low-anchored lunge facing left – this time with a chest contraction and layered shimmy pulling back, front, back, front. Repeat four.
Back forward step hip, Repeat four.
Then: Surprise! With drums, little jump in the air and land in shimmy.
Ali singing again: Walk three steps to right looking over left shoulder, then dramatic traveling turn to left 2, 3 with chest lift at end. Repeat four.
Refrain step: Dip back, step 1, 2, 3 with hug arms
Turn 2, 3 into lunge, this time with body roll up, then down. Repeat TWICE only.
Drum solo sequence:
High heel on right foot, body angled slightly to right diagonal, thighs squeezed together and hips tucked under: 3 quick hip downs starting with right hip with downward level change, quick body roll up from pelvis to chest. Repeat twice.
Lunge into right leg, shoulder shimmy to right diagonal, then weight transfers back to left leg, 3 quick right hip sits down to drum accents with left hand behind head. Repeat twice. Feet together facing forward, shimmy 3 counts, body roll up from pelvis, shimmy shoulders, body roll down.
Refrain step: Dip step, 1,2,3 with hug arms 4 times. Traveling turns with Lunges and original snake arms pulls to right and left. Repeat four.
Freestyle Shimmies with drumming.
With Ali’s singing again after drums, be ready for quick Tunisian twist hips sequence to left and then right. Repeat four.
Back, forward, step hip, Repeat 4
Step hip hip hip traveling back
Slow drama step hips until ending:
With ending, pivot turn earth to sky right arm as you turn!

Jareeda Magazine Interview with Melina by Morgana

2008-12-05T09:36:00.001-05:00

Morgana's Interview with Melina of Daughters of Rhea
Published in Jareeda, December 2002

1) There's been a lot of debate in our culture about how divorce affects children; in your writing, you express that although you felt a lot of heart ache, you feel blessed that you had such an adventurous childhood, traveling around and experiencing so many different cultures.

My parents separated before I was out of diapers. To this day I can’t imagine them as a couple and never wished they were. Like most children, I was amazingly resilient and accepting of the way things were. I benefited greatly from their personal and professional life choices, their unconditional love and their commitment to involving me in all aspects of their lives. Because of them I was exposed from birth to a vibrant and diverse slew of countries, cultural settings, ways of life, and artistic and intellectual milieux. I was equally comfortable in Greek tavernas, communes in Berkeley, circus tents, Aegean islands, New York subways, bohemian intellectual gatherings, folk music jams and feminist belly dance circles. By the age of 10 I knew how to perform for live audiences, turn cartwheels in a circus ring, belly dance with a tray of lit candles on my head before hundreds of tourists, converse with adults, and change planes by myself in Amsterdam. In the midst of all the changes and transitions, I would plant myself in the pages of a book to find my center - books were where I anchored myself. But the ultimate truth is that I am lucky to have such humorous, creative & spiritual people for my mother and father.

2) Since you also had a rich experience as a circus performer, do you feel that has influenced you as a Middle Eastern artist and vice versa? Do you feel that performers benefit by "cross-training" this way in different disciplines?

No matter what the theatre, an audience can feel it when you are expressing your fullest, most confident and expansive self. The more tools and skills you can summon for a performance, the better. Of course, context plays an important role, as you want to tailor the way you perform to fit the setting. As a circus performer you have to play to an audience of up to 1600 people. You have to project your energy, your skill and your joy beyond the ringside VIPs all the way up to the kid sitting with her popcorn in the highest bleacher. You need to rivet their gaze from the moment you step into the ring, and so you learn to take your time, be larger than life, dramatic and unrestrained. You also have to be completely spontaneous and ready for anything as there is a lot going on in the circus ring that you have no control over. You have to be ready to reinvent the “script” if someone messes up a trick, or if the clown you are dancing with misses his cue, or if the elephant pees in the ring, or if your juggling act falls apart because people keep dropping clubs. You must dance on, dance on, and dance on... The audience needs to see that everything is all right, that you are OK and in charge.

