Workshop descriptions:

Saturday

Rahma – ‘Your Light, Your Dance!’       Using the image of energy as light, we will explore ways that this can be used from the inside outward using exercises and techniques Rahma has developed for teaching her classes. Ending with a fun note, Drum solo choreography using body percussion!
Lynette – Ghawazee Sparkle and Turkish Curves  Explore the soul and vitality of Egyptian Ghawazee and Turkish dance. Two distinctive traditions of music and movement provide ideas and inspirations for your own improvisation and choreography.      .

Sunday

Lynette – Turkish Technique and Choreography   

Celebrate the passionate and dynamic music, movements, and spontaneity of Turkish Roman and Oryantal dance. Distinctive steps, gestures, and sinuous movements provide a base for ornamentation, layering, and dramatic expression in an Oryantal choreography.

Rahma – “Taxim (Taqsim) Balady AKA Balady Progression”       Building on what Rahma did 2 years ago, we will listen to and dance to different tracks to solidify the progression then explore some slightly out-of-the-box ways of dancing to it. We will apply some of the ideas from the Saturday workshop. This musical form works well for sword dance, so if that’s your thing, bring one along.

Notes on Lynette’s dance interests:

Lynette has studied Ghawazee dance since the 1980s with luminaries Aisha Ali, Jalilah, Khyriyya, and others, and through archival research. Her troupe Ghawazee choreographies have been staged in Vancouver theatres, Toronto (International Belly Dance Conference of Canada), Seattle (Mediterranean Fantasy Festival), Courtenay, Nanaimo, and many other BC venues. 
Lynette became entranced by Turkish Roman dance in the 1990s, and has developed a distinctive personal style for teaching and performing both Turkish Oryantal and Roman dance based on studies with Reyhan Tuzsuz, Gigi Dilsah, Artemis Mourat, Ferda Bayazit, Sema Yildiz, Ozgen, and others. 
In recent decades Lynette has led weekend dance intensives and 5 day retreats in spectacular locations eg. Dance Vallarta (Puerto Vallarta), DanceAway Mexico (La Manzanilla), Hollyhock Retreat Centre (Cortes Island), Oasis de la Dance – Studio Denise Enan (Quebec), Denman Island Dance Retreats, Smithers Dance Camp, and other BC locations (eg.Victoria, Tofino, Thetis Island, Quadra Island, Gabriola Island, Cumberland). She regularly presents classes and workshops on and around Vancouver Island.