Paulette Rees-Denis's Blog, page 60

a poem by Mary Oliver

a dancing sister friend in the UK, Louisa, turned by on to the wonderful poet, Mary Oliver, and I found this poem online, thought to share with you this morning.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good

you do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting,

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love

what it loves.

Tell me about despair; yours, and I will tell you about mine

Meanwhile, the world goes on

Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of rain are

moving across landscapes, over the praries and the deep

trees, the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are

heading home again, Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

Dreamwork

Gypsy Caravan Teacher Trainees, Level One! woo hoo….

Toni, Merina, Becky, Lisa, Akasha

and here's my girls! another 3 days of intensive dance training, here in Clatskanie, OR, and the dancers passed their certification (Becky already had, she was taking a refresher!) I am once again the proud mama!

It is such a great experience, for me and for the girls, talking about dance, dance as art, body awareness, community, problems and the ah-ha moments too, besides sculpting the body into the dancer as teacher. The dancers live together, eat together, dance together, broadening the experience that tribal dance is, from all over the globe.

I love this work, and I love to teach dancers who have the desire to share the dance and to make themselves better at what they love.

The work is never done, but what great work it is…

many thanks!

and what is next? and on we go to Breithenbush for our weekend workshops at a gorgeous rustic retreat center in the mountains…

Collective Soul Level One grads

Akasha (ID), Lisa (Australia), Kitiera, (WA)

Congratulations to these fabulous dancers!

I started two weeks ago with four sessions of my intensives here in Oregon–Collective Soul Levels One and Two, and Teacher Training One and Two, with our delightful Breitenbush Hot Springs Tribal bellydance retreat thrown in the middle of it all…

They traveled, we danced, we talked, ate, laughed, asked questions, visited the Cultivator General Store (!), and danced some more, with some testing at the end, all so good, they are amazing women, what an amazing two weeks, and just 2 more days to go… woo hoo…

so much news….

wow,

Collective Soul Level One, Teacher Training Level One, my Gypsy Caravan website being hacked, Breitenbush Hot Spring 18th Annual Women's Tribal Bellydance Retreat, visitors from around the world, selling 25 years of tribal dance garb, a fabulous review of my book (Tribal Vision) in the new issue of Fuse Magazine, a new guitar, Collective Soul Level Two and Teacher Training Level Two to follow this week… rain and sun, new baby chicks coming this week, lovely vegetable starts for the garden, cooking like crazy at the Cultivator, getting excited for the Fade To Black reunion in SF in September, camping/glamping trips for the summer, lots of music playing, and it is a fantastic spring…

more to come!

A great article about the Collective Soul experience!

TRIBAL PILGRIMAGE

by Cayte Lawton

So what could persuade someone who's managed very well without a passport for over fifty years to leap on a plane and embark upon a journey of several thousand miles? The answer was in the words of the pilot as we touched down  on a sunny day in late July …. "Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the City of Roses – Portland, Oregon!"

The tribalistas among you will know that Portland is home to the Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, and to its founder, Paulette Rees-Denis. Paulette is widely considered to be one of the mammas of tribal bellydance; having studied and danced in San Francisco with Carolena Nericcio during the formative days of Fat Chance Belly Dance, she and her husband Jeff moved out to Portland where she continued to develop her own distinctive style of tribal and to form her company.  Paulette is very clear that her format, although maintaining those essential tribal elements of group improvisation, is not American Tribal Style bellydance, but rather has drawn upon it and upon other cultural influences to become a dance of today, for today's dancers. This was why we had made our pilgrimage to Oregon – to study intensively with Paulette through one of her Collective Soul training programmes and to start to become, in her words, the best dancers we could be,

And so, after a couple of days exploring Portland (and more than one visit to the amazing Saturday Market) we (my dancing daughter, Sarah, and myself) found ourselves, together with our beautiful new dancing friend Tracy, heading north west to the little town of Clatskanie – home to Paulette! A good night's sleep at our delightfully quirky accommodation and we were on our way out to start our training with breakfast at Paulette and Jeff's farm. How very welcome they made us – delicious home cooking, a tour of the farm and a chance to meet our remaining fellow dancers, Brandy and Kat. Introductions done, we curled up on Paulette's large, comfortable couches to 'talk tribal, an essential aspect of her training  programmes. We were encouraged to share our own dance journeys and dreams for the future, as Paulette in turn shared both her own journey and her dance philosophy with us. Time seemed to fly by, and in no time at all we were heading back to Clatskanie – to dance, zill, learn rhythms …..Paulette pays such attention to detail and because her intensives deliberately only involve small numbers of students we all got very personal and individual attention, but in such a constructive and supportive way that it could not help but move us forward as dancers. A day of hard dancing certainly left us tired – but not too tired to enjoy a road trip out to Astoria (Goonies fans may well recognise this town!) and the Pacific Ocean!

