Delilah's Belly Dance Retreats

January 20–26 2006:
Two Hawaiian Retreats with Delilah!



Student Program:
Join Delilah on the big island of Hawaii for the Student Program Retreat and enjoy the best student to teacher ratio ever! This option is for beginning dancers or any belly dancer wishing to refresh her learning. Its a combination of fun, fantasy and fitness, as well as a way to enjoy the beauty of Hawaii. You will study belly dance close up and personal from one of the world’s most famous and skilled performers and instructors. Her style is fresh, clean, easy to understand, and compelling to women everywhere. In fact, that is what makes her instructional videos sell all over the world.

Delilah has been holding her famous Visionary Belly Dance Retreats in Hawaii for over 15 years. Everything is planned and arranged for you so you don’t have to think too hard. Just come, play, dance, and relax.


Instructor Training Program:
The Instructor Training Program is the first time Delilah is offering an intimate study of how to properly instruct using her tried and true teaching techniques and philosophies. The Instructor Training Program will consist of classes all day; both in conjunction with the Student Program Retreat and afternoon classes for only instructor trainees.

Later in the Spring (April 29 - May 7th) she is also offering a longer deluxe retreat featuring Rachel Lazarus & Jeremiah Soto–Fusion: East Meets West

Who comes?
Women of all ages, sizes and walks of life. This is an intensive study retreat with Delilah, appropriate for absolute beginners and intermediate students or any dancer who wants to refresh her skills.

How to register?
Read the itinerary carefully. Delilah plans each retreat with a unique theme daily itinerary. Fill out the appropriate registration form for either the Beginner’s Retreat or the Instructor Training Program and send in your photo and casual bio, along with deposit check or money order. Foreign students may arrange for direct deposit. Do not delay because this retreat fills fast. Register today!

The Courses
• Student Retreat: This is an intensive study retreat for anyone who wants to learn belly dance intently. We will cover the basics as well as build new dance movement vocabulary.
• Instructor Training Program: At the other end of the scale, we are offering a course for the striving instructor interested in studying or teaching Delilah’s signature approach to belly dance.

In other words, anyone seriously interested in learning more about belly dance subject matter can find it at this retreat. The mix of teachers and beginners will be a fabulous combination of energies with spectacular advantages for both. With a favorable student to teacher ratio, we will use the beginners as models to help the instructors learn more about the art of teaching belly dance to others. Ah Ha!

Everyone will study Delilah’s method of belly dance as it has evolved over the last 30 years in detail. It involves a thorough understanding of body alignment, use of visualization, body language, and an encyclopedia of techniques, combinations and a couple of short dances. It also involves a philosophical perspective of ideas about women’s empowerment, personal growth, healing and self-esteem.

 

Mentorship
Beginners will each be assigned a teacher as their dance mentor during the retreat and the beginner will serve as a model for the striving teacher to coach and instruct.

Rhythm training with drums
Everyone will study finger cymbals and drumming the basic rhythms with Erik Brown. All dancers need to have their hands on the skin of the drum to thoroughly understand this dance, regardless of whether they want to be a drummer or not. There is something about feeling the sounds of the drum with your own hands that changes the dancer’s understanding of the dance by leaps and bounds. There are about seven rhythms every dancer should know. This is an excellent opportunity to get that experience.


Weight belt training
We will introduce and instruct everyone in the use of weight belts in conjunction with belly dance. Learn how they speed up muscle memory, strengthen, and increase bone density. Weight belts are not mandatory, but we encourage you to read about them. This retreat is an excellent opportunity to use them and get in fabulous shape, but you need to order it in advance if you don’t have one. We can ship it direct to Hawaii if we have enough notice (rather than you take it on the plane). They weigh between 8 and 14 pounds.

Instructor Training Program
Instructors will have additional teacher classes with Delilah in the afternoon. They will also do a practical teaching demonstration, a performance slot, a written test and receive a personal critique from Delilah.

Teaching Certificate
Dancers participating in the Instructor Training Program will receive a special instructor’s certificate (suitable for framing) acknowledging they have studied Delilah’s philosophies and techniques intensively and personally with her, as well as having had the chance to sharpen their practical teaching skills by working with beginners under Delilah’s supervision. This will give them an excellent opportunity to adjust student’s basic alignment and learn to see more clearly into the body and the construction of the dance.

