Paulette Rees-Denis's Blog, page 57

What I am loving today–Photos of Milano

walking the streets of Milano at night, a magical crowded city, young and old, many dogs, food, drink, a few stars in the sky, does anyone look up? a to-die-for porcini and gorgonzola gluten-free pizza, delicious white Italian wine-like a Vermentino, late night vendors, dinner at 10pm, dancing all day, window displays, repitition, my beautiful sister Cinzia,

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walking down the avenue with Cinzia




a wall of the worlds




more repitition, columns of wine! oh yea…




bicycles lined up to borrow

the streets at night

then on to Germany

and this is why I love flying!

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ah, to walk through the clouds…

 

Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, Int. perform in Germany

Alrighty then, Cinzia and I have returned to Milan from the World of Orient dance festival in Hannover, Germany, where I taught 2 really groovin workshops on Tribal Grooves and Spunky Combos… plus we did 2 sets in the Saturday night show. Both nights of shows were overwhelming, long, and full of amazing talented dancers. It was a weekend full of old and new friends, dance, dance, and more dance!

I have a few YouTube clips to share with you of our performances…

this one is using one of my fav songs by Kenan Dogulu, called Cakkidi..What a great song to dance to, makes me so happy!

http://youtu.be/0AQ6CMXXtYw

This other song is from Gypsy Caravan's Cd, Awakening, with the song of the same title, so beautiful…we wanted to dance with our shawls to this piece…yum…

http://youtu.be/gA9GrS3QIfI

and now back in Milan, teaching Collective Soul Level One and Level Two, plus 5 nights of master classes, 2 days of workshops, another big extravaganza show, with our Gypsy sister from Wisconson, Amanda Richardson, filming a new DVD 11, and a bit of impromptu street dancing! who gets to sight see when they are in Milan? Not me!

ah well…I do love my life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the old blog is back… with a new fire…Taking Tribal Global…

 

Welcome to the new editions of my Tribal Belly Dance Blog, after a hiatus, or a sabbatical, or call it what you wish…I am back and happy to be writing about my tribal bellydance world again…

I call my writings my tribal jewel box, becasue these words are my  treasure chest of Tribal Dance Tales and beyond…

 The appearance of the jewel box continuously changes, just as the innards do, just as I do, in this delightful thing called life…Picture it as you will, because it has shifted from that ornate gilded Florentine box full of lovely sensuous tribal dancers, to grandma's  chunky treasure chest full of down home teachings, to a barn full of goaties, chickens, dogs, and a cat, from hobby farmland, to a pub full of country music tunes and guitar pickin musos, or a workshop of hip shakin dancers while I have returned back to city livin', or a glampin adventures in my vintage trailer! My collage of life…

All of these pieces are an ever-changing part of me, from super funky to delicate to expensive to junk. A small part of who I am on a decided day, to define my mood, my style, my attitude, and my idea of beauty. The jewels change from ethnic treasures to armloads of hay, from head wraps to bleached blonde messy hair, from silky sari fabrics to cowboy boots and dirty jeans.

But the hips still sway, the tunes still play, and make my body still moves. Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, International, is revived and exciting the hell out of me, igniting new visions, and I am on the continuing path of Taking Tribal Global. Though there is a different focus in my life, which I explore here on these blog pages, and the dance lives on with a new fire and passion. The dance gives way to a plethora of exciting adventures.

The quest for beauty…that is still my path in life. Beauty, whatever that word means, I seek to find it in everything. Beauty can be captivating, intoxicating, ugly, simple, delicious. I search for it in tantalizing words, in the arch of a hip, in the necklace draping over a collarbone, in the juiciness of a just picked pear, the infusion of newly formed phrases,  in the sparkling soul of someone's smile, the lilting call of the ney, the enveloping hug from my man. I want to capture it for myself, if only for a moment, but I also have an intense need to share it, to teach it, to understand it, or not. In the dance, it could be the chorus of women dancing as one, the powerhouse of our hips in the synchronistic movement of the simple ghawazee, the undulation of a body wave, or the glint of the beckoning eyes. It could be those crazy nights of camping with my group of trailer campers, sitting around the campfire. It might be spending time with the farmgirls, making cheese or spinning yarns. What about an evening of jamming with my friends on guitars, not unlike the jamming of the drummers and dancers. Maybe it is time spent alone, listening to the sounds of my soul. Somehow it all comes back to community—teaching, sharing, learning, giving, receiving, and lots of laughter. And to living life, And it is all beauty in some form…

And though this blog is being continuously reinvented, just as my day-to-day life is reinvented,  I share my jewels, my words, my experiences, and with the chance to possibly hear yours, in and about our dance world, a world full of hips, books, and stories, and so many things happens because of my world-wide community, which started for me with tribal bellydance, from which I've learned so much. This is a place for thoughts, music, video clips, and photos, from me to share with you, and so that you may participate too.