Day Two saw us meet for a delicious and wholesome breakfast at the Cultivator Store, Paulette's amazing little shop/cafe just a minute's walk from our accommodation. Having already spent copious amounts on journals, waterbottles and chocolate inside the shop (just to balance out the healthy breakfast, you understand!) Paulette then tempted us further with a sneak preview of some tribal goodies that were on their way down to a studio sale in Portland. Well, I didn't have a red shawl, did I? And that Tuareg ring is SO pretty and won't take up ANY room in my suitcase …….

Shopping completed (for the time being!) it was off for another day of non-stop dancing and zilling. Paulette's musical background means that she can explain key concepts, including rhythm recognition, really clearly. She truly is an excellent teacher! There was no time to even think about being worn out today, as straight after our training we jumped into the cars and headed back down to Portland for lessons with some of the Gypsy Caravan ladies, an important part of the Collective Soul experience in Portland. With just enough time to fortify ourselves with chips and limoncellos in the rooftop 'Noble Rot' bar, we were in the Om Traditional Arts Studio and were ready to dance again! We were made so very, very welcome, and it felt more than a little surreal to be dancing with all those faces we knew from dvds! We started with a beginners lesson with Darby and couldn't help but wonder if all the students who dance there every week, actually realise how lucky they are to have these wonderful experiences right on their doorstep! Although we would have been very welcome we did chicken out of joining in with Carol's advanced class – just watching the warm up had us shattered! And we needed all our strength for ….

Day Three – TEST DAY!!! Yes, in order to be certified in any of Paulette's programmes there is an assessment. Paulette has high standards and takes no prisoners so everyone took full advantage of her knowledge and experience in order to learn as much as possible from her during the morning's dancing. Even so, there was still time for some fun improv before a Cultivator lunch (which had to fight its way past the butterflies in everybody's stomach!) Testing started with zilling – yes, said Paulette, we would be happy to know we had all reached the required standard there. Then it was the practical stuff – the dancing. No immediate feedback on that – how had we done? A written tribal test followed, together with an assessment of our rhythm recognition. And then we gathered around the table with Paulette, to find out how we'd done. My heart was pounding – I had come down with a flu type lurgy earlier in the week and had been dancing through a mist of painkillers, Vitamin C and Echinacea so really felt I hadn't been dancing to the best of my ability. One by one, slowly, tantalisingly,  Paulette slid the certificates across the table ….. and then, there it was! Cayte Lawton – certified in Collective Soul Level 1!  We had all passed!

Jeff had the organic champagne on ice back in the Cultivator, and there was lots of excited tribal chatter and photo-posing before we headed back to Portland for our last two lessons – beginner and intermediate – with the Caravan girls and their students.  I felt as though I was dancing on air that night, and was really feeling that tribal connection – there was luuuuurve in that room! The improv was just fabulous – even watching other dancers , the connection between them was tangible and as a watcher, you felt drawn in too. What a fabulous, fabulous style!

All too soon it was time for goodbye hugs, promises to return (yes, we will!) and farewell meals at the Farm (a delightful restaurant recommended by Paulette – veggie burgers to die for!). After a last night in Clatskanie and a final breakfast at the Cultivator we said our goodbyes to Paulette and set off back to Portland and the airport… with lots of time to reflect on the way..

And so – was it worth it? Was it worth all the months of scrimping and saving, and a journey of several thousand miles?

Yes, yes and a million times yes!

The Collective Soul experience in itself is dance-changing. All of the different aspects of it work so well together to provide  a holistic perspective on the dance, and to help you to divine your own place within it. The small group tuition, coupled with Paulette's outstanding teaching and support mean that you come away from the training with a real insight into your strengths and areas for development – I know now exactly what I need to do to improve!  Whilst studying in Oregon was an added bonus, it added an unforgettable dimension to the whole experience. We made such beautiful new friends there  – tribal arms reach out across the globe!  Paulette was so open and generous in sharing her home and life with us and we really feel we got to know a little of her as a person and of the things that are important to her. She is our 'Tribal Mamma' and, as she said to us in the Cultivator, we are her girls!

I think too, through her training, chats and the lessons in Portland we also re-discovered the joy in dancing – it doesn't have to be all about performance, but is about those moments when leading with your heart, you make that tribal connection and are suddenly just dancing for the love of it. It does seem to have rubbed off in my performing too – notorious for having a bit of a grumpy dance face, on the couple of occasions on which I have performed since America someone has always commented on how I looked to be enjoying myself!

