Friday, June 29, 2012

Feeding your inner self with belly dance!




Feeding your inner self with Belly dance!
By Shetan Noir

Belly dance has been my art form, my love and my life for over 10 years, I have never
grown tired of it or the life it has opened up for me. I have used belly dance to rehabilitate my body from injuries and to feed my soul when I have felt less then content.
There is no one key element of belly dance that holds me to it but there are many reasons why I love it.
The music draws you into moving, the movements captivate your body into dancing and the costumes inspire you to imagine all the possibilities your creativity is capable of imagining.

You tell a story with your dance that you, yourself create and display. Giving the audience tiny gleams into your heart and soul, all the while you are savoring each moment of that dance because this is your dance, your way of interpreting the music and setting the mood and tone of the performance.

Belly dance is also a sisterhood of women all connecting through dance, it's bond bypassing whatever fusion your perform. Once all together on a common ground it does not matter if you are from a tribal
or cabaret background, weather you fuse Gothic or hip-hop into you belly dance. You are simply a belly dancer and a shimmy is a shimmy. You follow the same drumbeats and translate them into body movements..

One of my favorite personal quotes is simply “My hips speak drum” meaning play the music and I will dance however the music moves me.
You let the drumbeats and music flow into you and help you create your dance. This is why drum circles are so enticing to belly dancers. The constant rhythm and beat of drums pulls you in and before you know it you have been dancing for ten minutes or more. Then once the drums stop you crave for it to start again as if the very drum beats themselves strengthen your inner self and drive you on.

Your costumes become a statement of self-expression, You keep adding to each costume until at last you feel it show you own personal creativity. I hand make all of my own costumes and my absolute favorite costume is still a work in progress as I am still adding to it and improving it to my own expectations. This whole process can become a full-filling hobby of it's own but to me it's a labor of love that I do to show my passion for my belly dance.

Then there is also all the belly dance classes and workshops I have taught since 2003, every new class and workshop brings a smile to my face, seeing students who want to learn belly dance and enrich their lives with it. Seeing them learn intricate body movements and self-improve every week. If gives me great pride and joy when I see my students perform at shows and events. Know how hard they have worked to learn movements and choreographies. I get to see them evolve as dancers and blossom.
These are the wonderful things about belly dance that I love and that feed my inner soul.

-Shetan Noir is a Michigan-based belly dancer and pagan. She teaches classes and workshops all over Michigan and is a published author of a belly dance costume making book
Sequins + Hot glue gun = belly dance costume and a spell book called “Sticks and stones, a book of curious spells and unique information. www.facebook.com/shetannoir

My current list of workshops that I offer for 2012


Positive Life workshops

Becoming your own hero and defeating your villainous self,
Self esteem and self confidence building for the overweight or shy performer.
Focus is on chasing your dream and catching it, Defeating self-doubt, dealing with Negative People, Dealing with your inner self, becoming your own hero and making the most of your own talents and energies.

One step in front of the other ,
a workshop about conquering your fears one step at a time. Setting up small goals that build you towards overcoming you fears.

Manifesting your goals and dreams in life
Do keep asking yourself how will you ever get to the next step and accomplish your goals in life. I will discuss methods and practices for getting your goals and dreams to start developing and becoming a reality.
Act of Shameless Self-Promoting Panel-
Come discuss and learn different methods of self-promoting your own work and getting people to notice. From book promoting to Belly dance shows, there are tactics that work for everyone.

Pagan workshops

Lucky Charms ~ A look at different items that are used to bring luck from all over the world. From herbs and plant matter to rabbits feet and horseshoes. How they can be used and worked for personal magic.

Magic and the familiar ~ Spell work with Familiars and pets. How to use their help in your spells and life. Includes discussion of a bloodhound spell and a snake spell.

How to remove unwanted things/beings from life, home and being.
Discussion of different practices and spells and ingredients that help to remove annoyances.
After ghost hunting and magically cleansing many homes, I have found different things that
work to remove attachments and parasitic paranormals.

Eyes to see all
Discussion of spells that help keep an EYE on the things that you cant. Different methods and means From the Turkish eyes to googlie eyes. Ways to keep things from getting out of control

Hoodoo and Folk magic with a Micro-garden
Many Herb plants can be dual purpose and depending on your needs for magical workings certain plants are more helpful then others.  I will explain what plants work best and how to get the most out of your micro-garden.