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Thanks for visiting for the first time, or returning to some old stomping grounds. This Tribal Belly Dance Blog, my jewel box of goodies around tribal bellydance, and so much more… I really love to hear from you. Please take time to write back when you can. Your feedback and ideas and thoughts help to make our community thrive and keep it vital! If you have something to share, tell me about it, songs, photos, shows, books, movies, recipes..bring it on. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy my musings and adventures!

Tattoo Adventures, part 2

Continuing on our San Francisco journey of music and tattooes…

Jeff and I performed that first Saturday night (of a million bands), within several incarnations, both of us played and danced together in a Gypsy Caravan medley with rockin' drummers, Greg Langston and Gil Ray.

photos by Gary Dorrington

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Switching from Middle Eastern horns to bass guitar, Jeff then played with his early style punk bank, No Alternative, rocking the house for sure.

Changing gears yet again, from fast playin' punk rock to moody tunes in a Fade To Black incarnation, our band from early to mid 80's ended the show that night, to return for the Sunday night show at Slim's.

Stephan Byran Salit, the guitar player from the Defectors, also played with several bands that weekend, and he was able to show me much of his ink work too.

Left arm  was inked by Madam Ashley Talbot and Ross Jones.

Now I was having some fun…beautiful men, tattooes, and music, and of course, I love being on stage, so the whole event was a bit of heaven besides bringing a community of mucho talented and fabulous folk together, audience and performers alike.

And now to the women of   Deathstock…. 2 ladies come to mind with their gorgeous ink and beautiful selves….

Terry Carnes

rollerskate was designed and tattooed by Jerry Ware, the cactus was designed by Rex Munger and tattooed by Jerry Ware.

And Jenny Orgeron, with ink work from Jason Storey at Blue dragon Tattoo….

On our way home Jeff and I stopped off in Applegate Valley for a night of peace and quiet (well, not quite), sleep and some fabulous wine tasting, oh yea, southern Oregon is happening, folks, let me tell you!

And I will, next month, with more fab tattooes, some wine delights, and more travels, oh yea!

And I'm gearing up to travel to Milan, Italy, next week, to teach my dance for two weeks with the fabulous Cinzia (of the stupendous tribal dance group, Les Soeurs Tribales) and her man Miki, full of awesome art work…so lots to come for you.

Many thanks and happy fall to you all…

new DVD #9 teaser on youtube…

It was great to make this DVD with Cinzia Di Cioccio, and I hope to release it in December, just in time for the holidays!

Paulette Rees-Denis, Tribal Technique #9, Tribal Grooves, in my Taking Tribal Global series…

dvd 9 teaser final.wmv

www.youtube.com

Tattoo Adventures of Tribal Country Girl Paulette, part 1

My roadtrippin' journeys this late summer have been outstanding, on the road fairly close to home, and up and down the west coast. Some glamping trip with friends around Oregon and Washington, a bellydancing art festival in Portland, a didgeridoo festival near the central Oregon coast, and a rocking music festival in San Francisco. I found some great tattooes along the way.

Starting at Indidjinous, a didgeridoo based wild weekend fest held on gorgeous land in the middle of nowhere off the coast, put on by the incredibly generously spirited fellow, Chad Butler, with his amazing tattooed head (done by the talented tattooist from Infinity Tattoo in Portland, Miss Amanda Myers). I first met Chad about 20 years ago when I was photographing him for a tattoo magazine. This year he asked me to bring Gypsy Caravan, my bellydance troupe of musicians and dancers, to come and perform and teach a workshop for the festival goers. I gathered up six dancers and three other musicians—my Gypsy C man, Jeff Rees, along with Keith Holt from Seattle and Chris Jacobsen from Portland, and included myself on percussion besides joining the dancers with some hip shaking good moves!

