Beginning January 6th, 2009 at 7:30 pm, Belltown Ballet Studio at 4th and Bell in Downtown Seattle (2306 4th Ave, 98121) will be the site for Taqsim Tuesdays; a collective, collaborative effort on the part of independent Seattle area belly dancers to explore, learn, and excel as performers, by simply being led by music, an open heart, and a yearning for that intangible, unspeakable feeling that comes from undulating and shimmying to the primal rythyms of our ancestors and contemporary artists.

January 6th is also my 29th birthday, so this first meeting is a party with some Saturn Return inspired instruction, exciting! I'd like to encourage any and all dancers experiencing Saturn Return, or interested in learning more about it to come to this, as it will not only be a fun, out of the norm way to learn belly dance technique, but as with the Arabic meaning of the word "taqsim", a way to "connect to the spiritual world" and "feel driven by an external force". For more detail on Saturn Return, here is a great website that is very helpful and pretty thorough with some good links of its own: www.saturnreturn.net .

Our first meetup will be led by the lovely Amy Horn!! Amy has studied various styles of Middle Eastern dance since 1999. She is the artistic director of the performance troupe Aegea Modern Bellydance and currently teaches belly dance at Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill and Fuerte Fitness
Studio in Wallingford. She is known for creating a fun, rigorous, and supportive atmosphere in her classes.
Amy is excited to share several Saturn-inspired movement combinations to kick off Taqsim Tuesdays. Saturn in astrology symbolizes rules and reality: limitation, time, structure, ambition, authority, and discipline. Saturn the physical planet connotes spirals, rings, orbits, and hugeness. We will explore these themes with the vocabulary of belly dance. Amy's lesson is suitable for dancers of all levels. Bring a hip scarf, water and an open mind. Visit Amy on Tribe.net:people.tribe.net/amybellydance.

Only $5 gets you in, that's it, seriously! For a party with drinks, snacks AND instruction provided, and to make a birthday girl's dream of an awesome birthday doing what she loves with amazing people come true... :)

Stay tuned to this tribe.net page for information, or please feel free to contact me directly at (206) 947-9543.

Peace, love and unity in 2009 and beyond...

Ally

http://tribes.tribe.net/taqsimtuesdays