Well, TribalCon is over for another year, and if you're in one of my classes this session you're going to be experiencing some new drills and new posture enhancers courtesy of Zoe Jakes, John Compton and Donna Mejia. You'll be feeling it, trust me!

And now for something completely different from the tribal-style fest that's been parading through here over the last few months: The next major bellydance star on our region's horizon is Ranya Renee, who is coming to Samora's studio in Atlanta March 18-21 for three days of workshops. Ranya is based in New York City, and is famous for her modern Egyptian style, her love of dancing to live music, and her improvisation skills. Her instructional DVDs, Egyptian Style: The Baladi and Modern Oriental, have become standards for students who love the sensuality, freedom, and challenge of expressing Arabic music through bellydance. She has a new DVD coming soon on improvisation: Bellydance Taqasim. All of the links to her DVDs include video trailers so you can see what each one is all about.

Here are a couple of videos that exemplify Ranya's style -- pay particular attention to the way she uses her dance movements, even some of the most basic, to illustrate the music with her body. This is the essence of bellydance.

If you can't make it to her workshops in March, I encourage you to check out one of her DVDs if you are interested in developing your ability to use the movements you are learning in class to really express your own emotional style in your dancing. You don't have to wait until you're a professional to take what you know to the next level!

See you in class!

Yip! It's time for TribalCon again, and I'll be indulging for the next two days in a host of workshops and a lot of shopping.  If you can't make it to TribalCon, you can pretend by doing the following:

1. Watch videos of the teachers and other performers. Here are two or three to get you started:

Myra Krien:

BellyCraft:

Zafira:

2. Shop! Here are links to just a few of the vendors who will be there:

• The Red Camel
• Magical Fashions
• Beledi Boutique
• Enchanted Dream Wear
• Diva Dreads

3. Do a new dance workout. Here's a great glute play-along!

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you in class next week! Don't forget, Core Fitness has moved to Mondays, starting this Monday, at 5:30 pm. See our website for details!

Magazines about bellydance? You betcha! There are many options out there, some dedicated to local events and community, some national, and some international. Some are even available at your local Barnes and Noble, if you're lucky!

Bellydance magazines help you become a better bellydancer by connecting you with the larger dance community -- you will learn who the "stars" are, you'll see lots of pictures of performances, workshops and events, you'll get reveiws of bellydance DVDs and you'll get to read about lots of different perspectives on our dance form. And maybe best of all, you'll discover lots of resources for costumes, events and other dance "stuff" from the ads!

Follow the links below to get a sampling of what's out there -- some magazines are subscription only and some are free; some are published online and some are print only (and a few are both). Choose what works for you, and increase your knowledge about middle eastern dance in all its forms!

• Zaghareet (national; all styles; print)
• Belly Dance Magazine (international; all styles; print)
• Shimmy (national; all styles; print)
• Nafoura (international/Europe; all styles; online)
• Fuse (international; tribal; online and print)
• Jareeda (national/local [Pacific Northwest]; all styles; print)

These are the magazines I subscribe to; you can also find more listed at this directory. I encourage you to start exploring today!

TribalCon is just two weeks away, and while the full weekend and Saturday passes are sold out, there are still tickets available for Friday and Sunday. For the next couple previews of TribalCon, I'll concentrate on the instructors who will be teaching on Sunday -- if you haven't bought your tickets yet, get 'em while they're still available!

Today's featured instructor is Asharah. If you'll be at TribalCon on Sunday, lucky us because she is teaching a brand new workshop -- Shimmies Asharah Style. In this workshop, Asharah will break down a variety of shimmies, and have you work on keeping them controlled, consistent, musical, and safe for your body. If you love to shimmy, or if you wish you loved shimmies and want to work on them, this will be a great workshop (2-4 pm on Sunday, Feb. 27).

You can read more about Asharah on her website; you can buy her technique DVD; and you can watch this video of one aspect of her dancing (she works in lots of different styles, not just tribal) from last year's TribalCon here:

And if you're inspired now to work on your shimmies, go ahead and shimmy wherever you are (at the copier? Sure, why not! Doing the dishes? Shimmy while you scrub!).

See you in class!

Click the links for more info!

Feb. 5 -- Merrybellies Gems of the Oasis Double-Feature. Barking Legs Theater, Chattanooga. Doors open at 6 pm. Student show at 7 pm; Fantastic Creatures show at 9 pm. $10.

Feb. 8 – Sundari Bellydance (Rome) Level 1 Choreography session begins. Tuesdays, 7:30-8:45 pm, $60.

Feb. 11-12 -- Anasma workshops in Atlanta at World Belly Dance Alliance.

Feb. 12-13 -- Anasma workshops + Saturday show in Chattanooga at Learn2Bellydance Studio.

Feb. 22 – Sundari Bellydance (Rome) Basics session begins. Tuesdays, 6-7 pm, $40.

Feb. 25-27 – TribalCon in Decatur.

Also, check out Episode 3 of Project Belly Dance -- watch, then vote for your favorite!

Got a February event that's not here? List it in the comments!