Special Note:
For participants of the Student Retreat there are blocks of open time during the afternoon to explore nearby sites, get a massage, swim, sleep, sunbathe, or volunteer to be an occasional teacher’s model. Those on the instructor’s intensive will have a busier agenda without as much free time, however the beauty of the environment is still a fabulous plus. This 6 day retreat does not offer big planned field trips like our longer retreats. We suggest you add days on to your vacation and explore the wonders of the Big Island after the retreat.

Student Retreat includes:
• Orientation cocktail party on Day 1
• 16 hours of course study with Delilah
• 5 classes of drum rhythm instruction with Erik Brown
• 2 nights room at Nani Loa Resort
• 4 nights room and all meals at Kalani Resort
• Performance Night featuring Delilah and instructor class
• Dinner party on Day 6
• Certificate of completion of course study with Delilah
• Souvenirs and written course notes
• Car pool transportation

Please send a photo and personal bio so Delilah can start to get to know you before the retreat (this is a fun part for Delilah!).

Costs
$1599 Shared accommodations


Instructor Training Program
includes:
• Orientation cocktail party Day 1
• 16 hours of course study with Delilah
• 7+ hours teacher’s instruction with Delilah
• Written and practical test
• Performance Night featuring Delilah and YOU!
• Certificate of instructor’s course study completion with personal written critique from Delilah stressing areas of positive understanding and recommendations.
• Membership to Visionary Dance Instructors Alumni Club
• 5 classes of drum rhythm Instruction with Erik Brown
• 2 Nights at Nani Loa Resort
• 4 nights room and all meals at Kalani Resort
• Dinner party on Day 6
• Prepared written course study notes and practical exam
• Car pool transportation
• Souvenirs

Costs
$2099– $1599 plus $500 for Instructor Training Program

Itinerary
Read & envision how each day will unfold!

Day 1, Friday January 20th
• Land in Hilo. Take the hotel shuttle to the Nani Loa
• Check in and relax. Meals on your own.
• 8:00pm Party, introductions with course orientation and philosophy, hand out written course notes

Day 2, Saturday January 21
• Sitesee in Hilo. It’s Hawaiian flea market day.
• Arrive at Kalani by 2:30 pm
• 3:30-5:30 class with Delilah: ritual warm up, basic alignment, goals of the dance, shimmy exercises, weight belt use, introduction to Delilah’s Transaxial method.
• 6:00 Dinner
• 7:30-8:30 Drum with Erik: Beginning Drum. It is important for all students to be able to hammer out the rhythms on a drum head. It puts the rhythm more firmly into their body . You don’t have to be a professional drummer but the experience of the drum will greatly advance your understanding. These classes will be short and periodically recurring so you can get as much experience in the time we have without getting worn out.
• 8:30-10:00 Class with Delilah: veil dance and Delilah’s veil therapy techniques

Day 3, Sunday January 22
• 9:00-12:00 Class with Delilah: mapping out the internal realms of the body using the transaxial method. Focus on isolations, slow hip moves, belly rolls, undulations, arms, hands and veil work.
• 2:00-4:00 Class: Instructor Training Program only
• 4:30-6:00 Drum Rhythms with Erik Brown
• 7:30-9:30 Class with Delilah: expression, fast moves, textures

Day 4, Monday January 23
• 9:00-10:00 Drum with Erik
• 10:00-12:00 Class with Delilah: Fast Hip Moves and Layering
• 2:00-4:00 Class: Instructor Training Program only
• 4:00-6:00 Drum and finger cymbals with Erik and Delilah, plus drum solo demonstrations
• 7:30-9:30 Class with Delilah: floor work, taxim, chefitelli

Day 5, Tuesday January 24
• 9:00-12:00 Class: Combined students and instructors with written and practical tests plus a simple challenge for the beginners
• 2:00-4:30 Free time
• 4:30-5:30 Drum with Erik
• 7:30-9:00 Performance Night
• All Dance

Day 6, Wednesday January 25
• 9:00-11:30 Class with Delilah: Power/Wave Workout! A seamless dance into sweat and prayer.
Back to Hilo: shop and check into the Nani Loa
• 3:30-5:00 Group philosophical talk in the garden at Nani Loa Resort; Certificate ceremony
• 7:00 Farewell Dinner Party at a designated restaurant in Hilo

Day 7, Thursday January 26
Early rise and enjoy the morning unfold or sleep in depending on your flight times. There will be plenty of us in the beautiful lobby saying long goodbyes.
Check out by 12:00 and take the hotel shuttle to the airport

If you would like to extend your stay, let us know and we can arrange it for you.

