Saturday, November 30, 2013

Meta blog post

Some reading tips for the weekend :)
 

New addition: Stay warm in the winter!
http://balletshoesandbobbypins.com/dancing-in-a-winter-wonderland/

Just received this blog post on learning by Queenie of Belgium. A must read! http://bellyqueenie.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/thoughts-on-learning/

Breathing exercises for dancers:
http://dance.answers.com/techniques/breathing-exercises-for-dancers 

Recalibration! Tips to get out of a rut:
http://lifehacker.com/5891564/recalibrate-your-reality

7 Ways to boost your creativity:
http://www.newsweek.com/forget-brainstorming-74223

And easy fixes for 5 common posture problems:
http://www.builtlean.com/2011/11/28/posture-problems/

And, just for fun, some motivational words paired with an epic display of discipline by co-Belgian Mr Jean Claude Van Damme :)




Enjoy! xxx K.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Give the gift of Dance! :)

New new new!

Gift coupons for workshops, private classes, online coaching, masterclasses and/or DVDs with Khalida :)

Gift vouchers for you!

Personalized gift vouchers can now be ordered by email or via FB.

Happy Holidays! xxx K.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Photoshoot Dance4Children in Brussels


This October I've had the honor to be part of 'Shoot4Children' in Brussels, a charity photo shoot project in collaboration with Belgian photographer Philippe Rikir and makeup artist Kobie Fossey hosted by Dance4Children, a non-profit organization founded by 4 lovely Belgian dancers: Alice, Coralie, Lorenzina and Louise.

Dance4Children
Profits of the two photo shoot days fully went to NGO Sunshine revelation, working on the refurbishment of an orphanage in Libreville.




It was lovely to be part of this project, the shoot itself was held at 2 different locations, the second one was Salle Dublin in Brussels, BE The atmosphere of the day was very relaxed yet super organized, and the results of the shoots were stunning.

Check out a sneak preview at the complete Dance4Children FB Album here. (more to be added soon!) And our new website gallery.

Fan veil action!
A lounge :)

Portrait

A huge thank you to Coralie, Alice, Lorenzina and Louise, and to Philippe and Kobie for this amazing project. <3

ETA: Dance4Children is currently supporting the organization Chameleon which is working to assist victims of typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, check out the details at Dance4Children's FB page if you'd like to help!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Bozenka's Mediterranean Dance Lab

Hello there,

I've been trying on and off for the past few weeks to write up a comprehensive blog post about my experiences at Bozenka's Mediterranean Dance lab in Crete this September.

Labbers on the rocks! To be 'shopped in: Katrina, Hayat and the Mr-s

Yet.. Every time I start to write, I get overwhelmed. There are so many memories and impressions swirling around in my mind that I feel a bit lost whenever I think back. And then I start to write other blog posts instead..

Anyhow, here goes :) I've been to quite a number of events in the past, intensives as well as festivals, but this Dance Lab was still a different kind of experience for me.

Labbers on a boat!

First of all - I loved it. I was lucky enough to have studied with Bozenka before a couple of times over the years, and I decided to sign up for the intensive after hosting her here at our studio last February. In fact, my husband (the mythical Mr E! :)) was the one who suggested I should 'study more with miss B' after I told him how inspiring her workshops and talking sessions have always been to me. 

So.. we agreed to combine our holiday time with Dance Lab this year, making use of the 'non-dancer package for partners' for Mr E.

What it turned out to be can only be described as an extreme Bo-dance-cation-tensive. Dance Lab is held twice a year (September and May) in Plakiás, Crete one of the most beautiful places in Greece, as you will see in the pictures.

Our morning view @ Plakiás

We were greeted with much love (and a hot meal!) by Bozenka and Mr. W after traveling in late on the first day and got to meet the other 'Labbers' the next morning.

The program contained several dance days and two 'break days', on which we got to explore the island by land and by sea.

Beach trip!

The dance days consisted of a daily warmup (including 2 lovely guest classes - yoga by Hayat and conditioning/yoga/drills by Jennifer!) plus a mix of technique, traveling combinations with and without veil, zills, musicality, follow-along, improvisation, group excercises and choreography, but also time for personal feedback and working on our own solos. Plus - something that made this dance lab a true 'Dance Lab' to me - there was time for collaboration for group numbers, duos/trios, supporting dances and/or helping each other out with our solos. Pwew!

Miss Hayat and miss Jennifer <3

All of the work of the lab week culminated into a show on Saturday evening, showcasing the diversity of dances from the middle east and Greece.

Getting ready to rumble!

The break days were great fun, this edition they included a boat tour, a free day and a jeep safari, which gave us the opportunity to get to know the area (and each other!) better and to relax our bodies and minds a bit in between the hard (dance) work days.

Next to that there were 2 (optional) photo shoots with Mr W, a morning and an evening session, of which you can see a sneak preview here:

Cristina, Katrina, Hayat, Leona, Cheryl, Leila/Hiromi and me :)

The days were intense, diverse and quite long, as one would expect and wish from an intensive. The only thing I wish I had done differently in hindsight for myself is taking a bit more time to stretch on my own after the dance classes, as I was feeling a bit 'worn out' by the last couple of days. So, dear blog readers :) Stretch your muscles daily! It is good for you.

That being said.. still found time to plank.

Planking on the rocks with miss Hayat!

What will stay with me most (next to the sweating, laughter, happy tears, inspiration, joy, beautiful dancing, gorgeous environment and amazing food!) was the warmth, generosity and dedication of our hosts and the participants I was lucky enough to share this dance lab with.

I know it sounds like a bit much (even for me ;)) but both E and I really felt like we were leaving family by the time we headed home.

Tired but very happy dancers - Last day at Lab!
A good 2 months later I am still processing all the impressions and feeling inspired to work hard and 'dance from the heart'.

To all of you considering/thinking of attending one of Bozenka's future Dance Lab editions: DO IT! And then tell me all about it :) 

To conclude.. A big shout-out (and a hug) goes out to miss Bozenka and Mr W, much gratitude to you both for making this dance retreat such a wonderful experience, and much much love to co-labbers Hayat, 'Leiomi', Aude, Nathalie, Katrina, Cristina, Rosanna, Leona, CherylJennifer, Samarah and Paul :) I (and Mr E) still miss you all, so honored to have spent this time with you!

A Grecian Rose :)

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Awesome Articles roundup

Hi there :)

A full report of Bozenka's Mediterranean Dance Lab is (still) in the works, so today I'll share with you my favorite dance/art related articles of the week.

Just teasing - report coming soon!

Feel free to share the love if you enjoy these articles as much as I did!


And.. for something balletic, a video shared this week by miss Constanze, my ballet teacher, who kindly requested we dance only like this from now on in our weekly classes.

Watch it and weep ;)

A class demo of the Vaganova Ballet Academy




Also, due to some technical difficulties, the Khalida dance website has been re-updated last Thursday, as you can see here.

www.khalidashop.com


In addition to that we've redesigned the Khalidashop page as well to match the new layout *cracks knuckles*. To celebrate this, as well as the upcoming holiday season, there will be a holiday sale of 15% on all DVDs starting TODAY via the shop.

Place your order now to automatically receive the discount.

Happy shopping!