I also learned a lot about costuming, make-up and self-presentation from watching the Flying Wallenda family both on the high wire and behind the scenes. Their example inspired my home-sewn belly dance costumes to get more sparkly and theatrical, my make-up more exaggerated, and my stage presence more dramatic. I also learned to use my voice and cymbals to maximum effect in the ring. The circus teaches you to use whatever means are at your disposal to create transformative energy and to draw the audience’s eye to the show. The circus is also a great place to combine skills, which for me has resulted in interesting new dance ideas. I sometimes like to integrate juggling, acrobatics, tambourines, & balancing into my regular belly dance performances and troupe choreographies. Yes, performers of all kinds benefit from “cross-training”.

3) Living and performing in Greece as you and your mom and Piper have, how does actually living and working in an eastern culture affect what you bring to the stage as a dancer?

No matter what corner of the globe they hail from, human beings respond well to dancers who project professionalism, confidence, their authentic selves & good dance technique. Growing up in Greece and understanding Greeks and how they interact means that I do know what Greeks like, however, and has helped me connect with and please Greek audiences.

4) You describe education such as your PhD in French medieval literature "as a stabilizing influence" in your life. Please explain more about that.

No matter how many changes and displacements I experienced as a kid, I could always depend on books and on the structure of academic life to bring a comforting and predictable rhythm to my otherwise itinerant life. As a nomadic child, books were my anchors, narrative constants as I chartered back and forth between the wildly disparate worlds of my mother and father. My natural love of learning, of books, of foreign languages, of literary history and criticism, and of writing led me to pursue a PhD in French Literature. The Ivory Tower has always been a refuge when I needed it, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck there forever: I also like to descend the tower and shimmy.

5) Please also tell about your desire to study French medieval literature, and if you think the sentiments of that literature have had their own impact on you as a performer.

I think it would take a book to fully explore my response to this question! From early childhood I immersed myself in literature, from the mythic poems of Homer to the weird and magical worlds of Madeleine L’Engle, Raoul Dahl and Frank L. Baum. I also liked stories of how words and a discovery of writing could change lives from the inside out. As a literature major at Wellesley College I wanted to explore the power of words and the various transformative modes of female self-expression. I wrote my undergraduate honor’s thesis on Marguerite Duras and the intertwined themes of female subjectivity, self-expression and writing. Later in graduate school at UPenn I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the interplay of old age, female authority and the representation of the female body in late medieval French literature. Being a scholar and writer has only enriched my life as a dancer and performer. I am very attuned to the ways society constructs and limits human beings by gender and age stereotyping and I enjoy resisting convention and (artfully!) innovating as much as possible with belly dance. I am always conscious of the story I am telling with my dance, and I like my performance to transform or energize the viewer in some way. Bottom line is I want the audience to go home feeling inspired and positive.

6) Some people do seem surprised when they learn that an Oriental dancer has an advanced degree of study, despite the fact that there are doctors, professors, anthropologists, journalists and all sorts of professionals doing Oriental dance. Do you think there is pressure for dancers on the professional dance track to downplay their intelligence or education?

I hope not. No one should ever have to deny the full spectrum of their experience to serve the needs of narrow-minded people and their misguided notions about Oriental dancers.

6) Coming from a family of dancers, how does one balance the fact that dance runs in the family with creating ones' own identity as a dancer?

I never consciously created my own ‘dance identity’, it just came about naturally. In our family it was the norm to dance for fun and profit. Piper and I grew up in the Land of Belly Dance Art & Biz, and we navigated that land easily from a young age. Mom encouraged our maximal self-expression as dancers and celebrated our strengths and differences. In both life and dance Mom, Piper and I have learned from each other in immeasurable ways – we are stronger as individuals and as dancers because we have each other.

7) Now that you're a mom, to Zoë, how (if at all) has that affected your feelings about your own mom, and everything that goes with being a mom? Do you see some of your upbringing with a different perspective now?

I appreciate my upbringing and my mother’s choices even more now that I am a mom. My childhood was so enriching and wild! I was given such incredible gifts – a love of dance, bravery, the knowledge that if a door closes a window opens somewhere else, an open mind and heart – this is the legacy I want to pass on to Zoë.

8) Even though she's still a toddler, Zoë seems quite comfortable already in the atmosphere of Middle Eastern music and dance. Is it your hope that she will follow in your and your mom's and sister's footsteps?

Yes, dance is already an integrated part of Zoë’s life, as natural a function as breathing. Every morning she heads to the dance room of her own accord for a little free style twirling. Her father makes her little costumes and we cart her around to my early-night gigs and belly dance festivals. But like my mom did with me, I will never force the dance on Zoë. It will however always be there for her if she wants it.

