Hello all !! I’m back home in my quiet little village of Lunenburg on the Atlantic Ocean, with my sweet kitty, Miss Brigitte, and happy to be easing back into my "other" profession as a therapist once again. My arrival home was just in time for winter to transform into gorgeous warm spring days and time to start preparing and planting my garden. Speaking of starting new things, I have some great news!!! We are finally just about ready to launch my Body Logic for Belly Dance on line video training series. After juggling my mania for perfection with my challenges in the world of technology and the value of this training, I decided that I should just get the information out to all of you who have been waiting patiently so that you can actually get working on it and absorb it into your dance (and life)! If you are not familiar with this totally cool, unique and revolutionary approach to oriental belly dance, I invite you to have a quick look at a few moves here.
We will continue to share these with you until all is ready for release. If In the meantime, we invite you to take advantage of the prerelease discounted pricing. I will send all the details and link to register in the next newsletter and post them on my site.
Just before departing on my tour, I was able to spend a wonderful week in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to celebrate the (15th birthday) “quinceinera”of my friend’s lovely daughter Fridha. I have known Fridha since she was a wee girl in Acapulco and was very honoured to be chosen as her godmother for one of her life's most important milestones. The picture perfect ceremony was held in Playa’s beloved chapel in the centre of old town, a few steps from the sea. Here is the birthday girl, her mom, the godfathers and godmother Hadia at the ceremony. Then we headed off to the most lovely reception in one of Playa's most popular hotels for an evening of delectable dinner, wonderful entertainment and dancing til we dropped! Here is the Fridha with her best friends.
After a quick stop home to change suitcases, I was off to Edmonton; first stop for 2 months of total fun, hard work and oodles of inspiration. Even the weather was blessing us with lovely warm spring-like days in February, as we plunged into 3 intense days of Teacher Training Level 1, a full day of 'Anatomy of Dance', a full weekend of Tunisian folklore, oriental choreography, musical interpretation and improvisation workshops with our talented and generous musician, Sam Tabot. The week literally flew by with lots of learning, laughing and an abundance of ah ha moments. These were all shared with so many lovely ladies, including long-time faithful fans and brand new faces. Here is a video of some magic moments from a 30 minutes performance with my dear friend and artist Sam who’s never happier than when he plays for the ladies!
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If you would like to watch the entire show whenever you want to, you can purchase your own personal copy from Denise at Bedouinbeats. Just click on this link:
http://bedouinbeats.myshopify.com/products/hadia-and-guests-show-dvd-edmonton-february-2013.
Many thanks to Denise, Tatiana and Sam, all the students and lovely dancers.
Then, I was off for my loooong annual trip to Osaka and Tokyo, Japan for Teacher Training Level 2, Anatomy of Dance, Secrets of the Stars, oriental choreographies, drum solos, improvisation, and even an introduction to flamenco, as we explored one of my favourite flamencoriental fusion pieces. These were all topped off with 2 wonderful, creative and inspired performances by my beautiful Japanese students and my protege Sali and her company Tula. Working long distance with Sali from Canada, it was lovely to be part of the choreographic creativity as it transformed into inspired and beautiful stories of movement on the stage. I was also honoured to share the stage with some of Japan's most respected and experienced artists such as Lotus and Barbie Mako. There is no greater joy for a teacher than to see the blossoming of such beauty and clarity in her students as they grow into amazing artists and teachers. I applaud Sali and her lovely group company of dancers and students. They have made me truly proud and given me such a huge gift after only seven years of sharing our love of Egyptian dance in this exceptional country.
Once again, thank you and I love you Japan and all my students and friends there, especially Sali and Kaori for making it all happen!
Next stop was Jakarta, Indonesia, where Christine Yaven continues to uphold the beauty of Egyptian Oriental with her artistry and teaching with Bellydance Jakarta, her school and company. I am happy to say that we had our best turn out yet, since I started teaching for her there 6 years ago. Thanks to Christine, to all of her helpers and students and to the ladies who joined us from Malaysia and Singapore (who now have wonderful new friends in Indonesia)! Here are a couple of photos from the weekend.
