Amanda is in the newspaper again

It is such a treat to open the newspaper and see Tribal sisters faces, but even more so when it is someone from our own tribe.  Amanda is in the Cairns Weeknd Post in colour celebrating the festivals of last year.

2011 a year of wonderful transformation-bring on 2012

As we farewell 2011 i feel a little nostalgic when i recall all the amazing things that i have been given.

The opportunity to become a school teacher and explore this diverse and never-ending career has and continues to be an amazing and fascinating journey.  Let's hope i get to incorporate some geography into next year!

To be able to travel and dance has enabled me to meet and dance with a whole bunch of amazing tribal girls.  I had the opportunity to dance with Paulette Rees-Denis at Clatskanie and complete my Teacher Training Certificate 1 and to dance with the Gypsy Heart tribe at Om Studio in Portland AND many more amazing girls at Brietenbush ... phew and that was all before June!

In the second half of the year I was building a bit of courage to get out there a bit more and perform.  With the support of the TribalZest girls, at the Cairns Festival and also as an impromptu flashmob we got some fabulous experience.
I also dabbled in the idea of kids classes at the library over the school holidays which generated a Binta Bellies class here in Kuranda.

Lisa (KurandaDance), Nina (GypsyRain), Sienna (TribalZest) and Kylie (TribalPulse) - Tribal teachers of North Qld

Nina and Sienna continue to be my mentors and support in many of my decisions and Nina's monthly workshops at the temple are a wonderful way of reconnecting as a regional tribe and to continue the dedication required to be a dancer and teacher.


2012 seems very exciting, there is a wonderful surprise gathering momentum in Mareeba, but i can't tell you yet...stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have been preparing for Paulette Rees-Denis' workshop in February and KurandaDance's first performance at our Tribal Hafla in February.  Magnolia and I will be performing a duet - how exciting!  Amanda was a part of the choreography building process - her beautiful handmade candle a presence even though she is in Thailand at the moment.

My family and friends continue to be at the centre of my heart and although i don't mention you in my blog (without permission) you are never far from my heart and mind - love and hugs to you all!

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‎2011 has taught me that if you really want something-if you lead from your heart the universe will deliver...not always what you expected but what is right for your heart!

Many works are still very much in progress and what an exciting journey it is...

What a great day!

This week i had a wonderful day planned visiting my girlfriend for a lunch on her birthday.  I had been looking forward to it for weeks.

Happy birthday Rit.

Pooch had different ideas for my day.  She was looking for someone to play with, unfortunately it was on the Kennedy Highway. So Mark picked her up from becoming road kill and brought her home for me to look after on my non-work day. I took on the role with relish!

We didn’t know her name or her home, so while Mark made up signs and contacted the radio station, I gave her lots of love and attention. She came with me to visit my girlfriend for her birthday lunch.

When no one called that night, I thought she might be ours.  But her family called the next day and she was reunited that afternoon.  Here are some photos to remember our lovely couple of days together.

    

"Throw the ball - go on?"

One last hug (after dance class) before we give her back

Mark and I will be getting our own pooch over the school holidays, when we have the time to build a fence and spend time getting her settled in.  So we consider Lilly to be our little road test and we loved sharing our life with her!

Sawasdee ka

Sawasdee ka!

Mark and I are having a lovely time here in Thailand.  Our holiday ends soon, but in the meantime, we are enjoying spending time with my brother in law and his new wife.  They had a beautiful Buddhist wedding with five monks and a very elaborate traditional Thai ceremony.  Ta was elegantly serene and beautiful and Chris was quite the dashing groom!  Mark and I felt very privileged to be representing his family from Australia.

While I am away from classes, we have also been enjoying a holiday here.  Most of our time has been up at Chiang Mai in the north, where it is a slow pace and the people are friendly and wonderful.  The highlight of our northern trip was an amazing opportunity we had to spend time with elephants at Baan Chang Elephant Park.  Below is a photo of us with Samboon, the big male of the flock.  He was such a gentle giant and loves a scrub in the bath.

I have been thinking about dancing and wondering how you are all going.  I am also a little worried about how much food I have been eating on this trip, as the Thai cuisine is too good!  Sit ups will definitely be on the agenda when I get back…

Breathe in ...

Finally the rain has arrived!