Keith's wife,Siobhan, happens to be in a bellydance troupe in Seattle, and was camping alongside us too, and she has some amazing ink work. So off we went into the woods to find this gorgeous waterfall and I had my camera in hand, lucky me. Us bellydancers have the opportunity to get body art to show with our costumes, jewelry, and the swaying or shaking movements, and get to show them off on a regular basis. In fact, I think I'm due for a bit more ink, as it's been over 3 years since my last piece. (sounds like confession, forgive me father for I have sinned!) Most people ask me which came first, tattooes or bellydancing, for me it was the tattooes!  Great subcultures come together…

Jeff and I then was asked to perform at Art in the Pearl with our friends, Gypsy Heart Tribal and the musicians of Ripe Fig Rhythms, in the Pearl district of Portland, which is an annual art festival that I've been dancing at for the past then years or so. This is an outstanding art show, wow, with inspiring and stupendously talented artists. The rows of paintings, sculptures, textiles, etc. go on and on, and when you think you've seen all there is and it can't get any better, there are more artists and even greater art. And then there is the entertainment with some lovely tattooed women.(that would be us!).

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Soon after that show, Jeff and I switched gears and got our guitars and keyboards and headed down to the fabulous city by the bay, our old home, San Francisco, to play some rock shows with old band mates from the early 80's. I had not seen some of these folks since the, but we had reunion parties, quick rehearsals pulling out the old songs, and played two nights of shows—at the Red Devil Lounge and Slim's. What a blast! And of course I was scoping everyone out for their body art and hallelujah,  it was there!

Aleph and Kent from the band, Altar de Fey, are full up of ink and gorgeous, wow….

Aleph, the majority of his ink is from Chris Conn, Freddy Corbin and Kahlil Ryntie.

And Kent Cates with his fantabulous ink work:

arms – Dragon by Dan Higgs (sf), bat by Shopi (Amsterdam), Mans Ruin by Criss Conn (SF)

Chest – Griffen tribal Chameleon by Freddie Corbin (SF), Devil mask By Philip Lou (Amsterdam)

Back- Tiger By Ed Hardy

neck – 5 blessings  by Igor (SF)

They played on Saturday night at one of the festival venues, and blew everyone away, they sounded great…I was the lucky one, though to get to photograph their art.

ok, part 2 to follow, more great tatts, and more fabulous music and fun!…

love you ll,

by the way, I will have a brand new website and blogsite coming up real soon, reinvention in progress, and pretty exited about the whole thing!

to see the first copy of this in print, please visit Tattooroadtrip.com

a great tattoo online magazine… this is my copy in full….

Gypsy Caravan music/National Geographic!

Wow, we have just had four songs put on a film from National Geographic! How cool is that?

The Camels That Race,  from Meerkat Films (UK)…

it has a lovely soundtrack all the way through,  (besides us of course!), and what an honor to be included in this documentary…

Ou Est Ma Petite Danseuse, Revolving Door, Lamentation, and Algerian Drum Song…

And how great that our music stands up to time so well, and keeps being played, I love that!

Every dancer and musician's dream…

http://www.meerkatfilms.co.uk/portfolio/thecamelrace/

Dream Big, that's what I say…

more tunics to check out for sale…

yes, my sale continues…some things sell, some don't, meanwhile I still have beautiful dance garb that needs to find loving homes…

so, if you choose, let me know…

A. newer egyptian assuit, black with silver, long tunic, gorgeous! $80.00 plus $5.50 S&H

close up! fantastic design...

a soft flowing tunic (or sheer coverup), swaying sleeves, black with shiny bits! $25.00 plus $5.50 S&H)

As always, email me to check on availability, then you can paypal to me

dance@gypsycaravan.us

those shipping fees are for US only, if you are overseas, we will let you know the total cost!

I hope you can love these tunics like I have…enjoy your dance!

Breitenbush 2012

the 19th annual  Women's Weekend of Tribal Vision–Tribal Bellydance

with Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan

at Breitenbush Hot Springs, Detroit, OR

April 27-29, 2012

with guest teachers

Samantha Riggs

Samantha

and Lynea Gillen

Lynea rocks the house!