What if she decides when she's older that this is not for her and chooses a different path?

Zoë Isadora is free to choose her own path in life. Zoë means life in Greek, and life is unpredictable, wild, exciting, fulfilling and in the best case filled with love. Her middle name, Isadora, is from the dancer Isadora Duncan, a brave and independent free spirit and innovator who reminds me of my mother. I have a feeling that no matter what path she chooses Zoë will be original and determined, because this is the DNA that runs in her blood! So Zoë could be a librarian, the president, a CEO, an engineer, a writer, a dancer, a therapist, a slacker. Who knows. I had no restrictions put on me growing up in terms of future professions or life paths. I was given opportunities, my intuitions were honored, and my natural inclinations were nurtured. And this is all I wish for Zoë: a sense of many possibilities, a cushion of unconditional love, many avenues of self-expression to choose from, confidence in herself, an attitude of kindness and humanity towards others, and an ability to access and honor her inner voice.

9) Some people, even people who've had adventurous lives, say they feel a lot more conservative once kids come along -- or that they wouldn't feel comfortable if their children took the same risks they did. When you think about the adventurous life that you have and have had, does that have an effect on your feelings as a mom?

I am not more conservative now that I’m a mother. In fact I’m probably less conventional now than ever before. But I have always been a responsible soul. Its not like my adventurous upbringing was full of life-threatening risk or anything, it was just artistic and weird, and I still like things that are artistic and weird. I can’t say exactly how I’ll feel every step of the way as a mother to Zoë, but I do believe that she is her own person and will be taking responsibility for her own life choices.

Are there any final thoughts you'd like to share about dance, about motherhood, daughterhood and sisterhood, and about your rich and full life? Any thoughts you'd like to pass on to other dancers in pursuit of their dreams?

Besides saying that my daughter, my sister and my mother rock! And that for me some of the keys to life and dance are thinking through your choices, maintaining a sense of humor in the face of disagreement, taking risks, flouting convention, and never putting others down, I would like to share excerpts from my Daughters of Rhea mission statement. I see Oriental Dance as one way to reach toward and perpetuate the beauty of the world. My goal is to encourage women’s unique expression of their wild, most ecstatic selves through the ancient art of belly dance. With this dance I want to celebrate life, creativity and community. I want us to be in our bodies with pride, awareness and open hearts. I want us to couple technique and precision with enthusiasm and passion, to be industrious in practice so we can be Dionysian in performance, and to be open to transformation and revelation at every stage of our dance career. I also want to say this: My 33-year old brother-in-law has Lou Gehrig’s disease and is confined to a wheelchair. His prognosis is not good. He can no longer dance, and so I dance for him. I use this dance to raise money for a cure and to spread awareness about the disease. I exhort everyone to dance because you can, to dance because your body wants to dance, to dance because life is short and it is one of the best ways to spend your time. And stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. Dance your dreams no matter what.

A Hippie Conception - In Utero Belly Dancing by Melina of Daughters of Rhea

2008-11-30T08:26:00.001-05:00

A Hippie Conception

http://www.altmanphoto.com/sixties/bellydance.html
www.daughtersofrhea.com

The story goes that I was conceived on a beach in Northern California in 1968 while my mom was tripping on acid and my dad was under the influence of cannabis. Unsurprisingly my parents’ “pull out” method of contraception did not work that starry night, and the cosmic forces of the universe conspired to create me, ultimate love child of the 60s.

I was born in the summer of ’69, and went unnamed for 3 months. My first nickname was a testament to my parents’ favorite pastime: I was called Doubie, like the smallest, cutest little stub of a mostly-smoked joint. Ten months later, when my parents amicably parted ways and I was equally shared between them, I was called The Little Suitcase -- just put a handle on my little onesied back and I was ready to go!

My birth certificate was finally filled in with the name Melinda Lou, and I was included in all aspects of my parents bohemian performance life, sleeping on piles of coats behind the speakers at my dad’s Berkeley rock n roll gigs, turning cartwheels in the circus ring when he was bandleader of the Pickle Family Circus, and playing behind tapestry curtains at the Renaissance fairs where my mom belly danced and balanced swords on her head as part of Jamila Salimpour’s Troupe Bal Anat.

