Showing posts with label Ballet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ballet. Show all posts

Saturday, April 29, 2017

What I am up to right now - April 2017

At the moment I am home in Germany, enjoying a long weekend off, working on a mini-newsletter and mentally preparing for the upcoming events in late spring/early summer. Eschweiler woods are looking like this right now:

Spring in Eschweiler Wald, DE


I am also
  • Taking classes in ballet with Constanze Janssen in Aachen at Ballettschule Renoldi as often as I can, with added pointe training by Constanze's daughter Giulia since this April (a childhood dream!) I will be blogging about this soon :)
My pointe shoes! Triumph by Grishko from Mondanse.com


As well as
  • Studying TaeKwonDo, together with my husband, diligently training with Großmeister Chae Seung-Eun in our hometown Eschweiler, DE twice a week. (we've recently received our blue belt and are now working towards blue-red in the summer)
Posing with Master Seung-Eun Chae and Master Lee after the belt/kup test
Blue Belt TaeKwondo - 4th Kup!

See us in action here, performing 'taeguk sa-jang', the 4th form for the poomsae/forms portion of our belt test:


Next to that I am
  • Updating the website (see above!) with new pictures (taken at the Japanese Garden in Hasselt, BE) by the awesome Kerstin Elster
  • Adding more workshop notes to my 'other' website, over at inspirationnation.de
  • Upgrading the fitness a bit from walking to jogging and biking (need to up that dance stamina for upcoming season!) at Eschweiler Wald
  • Preparing for a lovely project, Nostalgia Night - a show honoring the golden Era of Egyptian dance with live music (!) at 360° Orient festival in Osnabrück this June, hosted by the lovely Delanna Dance
Nostalgia Night - with live music by Mazzikatea Europe at 360° Orient!
And also

DancEscapade with Bozenka featuring Khalida - this May 19-20-21st 2017!
In the near future I will be
  • Preparing for all of those upcoming spring/summer events (see the Dance Calendar)
  • Advertising a bit more for MoveSpiration, a unique crosstraining weekend for dancers of all levels at studio Sarossy in August 26-27th 2017 in Würselen, DE (Enrolments are now open!)
  • Opening enrolments on 1st of July 2017 for a weekend of live percussion workshops and hafla(!) with the amazing Guy Schalom next summer (July 6-7-8 2018!) at Studio Sarossy.

  Latest update: April 29th, 2017 - Inspired by the Now


A brief look in the past - videos from Kouklès Show in Verviers, BE

Last month I was lucky enough to take workshops with the incredible Alex DeLora and Nika Mlakar in Verviers, hosted by the lovely Kouklès Duo, and perform at the Kouklès Show. You can find the videos below.

Enjoy!



More updates will follow soon!

xx Khalida
www.khalidadance.com

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Fall/Winter season 2016-2017 - A thank you post.

I would like to say a heartfelt 'thank you' to all the the lovely hosts/hostesses, instructors, dance friends, taekwondoins and co-teachers/performers I have been lucky enough to dance/train/work with during the past fall and winter season.

Huge hugs and gratitude also to all participants of the events/workshops and shows I was part of/participated in and/or danced/taught at, I am immensely thankful for your continuing support.

Thank you <3

Below are a few pictures of the past fall/winter 2016-2017 events. I had a lovely time at each of these dance (and martial arts!) occasions, and I am looking forward very much to making more good memories at future and upcoming ones.

Enjoy!

October 2016 - Jewel of Yorkshire Festival in Saltaire, UK
http://khalidadance.blogspot.de/2016/10/jewel-of-yorkshire-festival-thank-you-uk.html

Airport arrivals - with Marta Korzun, Queenie and myself
I think this was the footwork workshop?
Veil work workshop
Pops, Locks, Shimmies, and Undulations
Fancy Feet!

October 2016 - Euro Mulimpia in Cologne, DE
www.mulimpia.eu


The first edition of Euro Mulimpia in Cologne, DE
Honoured to be part of Sportschule Chae's Demo Team!
Master Seun-Eung Chae and our amazing TKD teammates <3

October 2016 - Workshop and Masterclass for Al-Nilam Bellydance in Breda, NL
www.alnilamoriental.wordpress.com


Workshop 'Raqs Sharki123' and Choreo Masterclass in Breda

October 2016 - Celebrating Dance Festival in Torquay, UK
http://khalidadance.blogspot.de/2016/11/celebrating-dance-2016-thank-you.html

Workshop group piccies at Celebrating Dance
with John and Afra <3
Roomie Sophie Armoza, getting ready for the show :)
Bae, my traveling bear friend <3

November 2016 - Ana's Oriental Night Out in Eindhoven, NL
www.anadanst.nl
A princess dressing room. So. Much. Pink!
Veil workshop ladies
Top team! Posing with Rachid, Maya and Ana after the show
Video's of my performances at Ana's event:


January 2017 - Technique Training Workshop in Laurensberg, DE
www.gruen-weiss-aachen.de
Dancing with the GW ladies - Always a pleasure!
 
