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Posts Tagged ‘Gloucestershire’

FLUIDITY, FLOW AND FREEDOM – DANCING WITH THE BALADI VEIL

Posted in Baladi, technique and insights, UK workshops, upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2018|

Workshop

Saturday 17 March 2018    1.15 – 6.15pm

Fluidity, Flow and Freedom – Dancing with the veil.  A beautiful lyrical and carefree expression in the Baladi form

 

Flying B 1photo Simon Richardson

‘Feeling the relaxed stability of our posture and the free movement of our legs give us exhilaration; dance and veil dance themselves’

 

Courtyard Clinic Studio

The Old Post Office, Parsonage Street, 

Dursley, Glos. GL11 4DR 

(Opposite The Courtyard Cafe and next to the church.  The studio is at the back of the small car park)

Cost:   £40 or £35 (conc. £25) if paid by 3rd March.

Please contact me for booking and more information, and for bank details if you wish to pay online.  Email:  lizawedgwood (at)yahoo.co.uk      Tel: 01453 757140   Mob: 077 6666 4684

www.LizaWedgwoodDance.com 

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Exhilarating dancing in 2016 – workshops and courses

Posted in Shaabi - Ghawazee, upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , , , on January 7, 2016|

The Calendar has now been up-dated!  Please click on tab above for details of workshops, courses and intensive days of dance in Germany, Austria, Italy and the UK.

On 16/17 January the 2016 dance year will start with a ‘Moods and Archetypes in Baladi’ weekend in Berlin. This will be followed on the 24th by a Beginners workshop in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and workshops in Munich during the last weekend of the month. 

Munich and Dursley courses this year will explore the themes of Sha’abi and the Charisma of the Ghawazee (click on Raqs Sharqi tab above).

Workshop

Saturday 13 February 2016  1.00 – 6.00pm 

SPOTLIGHT ON SHAA’BI AND THE CHARISMA OF THE GHAWAZEE 

ghawazee

The Courtyard Clinic Studio 

The Old Post Office, Parsonage Street, 

Dursley, Glos. GL11 4DR  UK 

(Opposite The Courtyard Cafe and next to the church.  The studio is at the back of the small car park)

Cost:   £35 (conc. £25)

The Sha’abi form of Raqs Sharqi is the dance found around Luxor in the Sa’id (Upper Egypt).  Literally it means ‘of the people’ as in ordinary people or country people.  Old music from the villages, as well as modern day pop, allows for simple, joyful dancing using repetitive movements.  Included in this genre is the dance of the professional dancers, the Ghawazee.  Much loved, they brought colour and entertainment to village and family celebrations, and dance to this day to the multilayered Sa’idi music played on instruments unchanged over the centuries.

Technique, costumes and a bright smile are not enough to express this dance.  Eventually the evocative Sa’idi music, coming down the centuries, calls us to find something deeper, richer.  It calls us to find an archaic authentic response and invites us, in the excitement of repetition, to dance effortlessly from our stable centre. 

Excitement characterises Sha’abi but so does stability, and these two attributes are not necessarily understood by us dancers in the west as we search for that certain something which takes us to the heart of both dancers and audiences alike, and makes the dance so compelling to watch.  They would appear to be opposites.  In fact the melding of the two is the essence.

The year’s course will help us to understand these opposites. It will bring us closer to the culture in which this dance flourished, the dance of the Sa’id which is so pertinent to our lives today.

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Happy dancing on a Sunday afternoon

Posted in upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , , , , on December 7, 2015|

BEGINNERS WORKSHOP IN STROUD, GLOS.

SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2016   2-5pm

The Blue Room, Centre for Science and Art (opposite the library) Lansdown, STROUD, Gloucestershire GL5 1BB 

IMG_0638.jpeg

Relaxed and thoughtful teaching by Liza Wedgwood gives an opportunity to learn a beautiful feminine art.  Suitable for complete beginners, dancers who wish to refine their technique and those coming from a different style.  All ages welcome!

      Green veil218_3

Cost £15       

Information and    Booking   Tel  01453  757140

     Please share this with anyone who may be interested. Thank you

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Moods and Archetypes Workshop 5 Dec Dursely, UK

Posted in technique and insights, Uncategorized, upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , , , on November 24, 2015|

In this workshop, and using both modern and traditional music, we will explore very simply some of the danced archetypes of Egyptian culture and their responding moods.