Staff & Additional Support

Music - Erik Brown
Erik Brown is the middle eastern drum ensemble director at Delilah’s dance studio in Seattle. Erik is loved by dancers everywhere for his ability to connect and support during drum solo exhibition. Erik is serious about his instrument. He has studied, and is always studying, the classic Arabic style and the new Turkish styles. He’s studied with Suhail Kaspar, Tobias Roberson, and Jeremiah Soto to name a few. He plays drums, bass, argool and other percussion and developed sounds through a looping machine to create his own rich and distinguished dance music for Delilah’s “Power Belly” weight belt classes and workshops.


Group Coordinators
Laura Rose
She will be our group coordinator onboard to help you with any belly dance needs and make your stay the most enjoyable logistically at the Nani Loa Resort and the Kalani Resort, and with car pool coordination.

• Lauren Gardner is our Kalani Resort staff and facility coordinator.

Room, Food & Ammenities

Nani Loa
Nani Loa in Hilo: Fabulous ocean view rooms on Banyan Tree Drive, pool, gym, meeting room and spa facilities.

The Nani Loa has a pool, gym, and hot tub as well as a massage studio. It has a fabulous view with entertainment in the open air bar, a grocery store and deli down stairs as well as restaurants within walking distance.

Kalani Resort
Remote Puna coast, across the street from the ocean, pool, hot tubs, sauna, message studio, watsu, holistic therapies, great food! The kitchen staff is fabulous. The food is always delicious, plentiful and on time. There are plenty of food options supporting vegan and vegetarian as well as meat and fish. You will love it and feel so healthy and nurtured!

Bodywork: There are a fabulous array of resident massage and energy therapists on the grounds.

Waterworks: Pool, sauna, hot tubs, plus the ocean across the street!

Airfare
Fly the airline of your choice. Dancers come from all over the world to our retreats, so there is no way to include airfare in our packaged price. If you are using flyer miles be sure and book early.

There are two airports on the Big Island. This time we are flying into Hilo airport and out of Hilo airport. The other airport is in Kona. It’s a lovely 2-3 hours drive away from Kalani Resort. If you find you need to fly into Kona, you will need to rent your own car.

Update (June 05): Hilo residents report a decline of daily flights into Hilo, so you may want to make sure you have your reservation secured early this year.





Visas
Make sure you get the correct information about the kind of visa you need to acquire and start the process immediately. Some countries take a long time. We are glad to provide foreign dancers with letters and documentation of the educational nature of our long-standing retreats. You will receive a certificate of completing the course.

Ground Transportation
In order to minimize environmental wear-and-tear on the island, to save you from having to rent a car, and to give us the luxury of freedom of movement around the island, we arrange van pools. This is a more of a community-building experience than if we each rent a car. The cost of the van is included in the retreat price but the insurance surcharge and gas is not because the costs are harder to know in advance. (see below)

Insurance and Gas Surcharge:
We will be picking up vans or SUVs in Hilo on the morning of the 21th and dividing into car pools. We will stop at a major shopping area so you can pick up supplies you did not want to pack in your suitcase but want to have at the facility (snacks, wine, sodas, beach mat). You can change car pools day to day during the retreat depending where different vehicles are going.

There will be a surcharge for extra insurance we take out on each van so that the car pool driver is more fully covered. The rate is figured closer to the retreat and divided evenly amongst car pool riders (estimated at $45).

• Important: All participants are responsible for this surcharge unless they explain to us in writing that they are renting their own car and are opting out of our car pool arrangements.

Van Pool Volunteers
To apply to be a car pool driver you must be between the age of 25-58, have a major credit card, and a spotless driving record. Being a car pool driver means you will be the only driver of that vehicle and will be obliged to go on field trips during the afternoons if people are up for it. You do have a say in where you want to go and you are not obligated to run errands for people out side of assigned group activities. Usually it’s a very easy workable situation and people like the power position of being car pool driver.

Van pool Disclaimer: van pools are voluntary.

Let us know December 2 if you would like to opt out.

Visionary Dance Productions arranges them for everyone’s convenience, but does not assume liability for anything that may happen on the road. You participate in the van pools by your own choice and at your own risk. You are free to rent your own car at your own expense if you so desire. We apologize for the necessity of this disclaimer. In fact, the van pools are lots of fun, and we’ve never had any problems on the road.

Extra treat: van pool driver volunteers will receive a 'Visionary Dance Eye of Horus' sweatshirt as a thank-you gift.