There is so much more I could tell you – about our adventures in Portland, the fabulous people we met, the amazing food in the Cultivator. As the plane took off and we watched Portland becoming smaller and smaller behind us our sadness was tinged with happy memories. And with more than a little excitement about the next stage of our dance journey – we were off to San Francisco !

But that's another story …..

Cayte Lawton

~~~~~~~

Many thanks, Cayte, for your thoughtful rememberances, and for writing and sharing your experiences!

paulette

woo hoo, I'm a member of SOTF!

I am now an official member of Sisters on the Fly!

Sister #1757

No, I don't fish, and I dont' eat any living creature, but I do drink wine , and I do glamp camp in my T@B!

someday hoping to set up camp in our 1959 Aloha trailer, if  we get it road worthy….

just another thing on the to do list, but what fun!

Happy February! and a Tribal Vision book sale….

Tuesday morning, February 1st, wasn't it just the holidays?

I"m thinking about inspirations, my lists of wonderful things to do, to try, to listen to, to watch, who, what, when, where, all the glorious adventures of this new year! It is grand…

and I want to offer you a special sale on my book, Tribal Vision: A Celebration of Life Through Tribal Belly Dance. I want you to read it! I want you to get what you want from your life, and from your dance, or whatever artform is yours! I have made such a delightful life with my artform, and have met so many amazing people. I know you can too…

so read my book!

Tribal Vision

Normally $25.00, plus $5.50 S&H, buy it now for $20.00 total, and get our Quest CD as a gift!

Woo hoo…

all you need to do is paypal

dance@gypsycaravan.us

$20.00, with your mailing address, and we will get that to you right away…

Get on with your art, your life, find beauty and inspiration in other's stories, and dream big!

and many thanks….

Welcome to my newly reinvented jewel box, my blog, and treasure chest …

Welcome to my newly reinvented jewel box, my blog, and treasure chest …

The delicate gold-leafed, three-tiered wooden box of Florentine design has changed over the years! It has shifted from that ornate box full of lovely sensuous dancers, to grandma's  chunky treasure chest full of teachings, to a barn full of goaties, chickens, dogs, and a cat and many new adventures! That box used to hold quite the assortment of jewels—from my grandmother's heirlooms, to my mother's hand-me-down costume jewelry, to the chunky tribal beaded necklaces of amber and silver. All of these pieces are an ever-changing part of me, from super funky to delicate to expensive to junk jewelry. A small part of who I am on a decided day, to define my mood, my style, my attitude, and my idea of beauty. But with the shift, the jewels have changed from ethnic treasures to armloads of hay, from head wraps to short bleached blonde messy hair, from silky sari fabrics to cowboy boots and dirty jeans. The fingerful of zils I love to play now hold wine bottles to pour tastings, to my red no name acoustic guitar and my shiny black hollow body electric baby! The barefeet have given way to mucks to slog through the barnyard in.

But the hips still sway, the tunes still play, and make my body still moves. Though there is a different main focus in my life, that shift to a different stay-at-home lifestyle and a new job,  but the dance lives on. The teachings don't stop, the desires continue, but to shift focus to my students of dance and yoga and writing, not the performance of my dance. And the dance gives way to a plethora of exciting adventures.

The quest for beauty…that is 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, in the moss growing on the trees, 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. On the farm, it might be the early crowing of my rooster, the glorious sunset over the trees, the hilarious antics of the goaties and they head butt each  and dance around. At my wine shop, it will be the nights when the customers are gathered around, trying new wines, and tasting new foods, loving it. 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 the fields, 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 farm, my words, my shop, my experiences, and to possibly hear yours, in and about our dance world, our farm work, a world full of good eats and sips, 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.

the new guitars

Another day in the home office! paperwork, preparing for the upcoming Breitenbush Tribal Bellydance Retreat, the Collective Soul and Teacher Training intensives, while I stare at my new guitar waiting patiently for me to be done with the drawer pulling, the computer clicking, the envelope licking….

ain't she sweet?

and Jeff got a new bass as well…

so, from wine and cheese, dance and bellydance music, farm and animals, we are now obsessed with old country/bluegrass!

lovin' me some Buck Owens and Guy Clark and Hank Williams!

so the big question to other bloggers

There for a time I had many people commenting on my blog posts, sharing their thoughts too, which is what I want in writing a blog. But then come the people who post just to share their websites, like a million casino posts, or designer handbags or any plethora of commenters. So I turn off the comment button and I now have to sort through hundreds of posts to see if there is a legitimate post to publish. How do you other  bloggers deal with this? It is incredibly frustrating and a huge waste of time, I gave up for quite a while, but I don't want to not be able to have you sincere bloggers be able to post here..

Any help would be great appreciated!