Sera Solstice - Workshops & Show

Pop n' Lock Artistry: 10:30 - 12:30 Learn some combinations of pop n' lock sequences, with breaks of fluidity, which flow together in a beautiful and challenging choreography. The isolations of the modern Bellydancer inevitably incorporate pop n' lock movements that have crossed over from Hip Hop Dance. This workshop explores ways to integrate the look, feel, and specific techniques of pop'n lock movements, but from the sublime and sensual execution of the Bellydancer. Dancers will learn a challenging sequence of pops and locks that assist each dancer in developing the muscle control needed for successful execution of Pops n' locks. Dancers will learn how to frame smaller isolations with other parts of the body, how to direct energy of muscle contractions through the body quickly, how to maintain and finesse power within the body and movement. Overall, the control required to execute this choreography sequence will inevitably elevate the dancers ability to isolate with greater ease, control, confidence, and grace.

East Coast Tribal ~ Warrior: 1:00 - 3:00 Learn a choreography performed by Solstice Ensemble, which includes a fusion of Martial Arts, Hip Hop, and Modern Bellydance movement. In this workshop, dancers will be challenged to find presence and connection to their entire body, as they move through this empowering choreography segment. Dancers will find a natural point in which Bellydance meets martial arts with Hip Hop and Modern Dance. This workshop will assist the dancer in connecting to her center of gravity, feel more clarity in quick weight-changes, develop a greater sense of grace through transitions between movements, develop strength and stamina. Learning, executing, and mastering the movements within this choreography segment will fill the dancer with a new level of confidence in her general dance practice and daily-life movement.

The Performance: 8pm Featuring Sera Solstice at The Alt Theatre. Other performers will include Fleuron Rouge, Zuut, Karen Innara, Samsara, Kadiem and others TBA.

About Sera: Sera Solstice is a performer/choreographer/instructor/artist/shaman/warrior/pioneer of Bellydance. Founder/Director of Solstice Studio: a Bellydance Studio in Times Square New York City. Sera is director/choreographer of the dance troupe Solstice, Creatrix of "East Coast Tribal" (a Tribal Fusion DVD produced by World Dance New York), and the director of the East Coast Tribal Community in NYC, a community of women who use Bellydance as a means for building self-empowerment, expression, and creativity. Sera's Choreography has been described as "complex, content-rich, sublime, technically superb, physically demanding, at the forefront of evolution of bellydance as an artform." Sera is fed artistically from underground electronic music culture as she works in collaboration with musicians such as Chronomad, Freek Factory and Sub Swara, collectives of cutting edge artists who fuel her choreographies. Sera has a passion for electronic music, but also finds balance in earthy, acoustic elements: she has participated in fire-circle culture for nearly 2 decades, therein developing bellydance as a sacred movement form, used in ritual and for healing. In 2005, Sera was invited to India to teach movement as a form of healing and empowerment for young women who had been rescued from sexual abuse and other oppressive circumstances. Sera currently performs as a core member of "The Rhythm Shamans" led by Mz Imani, who fuse ritual into a live music performance. Sera was a full-time Sculptor upon discovery of Bellydance, and has transferred from her medium of clay and metal into the body moving through space. These experiences have opened Sera to further discovery of dance as a medium for communication, spiritual manifestation, and artistic expression. Although she challenges dancers to find deeper expression in their movements, Sera is know for being hard-driving and highly technical in class-settings. She believes one must first master their tool-set before putting it to use. Sera is a former core member of 3 internationally respected Troupes: Bellyqueen, Raqs Sahara, and The Silk Road Dance Company; a founding member of DC Tribal, Transcendance Tribal, and Raqs Caravan West. Sera's foundation of technique, form, and discipline was by means of her two-year apprenticeship with Rachel Kay Brookmire (of DC's Sahara Dance).

Purchasing Workshop Spaces & Show Tickets: Pricing breakdown for this event is listed below. To purchase online, choose from the drop down menu and purchase. Other payment options are listed below the pricing chart. Please contact The Bellydance Academy with any questions.

• Above is the breakdown of pricing for this event.
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