My early childhood was full of love, 2nd hand smoke, communes and creative people. Even after putting in way too much time in the Ivory Tower – Ivy League college and a PhD in medieval French literature -- my parents’ enduring hippy values and the primal drive (encoded in my DNA?) to lead an authentic, independent-minded, out-of-the-box life turned me from the academy and I now live a full-blown creative life, making ends meet by working gig to gig just like I was born and bred to do.

The first photo that I have of myself belly dancing is in utero I am in my mother’s rounded belly, and that belly is dancing. It is a black and white picture from 1969 taken at the Berkeley Fiddler’s Convention in California. My mom is six months pregnant with me, belly dancing with a smile and arms outstretched in a coin costume, surrounded by a beaming outdoor audience full of hippies. My older sister Piper, then 6, sits on our mom’s shoulders, her little hands reaching out to match mom’s. Mom is musically accompanied by my dad’s folk bank, the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing “Little Egypt.” Piper, Mom and the as yet unborn I form a unique belly dancing triumverate, a reconstituted Pieta for the first dance of matriarchy. When I finally emerged into the world, three months later, I was primed for belly dance rhythms, impromptu performances, folk music and rock n roll.

I keep the original 8X10 photo in a silver frame in my home dance studio and meditate on it frequently. It has traveled with me from my Berkeley childhood to NYC to Athens, Greece to Wellesley College to UPenn, to Switzerland and comes on tour with me in my circus trailer. The image captures exactly where I come from: the time, the place, the womb. It speaks to all the powerful themes that inform my life today: dance, performance, community, independent thinking, and the primal power of mother and daughters.

So here we are at the crux of the story: Last night after teaching my Thursday night belly dance classes, my student Regan came up to me with a magazine. “My father just died the week before Thanksgiving,” she said. “I was going through his things –he was a major packrat and collected lots of magazines - and I found this. It was the only one he had of its kind.” She looked at me with sweaty, trembling anticipation. I felt a tingling, emotional from Regan’s loss and from what she had found. I was leafing through Peter Max magazine, volume 2 from 1970 and came on the page….”LOOK” She said.

There it was, the second of a series of black and white hippy portraits --people raving, a woman blissfully breastfeeding, couples hugging, dogs leaping -- THE SEMINAL PHOTO OF MY LIFE – only, I was cut out! The focus of the photo was on the coin bra, the smiling hippy mother belly dancing with daughter on the shoulders. The belly button, Mom’s rounded belly with ME in it wasn’t in the frame. But it didn’t diminish the amazement, the tingling sensation, the incredible cosmic coincidence of the whole thing. If Regan hadn’t been my student for all these years and had opportunities to come to my home studio to dance, she would never have seen the original photo in its frame; she would never have known the significance of her father’s single copy of Peter Max magazine from 1970. And I would never have known the photo was ever in the seminal hippy magazine of the 1960s, now a collector’s item, and I would never have googled “Robert Altman, Photographer, Peter Max” and found the website of the original photographer, and searched for belly dancer on his site and found myself again.

So there you have it.

Thank you Robert Altman for taking the very first picture of me belly dancing. You don’t know me but I’m honored to be an in-utero subject of your beautiful body of work.

Thanks Mom and Dad for never selling out because my hippy inheritance is worth more than money.

Thank you Regan for belly dancing with me, for sharing your story and for giving me the issue of Peter Max magazine (that is worth $88 bucks on ebay but way more to me!)

Thank you Regan’s Dad, who was fascinated with hippies but was never one himself.

This is a pretty far-out and groovy story that I totally dig.

As it says on the last page of Peter Max magazine: Volume 2 from 1970:

Man is one. God is one. Love is one.
We are all the fruits of one tree
And the leaves of one branch.
Everyone is God in the process of evolution.
Identify yourself with everything that lives.
Love all God’s creation.
Love even the leaf;
Love the animals, love the plants,
Love everything.
Feel that the one power
Of God works through all hands,
Sees through all eyes,
Hears through all ears.

Saturday August 29 Moirae Presents: Improper Spectacle

2008-07-09T10:51:00.000-04:00

Melina's Spring 2009 Combo

2008-01-03T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hope this broad-stroked write-up helps jog your memory for what we did in class recently. I did the very first part of this combo in the Level I classes, and the rest in the level III.

