SPRING 10 NEWSLETTER

Fever!

Spring fever, that is. From bright mountains days to snow to heat to hail... we've had it all this month. Great isn't it?!

Here's the low down on our recent funtastic adventures... ... plus what's coming up! Hope to see you soon.
Lots o' love, all at Ghawazi Caravan Studios xx

News and Recent Events...

Devi went to Belgium, ya! She spent the first week of October teaching and performing with beautiful Tribal dancers from Belgium, Finland, Paris, U.K., Poland, Germany and Russia, sponsored by lovely Hannele. Most of these guys had done G.S with Carolena together in Finland so it was a lovely reunion and they made Devi very welcome and 'one of the gang', and from all accounts, enjoyed the workshops very much.
She'll be going back to conduct workshops in Belgium and Germany in April 2011 tool! Woo hoo. Really going international, huh?! Photo of Devi with UK dancers Kelley, Charlotte, Phillipa and Nix.

FREEE!! Workshops, that is. During the holidays, Emily of the neverending energy and April the beautiful gave their time to present workshops for Ghawazi Caravan Studios student in celebration of 10 years of G.C.
Emily's mixed African, ATS and 'Em-style' in a choreo was fun, challenging and of course, energetic...all participants smiled and laughed the whole time. Extra special thanks to the Hands Heart and Feet musos who played for the workshop. The very next week, April's Khalbelia workshop enchanted us. Everyone enjoyed themselves learning this charismatic dance...we were all doing flags flowers in our sleep that night! Thanks Emily and April.
The next free-for-gc-students workshop is 6th December... Devi's Stage Presence workshop. Huzzah!

Intertwine Presented by The Sydney Fringe and Ghawazi Caravan with ZenRasa. Done! We had a three successful September shows at The Italian Forum Cultural Centre. Thank you to all of our friends who came and supported us, you rock, and it was also great to have members of the audience come up and say how much they enjoyed the show, they had randomly picked it out of the Fringe program and came along! The show has been nominated for the Avant Card Bodies in Space dance award. Go us!
The quick (half hour) change overs between shows was interesting to say the least!! That said, it was good to be part of the process and great to be exposed to some other fantastic performers that had created shows for the Sydney Fringe like Dansatori from Woolongong, burlesque and spoken word from A Poet and a Dancer, and Natanalaya, Bharatha Natyam troupe. Photos above right and left by Jodi McConaghy.

Devi and Jrisi Jusakos have finished making a Fan Veil Instruction DVD! Volume III of Jrisi's DVD Series...'Fan Technique and Combos with Jrisi and Devi' should be out December 1st.. just in time for Christmas. It has five combos by Jrisi and five by Devi so it's a little bit of Oriental and a bit of Tribal, to suit all tastes plus a performance with the terrible two putting it all together. Purchase through Jrisi's online store.

Carolena Nericcio. What can I say? She came. She ruled. 'Build your own worshop' ie private lessons with Carolena were on in Hazo in August with dancers from all over Australia and dancers from just up the road came for some quality one-on-one with the source.
BTW have you been checking out Carolena's blog? It's a great read! fcbdblog.blogspot.com

Evernight 2. What. A. Blast. Ghawazi travelled in convoy to Newcastle for Evernight 2 hosted by the amazing Dani Graczyk and UMBRA Gothic Belly Dance troupe.
We performed a very theatrical and graceful dance choreographed by Devi to beautiful music from the Dracula soundrack. Yes, we were vampires. No, we were not cheesy ;)
We were all so blown away by the show. Umbra were incredibly diverse, talented and interesting. The huge level of commitment and hard work was evident.The other guest dancers, Sashi from the US (she was the hotness), Ma'isah and Saahirah Ravyn were just riveting. The show presented pieces expressing a wide range of emotions, portraying mythology, Faery Tales, futuristic stories and plenty of toungue in cheek too! Love the skellies and ghosties!
Top left: Devi being all conflicted, like she doesn't want to stay up all night and be sparkly in the day, yeah right.Top right: Alex and Diane being Vamps in Repose. Photos by GreyRose Photographics. Bottom right: Mutual appriciation society... Di, Catherine, Ma'isah, April, Alex and Cristie. Bottom left: Drama drama. Photo by Chris Bromley.

