Sacred CirclesSchedule
What & When
What & When
Coming Soon! The Schedule for Sacred Circles 2021 will be announced in the spring.
The name of the game is ‘how slow can you go?’ bringing the super slinky into your dance. Get the snake charming technique to hypnotize the room and bring your slow to an all new level. Technique and drills.
Trios and quartets are ideal for presenting Turkish Shimmy with Arms and Turns and Arabic Shimmy with Arms and Turns. In this dance intensive workshop, we will clean our technique and drill the TSWAAT and ASWAAT using the trio and quartet formations.
Fading and circling are both ways to change the lead but as dancers, we don't want to broadcast this information to the audience. Learn how to seamlessly fade and circle up while still presenting the 'dance' so that even when you are transitioning from one leader/group to the next, you still look like you are dancing. Learn to troubleshoot issues that arise when the tribe is dancing in a circle, such as body angle, determining who the leader is, and what happens when 2 people take the lead at the same time.
Whether you get stuck doing a certain move or you just forget where you are, this workshop will help you troubleshoot on the fly. Take back the lead, clean your formation, and extract yourself from pesky situations. In this workshop, we will look at how we can correct troubling situations as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Whether you need to re-introduce yourself to American Tribal Style® or want to reinforce your basics with dancers you might not have ever met, this is the perfect class for you.
Dancing in Flow™ was created by Carolena Nericcio with the class format of "all dance, no talk."
No verbal instruction, no partners or formations, just follow along and bliss out or you just want to dance without thinking.
Dancing in Flow® is a one hour class of ATS® Goodness divided into 4 fifteen minute segments with a silent water break every 15 min. Come dance. Come smile. Come Flow.
Do you lose the Shimmy part of the step when you do the Turkish Shimmy? Lose your balance in your Camel Walk? Lose your balance or can't get all the way around when you do turns? Upper body move too much when you do lower body movements or Lower body move too much when you do upper body movements? These issues and many more can be solved with something as simple as knowing where you should be stepping and where your weight focus should be centered. This workshop will teach you how to do those things in easy to implement ways that will have you taking your dance to the next level as soon as you walk in the door.
Here are two links from blog posts I made last year demonstrating this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVcCr3ipcoY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbrrxhABDhs
This workshop would be Classic/Modern track and SSCE eligible.
Appropriate for all levels of dancers.
Familiarity with the following steps is recommended: Shimmy, Arabic, Turkish Shimmy, Camel Walk, Slow Turns (through volume 7), Calibrated Spins
We don’t yet know what Richard will teach, but we do know it will be an incredible, informative class that will help you look your best on stage and off. About 90 days before the event, we’ll send out a survey asking attendees to pick one of a variety of classes which might focus on hair, lips, eyes, cheeks, etc.
This class will cover the basics of Middle Eastern drumming, including the basic sounds and playing techniques on the doumbek, two beginning rhythms, and some warm-ups and exercises. We will also go over some tips on getting the most out of practice time. Although this class is targeted at beginning drummers the class will be tailored for the skill levels of the drummers attending - drummers at all levels are encouraged to attend.
There will be several extra drums in the event some participants do not have a drum but everyone is strongly encouraged to bring a drum if they have one.
This class will briefly review the basics of Middle Eastern drumming and will then introduce several new playing techniques on the doumbek, some new rhythms, and some variations on the rhythms covered in the beginning class. Time will also be spent covering additional drills and there will be a short discussion on the importance of good practice habits.
There will be several extra drums in the event some participants do not have a drum but everyone is strongly encouraged to bring a drum if they have one.
A beautiful shimmy relies on contrasting elements throughout the body. Knowing which muscles to control and release throughout the lower body and how to make the move look big and bouncy, but remain isolated from the torso is key to a fabulous shimmy. We’ll review the anatomy behind what drives the shimmy and how to get the most out of your movement while maintaining the isolation for layering that makes this move so magical. Class will begin with a short anatomy lecture followed by a hip healthy warmup that prepares us for a variety of exciting and challenging shimmy drills using our favorite classic and modern ATS® movements.
In this workshop Devi will share with you the "Science of ATS®" and then using this science will go through the classic fundamental fast ATS® steps and some combinations. This class will start by demystifying the ATS® posture and bodyline. Devi will give you the tools to apply this science to your ATS® body. We will then put this into practise by going over and drilling the steps learnt paying attention to detail for a strong foundation.
In this workshop Devi will go over some of the core complex movements for ATS®. She will then share with you her method of mastering strong and graceful arm lines and an uplifted and open upper body. Starting from your core, we will look at using the larger and smaller muscle groups to create meaning and intention in your arm movements at each moment right through from the centre of your body to your finger tips.
In this workshop Devi will go over the steps and combinations create by her and members of Ghawazi Caravan and presented on the FCBD® Vol 9 Anatomy of a step. Devi will give you her personal insight into the creation and development of these steps with extra attention given to the nuances of each step and its variation.