Step hip (first one is a step left, hip right) for 4 with changing arms:

"Elbows in doorway" arms
"Classic Egyptian" arms
"L" arms
"Reverse L" arms

On balls of feet, backwards chasse step with left hand at temple, right arm outstretched in front. Switch arms as you switch lead leg:

L,R,L
R,L,R
L.R,L
R,L,R

Folkloric 'suzie Q' crossover step into pivot turn and 4 hip pulls to left

Cross Left foot over Right, heel of left hand pinned to left hip, right hand behind head
Cross Left foot over Right again, lifting onto releve for a safe pivot turn around,
Transition into Hip Pulls to left for 4, arms sweeping slowly up to left side (direction you are going)

Large Hip Circle into sit hip, flick foot

Step out to right, feet positioned under armpits, push right hip to right, pull hips back, left, then position right foot in front, "showgirl" thighs, for hip lift and drop, lift and drop with right foot flick.

Tunisian twist step traveling in tight circle around to right on balls of feet.

Arms lift elbows outstretched, chasse step forward RLR, LRL, RLR, LRL

Walk back with dramatic pushing forward arms in modern dance fusion style - R, L, R, then lean back into left foot with "Artemis Huntress" bow and arrow pull, Left arm pulling arrow back, right arm outstretched, then lean into right leg, lift right arms up and walk under it to pivot around, bring left foot behind right in a "Melina killer lunge" position, up on ball of left foot. Left hand at left hip, right arm stretched in front, shoulder pull from shoulder blade for accents as you do level changes down and up, down and up....

Cleopatra's Frenzy Choreography by Melina

2007-12-20T08:12:00.000-05:00

Melina's Cleopatra's Frenzy Choreography
Set to the song of the same name by musical Artist: SUSU PAMPANIN
Album (available on itunes): CAIRO CATS

Daughters of Rhea Karmically Correct Request
** as with all choreographies you learn from your teachers or even from DVDs, if you perform this choreography at a hafli or public event, please give me credit as choreographer, and list Susu Pampanin as musical artist. Let us strive to always give credit where credit is due. It is the karmically correct, Daughters of Rhea way.

Without further ado, here it is!!!

Start in place on stage, cue music when ready in position. 
Bounce 4 with arms out in dainty “classic egyptian”, 3 shoulder accents RLR, torso lean to right as hips slide left, finger cymbals to ear - mime zills tac-a-tac-a-tac
On second pair, bounce only twice. 4 sets total: Alternate sides and ears you bring finger cymbals to (start on right). Last one – keep hands at left ear. The music cues you brilliantly.

Listen and clap
2 sets total: Arms go out to left and listen (in lunge on left leg with right out -- weight is into left leg); clap left to right side 4 times as you shift your weight into right lunge. Repeat once more - listen/clap right to left. End holding your left lunge.

“Get ready”

3 sets total: left arm up, right out in “L” arm position, then 2 hips as you shift lunge from left to right and switch arms to “reverse L”. repeat, repeat.

Your want me? Can’t have me!

4 sets total: Horizontal figure 8’s with hip accents. start by pushing front and right with 2 hip accents, palms facing up. one hip accent as you figure 8 your hip to left front.

Hands: As hips travel on the right, hold arms out to sides (elbows bent) with palms up. As hips travel on the left, turn palms down.

Proud Queen’s walk - traveling back.

4 sets total: Turn body toward left side of room. Left arm up high with palm facing front of room. Right hand behind right hip; fingers together and pointing down. Chest tall, high heel on your right foot.

**As soon as you turn your body, ‘squinch’ right hip up with a muscle contraction of the waist** Then hips go – down, down, up, down. Try not to bob your body up and down. This is a highly controlled arabic style movement.

Swivel backward toward right diagonal by stepping back on your right foot (end facing right side of room). Repeat all facing right side then back to left; last set facing right.

“Kazakh Cutie shoulder shrugs”

Tiny ball (right foot) flat (left foot) steps forward with quick and small shrugging shoulders. Shoulders lift as you put weight into right foot, drop as you step on flat left foot.

8 counts: Body faces forward; head looks down toward right. Arms at sides; wrists bent so palms face floor.

Keeping a high heel on right and a flat left foot, take tiny steps forward as you bounce shoulders.

Continue previous ball/flat foot pattern but engage your hips to lift and drop more and turn around in place toward your left shoulder (counterclockwise).

