Tempest
"Madame 'Mutha"
Theatrical Tactics

In this class we will discuss the different looks and sounds found in the Gothic Sub-cultures: Ethereal/Romantic/Dark Wave, Industrial, Death Rock, EBM & Powernoize. We will cover what type of movements and costuming goes with which sound as well as cover genre appropriate stage presence and space utilization. This workshop is designed for dancers of all levels and the curious at heart.

Trance dancing is a personal journey into altered states of consciousness and creativity. Light trancing is the ultimate stress reliever. It is a Zen exercise for learning to “let go” and dance mindlessly in the moment. As we advance, deep trance is a powerful, mysterious tool for harvesting self-knowledge and spiritual ecstasy. We will explore trance from 3 different angles. First as an ancient ritual, second, as a performance art for dancers, and third, as a traditional women’s social dance. Segment 1 of the workshop will introduce simple techniques for descending into trance as well as a rhythm drills and music suggestions for practicing trance on your own. In segment 2 students learn a 2-minute choreography inspired by the Egyptian Zar, a traditional ritual for healing spirit-possession. This routine is a theatrical version of a real Zar and may be performed as part of a tribal fusion or gothic dance piece. Segment 3 will explore group trance dancing. Part African, part Arab, these spicy movements and interactions are based on Moroccan women’s dances. This is the Moroccan version of a mosh pit! We will rock, spin, jump, flick, and shake with abandonment. Bring kneepads and eat lightly before class. This is a rhythmic and hypnotic workout!

Using her experience as a priest in the Feri Tradition of Witchcraft, we will cover the basics of ritual theory and how this theory applies to dance. First we will begin with welcoming gestures. Then we will learn to set the space as sacred and make invocatory gestures to call in a force of power. This workshop will delve deeper into ritual than Anaar's dvd by focusing on movements around the concept of spellwork. Some floorwork will be involved. By the end of the workshop you will have enough concepts and practices to develop your own ritualized performance. This workshop is suitable for the beginning level dancer but advanced dancers new to ritual will certainly gain from this.

She finds inspiration for her dances in many eras, places, and faces, from ancient cultures and spiritual myths worldwide, to the work of silent film star and original vamp Theda Bara, and turn-of-the-century dance goddess Ruth St. Denis.She is most well-known for her Gothic Belly Dance performances and instruction, and is featured on the first ever GBD performance DVD produced by WorldDanceNewYork entitled "The Darker Side of Fusion", it's sequel "Gothic Belly Dance: Revelations", and Hollywood Music Center's "Bellydance Underworld". She also has an instructional DVD geared towards the alternatively-minded entitled "Bellydance for Beautiful Freaks" produced by WorldDanceNewYork.
Websites:
-Med'Devi Ink (art, design, the original corset belt...) www.meddevi.com
-Tempest's Nouveau Noir Dance: www.darklydramatic.com
-The Gothic Bellydance Resource: www.gothicbellydance.com

Sashi is an internationally recognized performer, instructor and choreographer based in Orange County, California. Sashi has been a student of dance for seventeen years and began studying African Haitian and West African dance while a student at San Francisco State University. In the years following, Sashi found Middle Eastern dance to be the style she was most drawn to as it spoke to her Semitic roots and aesthetic interests. She has studied many forms of Middle Eastern dance including American Tribal Style Bellydance, Tribal Fusion Bellydance, Gothic Bellydance, Egyptian and Lebanese Cabaret Bellydance, Israeli and Turkish Debke, Saidi, and Nubian Folkloric dances. She is most recognized for her alluring and dynamic performances of Gothic Tribal Fusion Bellydance and Improvisational Tribal Fusion Bellydance. Inspired by the "Spirit of the Dance", Sashi views bellydance as the honoring of the divine feminine by creating spiritual and physical unions through movement. This is evident as her ability to cultivate the energy that the dance evokes is translated to each audience member with a look, a gesture, a presence that is unmistakably unique to Sashi. You can see her perform solo or in collaboration with internationally acclaimed performance troupes in many venues, settings and shows. Information on her upcoming performances, workshops, tour dates and collaborations can be found at www.ascendtribaldance.com

