Bellydance with Blanca
By Elsanne

Workshops Bellydance Mon & Tues, Oct 22–23, 11am–1pm Percussion with Carmine Mon, Oct 22, 1–3pm, Tues, Oct 23, 11am–1pm Hafla bellydance party Tues, Oct 23, 8pm NY Fitness Gym Next to Mega 250/450/600 pesos

The local bellydance scene comes alive once again with an opportunity to learn with Blanca, an artist from New York City. Two 2-hour workshops learning Blanca’s format are set for October 22–23, followed by a Hafla (bellydance party). Carmine, Middle Eastern percussionist/musician, also will give two workshops on the same days. 

Against all odds, Blanca followed the career of a bellydancer from her childhood in Mexico, where the profession did not yet exist. “Since I was a teen there has been nothing as important to me as becoming a good dancer. The dance has taught me compassion, made me grow in infinite ways and continues to allow me to tap into my deepest artistic expression,” she said.

 “I became a bellydancer against my conservative beginnings...against the notion that to be a dancer, one has to be a size zero and start ballet at age three. After years of painful work, I realized that it was all for nothing—until I connected with my spiritual side and began to dance from there.” 

As a teacher, Blanca incorporates her desire to share and her ever-increasing knowledge of dance technique, body awareness and the healing/esoteric arts to develop new methods that will accelerate her students’ training and increase their self-confidence. She equally respects all aspects of bellydance: as a social and fun activity, as fitness, as a tool for communication, as spectacle, as a storytelling device and as one of the most powerful healing tools she has encountered.

Blanca’s own dance movement has a special languid, effortless, melting, intoxicating quality to it—something rarely seen. The powerful potential of sensuality in bellydance movement can be seen with utmost clarity in Blanca’s technique. Her range of hip motion is uniquely large, the muscle elongation and control is such that every move is gooey, fluid, curvy, coming from deep inside, and reading like slow motion even when it’s ultra-fast. 

Progressions are the main element of Blanca’s method—the gradual layering of body, head, arm angles and bellydance moves on footwork to teach coordination and “connectedness,” the wave-like echoing and interconnectedness of movements. 

Blanca lives in New York where she continually performs, choreographs, produces and directs shows, events and workshops with her dance collectives Venus Uprising and CollexArts. 

For information and registration, contact Elsanne at 109-4982 or elsasunshine@yahoo.com . Other contacts are www.blancadance.com  and www.carmine.com 

SPECIAL CERVANTINO

The closing days of Festival Cervantino

You still have one more weekend to head to Guanajuato and enjoy the cultural offerings at the 35th Festival Cervantino. Considered to be the premiere cultural festival in Latin America, spectators are offered a world-class selection of dance, theater and music at venues all over Guanajuato.


Danza/Dance

Oct 19, 6pm, Victoria Dulcinea Langfelder, Teatro Cervantes 

Oct 19, 8pm, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández, Explanada de la Alhóndiga

Oct 19, 8pm, Rota, Deborah Colker, Auditorio del Estado

Oct 19, 9pm, Compañía de Danza de Beijing Teatro Juárez 

Oct 20, 6pm, Victoria Dulcinea Langfelder, Teatro Cervantes

Oct 20, 8pm, Rota Deborah Colker, Auditorio del Estado

Oct 20, 9pm, Compañía de Danza Moderna de Beijing, Teatro Juárez