Read more HERE
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
10 minute documentary film about the Nouveau Devadasi Festival!
Dancing Our Sacred Selves
5 devadasis share their stories of dance, ritual, love and healing...
At our Annual Festival every fall in the San Francisco Bay Area, enjoy 14 intensive workshops with master teachers and 2 evenings of public performance + couture costume bazaar celebrating traditional and fusion forms of Temple Dance.
Learn about the history, traditional dance techniques, mysticism, aesthetic arts, modern explorative choreography, ritual theater, and inner yogas of Fusion Temple Dance.
Learn about the history, traditional dance techniques, mysticism, aesthetic arts, modern explorative choreography, ritual theater, and inner yogas of Fusion Temple Dance.
Gratitude to Lailan at Mudita Media for creating this beautiful film!
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Premier Issue of GARB Magazine: The Modern Devadasi Sisterhood
“How did you get such an incredible group of teachers together for this year’s Fusion Temple Dance Festival?” I was recently asked. “These are among the queens of sacred dance!”
I instantly replied, “these are... the women of my world.” In fact, in my semi-hermetic life, these women fill the altar of my mind...
I instantly replied, “these are... the women of my world.” In fact, in my semi-hermetic life, these women fill the altar of my mind...
Enjoy the full article & magazine here...
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Doorways to Ecstasy: A Dancer's Initiation By, Sherry Brier
We highly recommend this book written by our friend Sherry Brier
to all budding modern temple dancers!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Article featuring Aradia Sunseri: Belly dancer offers the dance as art and healing
As featured in the Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
Michell Spoden—Many people are fascinated by belly dancers. But how many of us know much about this art form? An interview with Aradia Julia Suneri gives us a perspective on this unique form of dance.
Temple Fusion belly dance artist, designer and instructor Aradia Julia Sunseri is a connoisseur of a form of dance that blends Hatha Yoga and Temple Fusion Belly Dance. As an interdisciplinary artist, lifelong yogini, and dancer who continues to study diverse forms of dance. Aradia’s art is rooted in yoga, dance therapy modalities, ritual performance & theatrical improvisation. Her constantly evolving style incorporates Tribal/ Temple fusion belly dance, modern dance, fire dance, ballet and butoh.
The following is my interview with Sunseri:
1.What is your name, age, nationality and occupation?
My name is Aradia Julia Sunseri. I am 34 years old and of Latvian, Irish, German and English heritage, an artist who wears many hats, rather like a “Jill of all trades.” I perform on stage and in film and have been acting modeling, stylizing and doing creative directing for dance and theater for the last 15 years.
2.Can you please explain to our viewers what “ Dance Fusion” is?
Dance Fusion is blending and borrowing of styles that create a new form of expression. This means making sure, however, to honor and understand as best as you can what dance form you are drawing from, then fuse your own creative interpretation. Dance is a universal language and one of the oldest forms of connecting body, mind and spirit. I have been active and interested in this dance form since 2000.
3. How long did it take for you to learn this style of dance? Did you attend some sort of school to learn it? If so where and for how long?
I would say its still an evolving process. I started my study of Tribal Fusion Belly Dance in Portland, Oregon in 2004. For two years I studied with different teachers that included Jane Archer of Euphoria Studios, Paulette Denis of Gypsy Caravan, caring the traditions of Caroleena Nireccio of Fat Chance Belly Dance and Suhalia Salimpour of the school of Dance.
In 2005 I co created my first Dark fusion belly dance troupe called “Serpentine.” I then began performing frequently from 2005 to 2008 while teaching workshops and co-creating monthly dance events within the belly dance community, after which came a tour of Europe and the United States in 2009 – 2010 with Faith and The Muse launching their new Ankoku-Butoh album.
In 2008 I created Ritual Movement Arts a blend of Yoga and Temple Fusion Belly dance. I had been practicing yoga for years, as a certified yoga instructor I felt called to deepen my understanding by seeing the direct connection of yoga enhancing and supporting my relationship to my dance. Then there’s ritual.
The word ritual is often misinterpreted. For me it is anything done with direct intention and conscious harmonizing with the natural world.
All indigenous cultures have honored and performed ritual as a main focus in there dance as a way to honor the seasons, heal individuals & celebrate the blessing of having a physical body with awareness of soul connectivity to all life force.
At the end of 2008 I moved from Portland to San Francisco to continue training with the luminous pioneers of the Tribal Belly dance Movement.
2008 to present 2013 I have had the honor to study with Jill Parker, Rachel Brice, Suhalia Sailmpour, Zoe Jakes, Miriam Pertz and many more amazing women.
In spring 2013 I was certified by Rachel Brice’s 8 Elements initiation.
