Dance from the Heart!

I can't quite believe its mid-August already! Its been a while since I last updated this blog; mainly because of a manic few months completing a post grad in teacher training.  It does now feel great to be back attending dance classes, workshops and training again.

During the summer holidays I've developed the daily habit of doing ten minutes of dynamic yoga, followed by twenty minutes of bellydance drills. Just stretching, gliding and flowing with my body again, feels like a weird, but wonderful and liberating concept to be getting back into. Its funny how we tend to forget that by not dancing or doing some form of exercise, you can feel stuck, sluggish and sometimes down in your moods. The creative expression and art form of dance, whether done professionally or just for a bit of fun, is SO freeing, uplifting and releases endorphins to bring about a sense of well-being and  inner calm. The photo on the right, found on tumblr, is of a bellydancer demonstrating how liberating, enhancing and visually pleasing different forms of bellydance can be (if you know the photographer or dancer, please email me so I can credit them).

One things for sure, having followed social networking sites, attended haflas and watched other dancers progress during my hiatus, the London bellydance scene is still buzzing and more exciting than ever. There's more haflas to attend, new genres of bellydance have been introduced, new-found festivals are on offer, increased classes and different kinds of courses to attend, including an array of performance courses. This is all fantastic as a lot of doors have been opened for beginners, advanced and professional dancers alike; all very different from a few years ago.  However, at the same time its quite overwhelming in terms of choice, as there's so much going on.  Decisions decisions...  Having thought about it and remaining true to what I want to work more on in my dancing, its helped me decide on the best course of action for the new dance season in September.

Below is a dance quote I recently found which struck a cord of inspiration, and helped me decide on what to do next. Yes, technique is important, but with the dancer tuning into their feelings and dancing from within, it not only mesmerises and captivates their audience, as they are drawn into the dance, but enhances the dancer's soul as they feel the music, free themselves and dance with inner passion and meaning. 

I love this concept of dancing from the heart, and have since put it on my facebook cover page to remind me to keep dancing, progress in feeling and flowing with the music and most importantly, have fun whilst doing so.

Shimmy On! 

Nic ♥