HOW WAS BALI 2008?
Lotus Dance Retreat has come and gone and everyone unable to go is asking how was it?
Bali as always was enchanting. This year our retreat spent 3 nights at the Batukaru Mountain Resort, and 6 nights at Pelangi Bali Resort on the Beach. This gave the opportunity for the participants to have more diverse experiences. Although we all loved the beach, the shops and other tourism activities, we were all sad to leave the mountain resort. It was 3 days in paradise. It is located right in the heart of a tropical forest in the mountains, in a very personal setting with comfortable accomodations, wonderful food, and entertainment brought each evening just for our group. We enjoyed A Balinese show, a night of Drumming and Dancing under the Stars, and on our first night after our yummy welcoming meal, we were entertained by our talented host, Richard, to his melodious singing accompanied by his guitar. If you go to Bali, be sure to stay at this magnificent, yet affordable place on top of the world.Check it out:http://www.balimountainretreat.com/
Our participants this year were from Norway, Ukraine, USA and Guam.
Our instructors were Siri, Samra and Barbara. Barbara Donahue was a
guest instructor. Due to the sudden illness of one of our planned core
instructors she taught more classes and did a great job filling those
slots at the last minute!
We had a real wonderful time, whether we were in classes, or
dancing at the two shows we presented at Pelangi Bali, exploring the
natural beauty of Bali, going for massages, elephant riding, or doing
what we do universally: shop.
While staying at the beach we counted to Yani, our travel
representative to take care of all of our needs. From carrying her
laptop around to offer emergency internet services, to taking photos
and videos when we forgot or got too busy to do it, and just about
anything that we needed. If you plan to visit Bali for any reason, I
strongly recommend her to take care of your travel needs. She becomes
a member of your family and takes great care of everyone during their
stay.Check out http://www.balitraveling.com/.
We hope to see you at a Lotus Dance Retreat in the future.
SAMRA, of Brazilian origin but
living and working in the USA, considers dancing a form of communication and a
way to experience other cultures. After many years of intensive study she is a
performer of dances from Latin America, Middle East, Polynesia, Turkey, and
other parts of the world. She has also studied with masters of North African,
Armenian, Balinese, and Central Asian dances. Her interpretive dances include
fire, sword, balancing, and other exquisite dances. Samra is a popular performer
at cultural and traditional events such as weddings, birthdays, banquets and
festivals. She teaches dance workshops regularly across the USA and around the
world. She has produced several dance instruction DVDs and has written
for academic and artistic publications. Samra won an Excellence in Education
award for her educational program to integrate all arts with academics.
In Bali, Samra will teach dancing with fire (including info on safety), a taste
of Turkey, double veil, and left side right side of brain-dancing
IMAN HAUST is a professional
Egyptian bellydancer, living and working in Norway. She started her dancing
career at the age of 14 in her native Egypt, performing as a soloist in the
local dance ensemble, one of many troops following the Mahmoud Reda tradition.
At the age of 22 and 23 she won first prize in the Egyptian contest for soloists
of such troops, and was sent to Morocco and Tunisia to compete on an
international level. In 2003 Iman moved to Norway, where she now runs two
bellydance schools on the outskirts of the capitol Oslo. She is also a much
sought after performer, both in local events such as weddings and birthday
parties, as well as in international festivals. Her main influences have been
Mahomoud Reda, Farida Fahmy, Nagua Fuad, Dina and Fifi Abdou, and her dance
style has been described as similar to that of Egyptian bellydance legend Soheir
Zaki. In addition to the dance, Iman also teaches her students about the culture
of her native Egypt, and is known to be a very warm and generous instructor.
Iman will be teaching the following workshops: Sword-dance, Shaaby (Egyptian
pop) technique and choreography, zagat.