Hallowe’en fun and frolics…

 

Phew – what a busy weekend we’ve had! We put on a “dark” belly dance charity fundraiser, Haflawe‘en, this Saturday, and raised over £450 for our charities! We did three performances this time, and got to see lots of other dancers from all over the region.  Great music in the disco afterwards as well – there’s nothing better than just letting it all go to The Prodigy’s Firestarter! Lots of trick-or-treaters at the door on Monday as well, and a moving, deep ritual around the fire outside centering on transformation.  Blessings of the season to you all!

My alter ego…

As some of you  may know, I moonlight as a belly dance instructor. Last night we played with slow improvisational dancing and shadowing, and here is the result. No one knew what was coming next, just watching and following each other, working as a tribe. Such fabulous ladies!

https://youtu.be/P7z6Vgqt50o

Last night’s performances…

Here are the videos of my performances last night at the Winter Shimmyland Hafla Charity Fundraiser, raising money for St. Elizabeth Hospice. It was a great night! Shimmy on…

Coming Up…

AA no 1 and 2 Nov 18 2015My third book, The Awen Alone: Walking the Path of the Solitary Druid is at No. 1 and No.2 today in Amazon’s bestseller charts for the category of Druidism. Huge thanks to everyone who has left a review, emailed me with support, and just generally been lovely.

On Saturday, 5th December at 3.15pm I will be giving a talk on “Modern Druidry” at the Woodbridge Mind Body Spirit Festival. I’ll also be performing with my dance company on Sunday at 2.15pm, as well as doing wandering performances earlier that day at the Woodbridge Christmas Fair.

The Zen Druidry online course is on schedule to be released before the Winter Solstice, so keep everything crossed that it remains so!

Applications for Druid College will open at Imbolc, 2016, watch this space for more info.

Colleena Shakti: The Power of Dance

One of my favourite dancers, in a lovely short film about what dance means to her personally, as an art form, lineage and more.

Gypsy Dreams at the Wild Warrior Beltane Picnic Festival

Here’s some highlights of our performance to a packed out crowd at Hadleigh Country Park this weekend – thank you all so much, you were brilliant! (Note the little man who danced the whole way through behind us – adorable!)

Dancing with Spriggan Mist

What a busy weekend we’ve had! Saturday night we were invited to dance with the lovely pagan rock band, Spriggan Mist at the Steamboat in Ipswich for their Myths and Legends Tour.  This is the opening number, which we hadn’t heard before, and danced improv to – we love it when it all comes together! I love my belly sisters…

Gypsy Dreams celebrating May Day

Here is our dance troupe, Gypsy Dreams, performing at the May Day celebrations last weekend in Mendlesham, Suffolk. It’s a mix of improv dances and choreographed dances. Blessed Beltane everyone!

News and events roundup February

February was a particularly busy month – with the opening of Druid College UK being a huge success!  We are now already halfway full in our bookings to begin Year 1 in October this year, and the response has just been amazing.  Social media posts engagement has numbered over 100,000 views, with thousands of shares and likes.  A big thank you to everyone who has supported this project! There are still spaces left on the course, so if you’re interested please email me for further details.

Lots of support has also been received since the interview I had with OBOD’s chosen chief, Philip Carr-Gomm last year at the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids‘ 50th anniversary gala. The Druidcast interview went out in January, and there has been lots of interest since then, certainly keeping me busy! At the end of February I also did an interview for Upon a Pagan Path, which aired early this month – Tommy the interviewer was such a lovely chap.

February also saw all three of my books, Zen Druidry, Dancing With Nemetona and The Awen Alone reach the Number 1, 2 & 3 spot on Amazon!  What a day that was – I was and still am flabbergasted.

The next couple of months are going to be equally busy. On Saturday 28 March I will be giving a talk at Leaping Hare in Colchester on the goddess Nemetona. I’ve been going to Leaping Hare for many, many years now and it is an absolute honour to be asked to present at this year’s gathering. I’m looking forward to seeing many familiar faces from the Eastern Region!

But before Leaping Hare I’m heading over to Glastonbury, to enjoy a little break and celebrate the Spring Equinox with some lovely friends.  We’ll also be seeing our friends Serpentyne who are doing a gig on Sat 21st – a medieval ball! Don’t miss it – it’s going to be great. We’re very much looking forward to performing with Serpentyne this summer at the Corn Lammas Gathering 21-23 August as Gypsy Dreams Belly Dance.  (I’ll also be sharing  a stall with my lovely, arty, crafty sisters and selling books – do pop by for a chat!).

The Beltane Picnic hosted by the Pagan Federation will take place this year on 24 May at The Roundhouse in Essex.  I’ll be there with my belly sisters performing again, and also doing book signing – I love this event so much, and have been going for a few years now – it’s such a warm, friendly, welcoming atmosphere of celebration!

If you’re in the Suffolk area on 18th & 19th April, check out the Woodbridge Mind Body Spirit Festival. It’s a lovely gathering of really cool folk who have created a wonderful two day festival celebrating alternative therapies, lifestyles and just sharing the love. I’ll be doing a chakra cleansing workshop on the Saturday, as well as performing with my dance troupe.  Shimmy shimmy shimmy!

And lastly, big thank you to everyone who has supported this blog and who continues to do so. Since the beginning of January we have had over 10,000 views on here alone, with many new people subscribing. Virtual hugs all around!

Life is a dance

So much a part of my life is dance. I’ve always loved dancing, I have my own dance company. As a part of self-expression, as a part of ritual, as a part of communication it speaks on so many levels without saying a word.

We are a dancing species. We love music. If we are able in our bodies, then we can move them to the music that we hear. We can also dance in our inner sanctuaries, with utter freedom.

We need to let go of our reservations, about our bodies, about our abilities, and just get up and dance. Nietzsche said “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” Do not let others’ perceptions of you or themselves stop you from dancing. Maybe they just can’t hear the music.

Illan Rivière with ‘le petit gerhard’ – Varanasi