Asharah has been performing since the age of six as a dancer, figure skater, and singer. As a bellydancer, she is best known for her dramatic fusion of tribal and cabaret styles, but also has extensive experience in Turkish, Egyptian and American bellydance. She recently earned her Level 2 certification in the Suhaila Salimpour format, and aims to blend this format with American Tribal Style bellydance. Her technique, musicality, and finger cymbal playing skills have been noted and admired across the country. She is deeply grateful to Alexia (Kim Leary), Artemis Mourat, Suhaila Salimpour, and others who have guided her along the way.

In addition to traveling around the country to teach sold-out workshops, she teaches regular tribal belly dance classes at two of the Washington, DC, area's finest dance studios, Joy of Motion and Saffron Dance. She currently performs around the country and periodically at the Shisha Lounge in Sterling, Virginia. She will be releasing her first instructional DVD Modern Tribal Bellydance, produced by WorldDanceNewYork, in January 2008, and she is featured on the groundbreaking DVD Gothic Bellydance: The Darker Side of Fusion, produced by World Dance New York. From 2003-2005 she performed with the avant-garde troupe Martiya Possession and before that was a two year member of Raks Odalisque, Princeton University's Middle Eastern dance troupe. She also provided live percussion and graphic design for Maduro's debut release Shimmer Sustain.

Asharah is not only an accomplished dancer but also has a B.A. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. Ever since her childhood, Asharah has been deeply interested in Middle Eastern arts and culture. She believes that every belly dancer must know the history and culture of this dance, whether she is performing it in its traditional forms or fusing it with others.

Asharah's website: http://www.asharah.com

Anaar is a long time practicing witch in the Feri Tradition and brings to her performances a large body of dark lore and ritual. Her body of work focuses on sensual ecstasy and expressionistic storytelling. She walks between the worlds, dancing between technique and passion. Every performance is an homage to her Triple Muse; Mystery, Power and Ritual. Fear not to step into the circle, Fear not to dance with the Fey.

Anaar is currently working on an instructional dvd. Tentatively titled "Dark Imaginations", this dvd will cover her passion for ritualized performance art. Techniques for creating an otherworldly persona will also be covered. Included are two performances that highlight the practices in the dvd. Scheduled release is for mid-late Nov.

http://www.anaar.info

Callisto is a teacher, choreographer and performer based in Gothenburg, Sweden. She's been dancing since the age of five, and tried various styles from Finnish folklore via ballroom dances to bellydance. She's studied many different styles of bellydance; Turkish and Egyptian cabaret, Egyptian folklore, ATS, tribal fusion and gothic fusion. She is the first in Sweden to teach the dark/gothic fusion style, and founding member of the third ever ATS troupe in Sweden; Serpentine Tribal.

She's a frequently hired teacher and performer both in Sweden and internationally. She's known to her students and her audience as a passionate dancer with a big, but perhaps a bit blackened, heart, a sense of humour both in teaching and performing, and a powerful and demanding presence. She's also known to pour life into her students' dancing, and make them challenge their own boundaries making them to dare more, bring out more attitude and be more secure on stage. Being the Swedish pioneer of darker fusion styles she's branded the Swedish dance scene with influences that now can be seen in other dancers' performances all over the country and around Europe.

Callisto's style is infuenced by martial arts, tribal styles, cabaret, the goth sub culture and mystique. She loves weapons in dance for the feeling, their powerful impact and their beauty. Backed up by a decade of martial arts and Japanese and European sword training she's incorporated props like the sword, daggers and sai into her dark fusion style. Loving the veil for its mystic and powerful expression, she's also created deeply dark pieces with it, breaking many classical rules about its use.

To Callisto dancing on the shadow side of fusion is a way to let out all elements inside of ourselves; the beauty and the beast, the loving and the vengeful, the caring and the unforgiving, the warm and the cold... There is room and permission to express all of it, to use one's inner darkest feelings and to create something beautiful out of them.

More information about Callisto, teaching and performances found at http://www.nocturnalfusion.com

Marjhani