TTF!!!! Tribal and Trance 2010 was fantastic. THANK YOU Merilyn Hyde of Triballine and Deb Napier of Musa Tribal Bellydance and all of the hard workers of the committee.
I loved my workshops: Jrisi's spins and turns (whoa, I have a lot to work on. Love her focus on technique.) and Elizabeth Strong's 'Free your Feet' (lots of fun and some great travelling ideas plus she is just so cool to watch move). Connect Studios just had a great vibe didn't it?!
Devi and April said that they had a great time teaching Indian Fusion to the enthusiastic and talented students. Emily enjoyed teaching ATS/African, again, she said that her students were wonderful! And, I overheard some very positve comments on Dev's Flamenco/Gypsy fusion workshop too. Congrats GC teachers.
Red Carpet Night was inspirational.. from start (wow, Melusina, what a start) to finish, it was talent after talent. Can't wait for the dvd to pour over. This venue, too, was just great, so professional... loved it, guys. Then on Sunday, the Riversaide theatre courtyard was perfect for the All Day Soiree and Market day. Yes, we turned up a little bleery eyed (oops, almost typed 'beery' eyed, heheh) but hey, the coffee was close and it was great to hang out, shop and enjoy the varied entertainment. Ghawazi Girls did Devi proud and Ghaziya stepped it up again! Ghawazi enjoyed our set... felt a little cramped doing spins on that stage but it's all good in the end!! April and Cristie did well out of their stall of tribal goodies and so it was Tawapa earings all round at the end of the day. YYYYAAAYYY!! TTF was also featured in NAFOURA Magazine - vol. 2 / issue 10. Fab photos in the mag are by Mr Murphy: www.fossilfotos.com as is the photo of us above left.

Which reminds me... Ghawazi Caravan were featured in the August issue of Nafoura Magazine - Vol. 2/ issue 8! See pages 18-31. Also featured is Jrisi Jusakos's Aussie Dancers for Animals Fundraiser that had Hilary and Kurvy doing elegant fire, Paine Chocolate's delicious feather fan burlesque, Melissa Christina bringing the house down with Samba and Oriental, Jrisi just getting better when you think she can't AND Shiva being irrepressable Shiva. It was awesome... read the article! Page 82-95 with some gorgeous piccies by Jrisi herself.
Bellydance Japan magazine also recently featured Devi, Amera, Terezka and Rozeta. Aussie dancers everywhere!

The Blush Foundation at the Gearins. Ghawazi again opened for Electro Synth Pop girl band The Blush Foundation. I ask you, what could be better than dancing for a pub full of gorgeous lesbians?

News and Upcoming Events...

Friday 29th & Saturday 30th October, 2010: Bringers of the Dawn. "A visionary musical comedy" A collaborative theatrical event based on original idea and directed by Cairo Gawne with a whole lotta mountains musos, actors, dancers, theatrical types and local characters. Fri night - 7:00pm. Saturday - 12:30 & 7:00pm. Wentworth Falls School of Arts. Bookings: Lamdha Books - 02 4757 1420 and Megalong Books - 02 4784 1302

5th-8th November: Carolena Nericcio and Devi Mamak teach and perform in Adelaide. Carolena and Devi are co-teaching the General Skills Certificate. Carolena will be staying on to conduct Teacher Training. Tickets to the show presented by Cinnabar Red dance collective are on sale through VenueTix. Wednesday 3rd November 7:30pm Casa Bla Bla. Contact Evangeline: evangelinefeary@bigpond.com