The air has cooled and a gorgeous fog has settled in the valley giving an energised feel to everything (including me and my salad greens).

The scrub turkey is no longer scratching around like a maniac, he gently pushes the leaves, as there is plenty to eat now.  The ground is soft beneath my feet and completely wet.  The brown grass seems to already have green leaves here and there.  The air seems easier to breathe.  Colour has returned where before everything was washed out and pale, now even the dirt seems more brown.  The discarded leaves are beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow and green.

So our dance will shift into a different gear, time to respond to the wet season weather.  If the sun comes out and drags the moisture from the ground, we will draw ourselves in and concentrate on slow moves.  If another storm sweeps through, we will use this energy to drill and turn the wheel with improvisation.

To all the beautiful tropical dancers enjoying the rain – breathe it in and celebrate another wet season!

Gratitude

What an amazing few days it has been.  With the close of the term, it has been my last dance class of term, my last day at the school I have been teaching and the first day of my holidays which means I now get to catch-up with my awesome family.  Each moment has been special in its own way.

One of my dance students, Amanda greeted me with a beautiful personally hand made bees wax candle and flower from her garden as a gift of thanks for our classes.  On her card was written, ‘when you light this candle think of me’.  It was too beautiful to light right away so I put it in my lounge room where I can see and smell it every day and still think of you!

Amanda's beautiful 'Amberlight" candle sitting in pride of place at home.

After my contract with Year sixes, my last day at Redlynch College was yesterday.  The Deputy Principal recognised my efforts at both the staff meeting and the all school parade and acknowledged that ‘I would be missed’. I was quite humbled by this gesture.  Then a whole bunch of the kids stuck around at the end of the day before I booted them out.  How special that students would want to be with me on the first minutes of their well earned holidays… Amongst the many treats of my contract, I was given a card from Amber and a drawing from Melissa, both beautiful people with big hearts.

Melissa's manga picture

 Amber's thank you card

So now I am with my family enjoying just hanging out together.  On my first afternoon with them, I have been able to see everyone.  Mum and Dad picked me up from the airport, my brother and his family popped over to say hello, I dropped in to see my sister and her family and then dropped in to see Grandma at hospital.  What an awesome family, that they all made the time to catchup.

So you can see how I feel so grateful for all the generosity around me at the moment.  None of these people were expecting anything in return other than my gratitude, which comes naturally.

Kuranda Tribal Bellydance joins Tribal Zest at Festival Cairns

Sienna converted her personal car and trailer into a beautiful bedouin tent as we danced our way through the streets of Cairns to celebrate Festival Cairns' 50th birthday on 21st August 2011.  The theme for the 50th birthday celebration was 'time machine' and we were dressed to be gypsy hippies.

Amanda and Lisa on the Tribal Zest float at Festival Cairns
(Photo-Carolyn Tonks)

The tribe from Tribal Zest were all decked out and ready to dance.  So onto the tarmac barefeet and all we danced for the full parade through the streets of Cairns.  To join in the fun, Amanda and I from Kuranda added to the circle.

The crowd were really enjoying the festival parade, clapping, smiling, some people were so overwhelmed that they would run out from the crowd to give the dancers a kiss on the cheek.  

Tribal Zest dance their way down the Esplanade of Cairns

(photo-Mark Newton)

The noise was incredible, so we added to our music with tabla drumming and zilling, to show how talented we all are.

The next day, imagine my surprise when our very own Amanda shows up in the Cairns Post.  I am not surprised, her energy was shining through as she danced and smiled her way through Cairns.

Amanda Miller dancing with Tribal Zest at the Cairns Festival (photo-Cairns Post)

Junior bellies dance class in Kuranda - let's give it a go!

The soccer Mums and Dads of Kuranda have requested a junior bellies dance class to run concurrently with the soccer practice on Wednesday nights.  So we are going to give it a run this week.   Moves will be kept simple with a focus on musicality, rhythm and co-ordination.  Thanks to my fellow bellydance sisters who have given me ideas and insights into teaching young girls.  I am looking forward to searching for some new music to suit this group and looking forward to really analysing and breaking down the tribal moves to adapt them to an age group of 6-8 year olds.  Thank goodness i have a teaching background!  Wish me luck!