8 counts to complete one turn in place toward left: Earth to sky arms.

QUICK Lunge / hip / lunge / shoulder shimmy
2 sets: Leaving left foot planted, small and quick lunge once right (snake right arm). Bring feet back together. side right hip then left. Repeat same lunge and back, then shoulder shimmy as you bend knees deeper.

Circle the hand / hip lifts
8 sets of: Lift left hip 3 times then turn left with a lifting flick of the right foot as you circle right hand. Use all 8 sets of 3 hip lifts to turn one full circle to the left.

Left arm up, right out. Wrist rotation with each turn.

“Suzie Q” with pelvic clutch as you move left / “Tush push” moving back to right

Twisting Suzie Q cross-over step with pelvic clutch left for count of 4: Keeping chest forward; travel left by cross right foot in front of left then step to the side with left. Hips follow the right foot by twisting toward left as right foot crosses front and twisting right as left foot steps out. Clutch pelvis as foot lifts from floor. Count out the steps as right foot crosses front. Arms out to sides in “Classic Egyptian” position.

“Tush Push” right for count of 4: Travel right by stepping right into bent leg and pushing left hip up by gently extending left knee. Leave left foot planted behind you as hip rises. Slide left foot to meet right as hip drops. (Count as you step on right foot.) Arms are in a high prayer and push toward your direction of travel as step on right foot and bring back as side left foot in. Head looks back toward your derriere.

Repeat “Suzie Q” left / push right sets a total of 2 times.

Walk away
4 counts: Walk toward back of room starting on left (arms down) with dismissive hand gesture: “I don’t need you anymore.”

Stop and look back over right shoulder (twist upper body toward front of room) and lift right hip for 8. Slowly raise arms on right diagonal over right hip as hips lift. “But do you still think I’m hot? I’ll give you a last look...”

4 counts: Walk toward back of room starting on left (arms down). “Forget it: I’m outta here!”

Cat walk forward
4 counts: slinky Jazz walk forward starting on right. Lots of attitude and MEOW!!

Sexy figure 8’s
4 slow counts: Horizontal figure 8’s starting front right (2 hips as push right; 1 strong hip as push front left). Hands on back of head with elbows up; holding hair up.

4 fast counts: Same figure 8’s without one hip accent on each side.

Root chakra Roll up

Repeat set 2 times: Feet together, toes and knees pointing forward, Roll up from 1st chakra. Hands at hips; palms forward; fingers curl closed as roll up. Shoulder shimmy at top.

**Listen to music for the count of the roll up and the beats of the shoulder shimmy.**

Charlie’s Angels
A. Shift weight into left leg; ball of right foot; knees bent. Drop into left hip. Hold your “gun” up high.

B. Jump onto right leg; hold left leg slightly lifted and behind you (leg straight and toe pointed). Shoulder shimmy as bend and straighten right leg. (Keep left foot slightly elevated throughout.)

8 counts of each for 2 sets,
4 counts of each for 2 sets,
2 counts of each for 3 sets,

Walk in place to face forward with hands down, palms into hip flexors, Count of 4.

Chest pulses 3
Pull 1, 2, 3, pause on 4. Do this a total of 3 times. Corkscrew on 4 (circle ribcage to right, then circle hips to right).

Pelvic Clutches
For a count of 8: Clutch pelvis as hands make loose fists at hips (palms forward). As tuck pelvis, lift right foot slightly off ground. Turn slowly left as release hips, foot, and fingers (palms open). Do this 8 times to make one full circle to the left.

For a count of 4: Continue clutching and travel to the right. Look down and right.

Salt the earth with your “girls”
Count of 4: Cross right foot in front of left. Ball change to the left and shoulder shimmy. **Get low**

Count of 4: Clutch and travel to the right (same as prior step).

Count of 4: salt the earth again.

Hip Pulls with Hawaiian hands
2 sets – each set a count of 4: Hip pulls traveling right (step right, together, right, together). Hands start near right hip and travel up. Hands go out and scoop energy toward you (arms stay out – circle at wrists). Repeat to left.

Same movement; 1 set right and left to a count of 2.

Quick hip pulls with steady hands
2 sets (1 right; 1 left) of 4 counts: Travel right by stepping on right; push out right hip. Allow the push of the hip to drag your left leg in to meet your right. Arms out to sides: left hand at temple; right pointing in direction of travel. Look where you are going. Repeat traveling left.