Sunday 7th November: EarthSpirit Festival. “SPREAD THE LOVE” at Braemar Gallery, Macquarie Rd, Springwood. 10am-4pm. A creative and community vibe with art exhibition, Hands Heart and Feet performing, Mz Dayl is MC of the day AND will perform with Tribal Spirit from Sydney town, roaming Ruby Bloomers Women's Circus and also dancing is Ghawazi Caravan! Tarek usually has a stall plus there's a Chai tent and SAUSAGE SANDWICHES!!! www.thewomensroom.com.au

19th, 20th, 21st November 2010: Unearthed Tribal Bellydance Weekend in Mooroolbark, Victoria. Devi's workshops are: Beyond Beginners to Intermediate ATS, Formations Plus and New Moves, ATS. Other teachers include Melusina, Ma'isa and Nina Martinez.. plus yoga each day and henna workshops and more... O-M-G sounds amazing... AND ...be still my beating heart.. Devi and Acushla will be performing their new duet at the performance night.
www.redearthghawazee.com/Red_Earth_Ghawazee/Unearthed.html

Friday 19th November: TM Tap School Celebration of Adult dance. Wentworth Falls School of Arts. Student troupe, Ghaziya will be dancing. Go gals.

Saturday 20th November: Love Lawson Festival Concert: Ghawazi Caravan and ZenRasa will be performing along with Babalu and The Christmas Swamp Band so get on your dancing shoes! 7-11pm at the Mid Mountains Community Centre. There are heaps of fun Lawsony things to do all weekend... www.lawsonfestival.org

Saturday 27th November: Indigo Fair at Blue Mountains Steiner School, Clearview Pde Hazelbrook. Ghawazi Girls and Ghawazi Caravan performing at this gorgeous annual event.

Sunday 28th November: Fairfield Multicultural Festival. Ghaziya will be performing and parading at this celebration of cultural diversity. Fairfield's Club Marconi Stadium come alive with drums, dancing, international food stalls, cooking demonstrations, kids activities, rides and a football tournament. From 11am. Prairievale Rd, Bossley Park.

Saturday 4th December: Ghawazi Caravan Studios 10 Year Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser for 'Ghawazi Girl' Izobelle! Hazelbrook Public School Hall 6pm - 8.30pm. A fun evening for friends and family. Ghawazi Girls, Ghaziya and GC get to show off some of this year's hard work!! There will also be some extra spacial 'family' numbers... like Devi and daughter Dia dancing to Kal, Dev's son drumming... Emily and Denya... Di and daughter Zoe... Rach and neice Mia. OOHHH the cuteness! We also want to raise some money to support Devi's young student, Izobelle, as she goes through treatment for cancer. Hugs to Izabelle... get well soon and come dance with us! Photo by Michael Mamak
Bookings essential (but pay at the door). Contact Devi 0419184231

Monday 6th December: Stage Presence Workshop by Devi Mamak at Hazo Hall. Free for Ghawazi Caravan Studios students! This will also be the last class of the year so lets bring a plate and pig out (right after we have learnt to be elegant).

Friday 10th December: Banquet of Dreams. 7-9pm. Ghawazi Caravan are proud to be special guests at the Hands Heart and Feet end of year show. Each HHF drumming or dance class creates something gorgeous to perform and Emily and John will tell a story! Adults $15 Kids: $10. Bookings/Inquiries: 04055 177 59

Into the Future...

12th and 13th February 2011: The Bellydance Evolution Expo. Devi's teaching a Funky combos/Funky zills workshop and Ghawazi Caravan will be performing. www.bellydanceevolution.com.au

19th and 20th February: Devi in Ararat or Ballarat. For more info contact Christine Fiscalini fiscalini.christine.a@edumail.vic.gov.au

5th and 6th March: Devi in Tassie. Contact Angela zelda62004@yahoo.com.au

2nd and 3rd April: Cinnamon Twist School of Belly Dance at Woolongong will be hosting a festival that will include El Mirage, the show by Hathor Dance Co and Ghawazi Caravan. For more info contact Virginia ctbellydance@gmail.com