Celebrating Women, Dance, Art, and Community

Paulette Rees Denis is a motivator, an instigator, and the innovator of Tribal Belly Dance, and will be

offering Tribal drilling and zilling, Shimmy Queen, and writing for dancers.

Samantha Riggs from Portico Dance Company and Boom Boom Bollywood teachs Afro-Brazilian Combos for Warriors, Bollywood Anima, and Bhangra.

Lynea Gillen brings her high energy African Tribal and the feel-good Yoga for Bellydancers!

Be ready to sweat and groove, dance, write, and laugh.

Honor yourself with the power of your dance and the power of your words. In our vibrant circle

of women, you will dance own dance within the communal and improvisational structure of Tribal Bellydance and the fusion beyond.

This is a fabulous blend for our weekend of dance and writing–add luscious outdoor hot tubbing, steamy saunas, great

vegetarian meals, some down time, the peacefulness of the mountains, and our circle of dancing women just gets stronger and

more remarkable every year! This is for dancers please, some experience necessary.

Included in the weekend fee are all of your delicous vegetarian meals, the various dance classes, time for soaking in

geo-thermal hot tubs and sweating in the amazing sauna, your shared rustic and cozy cabin (roommate requests taken but

not guaranteed). On Friday night, to go with our journaling and workout, we will have a chocolate feast!

On Saturday night, we have our infamous informal salon where you can show us your stuff—-be it dance, poetry, a song,

a story, yourself! Anyone do  henna, let me know and bring it on.  A dancer's sale and swap on Saturday. Got some drums,

bring those too! And Toni Ree will share some laughter yoga with us too! A fabulous weekend, Breitenbush–here we come!

Retreat starts Friday night at dinner until Sunday at noon before lunch. Breitenbush Hot Springs is a 2 ½ hour drive south east of Portland, in the mountains. If you can offer a ride, please let me know, and I will send it out. Some people may be flying into the Portland ariport. Carpooling is a great thing!

**This retreat sells out quickly so don't wait!

to register: contact Paulette at

dance@gypsycaravan.us

FEES: Rates for the weekend includes all meals and dance classes, Friday through Sunday. You have two cabin choices–with or without a bathroom.

^^Cabin with Bathroom: Send your request with your deposit.

Cabin with a bathroom not guaranteed,only on a first come basis

Early payment discount, total received before Feb. 15th, 2012—$305.00 total

After Feb. 15th, $330.00

^^Cabin without a bathroom

Early payment discount, total received before Feb. 15th, 2010—$285.00 total

After Feb. 15th, $310.00

*There are absolutely no refunds or exchanges.

Deposit of $160.00 will hold your spot.

To get the early discount, the entire amount of the weekend must be

PAID IN FULL by February 15th, 2010.

You can mail a check to Paulette: (Please email Paulette first beforeyou mail a check.)

Gypsy Caravan

23808 Blunk Dr.

Clatskanie, OR 97016

OR

You can Paypal the deposit of $160.00 plus a paypal fee of $5.00 ($165.00) to

dance@gypsycaravan.us

*Special meal requests for vegan and wheat-free diets must be made in advance please,

through Breitenbush. Contact them for masssage appointments too.

http://www.breitenbush.com

As we get closer to our weekend, I will email you the schedule and what to bring so you can plan for down time or a massage or a hike!

Many thanks and see you there!

Samantha- Bollywood

better late than never…more costumes!

ok, I've been lax about getting more costumes up, but I still have a few trunks full!

here are a couple of gems for you to choose from, cover ups or tunics or galabeyah's….I, and we/Gypsy dancers, had good times and good shows with many of these pieces…I cannot imagine finding three of these again, so i do hate to break up the set. They were great for Gypsy Caravan to use…

let me know if you would like these for your self or your dance troupe!

A. a beautiful Egyptian tunic, striped with gold trim, one of three, with slight variations, in great shape, with a big hood...we tranced and danced in these over our costumes, also makes a great coverup...$60.00 plus $10 S&H (US only)

the back of above robe...

B. another color..same price as above...but take all three for $150.00 plus $25.00 S&H (they are a bit heavy and long)

C. the third color....with a darker blue trim...

Aren't they fabulous????Do you love them?

If so, and you want them, then hurry and email me back to see if they are still available! then I will confirm with you, and you then paypal the amount to my account and then I ship them to you! woo hoo…magic!

loves,

oh, and more to come…