School of Dance
I spent the last week at the mother ship, Suhaila Salimpour’s School of Dance in El Cerrito, doing her week-long workshop and I had a wonderful time. To say that Suhaila is the best bellydancer of all time is not an overstatement, and all of us who love this amazing art form are lucky that she is also the greatest teacher. I have never worked so hard and I have never moved so well. I don’t work out that much, and when it do it is with such wimpy non-enthusiasm and fear of injury, so it was like going from senior’s water-aerobics to Muy Thai boxing. Before this, I was walking around with an inflatable donut to support my back when I sit. Now I am doing GI Jane knuckle pushups in the crashing surf.
Suhaila’s format sets her apart from other teachers in its complexity, depth, precision and opportunity for everyone to entirely reshape not only the body, but the way it moves. In addition to the mean ‘around the orange cone’ drills she is known for, we spent each afternoon learning the drum solo from Sheherazade, which is the triumphant and extravagantly choreographed centerpiece in a show already packed with astounding physical feats. By the end of the week, I couldn’t believe that not only was my old, old body doing the moves, it was actually looking pretty good. Of course it was really hard, but I got a lot of comfort knowing that we were all sweating it, from former ballerinas to moms to dance teachers to all us bellydance ‘weekend warriors.’
My favorite part was watching everyone else do the moves in their own way. The choreography was gorgeously transformed by each woman’s body, defined by her own style and way of understanding movement. Suhaila’s genius lies in the way she can communicate her format, making what seems totally impossible to do, completely accessible to those who are dedicated enough. Being dedicated enough is the trick. Sometimes when the spirit is willing but the flesh is still sore from yesterday, dedication is the only thing besides Advil that will see you through. If you really want to learn this dance in its most challenging form, with all its pelvic locks and flash and alchemy, brought forth through endurance and pure, painful sweat, Suhaila’s way is the only way.
I believe every moment of training shows on the stage, and when you are up there in your costume, and it is just the audience, the lights and you, that is where it really counts. I just want to have mastery of this format, and be able to stand up there with all these secrets inside me, to reveal and conceal my mysteries at will, in order to express all that the music has to offer, to give a home to the rhythms and the notes, so the seat of the song can be in my hips and my heart, not just my mind. Thanks to all the extraordinary women I had the honor to meet and dance with this week and most of all thanks of all thanks to Suhaila and her awesome team who make these little girl dancing dreams possible for us grown up women. Oh -it’s exciting! I also get to dance in Suhaila’s solo show – on March 4th at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco AND Bal Anat – coming in April.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
well i’ve seen the pics… cho is looking good
http://rapmonster.com