January 2017 - Workshop Weekend in Holbaek, DK
www.holbaek-mavedans.dk


The lovely Anna Barner Sarp <3
Holbaek Workshops Weekend, Denmark

January 2017 - Open day at Ballettschule Renoldi in Aachen, DE
www.ballettschule-renoldi.de

BD, Ballet, and Modern/Jazz - My 3 dance passions <3

January 2017 - Live (Tabla) Music Immersion Day with Guy Schalom in Würselen, DE
www.khalidadance.com/livemusic

Mr Guy Schalom in action :) Embodiment of the rhythms.
Group pictures, all the thumbs up for LTMIDwGS!

February 2017 - DVD recording session at Sandra van Frankfoort's beautiful studio in Stein, NL
Miss Sandra in Taiji-Mode: She'll be teaching at Movespiration!

February 2017 - Elis Pinheiro at Ana Danst in Eindhoven, NL
www.anadanst.nl

With lovely Elis, Sylenna and Ana in Eindhoven, NL

Whew :) So that's a wrap-up of a lovely and varied dance and movement season.
Thank you all again. <3

For a list of the events still to come in 2017-2018, check out the event schedule page here: www.khalidadance.com/schedule

More dates will be added soon!

xx K.
www.khalidadance.com
www.inspirationnation.de

Sunday, November 6, 2016

It's Alive... MoveSpiration

Hello,

In this Post you’ll find more information about the InspirationNation Project Website and Blog and the MoveSpiration Event

My goal in creating  all of this, is to share my biggest inspirations in Dance and Movement of the past few years with you.

In a fit of inspiration and joy, because I received confirmation of both of my ‘GrandMasters’ for the Event a few days ago, I believe I have finished the complete concept for MoveSpiration in one go.
All that on one coffee :)

Speaking of which, this is a bit of a longer update, so do be sure to grab a coffee (or tea) and read with me..

Cheers!
coffee

WHAT am I doing? 

As said above, the goal of creating this concept/weekend/website/event (aka InspirationNation) is to be able to share with you my biggest discoveries, deepest learnings and greatest inspirations of the past few years, in life, dance and movement.

Next to having a place to share with you my favorite forest walking pictures, movement and dance related blogs, articles, and books, I wanted to create something that gives you the EXPERIENCE of movement change and deepening your dancing.

In short, the things I want to share in this weekend (26-27th of August 2017) are those that have been helping me get the most out of my dance practice in the past year, and they have me so motivated I am able to churn out pages of information like there is no tomorrow.

All of this comes together with the recent news that my favorite dance space, Studio Sarossy in Würselen, is staying open for at least one more year, so it feels like NOW is the time to create something special.

I am pouring all of this in the practical shape of a short (2-day) Movement and Dance intensive, featuring guest classes/workshops from my 2 absolute favorite teachers and Masters in life, Constanze Janssen and Master Chae, to hopefully give you a ‘feel’ for how much a change of movement patterns, being ‘in the presence of Great’ and concentrated bouts of short, focused practice can do.

It is my wish that taking part in this MoveSpiration weekend will leave you with inspiration, joy of movement, and a buttload of ideas for dances for years to come.

WHY am I doing this?


As some of you might know, the past few years (and 2013-2015 especially) have been quite difficult ones for me, as I had been gradually struggling more and more with an old (pre-dance) pelvis injury, which messed with my general body alignment and had me stuck in all kinds of chronic neck-, back- , hip- and shoulder pain.

This made it much more difficult to dance, teach, and find daily motivation, and the daily struggles sapped my confidence as a dancer and instructor.

Going on a conscious queeste to educate and ‘help myself’, as well as being lucky enough to ‘roll into’ Monika Volkmars Dance Stronger program test group last summer (2015) kicked off a chain of hope-giving transformations and discoveries.

