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Vagabond Princess
Tribal Fusion Belly Dancing
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
I just wanted to take a moment to share a project I am involved with right now because it is making me very happy and every one should know about it!
2011 sees the second year of the Taksim Tribal Certification program and has featured wonderful instructors such as Mardi Love, Sharon Kihara and Heather Stants to name a few. Each instructor returns to teach three times over three months, giving the rare opportunity to really get to know the group and work on a more one to one basis. As the group is individually selected on application, a higher level of technical proficiency is assured which is great fun for us in the material we can present within the workshops. There are live theatre performances to enjoy too. I only wish I could take the course myself!
This year sees Jill Parker, Sharon Kihara, Amy Sigil, Elizabeth Strong and currently…me! What a line up!!!
I am really honoured to be involved with a project such as this and Alex and Amira deserve utmost respect for their vision and hard work in bringing it all together.
Posted by Sam
on 27/04/11
in Belly Dance, Friends, Inspiration, Practice, Practice Tip of the Month, Tribal No Comments »
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is the Big Vagabond t-shirt giveaway! Big because I am giving one away a week until the end of April. And Big because these t-shirts are men’s. If you haven’t seen my tees already, you can take a look in my online shop:
http://vagabondprincess.bigcartel.com/
The tees are dark brown with a golden Vagabond Princess logo on the front. They are 100% cotton and made by Continental, a company that is committed to ethical and environmental production.
All you need to do is FOLLOW ME on Twitter http://twitter.com/samanthaemanuel and I’ll draw one name at random every Friday until the end of April. If you are already following me on Twitter, I’d like to say thank you for listening to my tweets – you’ll be in with a chance of winning every week too.
Good luck fellow dancers!
X
Posted by Sam
on 28/02/11
in Friends, Shop 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Fellow Vagabonds of the Dance!
How goes your New Year so far? Mine has been one of the best yet, seeing it in teaching at FCBD studios in San Francisco and creating a new show with none other than Elizabeth Strong and Zoe Jakes to live music by the incomparable Dan Cantrell. I am a very lucky bunny indeed.
I wanted to let you all know that I will not be traveling to teach and perform as much as I have in recent years due to embarking on a big, exciting and ever so slightly daunting personal project at home in Scrumplewumpleshire involving lots of mud and timber. So any workshops you see on my website will be special indeed and not to be missed as there may not be so many opportunities to see me on the road in 2011/2012, just thought you might want to have this little heads up to keep you all in the loopy loop.
My only US visit for 2011 will now be Tribal Fest! My four hour intensive workshop is SOLD OUT…Wow!!! Thank you so much for booking. There are a some spaces left on my combos class, so if you are interested in training with me at the one and only Tribal Fest, grab a place while you still can! I can hardly wait for May to come around, there will also be some exciting collaborative performances to look out for there and at the After Party. Not to be missed my friends.
Thank you for your continued support and looking forward to catching up with you this year…somewhere along the road that loops.
Love and Fluff
Vagabond Princess
Posted by Sam
on 27/01/11
in Belly Dance, Friends, Inspiration, Practice, Tribal 1 Comment »
Friday, December 31st, 2010
Kicking off 2011 in the BEST WAY EVER!
Teaching and performing with Elizabeth Strong and Zoe Jakes in none other than the Fat Chance Belly Dance studios in San Francisco. I am so very lucky to be able to work with my friends across the pond again, it’s been a while. We will teach a week long intensive and also put on a show together. Yay, yay and also YAY!! For full booking info check out my calendar page where you will also find details for my ONLY other US visit in 2011… TRIBAL FEST!!!
Posted by Sam
on 31/12/10
in Belly Dance, Friends, Health, Inspiration, Practice, Tribal, Wild Weird and Wonderful 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Food is very important to me and any time spent at home is spent mostly in the kitchen juicing fresh juices with my Oscar juicer and cooking up a Jamie Oliver inspired storm. I used to hate cooking with a passion but getting into dancing 6 years ago started to awaken an interest in what I was putting in my belly, most of which was baaaaad stuff.
I have recently returned from a very inspiring time in Cape Town with the most excellent Marissa of SOMA dance company. There I learned about eating a healthy raw food diet, something I had written of as impossible, especially living in the UK at times like these in sub zero temperatures. The food we ate in Cape Town was tasty, colourful, varied and made me feel good. So I got the RAWlicious book , a ton of superfood supplements and have been experimenting here at home.
While I do not think I can go 100% raw just yet I am definitely feeling the benefits of being around 70% raw while at home. Soon as I hit the road however I know it will be tricky to survive in airports and on trains without being extremely organized in advance of each trip and preparing my sprouts and snacks while I am packing the striped beast who rolleth on two tiny wheels.
