Hadia's International Belly Dance Academy archive
Category: Special Moment

January 1, 2015

Happy Holidays!

by Hadia
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Hello and I sending you a warm and fuzzy Happy Holiday and Bring in the New Year dance from my house to yours!

I have been VERY busy with my full time therapy career again and loving it, but still managed to keep my toes in the dance world with my annual Asia Tour (Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China) and a wonderful action-packed Australia tour with a stop in Japan for a very important and special wedding and pro course. I also had the delight of co-teaching again with my dear friend and Master Teacher Denise Enan, our Egyptian Canadian Folkloric Queen, in my home-town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (now THAT is a mouthful)!!

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September 9, 2013

Moroccan Magical Mystery Tour

The Sahara, Mountains, Mesas, Beaches, Verdant Valleys, Oases, Magic, Music, and the most incredible living Folklore, Tribal Berber Life and French Elegance, Sumptuous Cuisine, Hamams, Africa ….

As I was writing Chapter Eight of my memoirs, which begins in Spain and continues into Morocco, every memory, sound, sight, feeling, smell, and touch was as clear as though I was right back there in Marrakech; exploring the Medina and Djema al Fna; soaking up the magnificent Marrakech Folk Festival under the stars; driving through the ever-changing, mystical country. So, I thought that I would share a little glimpse of this amazing place with you right here and now and the exciting news that I am setting up our very first Tour to Morocco this coming summer. Make sure that you mark your calendars right now for the end of July!! I will continue to give you details of this amazing tour that we are planning along with a short introduction to a different selection of Moroccan Folklore with each new article. Today I am going to introduce you to one of my favourite and perhaps the best know of all Moroccan Folklore – the Guedra.

Guedra Pot

The Guedra is actually a large earthenware cooking pot, which is transformed into the primary percussion instrument for this intriguing dance of the same name. It is a ritual dance practiced by of a faction of the Tuareg People (also known as the Blue people from the indigo dye that stains their skin a blue colour). Although the Tuareg are largely nomadic people who traverse the sands of the Sahara, some have chosen to settle in areas like Goulimine and Tan Tan. They are a matriarchal society, where women enjoy a great deal of freedom and independence. In fact, the women do not wear a face veil (like many of the traditional Berber tribes in Morocco). This is an honour reserved for the men, once they reach puberty.  Now this version definitely gets my vote!!

Unlike the Moroccan ‘Hadra’ or the Egyptian Zar, which are ‘exoricsim’ or trance dances, the Guedra Dance is an ancient ritual of healing and blessing. The ritual begins with the Guedra Drum played at a slow tempo that  resembles the heartbeat.

Click the “play” button to hear Guedra

This is accompanied by hand clapping. and singing in the traditional African ‘call and answer’ fashion. The dancer wears a kaftan or ‘jalaba’ covered by a very long length of fabric called a ‘haik,’ which is wrapped around the kaftan, pinned at the mid collarbone with fibulae (old roman safety pins), a complex headdress of cowrie shells and beads, with tightly braided hair incorporated into the headdress. A blue or black veil covers her head and face and a large “magic” necklace is placed over this veil, around the neck.

Often the dancer will begin moving hypnotically from a standing position, which is called the T’bal, while the hands follow the rhythm with small staccato movements, sometimes flicking the fingers in particular directions. Once she moves to a kneeling position this is referred to as the Guedra. As the tempo increases, so do the hand and arm movements which address the four directions: North, South, East and West; the four elements: Fire (the sun) , Earth, Wind and Watesun, the sand, the past the future, the liver, the soul, and all present who receive the blessings of the dancer.

As the tempo and dance crescendo, she will also incorporate swaying and tossing of the head from side to side and chest lifts and drops and eventually removes the veil from her face and head. But a video is worth a thousand words so enjoy…

I will be back soon with another featured dance of Morocco and more details about our fabulous Moroccan Magical Mystery Tour!!

Also don’t forget to join the incomparable Master of Egyptian Folklore and Lead Dancer of the National Egyptian Folkloric Company and myself for a Fabulous Four day weekend of wonderful workshops featuring authentic and traditional dances of Egypt, oriental dance and (perhaps) a chance to try out the Guedra!!? Winnipeg, November 8-11, 2013. For all info and registrations just click on this link http://www.nicola-bellydance.com/?p=2241

And don’t forget to get your deposit in before the September 30 deadline and make sure that Denise and I don’t forget to come and teach you a tons of wonderful information and fill you with inspiration!!

— Hadia


September 26, 2012

Hadia Stretches Her Wings

Today I am celebrating a beautiful warm and sunny morning, sitting on my deck, sipping my MUG of espresso and looking over the first week of autumn’s abundance from my organic garden. I am also celebrating more than 40 years of dance in my life and the beginning of my fourth year living in my little village of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. This Unesco World Heritage Site is snuggled in a cove on the wide open edge of the Atlantic Ocean and if I was to jump in a boat and sail straight south from our Harbour, I would end up in Venezuela with nothing with water in between. Now THAT would be an adventure and a half…!

There have been so many changes since my move here; learning how to garden and loving it, refocusing on my profession as a massage and manual therapist, adapting to the sloooooow and easy pace of life in Atlantic Canada and exploring all the exciting possibilities of sharing my love of dance, movement, health and fitness, with the world in new, very different and updated ways.

I will be sharing all of these developing changes with you here in my new blog. However, it will be dedicated to bringing you all kinds of helpful, informative and inspiring news about all of the 1,001 wonderful benefits, surprises and secrets you can discover within the world of Oriental “Belly” Dance and Baladi, also known as Raqs Sharqi. Here’s my list:

✓ Regain and Maintain a Happy Healthy Body
✓ Turn Artistry through Movement into Therapy
✓ Surprise Yourself by Thinking and Dancing Diagonally
✓ Can Fitness REALLY be Feminine?
✓ Kiss your Sweet Pain Goodbye!

In closing I would like to introduce a tasty concept.  Our dance has often been compared to fine wine. The finest, most delicate and surprising develops its bouquet slowly and gradually over time. Then it shares its delights with the palate slowly and gradually as it seeps through the entire body taste by taste. It leaves its warmth and afterglow to be savoured. But this slow and gradual discovery doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen in a year, or in 5. It is a lifelong exploration….so let’s get going!