Healing Dance

How you begin matters.

There is a prologue:  

First find breath, peace & center within yourself

Enter the dance space

with energized reverence. 

You are in charge of setting the energy of the stage - don't let the stage or setting dominate you.  

You are a queen and deserve to be there, you will receive sacred attention from your subjects, you have beautiful energy to offer and secrets to reveal in the symbols of movement.

Keep breathing throughout and smiling in your heart.

Never apologize for taking up space or time on a stage. You are there, so own it.  Stay centered in your own pure intention and enjoyment of your movements.  Don't be afraid of stillness or repetition, but let even simple moments be backed by some inner emotion, image or story you have mapped in consciousness.   

You can do a step, hip a thousand ways, each of them with a slightly different texture.

You have a relationship with your music that is sacred, behind anything to do with the audience or even this time-space continuum.  

You are there to enjoy yourself, and in doing so you please them.  For slow moves take your time, follow your hands with your eyes, be conscious and present.  

You are unaffected by the lower registers of the audience; lower registers slide off of your golden light emanation to be transformed.  

Keep always to your highest ground.  Send out the purest energy and intention as you dance and the audience will tune itself to your frequency.  

In this way the dance can be a collective healing.

Melina as The Hermit

We are in a Universal Year 9

Be True to You & Shine your Light

Join in!

We are always accepting new students into belly dance classes at my home studio, Moody Street Circus.  I teach regularly scheduled bellydance dance classes into which new students are guided and easily incorporated, offer private or semi-private lessons for those who are working on a performance project or wanting to go deep into a particular area of the dance, special topic workshops and a variety of new and full Moon and Solstice Ritual classes.  

Here's how to gain access to the temple: www.moodystreetcircus.com/newdancers. Since our time and space is sacred, we have a couple of communication items we ask you to complete through that portal. The registration process gives you time to feel into whether you align with our guiding philosophy of mindful movement practice. You can also reach out via email with any questions you have.

The Serpent and the Wave

No matter what you've got going on, it's always a good idea to dip into Jalaja Bonheim's book The Serpent and the Wave for anti-authoritarian movement inspiration.  In case you don't have the book, here's one of my favorite excerpts:

 

 “Whenever you move with pleasure, you stop comparing yourself with others.  The questions is no longer, “How good do I look? How well am I performing?  How will I be perceived?; rather it is, “How good does this movement feel?”

 

Because true pleasure is rooted in your individual uniqueness, it is by its nature anti-authoritarian and a good indicator of whether a movement is appropriate for you.”  -Jalaja Bonheim, The Serpent and the Wave: A Guide to Movement Meditation.

This talk of pleasure can also bring up its opposite - it surfaces the struggles I sometimes see students grappling with in class as they practice both the segmented isolations & fluid pathways of belly dance movements.  A new way of moving doesn't always feel great in the body right away - and why would it?  That's okay at the beginning.  Anything unfamiliar feels strange at first.  The real issue is - how do you deal with the rub?  Can you soften your relationship with the internal micro-challenges that arise, trusting that learning a new way of moving will bring subtle shifts that, in the end, are quite powerful and have the potential to broaden and deepen movement pleasure?  I propose...softening into breath, tuning to inner smile frequency, and taking your time to initiate movements from your center line -- all this will make everything feel so much better.

When you are first learning to move through new energetic pathways in belly dance (and in life), there can be initial discomfort and frustration - even resistance. You may be used to trying to force things to happen in your body, or applying too much external energy, or think that a shape has to look and feel bold and big.  That doesn't always work with the path of the serpent.  A relationship with the internal, learning to feel into your central channel & harmonizing with subtle dynamics -- all this needs time to develop. Be patient and loving with yourself when resistance of any sort comes up - either from the brain or body - and relax into the process. This more yielding yin energy increases the likelihood you will even notice the micro pleasure moments when they do arise.

If you trust the process, if you patiently strengthen new muscles that support the expansion of your movement potential from the inside out - and are you are willing to diligently practice ...  a shift always occurs.  The body knows when she is being honored.  She likes to move a bit slower than fast-paced minds.  She will more pleasurably respond to your requests if her natural timelines are being heeded.  

Step, hip - breaking down the dance of love

First, plant the seed.

That's the "step » of the belly dance traveling movement step, hip

The seed is intention and attention to your own Venus nature.

The step is to establish your presence, authority, regality and magic.