In this workshop Devi and her assistant will share with you just a few variations and concepts by Ghawazi Caravan to add some spice to your Classic and modern ATS® steps and combinations.
Targeted Audience - Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced In this workshop we will cover all slow vocabulary content from the Single Sword DVD "Any Way You Slice It" ATS® Sword Dialect with added embellishments for smooth and flowing performance results. We will cover proper angles, head alignment matching the slow ATS® vocabulary as intended. We will focus positions and transitions in the Hand, Arm, Free, Balanced positions and something new, Hand-guard manipulation for blender and military flip exchanges. This presentation is beneficial for all who have a clear understanding of the ATS® slow vocabulary. As a bonus with time permitting, we may delve into "Building Blocks for Duets and Trios" with a short combo to navigate transitions.
Targeted Audience – ATS® Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced
The Queen’s Court formation enables a large group of beautiful “featured dancers” to dance together, at the same time, using in-the-round staging. This formation is a great alternative to rotating quartets, trios, and duets in and out of chorus. By engaging all the dancers in the same formation at the same time, viewers experience a magical whirlwind of colors and motion while 6-12 dancers weave, fade, and circle.
While the formation looks complex from the audience’s point of view, it’s an easy adjustment for the dancers. Dancers continue to rely on the ATS® moves and principles that they know, while using a new, simple inner/outer circle formation to facilitate a large group and dancing in the round.
In this workshop you will learn the rules of engagement and dynamics of the Queens Court formation. You will learn how to set up the inner/outer circle formation and how to make it work with duets and trios in the round. We will drill the formation with both slow and fast ATS® songs and vocabulary in groups of 6 -12 dancers.
This one hour workshop will start with 3 - 15 minute segments utilizing the Work that Skirt ATS® Style dialect where you just follow along. For the last 15 minutes, Krisztina will answer questions about the technique of any of the steps. If you are familiar with the Work that Skirt dialect, just dancing without thinking will help get those steps into your muscle memory. If you are not familiar with the Work that Skirt dialect but know basic ATS® steps you will still be able to follow along and by the end of the hour will have some new steps in your repertoire.
A double circle or 25 yard skirt is recommended.
You may have taken Chakra Balancing classes before, but none like this one. This class is rooted firmly in ATS®, so it’s like focused Dancing In Flow® to align your chakras without thinking. Playing your zils while doing the steps adds to the meditative state and allows you to connect with each chakra.
This class will focus on all of the ATS® basic steps to not only align your chakras and get you balanced and grounded but to give you the basic techniques to set you up for a fun weekend of dancing. You will also learn which ATS® steps, what music and sounds, and visualizations and mantras align to each chakra.
Balancing your chakras helps you to become more in tune with the messages your body is sending you, helps you to relax and de-stress all within the dance style that you already know and love.
This class has something for everyone whether you are new to ATS® and are learning the basic steps or are a seasoned dancer and looking to review your technique, warm up for the weekend or bliss out while you balance your chakras.
If you have a drummer who can play basic Middle Eastern rhythms and an ATS® group that has learned our format, you can have a one-sentence conversation that will facilitate an entire improvised performance to live improvised music. This format uses a pre-performance verbal agreement, and simple verbal and non-verbal cues that work within the existing ATS® vocabulary, to make sure everybody is on the same page and able to dance and drum together with seamless transitions between slow and fast music. Even beginner ATS® dancers can learn this format and start to dance it immediately.
Any good art piece can have many elements to intrigue and direct the viewer’s eyes - contrasts, content, mood, lines, shapes, color, and movement. This is also reflected in dance. We want the audience to “see” the music and be directed by our motions to understand the music. In order to do this, we must know the music so that we can react to it using ATS® improv. We will choose a couple of songs to learn and present and work in these creative elements. This is an intermediate level workshop aimed at those who are at or nearing performance level.
Arm placement is a very important part of ATS®. They provide framing for our head and body, they send cues to our fellow dancers and they express much of the energy of the dance. We will examine arm placement, in depth, for slow and fast movements with some fun exercises! This workshop will help define slow arm technique and placement for clear cues. This workshop is open to all levels, but is helpful to know the ATS® Level 1 material and basic lead/follow concepts.
To get really good at improvisation, you need to be able to read a person’s body language within an instant and react accordingly. Eye contact can also communicate a plethora of information. In this workshop, we will work on some really old FCBD® warm-ups, drills and concepts in ATS® that will hone our non-verbal communication even more so than we do now. Then, get ready to use our skills for the exciting 1-2-3 Pick-Up concept for creating variety within a song, or even a set! The beginner can benefit from this class, but is best utilized by the intermediate to advanced dancer who is approaching performance level.
Learn how to gracefully transition from one movement to the next by examining helpful foot placement between many of the new and classic ATS® moves, as well as finding these remedies in your own experiments. Bring us your challenges and we’ll help smooth them out! The skill level will range from secondary to advanced movements, so it is helpful to have a basic understanding of Vol. 4, 7, & 9 material.