How to Register:
Read everything carefully so you will have a feel for how things will unfold. Download the appropriate and printable registration form for either the Student Program or the Instructors Training Program:

student registration
instructor application/registration


Please fill it out, sign and send with your deposit check and any other payments you wish to make. (Sorry we do not take credit cards for retreats). We will send you written and/or phone confirmation within 5-10 days of receiving your registration. Be sure to read about the easy payment plan and mark the dates on your calendar. This plan makes it possible for individuals to put this trip in their budget. Make it a reality. Hope to see you soon on the Big Island!

Photo & Bio
Please send me a photo and a fun, one page bio with your deposit, so I can begin to get to know you before we meet on the Big Island. Dancers registering for the instructors program must meet additional requirements outlined on the instructors registration page. Hope to see you on the Big Island!

Send payment (check or money order) to:
Delilah c/o
Delilah's Belly Dance Retreat
4128 Fremont Ave North
Seattle, WA 98103

Contact Us:
1-866-22BELLY
1-206-632-2353
1-206-632-1906



Other items:
These may be purchased at any time before retreat.
Drum: $78 plus postage
Weight Belt for Power Belly Training: $71–$87
Shuttle reservation to Kalani $75 each way: $150

This retreat differs from other retreats we have offered, in that it is shorter and more condensed in class content. Beginners have free time to relax explore and practice while teachers are on a pretty serious agenda. Course study is very intense and offers little in the way of field trips. We recommend you plan to come earlier or stay longer on the Big Island and do your own site seeing. Kalani Resort is very beautiful, the food is great and there is a pool, hot tubs, saunas, massage studios and the beach across the street. It is amazing!

Other costs
$30-$45 collected at the retreat Car pool insurance and gas sir charge (see details )

Optional costs
$50 Edited souvenir documentary of the retreat; usually includes scenery, events, Delilah’s performance, excerpts from discussions and classes.
$95 Instructors only Special Video; includes your performance, shows you teaching, and Delilah‘s private instruction to teacher’s training class.

Other programs
If you prefer a more leisurely mix of group classes and field trips, we suggest you look at our longer program, “Fusion: East Meets West” April 29th - May 6th, 2006 with special guests Jeremiah Soto and Rachel Lazarus.

A bit about Delilah
Delilah is an internationally acclaimed belly dance performer and instructor of the “American Classic” belly dance style. She grew up in Southern California, learning the dance form as it was passed on and popularized in this country by first and second generation immigrants from Lebanon, Armenia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Morocco and Greece.

When Delilah was 18, belly dance was fast becoming an American phenomenon. As thousands of women absorbed this dance by way of diverse cultural experience, a new style of American Belly dance evolved. Delilah is an active part of this transformation. While dancing in ethnic nightclubs, fairs, theater productions and folk style house parties for almost 20 years, she has learned many styles of dance, and has also learned about music, food, customs, religions, politics and people. Her belly dance experience fuels her interest in studying the fields of mythology, archeology, history, women’s studies, bio/ecology, psychology, healing practices, and other movement forms such as Tai Chi, yoga, modern dance and movement therapy.

In 1978, Delilah moved her home base to Seattle, and began teaching and performing the dance all around the world. By 1988, she was disseminating her philosophies, techniques and performing artistry on a highly acclaimed instructional video series produced by Visionary Dance Productions. These tapes cover a wide range of material: hip lifts, undulations, belly rolls, veil work, makeup, costuming, finger cymbals, conditioning exercises, philosophy, and include performances demonstrating a multitude of styles. Her emphasis is always on health, creativity, and fun!

Delilah supports diversity in the dance and enjoys all its styles; she sees the belly dance as never stationary, but always in a state of creative flux and growth. She encourages the student to examine and experience the dance in its variety of disciplines, in addition to openly sharing her technical knowledge with her students. Delilah imparts the idea that by opening our bodies to these ancient, earthly and natural movements that connect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we will become more aware environmentally. This gives the dance greater purpose...

“When we are more aware, we are better artists, enjoying a fuller life experience. When we stretch our awareness, we are more equipped to heal our bodies, our relationships and our earth.”

Delilah’s Visionary Belly Dance Retreat is a unique and extraordinary experience. Dancers from all over the world, of all ages and all levels, from beginner to professional, join Delilah in Hawaii each year to retreat from the hustle and bustle of their everyday lives and dedicate their bodies and spirits to the sacred indulgence of music and dance. They experience dancing, playing, learning, performing, practicing, celebrating, swimming, sunning, exploring, laughing, bonding with dancers and friends, new and old. This retreat is an opportunity to expand your belly dance horizons, to find the deeper meaning of dance in your life, and to have the time of your life doing it!


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