A day of drumming with Yeow

Wow - what a great drummer and teacher - a rare combination!
Yeow from Bellyslap in Melbourne [bellyslap@gmail.com] gave us four fantastic hours of teaching at the Temple.  Starting with the basic sounds of the tabla, some warm ups and the rhythms of tabla drumming including: falahi, ayoub, maksoum, baladi, saidi, heavy saidi, nawari and chiftitelli.  By the end, my hands were tingling and my poor neglected drum never sounded better!
Thanks for an awesome day of drumming!  It is so great to extend our belly dance repertoire from dancers to percussionist musicians also.  I look forward to sharing what we have learnt with our Kuranda tribe and extending our repertoire to be experienced in dance and percussion in the form of zills and tabla drums.

Yeow at the temple

(pictured back:Lisa, Leila, Carmen, Jasmin, Patti, Storm, 

middle: Jo, Yeow, Babushka, 

Front: Sienna, Nina, Jo and Sharna)

Congratulations girls - beginners course complete

Tuesday night was our last night for the six week beginner course.  We all had a lovely night oooh-and-aaah-ing at each other’s beautiful belts, skirts, flowers, feathers and jewellery.  I am so sorry that I forgot to take a photo to share, because everyone really looked so beautiful in their dance finery and I would have liked to share this with you all.

The dance class was also all about pulling everything together and celebrating what we have learnt over our beginner class term.  We drew on the six weeks of moves and practiced them as drills, then put them together into formations.  Even with our little group of four, we had a go at a few formations.

Well done girls for finishing the beginner course.  We have a week break then resume on 2^nd August for a new beginner group combined with our beyond beginner girls.  I look forward to some new women joining in our circle and welcoming back familiar faces to make our circle even bigger and better.  All welcome!

Beginner course almost complete!

Well our beginners are becoming quite fluent in their basic moves as they get close to the last class of their beginner course.  Our keen dancers have even asked for a copy of the dance move names so they can practice!  How cool are these strong dancers!

Magnolia and Shana were even treated to an all levels class in Cairns with the Tribal Zest girls. It was very cool to show off the new Kuranda girls, and reconnect with the Zest girls.

So this Tuesday for our last class, we are going to have a class of basic moves, improvisations and formations and all round fun music.  Don't forget to wear a skirt and hip scarf because i would love to get a photo for our blog!  Am looking forward to dancing with you again soon.

The kids corner was all action at Kuranda library

The floor of the kid’s corner of the Kuranda library was covered with jewels and coins, as the Kuranda kids got busy making beautiful belly dance belts on Thursday. 

As the colourful creations came to fruition, we tied them onto our waist and got our hips moving.  In no time at all we were all looking like we had been dancing together for years.  There were smiles all round as the girls put together their moves and grooved along to the Madagascar song, ”I like to move it”. 

Using every bit of floor space in the kids section at Kuranda library.

 'Ta-da' Our new bellydancers of Kuranda!

Post note:  There were a few Mums keen to see belly dance classes continue for young girls in Kuranda.  If you are interested, please email Lisa at kurandatribal@gmail.com.  If there is enough interest, I will arrange a venue and reply with details.

Mareeba library overflows with colour and dance

School holidays were full of colour and fun at Mareeba library as Girls, Boys, Mums and Nannas all learnt to belly dance.
There were so many participants at Mareeba that we went alfresco and Kellie and the library staff setup outside (thanks heaps).  With the sun shining and a lovely cool breeze blowing, we got our hips bumping and our shiny new belly dance belts jingling.

Smiling faces as we all get dancing

Our Mareeba Bellydancers.

I also want to thank the girls who came up individually and thanked me after the session.  Your words were very heartwarming.

Atherton kids learn bellydancing at their library

Regular library-goers were in for a special treat on Monday 27th June 2011 as bellydancing came to the library. After a brief crash course everyone was moving their feet, bumping their hips and swinging their arms. Once we cranked up the music, we all started to 'move it' and kids and parents were bellydancing like they had been doing it for years. It may have been drizzly and gloomy outside but we were all working up a colourful, jingly sweat! To finish off the morning Miss Kellie and the wonderful staff at Atherton library brought out gems, coins and other jewels and we all made bellydance belts. Each an original masterpiece.

Atherton girls create their own tribal circle at the library.