How we dance has almost more impact than what we dance.  Although technique is important, it is often not enough as an expression of the music, the culture and who we are as dancers. Music from Egypt and the Arab world with it’s yearning melodies and earthy, often exuberant rhythms, sometimes beautifully simple, sometimes richly complex, is why we dance and how we dance.    So there comes a time when we want to come closer, in a deep and creative way, to that what we love about Raqs Sharqi.

Raqs Sharqi has infinitely more colour than the smiling, jolly persona that is the usual depiction in the West.  There is the possibility of subtle feelings which the music invites us to express, our genuinely joyful celebration but also our sense of beauty, wisdom, drama, sorrow, femininity, courage, contemplation and others.  Taking a few of these, this workshop is for everyone to enjoy who has some basic experience or who comes from another style of Arabic dance.

Dance 23 Oct15 14_2

Saturday 5 December 2015  1.00 – 6.00pm

The Courtyard Clinic Studio (Beautiful warm studio with mirror!)

The Old Post Office, Parsonage Street, 

DURSLEY Glos. GL11 4DR 

(Opposite The Courtyard Cafe and next to the church.  The studio is at the back of the small car park)

Cost:   £35       Please contact me to book 

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THE TAHTIB – A RARE AND UNUSUAL WORKSHOP FOR MEN

Posted in technique and insights, upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , , on September 7, 2015|

reda-stickdance-detail

FREE TAHTIB WORKSHOP FOR MEN 

THE GOLD ROOM, CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ART, 13 LANSDOWN, STROUD, GL5 1BB

SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2-4PM 

Funded by Stroud Festival and part of the Stroud Dance Festival  15 October – 1 November 2015 this is an opportunity FOR MEN TO TASTE FOR FREE the exhilaration of dancing with the stick in the ancient ritualised combat dance of TAHTIB from Egypt .

The several years training in both Karate and Tai Chi gave me insights into the basic concepts of many martial arts – relaxed but focused attention, a low centre of gravity, balance, centredness and a peaceful attitude.  During my long experience as a dancer and in my teaching and study visits to Luxor I came to understand how these elements are the basis for the improvised dance form, the TAHTIB, and how it is highly relevant to the dance shy men of the West.  We will use large sticks and evocative music played on instruments unchanged over centuries to explore an art which goes back to pharaonic times.

The workshop is non contact and suitable for all men.  You do not have to be especially fit, nor have experience in dance or in the martial arts, just an open and curious mind, and a willingness to have fun.  Sticks will be provided.

PLACES ARE LIMITED.  PLEASE BOOK BY CONTACTING ME.  CLICK ON contact.  Thank you.

See stroudartsfestival.org for the dance programme

 

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Raqs Sharqi – Dancing with a Stick Workshop

Posted in technique and insights, upcoming workshops, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2014|

Egyptian Dancing with the Stick Workshop

Saturday 6th December 2014 1.00 – 6.00pm

The Courtyard Clinic Studio (Beautiful warm studio with mirror!)
The Old Post Office, Parsonage Street,
Dursley, Glocestershire. GL11 4DR
(Opposite The Courtyard Cafe and next to the church. The studio is at the back of the small car park)

The workshop is general level. The work on grounding and poise makes this workshop very suitable for beginners. The more experienced will expand their repertoire, find inspiration and deepen their understanding.

Cost: £35 (newcomers 3 hours with break £17)
Please book as soon as you can. 

Erna Froehlich and I returned inspired from our October Dance Week in the Austrian Alps near Mittersill. We had celebrated 20 years of our residential dance intensive in the same cosy farm house with its beautiful dance room looking out towards the glittering white mountain peaks.

Our focus for the week was ‘Stick Dancing’. Erna and I purposefully left this term unqualified to allow for freedom and discovery, not only for students but for Erna and myself.
The fruits of those days were unexpected and inspirational, and they are what I would like to share with you at the workshop.

At first I was disheartened because we did not have enough natural wooden walking sticks for such a large group. The only solution was to use the hooked golden ‘cabaret’ canes which I have never really liked. It was those golden canes however which instigated our journey of discovery and became our inspiration.

I have not yet managed to get a supply of these golden canes, and therefore for this workshop please bring one if you own or can get hold of one. Don’t worry if you don’t or can’t. I will bring plenty of ordinary canes for us to dance with.

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