2019 Class Descriptions

The shapes that are imbedded within what we consider Sacred Dance and Temple Dance. Moria will bring a power point to show the shapes, a lecture to discuss what those meanings are and demonstrations to depict how those shapes are held within the body and performed within the staging and combinations.

Let’s get weird  in this experimental fusion workshop! We’ll start the workshop by learning a few unusual fusion combinations that are eclectic and beyond the basic “tribal” stylings. After we’ve played with some pre-made phrases, we’ll make some new ones to fit some extra strange songs that i’ve got up my sleeves…sometimes you need to get ugly to get awesome.

We will explore the origins of the traditional Dabka folk dance of Palestine and Jordan and learn the footwork to perform this dance. Near the end of class, we’ll celebrate what we’ve learned with an open dabka dance that we can all join in and have fun with together.

In this class we will work on the basics of Arabic technique to develop consistent notes , speed and timing.  The class is great for anyone who has never been exposed to the teachings of the Traditional Arabic playing style, if you have been playing for a while or never played at all.

A slideshow presentation/lecture with Carolena tailored around questions from the students in attendance. Ample time for Q&A, and featuring inspirational stories about the creation and the future of ATS®.

With great affection, Donna Mejia offers this workshop as a tribute to the Rhythm and Blues music of her Creole Culture. This experience will be part dance class, and part ethnomusicology! We will explore the common denominators of blues music (the roots of contemporary R&B) as it was imported and transformed by North and West African slaves in the American South. You will be delighted to learn that some popular rhythms, instruments, and musical flavors in the U.S.A. have an unbroken lineage of influence over hundreds of years from the North African and Arabian cultures of antiquity. Fusion is as old as contact between cultures, and this workshop will address some frequent gaps of information in our own understanding of North American popular music. Our dancing will be as varied as our sonic landscape, so please come ready to explore the movement history behind our love of gritty, funky, soul-searing and syncopated music! Please bring a yoga mat and your capture materials of choice (a journal or computer for note taking). ALL EXPERIENCE LEVELS WELCOMED

Let’s learn some of the more unusual patterns and get funky! The first half of class will cover cymbal technique, covering unusual rhythms and patterns, and the end of class will include some cymbal composition technique. Learning how to make your own musical combos is just as fun as choreography, and at the end of this workshop you will have your very own composition to take home.

What if I told you that you COULD control what people think?! This workshop not only teaches the dancer how to carry an audience along for their performance, but to also control the parameters under which audiences interpret a performance. Give your bellydance some extra mystery with some of Frank’s favorite optical-illusions, body-language cues, and mind-puppetry, that will leave your audience wondering who just performed for who! (Intermediate-Advanced)

Explore a sassy and high energy spin on tribal fusion belly dance in this workshop that focuses on traveling steps. Learn combinations which are influenced by urban styles such as house dance and waacking, retro styles reminiscent of harlem renaissance, and the timeless influence of raqs sharqi. Build coordination and stamina, work on shimmy layers, and expand your dance inventory of moves that get you across the stage. This workshop will be a cardiovascular challenge, prepare to sweat and have fun. Dance shoes recommended, but not required.

In one of Moria’s most popular, fun and sweaty workshops, Learn the drills and exercises essential for a dozen different shaped shimmies, various hip patterned shimmies, stationary as well as across the floor shimmies all while developing the intense muscular isolation necessary to strengthen glute, oblique, and psoas muscles for crisp Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Hip Work. 

Carolena will lead you on a dynamic exploration of the song “Nubian” by Raquy and the Cavemen. Learn how to add drama to your ATS® performance through a deeper understanding of the musical nuances. She will teach you how to use the “rule of 4”to understand musical phrasing and more accurately interpret the music for compelling dance. Please be versed in the basics: Taxeem, Bodywave, Hand Floreos and Arm Undulations, Shimmy, basic Arabic, basic Eygptian, Pivot Bump and Choo-choo. Bring: zils, a full skirt is recommended but not mandatory.

Arms are often the most neglected part of the body in belly dance. In this workshop, arms will be the focus! Learn how to use your arms to aid in conveying a feeling or telling a story and making them the highlight of your piece. You will essentially be “painting a picture” with them.

For both drummers who want tips and tricks to delivering a solid live performance with dancers AND dancers interested in those same tips and tricks to nailing that performance to live drumming.  Looking at techniques for starting, stopping, transitioning, on stage communication, soloing for dancers, basics for improv and other topics.  Extra drums available but limited.

In this intermediate level doumbek class, you will learn two rhythms that are widely used in today’s middle eastern music and how to bridge them into one song. Omar will also cover traditional zill parts for the rhythms, incorporate dance elements and share the history of the doumbek rhythms. To end the lesson, Omar will talk about the history of the doumbek and take any questions.

