Palika

Artistic Director: Heavy Hips Tribal Belly Dance

1999-present

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Dance is an expression of joy, a necessity for nurturing body, mind and spirit - a spiritual practice. Moving my body in relation to music has helped keep me whole and connected to myself and the Earth through trauma, depressions, explorations, celebrations, and the cycles of life. Even when I forgot the power of dance, it waited for me like a loyal friend showing up at the magical moment it was needed to soften and open me to new possibilities.

Many forms of music and movement have called to me and I love each and every one of them as a gardener loves the varieties of her garden. Ballet, jazz, modern, meditation, yoga and folk dance have all offered gifts to me. However the music and movement of India, the Middle East and N.Africa have swept me into an inexplicable familiar embrace, I only recognize deeply. The meditative quality of circular, spiral, figure 8 movements, mudras and narrative dance feels deeply relevant. Thus I currently explore the inspirations of Midde Eastern Dance, traditional and contemporary.

At the ripe age of 39 after studying the Salimpour Belly Dance style with Rossah Pirslin for 3 years, I was invited to teach Belly Dance to a group of women who wanted to explore empowerment, strenth and community through dance. I began to develop a dance practice and philosophy that fostered community identity and fidelity, a sense of connection and stewardship to the natural world, a discipline of slowing down, and discovering self knowledge through mindfulness practice - that is a contemplative dance pathway for women to reclaim their varied bodies and spirits as powerful, creative, sensual, and wise. I had no idea how in need women were for this combination of socio-material spiritual healing.

Many women have felt the call to "belly dance", sensing somehow that its practice was originally a source of nurturance, celebration, community accord and existential inquiry and mediation. The mystical melodies of the East and primal percussive elements of Africa move the subconscious and conscious self in mighty ways. Combined with Earthy sinuous movements of belly, hip, torso, head and hands, the dance and music are impossible to turn away from.

As a teacher I am commited to supporting and facilitating the dancer within of any age, any size woman. I've experienced again and again the power of movement to heal individuals and the community to discover the larger heart, a more mindful practice of daily living and an opening to evolutionary peaceful accord between human and Nature. Facilitating self esteem, forgiveness, commpassion, strength of body, mind and spirit and healing body trauma can be acheived through this dance form. Movement is used as a metaphor for transformation in our lives. We approach difficult transitions through dance and accept transformation and change in our relative world. We take time to slow down, reflect, breathe, surrender and feel how our bodies mirror our state of consiousness. We practice joining together, affilitating and trusting the group in dance and find that we can create community, trust and vision in our life.

To obtain the above attention to a dance practice, its necessary to remove ego from oneself and offer a teaching style that supports different learning modes, flowing praise and acknowledgement, clear communication, humor and nurturance as well as encouraging patience and discipline and determination. I'm not interested in witholding knowledge or recognition and am committed to developing community conscientiousness and personal and collective integrity.

Serving my community as a facilitator of Ritual, Circle, Counsel and Sacred Dance is pure grace in my life. I'm humbled and grateful for the service of facilitating joy, introspection, healing and peace through the powerful forms of contemporary Middle Eastern, N.AFrican, American Tribal and Tribal Fusion dance.