Tips from the Hip by Melina

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

Belly dance is a natural magic tool of inner knowing

Energy Healer Donna Eden writes that “becoming civilized is, to a large extent, learning not to do what your body wants you to do.”

I prefer to be UNICIVILIZED!

Belly dance opens us to the desire & wisdom of our natural body. Follow its energy: it is a great guide to a beautiful life.

My beautiful students dancing with veils!

Melina's students dancing her "Veu de Isis" choreography.

So lovely and dramatic!

Energetic Alchemy Card Pull for Dancers

Melina's Belly Dance Choreography Creation Deck

When you are feeling sluggish or want a fun creative challenge, grab the magic purple velvet drawstring bag, shuffle the deck, draw some choreo cards from Melina’s deck and get inspired to move!

Melina created this card deck in 2020 during lockdown to make space for movement & imaginative play. Sometimes it takes a game or a little challenge to draw you out into the dance floor - even if it’s just in your kitchen.

Just the idea of taking out the deck and pulling a card gets you off the couch and moving! Combining the cards inspires you to create pathways outside of your usual repertoire. You can even use them at parties to challenge folks who have never belly danced before to just make stuff up and have fun in a positive group setting.

Melina leads belly dance workshops and retreats with the cards and will be teaching from them this month in studio. More online offerings will be coming this summer.

There are so many ways to play with Melina’s choreo card deck.

The deck, which comes in a purple velvet drawstring bag on gorgeous glossy card stock - is available for purchase online through her studio website: Moody Street Circus

Melina commissioned the gorgeous original artwork for the back of the cards from artist Mariana Cabral. Find her on Instagram @marianacabralart and on YouTube at: Mariana Cabral Art

Breathing Goddess

The breathing goddess - one of my favorite cards from the The Energetic Alchemist Oracle Card Deck by Yolanda Williams - relaxes & enjoys life. She appreciates the simple gifts that surround her. She represents our connection to - our embodiment of - Delicious, Wild Nature and the Cosmos. She has a wonderful and loving relationship with herself, adore-ning her hips and head in roses, Aphrodite’s shell, golden jewelry at the heart and wrists, and a cosmic wreath of 12 zodiac stars.

She invites us to savor the simple treasures that surround us, in harmony with our own nature.

She understands breath as a pathway to presence and peace.

As a belly dancer she shows the beauty of hara - her navel - sacred center of her being - the wombiverse from which we all spring.

She knows she is worthy of abundance and opens her hands to receive!

Tune into her energy to tap into your creativity

to cultivate strength

to be a magnet for unexpected gifts and pleasures.

Follow her lead: step out of your analytical mind and drop into a relaxed body at peace with the energies that flow through.

Melina's Mystical Caravan Experience

Take time for yourself to connect to your body and spirit through beautiful ritual. Journaling, journeying, dancing, oracle cards and more! Calm your nervous system and open your creativity channels through movement, play & sacred exploration. Allow Melina's mystical caravan experience to lighten your energetic load.

My intention with Melina's Mystical Caravan Experiences is to...

...make space for self-love, reflection & laughter..

...harmonize body-mind-spirit through enjoyment of belly dancing, percussion (drums, finger cymbals & tambourines), guided journeys, breath work, tarot & astrology, sacred writing, juggling scarves, dancing with veils...and more, depending on the month!

...tune into your inner knowing/intuition & soothe your inner overthinker/overdoer

...emerge with greater clarity on how to proceed in the month ahead

...unplug & gather in private, supportive community (no phones, no cameras)

...consider how the moon phases, the elements, beautiful oracle cards, numbers & astrological placements of the moment can be wise guides

... befriend & learn from the energies you are currently dancing in

In the mystical caravan experience, I blend in fun exercises and practices that I have benefited from as an academic as well as an international belly dancer and circus artist. I often share what I have learned from Reiki practitioners, Qigong masters, shamanic teachers & oracle card creators. I love the details but always keep in mind the big picture. I believe in the healing power of tears to help us through the shit-shows of our lives, then shifting whenever possible to laughter.

Melina's Mystical Caravan Workshops are held monthly at Moody Street Circus on the first Sunday of the month.

Winter Solstice Dance

The Winter Solstice is a time of transition, the longest night of the year before the days grow longer into the next two seasons.

For this solstice I felt like celebrating the depths of night wisdom. I wanted to explore how Hekate and Persephone goddesses, dreams, shadow could inform a dance class in a way that helped dancers tune into this pivotal moment of Nature & their own bodies.

Then, as the days grow longer and Spring rears up from the soil, we are directing actions from a deep well of bubbling fresh spring water that has been refreshed by the pause of darkness & the soft light of the moon.

This year I have been learning from Hekate, the triple moon goddess. She is a powerful guide who gets to the root of all issues. You can't dance around issues with Hekate. There is no BS ing her. This year her energy has urged me to look under the rock of long-buried emotions, to sit with even the smallest fears, doubts and discomforts to see what lessons they hold. Once you choose Hekate as a coach, you can rescue yourself from most quandaries and grow your personal power. It might not always be comfortable, but it will be worth it.

So - with Veils - Myth - Imagery - dreams - appreciation for dark and light - we will be dancing with the Solstice.

The moon will be in her waning phase, a perfect time to allow dead skin to fly off with gentle earthquake shimmies.

In Chinese medicine, winter is considered a Yin, not a Yang, season. A time for rest, reflection, inferiority. We'll embrace the mysteries and delights of darkness by flowing with concealing veils.

We will be creating an altar of candle light to close, setting intention for how we want to use our energy for the new dawn and days ahead.