Lisa with Atherton library bellydancers.

Sorry, I didn't get the names of these beautiful girls, but if someone can tell me i will add the names to this site.

A fun day for the kids at your local library

Tribal belly dance classes at Libraries for kids over the school holidays.

That's right, as part of the Tablelands Regional Council Public Library school holiday programme, I am running free bellydance classes at the following locations:

Atherton Library - Monday 27 June 2011 - 10:30-11:00
Mareeba Library - Thursday 30 June 2011 - 11:00-11:30
Kuranda Library - Thursday 30 June 2011 - 2:00-2:30

Parents and children of all ages welcome.

Winter solstice looms

This Tuesday 21st June 2011 night dance class marks the winter solstice.  A time to mark the shortest day of the year and celebrate the warmth of the sun as we look towards the longer days to come!
EarthWint.jpg

Let's warm ourself with a fire of our own.  Wear your favourite hot colours on the outside and we will get moving to heat ourselves up from the insides.
Any other ideas out there, send them through ...

The Kuranda tribe begins to take shape

With the public holiday long weekend, I was completely out of routine and entirely forgot that I had a dance class on Tuesday night.  Can you believe my horror and embarrassment when I had a phone call from one of the girls (thank you whoever that was) to say they were waiting and wondering where I was, fifteen minutes into the class time!  I apologised, died of embarrassment, admonished myself for being so thoughtless, threw on some dance clothes put the sound system in the car and drove straight out to the hall (not exactly in that order).  Apologised profusely and tried to collect my thoughts.  It took four big breaths before I could even feel myself breathing again.  Oh my god, just recalling it now I feel so awful.  That was the first impression of their dance teacher for four new girls.  Anyway, I need to let that go, because we had an awesome class last night.

As I arrived to a bunch of smiling beautiful women, I thought, this looks like a Kuranda tribe to me.  As each woman took tentative steps, then moved their bodies into new isolations, it didn’t take long before we were all moving together, dancing!  We looked fabulous dancing as a group.

Seeing beginners try belly dance for the first time reminds me of when I first started.  I recall feeing so awkward, which surprised me as I had done years of dance previously.  But being the person I am, I went back to try and figure out how to belly dance.  A few weeks later I was getting parts of my body to respond to what I was trying to do and then over time I managed to make my body move gracefully and womanly.

I was so proud of the girls for coming along, picking up the moves and starting to feel the moves through the music already.  If you are reading this, please know that you all have great posture,  the footwork is correct with your bodies are moving the way they are supposed to.  I can see strong Kuranda dancers emerging already…      

Successful open day in Kuranda sports centre

Kuranda sports and social club was enjoyed by over a hundred people. People coming and going as different events began. Everything from baseball to taichi, bellydance to karate. It was all happening at the centre. The kids were having a great time trying everything out!
Shortly I will load up a YouTube of a short snippet from my impromptu performance, as requested by the audience!
Stay tuned...
Postscript - as the music is recorded, i would be breaching the itunes rules to load up the movie.  Instead, here is a photo to give a bit of an idea of the day...

Kuranda Sports and Recreation Centre - Open day Sunday 12 June 2011

Just a quick reminder for the Kuranda Sports and Recreation Centre Open day tomorrow.

There will be a number of events going on including yoga, tai-chi, karate and of course our bellydancing indoors and bowling, soccer and other sporting events outdoors.

Bring along friends, family and neighbours to help support our local hall. Or if you already have a hot date, help spread the word.

View location from the following email address, 

http://www.whereis.com/qld/kuranda/category-community+centres#session=MzI=

I will be hosting a basic tribal style belly dance class and demo from 2pm until about 3pm - so feel free to come on down and have some fun.

Enjoy your long weekend everyone!

Dance classes commence in Kuranda

Dance class began tonight with Amanda, Raya and Chloe.  The girls danced so well picking up new moves including ghawazee, shimmy, shoulder shimmy and egyptian. Their arms also got a workout with some wrist and arms moves, which all looked very elegant. 

Look forward to dancing with you all next week and don’t forget the spread the word, so we can get some more people to join our Kuranda Tribal Bellydance circle.

Open day at the Sports and Social Centre this Sunday the 12th June at around 2pm.  Come and join in and have some fun!