In those few weeks I learned tools and simple exercises which helped me improve my ‘body map’, and I was able to reset/optimize some of my basic movement patterns, which in turn freed up all kinds of lost ranges of movement, and it rendered me pain-free, even to this day. Just by breathing, moving, and thinking differently. I was amazed it could be this simple.

All of this freed me mentally (and physically) to carefully try out different dance and movement arts (amongst others: started taking modern/floor barre classes with Constanze and, after years of dreaming of it, an actual Martial Arts class (with a resident Korean Grand Master in TaeKwanDo no less :))

While I started to feel better about dance and life in general, I also got outside of the appartment more often, and in doing so I discovered two beautiful little mini-forests, right here in the middle of Eschweiler and in Würselen (the town of the studio) where I can run, bike, hop, or walk, and I occasionally take my cameraphone with me to share the gorgeous views.

WHY include Martial Arts?

Because Master Chae is totally awesome. I have learned so, so much from him in such a short time. Martial Arts gives you a way to discover movement practise outside of the pressures of dance, and it can make SUCH a difference.

Also, this blog post sums up my feelings on mixing martial arts and dance:  http://movespiration.blogspot.de/2016/10/beauty-of-martial-arts.html

What does this all MEAN?

Right now, I am feeling so inspired and thankful, that I feel I HAVE to share all I have learned and discovered with as many dancers as possible, aka with you.

So.. Long story short. It is time for some MoveSpiration.

MoveSpiration, is it for YOU?

Yes, yes it is. If you are a dancer, and/or a human, and open to movement exploration you will, hopefully, get something out of this.

So, where is the actual EVENT INFO? And where can I SIGN UP? :)


I have created a special ‘Pre-Enrollment‘ page, where you can read all about the teachers (more details will be added in the coming days), the concept, the timings, and even the full day plannings.

The price for the full weekend (10+ hours of classes) will be 185 Euros
To give you the chance to reserve a spot at MoveSpiration without having to pay right away, you can pre-sign up now via this page and pay later (either the full amount in January 2017, or 85 Euros in January and the rest at a later date)

This also gives you a chance to use a Khalida Dance Gift Voucher for the enrollment, should you happen to get one for Christmas/your birthday/a special occasion by that date.


It also gives ME the chance to see whether we can have the event take place, as we will need a minimum of about 5 participants to officially make it happen.

So.. here you go: www.inspirationnation.de/pre-enroll

WHAT NOW?

I will be awaiting your questions, and maybe biting my nails, for the rest of the coming days/weeks :)

Please feel free to ask me ANYTHING about this event, I will use the answers/info to complete the website. After January 1st all pre-enrollments will be changed to actual enrollments, and you will receive the payment information email (like for other ‘normal’ events that I host)

Please also feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be up for sharing the experience with you/me/us.

The more participants, the bigger the inspirational stream!

Thank you for reading all of this, and thank you again for your interest!

Big huge (giant oak tree) hugs,

xxx Kim/Khalida
www.inspirationnation.de


The Oak, my Friend.


PS: A ‘normal’ Khalida Dance newsletter update with details on all Dance Events for the coming weeks/months will be sent out soon – you can sign up for it via This Link (MailChimp)


Weblinks (ALL the weblinks :))
MoveSpiration Pre-Enrollment page: inspirationnation.de/pre-enrollment
MoveSpiration FB Event page: facebook.com/events/1220700034671424
InspirationNation Forest Pictures: www.inspirationnation.de/forest
MoveSpiration Blog: movespiration.blogspot.com
InspirationNation FB page: facebook.com/movespirationnation
InspirationNation Instagram account: instagram.com/inspi_nation
Follow InspirationNation on Twitter: twitter.com/Inspi_Nation


Cheers for now,

Team MoveSpiration <3


 



www.inspirationnation.de 


Saturday, July 30, 2016

How I got pain-free - part 3: A DVD

Hello again :)

Almost a full year after writing about my adventures in self-help health care via How I got pain-free - part 1 and How I got pain-free - part 2, it feels like it is high time for an update.

Since discovering (and being part of the pilot version of) Monika Volkmar's awesome Dance Stronger program last July-August, my life as a dancer (and human!) has changed for the better.

Finally pain-free, even still today(!), I have continued searching for ways to maintain my newfound healthier way of moving, dancing and training. To integrate new body awareness into my daily life and even expand it, I started experimenting with different new (to me!) physical activities over time.