The step is with a flat foot. Not flat as in dead, but flat and alive, flat and all parts feeling the ground.  A sensuous earth foot. Have you forgotten your foot is not just for putting in a hard shoe? This step, barefoot and optimistic, is the foundation of the movement, and should be enjoyed.

Don't be too quick to move on here -

Feel your weight on that first step leg, energy rooting down into the ground with a soft knee.  Locked knees can be jarring. Rigid. Send you off balance.  Soft knees have a slight bend, and allow the entire leg to be more animal, have more potential. You feel more life force rushing up from your planet with a soft knee, you breathe easier, your body is primed for movement in harmony with the elements & your spirit. 

For those who wish a straightforward, less poetic description, supple knees act as shock absorbers so movements do not stress the system or jar the spine.

The ball of the other foot contacts the ground in a "floint" - a point/flex hybrid.  « Floint » is the word we make up when pointed ankle energy meets a flex at the toe basin. The heel remains lifted even as you move your knees and hips, as if you were wearing a high heel shoe, but your aren't, you are holding your heel up with your brilliant mind.  This a position I sometimes like to call the "Dainty Dominatrix." In this pose, I imagine myself cracking a whip on anyone who questions my authority to teach using poetic imagery.  THWACK! Begone.

Finally, the Hip, rising from the skeletal arrangement you have set up so lovingly, blooming like a beautiful rose from the earth soil.

Step, Hip!

Love, 

Meli

Happy New Year!

 Belly Dance Log, 1/1/25

I have a tradition of offering an extended workshop on the first of the year, and this New Year's Day Belly Dance Balm Ritual Class was one for the ages.

The first day of the year carries a special hush of sacred newness.  Inspired by the #1 Card in the Major Arcana of Tarot, we began class with the Magician Arm Pathway.  Sinuous and circular, it involves the entire body and being. It an enchanting warm up, and we did it on both sides of the body.  We considered what thoughts and energies we wanted to seed into the New Year, and created sigils at the end of class.  We literally "rang" in the New Year with community finger cymbals using numerology to guide the patterns, and let it all hang out sharing happy dancing together.

In numerology, 2025 is a Universal Year 9, and 9 of us were gathered in a circle to toast the New Year with a beautiful juice blend my daughter and I had prepared.  Beets, lemon, ginger, apple, pineapple, oranges - gifts of earth blended with love to promote life force energy - delicious!

I guided the class through 9 movements / steps / pathways that formed a dance story.  At the end we did spins! which evokes the wheel of the year as well as a hopeful harbinger of next year - 2026 - a 10 year - and 10 in tarot is the Wheel of Fortune... May we all be fortunate this year and have a fulfilling year, reaching out for help and support when we need it, dancing and moving energy through the body, staying curious and open to new learnings, and challenging ourselves to follow through on our creative ideas and intentions.

We concluded class with relaxation. We lay down on mats, stretching, lounging and drawing our symbol or sigil for the year on blank tarot cards we provided.  

Each dancer had a self-validating & encouraging sign to bring home for their personal altar.

Happy New Year everyone!

Card Readings

When was the last time you consulted the oracle for a quick conversational reading about what to do about a particular situation?  I was inspired to do just that after reading about Normandi Ellis' "Sphinx spread."  

Last month I was hired to dance for a big party event on New Year's Eve. There have been some unusual discordant energies and minor set backs thread into the process, like the producer canceling out of nowhere on Christmas Day and then rehiring me for the event four hours later with murky explanation.  There is much behind the scenes that is not clear to me, but as a lifelong professional I always have a contract and keep my word. Through this tricky situation I have learned that I need to add some clauses to the contract (thank you Stina). I am always learning valuable new lessons, and for that I am grateful.

I want to end 2024 by reflecting and honoring all the choices I have made this year, thanking the experiences I have had and celebrating all the ways I have used my energetic tools to alchemize and transcend challenges.  I want to usher in 2025 in hope and joy and dance.  This year's New Year's Eve gig experience with its odd vibrations has brought me a latent sense of anxiety which I want to resolve before proceeding, so I brought my question to the cards.

This NYE tarot question and draw inspired by Normandi Ellis. 

The Sphinx spread is a three card spread - So and so (noun) does (verb) and this happens (object) 

(see the book Hieroglyphic Words of Power by Normandi Ellis)

 

“What can I do about my New Year’s Eve gig?”