What your spellcraft can learn from a cookbook!
Ever wonder why your spells don't make sense and don't bring the results you want. The reasons can be as simple as your choice in selections. Learn to make better selections and work better spells.


Creating your own personal smudge stick.
Learn herb and plant wrapping and braiding techniques to create your own smudge stick and wreaths.
White sage, cedar and white pine will be use to demonstrate. 5.00 Supply kit fee

Water powered
Water from different sources carries different powers, learn how to choose what water works best for which spells. From rain water to sulfur water.

I, Wish!
Making the most of each wish you get and ways that wishes present themselves. From folklore and legends to common beliefs.

Belly dance workshops

Performing with Live snakes
I use my own live ball python snakes to demonstrate with. Topics include breed selection, traveling with your snake, safety for you, you snake and the audience, costume tips. Theory of 3, Do's and don't on stage and off, dealing with venues and promoters, Dealing with people's fear of snakes, Belly dancing with snakes and how to incorporate props into your performance.
*I will have my own live snakes to demonstrate with. Do not bring your own snakes to this workshop.*

Sequins + hot glue gun = professional belly dance costume
A step-by step workshop on making beautiful high quality Belly dance costume yourself.
I give lots of insight and advice on how to not only make the costumes but choosing the right style for your body and performing. I also cover basics of Tribal and gothic belly dance costuming. I cover cost effective and easy costume making techniques. I also have a book available that explains in detail how to make the costumes for $10.00

Dangerous Curves, Bras, Breast and Cleavage,
No matter if you are an A cup or DD cup, Learn costuming techniques to enhance your chest. Learn to make alterations to your belly dance bras to give you the most out of what you have. I will also cover warm-up exercises that help with chest movements.

Dark side of belly dance, notes on Gothic belly dance and how you can blend it into your style of Belly dance.
I cover many topics surrounding Gothic Belly dance such as Costuming, Make-up and hair, Music selection, body movements, props, Know your venue and crowd. Gothic belly dance,The Darker side of belly dance adds drama and excitement to your dance style.

Devil of a Belly dance workout
Learn how to break each muscle group down and build flexibility and movement. All muscle groups are covered with special attention paid to the core muscles. Once the muscles have been worked, I show you how to add belly dance movements. I have taught this workshop to Physical Therapist and they loved it.

Mirror, Mirror,
Learn to make Shisha mirrors for belly dance costumes . I demonstrate hand stitching
techniques.

How to make Steampunk/tribal belly dance hair accessory-
Come watch Shetan Noir make easy beautiful hair accessories. This lovely hair decoration will feature silk flower blossoms, Feathers, fabric, gems, hair clip.

Hair bow 101- how to make cool hair bow decorations and how to embellish them.

Bindi making-
Includes basic Jewelled designs, steampunk designs, Tribal designs with metal stampings. Can be taught as a hands on workshop or as a demonstration. A small fee for material kit will be charged.

Hip Medallions-
Learn to make these beautiful belt decorations from start to finish. Tips and how to's with creating your own unique and original artwork for your costumes.
Belly dance patterns how to's
want to learn how to make your own belt forms that properly fit, Turkish vest that cover up the sides and backs of your bra and muffin top. Harem pants that dont look like clown pants, Tips for making circle skirts. I supply my own pattern forms that students can make copies of. All students should bring at least 5 large poster boards or a wide roll of brown wrapping paper for packages. A scoop neck tank top that fits them well, clingy is better then loose. Scissors and a note pad.

Writing and Self-publishing

Pro's and con's of writing for examiner.com and yahoo's associated content.
discussion on whats the good points and bad points are and how they compare to writing for magazines. Including how to build your writing portfolio and setting deadlines for yourself.

Self-publishing 101
Discussion of the many different sites that offer self-publishing. E-books, marketing your books and being in control of your book. Also will be discussed why an editor is always a good idea.

Road map to writing your book or articles
You have the idea for your story but keep getting overwhelmed by the details. Simple methods of piecing together your chapters so that you have a road map to the end.
Please join me at Circle Quest in Sept. I will be teaching workshops, Belly dancing and vending.

http://circlequest.org/
hopes,dreams and goals are like seeds, you have to plant them, nurture them, harvest them and then decide when to replant again

Just openned my new online store!

http://prettywickedthings.storenvy.com/products/423590-green-pearl-on-metal-stamping-bindi