The Easy way to set your shoulders and arms free!
Oh how lovely it feels!!!
Comment from Sharezade, Singapore "
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have finally been able to study with Hadia and my goodness, it was worth the wait. She is a dynamic, passionate and caring teacher who does not fail to inspire. Her dance is fluid, feminine and oh so Egyptian and her professional training in anatomy means she will teach you technique that feels beautiful and won't damage your body. If you want to dance beautifully and for the rest of your life, then do yourself a favour and seek out Hadia.
Next stop, Nusa Dua, Bali, for a divine week of R&R strategically located mid-tour. I decided that a luxuriously lazy week at the beach, swimming, reading and treating myself to Balinese massage was just what I needed. With the luxury of so much free time (and next to no internet connection) I returned to my long abandoned book and had a wonderful time creating five new chapters. You will be hearing more about the book very soon!
Then, I had a very short but totally wonderful weekend in Hong Kong with Mey Jen, my dear friend and student of several decades. Every year I am amazed at the wonderful energy that she works so tirelessly to create. The result is an atmosphere of support, safety, respect and co-operation with and for all of her wonderful teachers and students at her dancing OASIS in Wan Chai. They also teach many classes in different locations throughout Hong Kong. It was really lovely to have so many of my Chinese students come over from Guangzhou, as I didn't have time for another stop in this year's tour. We had a really nice selection of workshops from basic body logic, the magic of shoulders, arms and hands, right up to my latest Andah Aleik choreography. My new Anatomy of Dance workshops really got the wheels turning and left all the ladies wanting more of htis really helpful and enlightening information. Due to so many requests for more, we are planing to hold my Level One Teacher Training there next year too.
Mardi Tan
What a truly remarkable woman. My love for true Egyptian bellydance has been deepened even more so having had the privilege of learning from her. She's my inspiration! Thank you Hadia! "
Then, I was happy to make my debut teaching and performing in busy, bustling Bangkok. My hostesses, the lovely dynamic duo, Gift and Nutnichka are very dedicated and talented young ladies, excellent performers and sincere artists who are already making a name for themselves in Asia. They were very delighted to explore the new depths and possibilities of my Body Logic Technique and system of Egyptian Oriental dance, rhythm training, music interpretation, drum solo and choreography to a divine new version of an age old classic, Leylat Hob. Their enthusiasm, hard work and sincere desire to learn got us all through 5 non-stop days of classes and lovely show. Special thanks go to Apple, Thailand’s pioneer of belly dance and owner of RumPuree for organizing such a lovely show in the Dream Hotel. 
I am looking forward to working more withe the lovely ladies of Thailand and here is a comment from Hadassa, who joined us for the entire 4 day immersion.
Hadassa, Bangkok "I want to thank you for the great workshop you gave us in Bangkok last month. I learned so much and I believe my whole attitude to (healthy) dance changed, thanks to you. You have an incredible energy, teaching us 8 hours a day and dancing with us all the time, not just sitting there and giving instructions. I've been feeling old and confused in this country of child-looking women but you gave me a huge inspiration and it was amazing to learn you are 60 and have all that beauty and energy."
Well, now that Hadassa mentioned it, yes, my 60th is coming up on August 9th and I plan to celebrate for the entire year with a lot more workshops with my wonderful students in many of my very favourite places in the world. I am just beginning to set up dates and details, but here is my current list and I will keep you all updated :
Australia, South Africa, France, Budapest (with my dearest Mercedes), Isreal and Turkey, Brazil (and perhaps Columbia) and, after far too many years, a dance tour to Morocco. Of course, Asia is in my itinerary already, with a special week-long professional training course in Vietnam. Closer to home, Denise Enan, the lead dancer forThe National Egyptian Folkloric Company "Firqua Kowmeiyah" have been invited for another Dynamic Duo booking in Winnipeg this fall, dates coming up soon.
So thanks so very much to everyone and I can't wait for our next round together!! xoxo Hadia