 1. Noun. 3 of Wands.  Keywords: Create. Element of Fire. Life force energy. The artist and creator of positive events stands gazing at the horizon.  She is experienced and has done many different textures of events in the past (see the patchwork of the cloak). She has her hand on the wand of excitement, aliveness and potential action.  She is always able to create a beautiful show even when setbacks occur. The golden sun illuminates the landscape in front of her.  Nothing truly important is hidden from her.

 

2. Verb. 10 of cups. Keywords: New beginning.  Celebration.  Element of Water. Feeling. Relationships.  I'm going to make up a verb: "New Yearing" It is the intention and action of celebrating a New Year while simultaneously releasing the old year. Ten breaks down to one in numerology. 1 is clear: a new beginning is at hand.  The start of 2025.  In the card I see celebration through families dancing together - I feel joy, togetherness & open hearts.  In the upraised hands of the couple, I see the magic of the hieroglyph Heka, which is about honoring ourselves as channels of magic and about leaving space to receive cosmic intelligence into our hearts.  This is the frequency I want to dance in and will dance in. You can create this magic no matter what and children will always dance near you. My frequency of joy is strong. I can dance no matter what and get others up dancing.The verb is, without question, to dance in celebration. 

3. What happens. 0. The Fool. Key words: Courage, Risk, Innocence, Leap of Faith. Object. What happens is a leap of faith. Keep the open heart of an innocent. Leave all the questions behind. Set forth not knowing or needing to know.  All who attend the event also do not know - but they also go forth anyway. It’s a risk worth taking. Look to the planets on that day and bring your Isis wings. 

And so I shall.

Photo below is of my daughter dancing with her Isis Wings when she was 7.    

Freedom, courage, innocence, wisdom & purity & life.

In addition to my ceremonial entertainment work I am a certified Oracle card reader & wellness coach. I do readings (for entertainment purposes only) through my website's Card Reading portal. If you have a question and are intrigued by the concept of an Energetic Alchemy reading - inquire there!

Enjoy your dance!

 “In the midst of our technical troubles, we must always remember that the most important technique in dance is the love of dance.  If you are “in love” with moving, your technique improves and you are capable of expressing beautiful things”- Eric Franklin 

12-16-24 Energetic Alchemy Creativity Reading of the Day

A card and rune pull reflection of Monday / Moonday December 16, 2024 

https://vimeo.com/1039788783/c86136dd21

Mom moves to Greece

Rhea’s story. Part 1.

Excerpted from a 2002 interview in Jareeda magazine, in which my mom free wrote responses in her beautiful cursive script to questions submitted to her in writing by Morgana/Meg Smith. I typed up Mom’s responses then, and share them again now because her story is unconventional, unique & inspirational.

Mom felt a primal connection with Greece when she first visited in 1976. The ancient city in particular felt electric, magnetic. True to her instincts - with the exploratory fire of Sagittarius (her sun) and the persistent and practical will of Capricorn (rising)- she lives still in chosen beloved city of Athens, a stone’s throw from the Acropolis.

“I wasn’t going to stay in Greece forever.  I was going to stay there for five years until I turned 40, the age when everyone was ‘supposed’ to quit belly dancing.  As far as I knew, the clubs in San Francisco didn’t hire dancers over that age.  But the tourist tavernas in Plaka (Old City Athens) were different, and I didn’t look my age, so I just kept dancing, waiting for that inevitable time when the club owner would say “I’m sorry but you have to go.” That time didn’t ever come.  I got used to the language a little bit, and so I decided to stay a bit longer.  But I never made the decision to stay there for 25 (now 47) years.  It wasn’t like I was getting married to Greece.  It just happened.  I tried to leave a few times.  I went to Montreal, to be with Piper, and although it had a good club scene, I can’t stand the cold. I wanted to go someplace where people could dance for a living. I wanted to have someplace like Greece where it’s an open border. In Greece then it was sort of a free for all — there were no frontiers; no laws, really.  If you just learned the rules - the unspoken, the unwritten rules - you could get along.”

#independent #woman #bellydancer #trailblazer #truetoherself, her way, her being and to #bellydance #rheaofgreece #adventure in #Greece #daughtersofthea #plaka 

Full Moon Belly Dance Saturday October 28, 2023

Saturday 10/28 the full moon will be in the sign of sensual Taurus. The sun is in transformative intense Scorpio.  We will dance connecting to our senses, deepest held values & bodies to stabilize any disharmony and lighten up our energy fields.  We will intend and allow this lunation to surface that which would be best for us to release and transform for our highest and best good. And we will burn herbs in the magic cauldron in appreciation for that which is working in our lives.

www.moodystreetcircus.com