These were things I had always wanted to, but was somehow unable (or afraid) to try earlier, and things I had even given up on ever learning how to do. They included:

Since last November I've also started studying Korean martial arts, aka Tae Kwon Do, at Sportschule Chae, with our fantastic Master Großmeister Chae Seung-Eun.




I have also made a promise to myself at the beginning of this year to continue to deepen my (belly) dance studies intensively, which has taken me to the Netherlands in June to take up Sadie's Raqs Flow program, as well as to Plakiás, Crete (Greece) in May, for a week long of private studies with one of my favorite mentors and absolute heroes in dance and life, Boženka.


Grandmaster of Dance, Boženka

(I talk about my experiences in Crete in this Podcast interview by Annett Bone)


So, what to do with all this newfound knowledge and experience?


I have pondered this for quite a while, and ultimately what would make me happiest, is to share all I have learned in these eye-opening, physically adventurous and experience-rich months, with as many people as possible.

My original plan was to write yet another epically long blog post *ahem* :) But as the topic itself is more about embodying, moving and EXPERIENCING change, I decided I might as well go 'deeper' and attempt to pour all of my learnings and experiences into an 'active style' DVD form.

Chapter 1: Awareness and relaxation

This new DVD (and downloadable/streaming class) is a gathering of all the valuable things I have learned in the past year(s), and I have done my best to highlight those exercises, movements and concepts that have brought me the most palpable and immediate change.

I have also attempted to incorporate my own experiences in applying these concepts into my personal dance training, as well as into private classes and workshops with students willing to experiment with movement and awareness with me. What you'll find in this DVD is what came out of all of that. :)

Healthy Movement - Deeper Dance - Drills and Conditioning


Below you can find a short preview video, as well as a listing of all of the chapters I've included, plus links to inspirations and resources for those who want to dive deeper into the material.


Video preview:



Where to find it:

Chapters:

Healthy Movement for Deeper Dance - Drills and Conditioning with Khalida

Part 1: Relaxation and Awareness
- Breathing exercises
- Floor relaxation
- Releasing the upper body, arms, neck, head, legs, and hips
- Tips for deepening upper body movement
- Dance drill for smooth and '3D' upper body and arms

 Part 2: Martial arts-inspired Warmup
- Light cardio
- Footwork warmup
- Breathing for recovery
- Deeper stretches for hips and legs
- Anti-stress and diaphragm strenghening exercise (TKD style punching mini-tutorial)
- Shimmy drill for stronger shimmies with relaxed upper body layering

Part 3: Movement pattern progressions
- Movement sequence and strenghtening patterns
- One-legged and double-legged hip movements drill

Part 4: Feet, Ankles and 'Cogs' release
- Pre-test
- Releasing the feet, ankles and lower legs
- Hip hinge and squat technique
- Re-test
- AiM 'Cogs' in all 3 planes of motion - Dance warmup version
- Rounded movements drill


Resource list

Related/ Recommended books, articles, websites, blogs, instructors, DVDs, people, and programs:

Part 1: 

Part 2:

Part 3:  

Part 4:

That feeling of completion :) <3

I hope the resources and contents of this blog post will bring you much joy, movement, and positive changes and experciences, as they have done for me.

Dance on, move freely.

xxx Khalida
www.khalidadance.com 

Friday, July 15, 2016

Podcast interview for The DancePreneuring Studio

I'm Sharing my very first podcast interview, recorded this June by the fantastic Annett Bone as part of her The DancePreneuring Studio podcast series project.

In this interview I share my experiences on studying deeply with Bozenka in Crete in May 2016, as well as tips and ideas on creating and setting up online classes for dancers, plus the most important things I have learned from going back to the basics in dance, life and movement during the past year.

Enjoy!


Podcast mode!


The Beauty in the Basics - Interview with Khalida Bech



A visual representation of my week of deep dance studies with Bozenka in Crete this May 22-29th at her beautiful studio by the sea:

Greece seen from above: Sea, Mountains, Clouds

The view from my appartment balcony
Spacey the friendly Goat
She greeted me each morning on my way to the studio

The Taverna - for breakfast and morning ponderings

View on the studio (white building by the sea) from taverna

Red hibiscus - My favorite!
Bozenka's beautiful dance studio <3
Morning by the beach - the rest of me was in the shade :)

Spacey's goat friends!
Posing at the beach bar
With my performance flyer for Saturday night!

The 'bat hammock' at the Studio
To Bozenka from Samantha Emanuel

Final night at Mes Tin Ammos
Performance night and sweet goodbyes

www.khalidadance.com