Ethical practices, industry norms, personal conduct and the monetizing of art have all come to the fore over the course of our dance community’s popularization since 2000. Donna Mejia provides a review of key events and pivotal choices in the development of transnational fusion dance in the U.S.A. as a foundation for how we wish to direct our future participation. How will the history books favor or dismiss our contributions to this global art movement? What values and norms are reflected in our communal practices? What do we wish our legacy to be as artists? Let’s take a look at ourselves through the lens of the social sciences, and ask the same question historians apply to other art forms in their analysis of social trends. We’ll look at ourselves with an open heart and a strong dosage of radical honesty. Your comments and questions will enrich this conversation, so please know your contributions and thoughts will be warmly welcomed.

The technique behind her signature locking stylization will be broken down and taught in an easily digestible format. Students will receive many tools to help unlock the more challenging aspects of layering, as well as lots of fun drills in class to get the movements in their bodies. Be prepared to sweat!

Continue transforming your flutter fan and skirt work with new concepts and moves from the both the ATS® and TTT® (Tamarind Tribal Transformations®) format. Expand your skill with the flutter fan and skirt moves, drill them alone, and work in small groups. Focus will be primarily on expansion of move repertoire with some small group work.

Moves from Tamarind, featured on the latest instructional DVD from FCBD®, Volume 9: “Anatomy of a Step including the strong arms, slow diagonal fade, roundhouse, and bonus material not featured on the DVD.  *Best for dancers that have firm knowledge of FCBD® Classic ATS® movements.

Got versatility? Express your varied dance roots by exploring the delicate art of unexpected fusion in a way that is tasteful, respectful and fun. Learn how strong technique and fluidity can create a harmonious balance between genres. Drill combos that introduce samba, popping or other styles into belly dance. Practice reacting to music and embracing contrasts: graceful vs. clunky, speedy vs. slow. Dance shoes recommended, but not required.

The fine art of crafting a performance. Students will be challenged with a set of music and performance situations based on real life (a small party, a big outdoor festival, etc.) We will form small groups, discuss and drill through the songs in the set, choose who is dancing to which song, rehearse again, critique the progress and then present our virtual show.
Dancers must know (I mean, really be able to do it!) the basics of Taxeem, Bodywave, Hand Floreo and Arm Undulations, Shimmy, Arabic Basic, Egyptian Basic, Pivot Bumps and Choo-choos. Also, be able to use ATS® formations: Duet, Trio and Quartet. Please review the FCBD® dvds Vol. 1-7 if necessary. Your success in this class relies on your ability to communicate (non-verbally!) with the other dancers.

Wanting to increase flexibility in your spine? Having a hard time making belly work smoooooth? If so, this class is for you! The focus in this workshop will be on conditioning the core, and learning to make those muscles work together seamlessly to create fluidity and dexterity in stomach isolations. We will then stretch those muscles out with a long focus on back flexibility based on contortion style training. Come prepared to work hard and sweat!

In this workshop we will explore integrating flexibility into our isolations and layering.

With a greater range of motion, dancing becomes easier, requires less energy, and you are not fighting with yourself but focusing on controlling your movements and expression. The focus will be on dynamic stretching: which means you’re stretching in moving motion, which is also referred to as active flexibility.

This unique and powerful choreography is designed for the dancer who wants to differentiate her dance and explore styles of movement that utilize more complex rhythms and high-energy combinations….Tunisian Fusion technique places a strong emphasis on twisting, unique posturing, and unexpected floor patterns…Learn a complete, performable Choreography using an exciting form of ethnic dance and it’s combinations as they apply to Tribal Fusion Belly Dance…Jars and baskets balanced on the head, which were artifacts intrinsic to ancient Tunisian culture and remain hallmarks of their national folk dances, are optional and not required for either the class or the performance.View the performance piece on YouTube: Moria Chappell: Tanit (Nocturnal) 

Pain in the low back/lumbar region should never, ever be ignored, yet is common in dance participants. The balance and health of the spinal cord and central nervous system is crucial for absolutely everything you do in life… including comfortable and restful sleep. This class will offer an overview of the spinal cord, it’s weight-bearing curves, and how common anomalies in individual bodies require intelligent customization. Therapeutic exercises (tension relievers, strength builders, and alignment investigators) are covered thoroughly.  As an important bonus, cross-lateral neuro-muscular resetting and ambidextrality is introduced as a way to learn conscious balancing of our customary preferred dominant movement patterns (right-handedness, etc.) REQUIRED EQUIPMENT: yoga mat, tennis ball, large towel. All Levels.

From its ancient origins to its modern influences, bellydance has contributed to as many cultures as it borrows from. In this workshop we will explore some of the folkloric influences from old and new dances, that bellydance has encountered across the miles and millennia. This workshop will give you great tools for cultural-contexts, social-narratives, and musicality/lyrical interpretations for where ever your bellydance journey takes you!