While I am struggling with the food miles attached to using many of the ingredients listed in the book, as it was written with South Africans in mind: where the sun shines and abundant varieties of fruit and veg grow… I am doing my best to alter the recipes to fit with what comes in my veg box each week.
Here is where I big up my friends Ed and Izzy pictured below, who grow our food as part of a community agriculture project Chagfood which they themselves set up. We are lucky enough to have organic veg grown in our valley and delivered by horse and cart!
In an effort to make the project as low-impact as possible they use horse-power for cultivation, tillage and transport of their vegetables. Samson is a Dartmoor-Welsh Cob who has been trained by them from a foal.
And now I raise my Green Juice in hand and say To Your Health!!!
Hope this has sparked yer curiosity a little, I’m off to check my sprouts!
x
Posted by Sam
on 09/12/10
in Friends, Health, Inspiration 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
TJARDA AND SAMANTHA PRESENT A UNIQUE SERIES OF INTENSIVES
Currently offering the first in a new series of collaborative projects:
Beyond the Compass…New Creative Perspectives
Hailing from opposite sides of the water, Tjarda and Samantha join artistic forces to bring you this one of a kind opportunity. Their skills combined provide participants with extensive performance experience through full time global touring, self-produced events, award winning group and solo performances and choreography design. Being at the forefront of the Tribal Fusion genre this collaboration promises to bring you an exceptional weekend through the combination of their individual strengths and expertise.
Tjarda
Performing and instructing internationally both solo and as Director of The Uzume Dance Company (founded in 2005) Tjarda has received several awards for her innovative choreography. In 2009 she featured on Tales of Desire 2 a performance DVD produced by Hollywood Music Center. She is well known for her powerful performances and broad minded instructional approach towards belly dance. Her work inspires many in finding their own path. She regularly collaborates as an honorary member of USA based dance company Unmata
Samantha
The Only British member of Miles Copeland’s Bellydance Superstars from 2007 to 2010, featuring in eight of the production’s performance DVDs. Samantha tours and teaches both solo and collaboratively, producing international showcases, choreographing and coaching. She is widely known for her accessible teaching style and when not on tour focuses her energies on studies in Theatre and Dance and the art of costuming.
Contact Samantha or Tjarda to bring this tour to your area.
Posted by Sam
on 20/10/10
in Belly Dance, Friends, Inspiration, Tribal 1 Comment »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Wanted to share this lovely Artwork by Polly Headson of Moscow, Russia, as I pack my bags and finish (start!) costumes and dances for the trip. I will teach sold out workshops and perform in Moscow followed by more workshops in Hanover Germany, see the calendar page for more info on booking.
Posted by Sam
on 03/09/10
in Belly Dance, Friends, Tribal, Wild Weird and Wonderful 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Yesterday I attended my first ever Clowning workshop. Taught by John Wright,an international director of theatre, co-founder and artistic director of “Told by an Idiot” and co-founder of Trestle Theatre Company.
This workshop looked at the “ways and means of generating play”. We explored; “conscious and unconscious play, finding the game, revealing the game, hiding the game and opening up texts and situations through play”.
I went into this workshop with no idea what to expect, having had absolutely no theatre training, and my goodness… it was HARD!! I have a new found respect for Clowns every where. It takes such skill to perfect the timing and nuances required to make an audience laugh and keep them with you. What was most challenging was the fact you were not trying to create a character…you were trying to be your self, put into bizarre situations and you had to be ready to drop that game in an instant to switch to a new one. Like child’s play. My sides ached from laughing all day. Whilst it was really hard and a little intimidating, it was extremely funny to see everyone’s clowns emerge.
John was an excellent teacher, giving us game after game after game with barely a chance to catch your breath before you were given the next challenge. For someone who has been in the theatre world for so very long, I was pleasantly surprised to find him down to earth, humble, supportive and extremely funny.
I am very glad I went especially as I am taking a week long intensive at the London International School of Performing Arts this month. I am broadening my training horizons in the hope I might feel more confident in my dancing and in myself, by attempting something COMPLETELY different.
I also enjoyed my first collaborative workshop event with great friend Michelle Ridings this week end in Exeter. She taught performance skills for dancers and the workshop was excellent! She has so much experience in the field and she was a dancer, so she knew exactly what it was we needed to help us grow as performers.We will be working together again at the next Exeter workshops in October. We all learned a vast amount in her two hour session and I am starting to feel more confident about the exercises but I know there is SO MUCH MORE, we have barely scratched the surface. So peeps the next Theatre Skills workshop with Michelle will be three hours…at least!
Posted by Sam
on 10/08/10
in Friends, Inspiration, Practice, Wild Weird and Wonderful 2 Comments »
