Bringing it all back to the navel
By Julieta Sanchez, Dec 29, 2006

Belly dance performance By Ricardo Antonio Campos Díaz “Aurora Borealis—Winter Lights” Saturday & Sunday,, January 6 & 7, 8pm Teatro Santa Ana, Reloj 50A 100 pesos

“We dance to become one with a rhythm that was here before us and will remain after we are gone...With dancing each human becomes ancient and universal. Dancing is indeed the fastest way to unite with the divine.”

—Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, 

Grandmother’s Secrets

Once upon a time, mothers and grandmothers taught the young girls around them the art of worshiping the divine and celebrating life with its coexistence of opposite values through the movement of their hips. Nowadays, when we hear of the ancient art of belly dance, perhaps we have the idea that it is an exotic and sensual dance performed by women with the aim of enticing men. There is no denying that it has served that purpose, and yet there is so much more to it. Raks Sharki is the name given to belly dance in Egypt, where the oldest allusions to it have been found. It has evolved through the influence of many cultures and continues to do so.

Today, it has been used as a powerful tool to reconnect people, particularly women, with their inner power and self-love. One of the pioneers on the therapeutic use of belly dance in this country is Ricardo Antonio Campos Díaz. He is a teacher of dance and body expression as well as director of the Arab Dance Ensemble “Raks Alam.” As a dancer of Raks Sharki, Ricardo has studied with the best on this side of the globe. He is currently using his combined knowledge to help heal the post-surgical trauma of cancer patients, victims of sexual assault, and people in the battle to overcome addictions. 

His style is a very personal blend of Arab-Andaluz folklore, mysticism, and masculine strength. As part of his visit to San Miguel, he will be holding an intensive belly dance workshop for beginners and intermediate dancers. For more information, call 415-153-5260.

Classical guitar concert
By Arturo Velarde

Friday, January 5, 6pm Teatro Santa Ana, Insurgentes 25 100 pesos

Classical guitar player Arturo Velarde made his debut in 1984 at the Teatro Juárez in Guanajuato and subsequently received a scholarship to the university there. He has been playing guitar in different venues all over Mexico and also given private concerts for the Rockefeller family in New York, the Brooks family in Canada and Liona Boyd, “the guitar lady of the world,” for whom one of his best-known works, “Melancholic Prelude for Liona Boyd,” is named.

Tickets are available at the theater box office.