2 sets (1 right; 1 left) of 2 counts: Same movement.

Heel Push Hips with Stylized “Classical Indian” Arms
Total of 8 slow counts: Start with feet together. Step forward into heel with right and push weight into right hip. Arms: Right in front of body; left high over head. Index finger and thumb on both hands make a circle. Step back on left. Bring right foot back where started. (With the feet, the count goes 1, 2, 3, pause on 4). Repeat alternating left and right foot stepping forward.

Do same movement stepping with arms forward 1 right then 1 left. Walk in place right/left/right/left while layering in a ¾ shimmy and hip lift. Hands next to hips; keep fingers in circles. (Lift right foot and right hip; place foot down and small hip left then right. Repeat other side.) Count the walk each time the foot lifts (4 counts total).

Do the stepping and walk-in-place set a total of 2 times.

Hips in place
2 hips right; 1 left – listen for music cues

Wipe your brow with languor
Bounce 3 times as you turn body toward left and wipe brow with left hand (right arm toward front of room); repeat right; repeat left; repeat right, but this time ‘smoke a cigarette’ (right hand to lips then back out).

Pulling Love from heart with forward step, back step
Count of 6: forward/back step right. Keep arms up. Hands start at heart; right hand “pulls love from heart” out as you step forward on right foot. As you step back on right foot, left hand pulls forward.

Continue movement for 4 counts turning to the left. (Face side, back, side, front). Repeat 4-count circle still turning left.

Clap

Keep clapping until your turn to join in the next step.
Hipping and shoulder shimmy
Front row starts then others join in at staggered appointed times.

Step back on left (left arm up; right out). Hips drop, up, drop, up, drop. Shoulder shimmy forward, back, forward, back.

Freestyle
Count of 8: Insert your wild act of self expression here.

Shimmy and snake arms
Start snake arms low and slowly raise over head.

END IT!
Jump back on left; point right foot in front; arms up straight.

Tips from the Hip by Melina

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Melina presents Lisa Zahiya Shimmies Workshop November 19th 2 - 3:45 p.m. at Moody Street Circus

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Melina's Moody Street Circus Matinee Recital Sunday June 12th 2011 at 3 p.m.

May 2011 Daughters of Rhea / Moody Street Circus Newsletter

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April 2011 Daughters of Rhea / Moody Street Circus Newsletter

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Sunday March 20th: Melina to teach her "Gypsy Heart" combinations with zills in NH.

Reserve your seats now for the fabulous Fred Elias CD Release Party March 13th at Ancient Art Studios. Dancing by Aurel, Celia, Anneke, Melina & YOU.

Winter 2011 Moody Street Circus Newsletter

Baseema and *Samantha* present Shimmies V: Peace, Love and Shimmies! Saturday March 12th Fundraiser for Cancer Research

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Fall 2010 Daughters of Rhea/Moody Street Circus Newsletter

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Helping Hips Gala October 16th

Tribal:Pura Performance September 24th

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The latest newsletter - hot off the digital presses

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Please check out my June newsletter!

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Fred Elias Live at the Karoun

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Love

Melina Seminars in Athens, Greece May 15 and 16 2010

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Rhea's Report on turning 61 and 1/4

Cirque Passion European-style family circus: Tented shows and circus acts and entertainment

ESSAY: Belly Dance as Empowerment by Melina of Daughters of Rhea

SHIMMY Rx: Dr. Weil prescribes undulation cure: Belly Dancing is Good for your Health!

ESSAY: Melina's Tray of Candles

STUDENT INFO: Folkloric Belly Dance Circle Warm up by Melina

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STUDENT INFO: Melina's Belly Dance Music Recommendations

PiperMethod YouTube Channel

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Jareeda Magazine Interview with Melina by Morgana

A Hippie Conception - In Utero Belly Dancing by Melina of Daughters of Rhea

Saturday August 29 Moirae Presents: Improper Spectacle

Melina's Spring 2009 Combo

Cleopatra's Frenzy Choreography by Melina

Sara Cabral's Keep Inspired Series at Moody Street Circus

Baseema and Samantha present Shimmies V: Peace, Love and Shimmies! Saturday March 12th Fundraiser for Cancer Research