4. Have you learned other forms of dance in your lifetime?
I first fell in love with dance when I was about five years old, seeing Sufi whirling dances my mother would take me to. At the time I had been studying ballet, jazz and modern dance. From the age of six until I was in my teenage years, I loved ballet. Being six feet tall it seemed a good match for me, yet the dance felt too rigid at times, leading me to explore other dance forms.
In 2000 I found the art of fire dancing and began making my own fire tools and performing with the Burning Man community in the conclaves. This was pure magic! I felt an outlet for wild self-expression, and my heart soared infusing all my years of dance training into a new form collaborating with other dancers & circus arts performers. Theatrical rituals, enacting myths and performing elements of butoh became the highlights of my performances.
This was the doorway that lead me directly to Tribal Fusion Belly dance In 2004 I instantly fell in love with the energy, costuming & community of this dance style.
I felt a soul kinship with these women whom wanted to empower one another and co create a supportive platform for sharing our ancestral lineages & beliefs about the Feminine divine.
5. Can you please explain to us what tribal dance and butoh is?
The form of Tribal Belly dance is said to have begun in the west through the legendary Jamila Salimpour and her Traditional Tribal Belly dance Troupe Bal Anat, who was one of the earliest American dancers to begin formatting a Middle Eastern dance vocabulary. Jamila gathers the basis of these movements which she learned directly from oriental dancers from the Middle East as they migrated to the U.S in 1949 that enfused Turkish, Maya and basic Egyptian movements that were passed on woman to woman, becoming the form further enhanced as the American tribal style developed by Carolena Nerricio.
The roots of tribal fusion lie in American Tribal style, also referred to as ATS, created in San Francisco by Carolena Nericcio and her dance company Fat Chance Belly dance, with the legendary Tribal innovator Jamila Salimpour. One of the founding members of FCBD in 1989 Jill Parker, can be regarded as starting tribal fusion. She formed Ultra Gypsy Theatre in 1996, under Jill Parkers direction, then popularized in 2003 by Rachel Brice, forming the Indigo that combined all the above stylizations and a new form of Tribal Fusion.
Butoh Dance is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement inspired by the Ankoku-Butoh movement, according to Wikipedia. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion, with or without an audience. There is no set style, and it may be purely conceptual with no movement at all. Its origins have been attributed to Japanese dance legends Tatsumi Hijikata andKazuo Ohno. Butoh is known as the dance that frees the souls that are still trapped on this earthly plane.
6. Why dance fusion over other forms? Why is it better for you?
The thing I love so much about Fusion Belly dance in this day and age is because it is a more sought-after dance form because it encourages you to find your own voice and offering. You can dance at any age, any body type or even gender. This dance has roots that are deep and you can study as much as you like, but in Fusion you are always encouraged to express your individuality Improvisation and passion for sacred dance in all its forms. This is pure magic to have the freedom to draw upon what inspires you and fuse it with something such as ballet or modern and see what happens.
7. Do you think a lot of these dance forms are more rooted in spiritually or sexuality?
This lineage of dance comes from an integrated understanding of spirituality and sexuality. Many wise women taught others the powerful tools of dance as celebration of coming of age, as preparation for childbirth and as healing & collective community prayers.
Much is still left unspoken in the history of women and sacred dances, Luckily now much more is coming into the light and woman are remembering there birthright as women and what it means to be a woman through all the stages of her life.
8. Did you always know from the time you were young that you would be a dancer?
Art and dance have always been a huge part of my life. I love the whole process, and feel I am constantly learning and refining my craft.
9. The costumes you wear in many of your videos are very diverse, do you design them yourself?
Yes! Everything I am wearing is designed and handmade by me, except when I am gifted with my friends designs and antique jewelry. I draw a lot of my inspiration from mythology. Sometimes I will spend months hand sewing a belt or headdress.
10. Are you in any sort of films or videos?
Yes. I love film and have been collaborating with great cinematographers and directors to create some visual offerings. I also have acted in several music videos and some independent films.
11. If you teach please share with us where you currently do so.
I teach internationally at multiple studios, retreats and festivals. I am always booked somewhere and can be contacted on my website.
12. What sort of advice would you give those who want to learn this sort of dance style?
Ask yourself what draws you to this dance style. What inspires you? Is it costuming, community, performance, health, fun, healing, some or all of these? Then find a studio or community to take classes and workshops.
Next, study with teachers that inspire you to tune into your own body and express yourself. I highly recommend yoga with belly dance to help strengthen the knees and lower back.
13. What are some of your future goals?
I feel to blessed to be supported by the community and teachers of this art form.My goals are to continue studying with the visionaries in this field of dance and healing.I am currently collaborating with holistic prationers who share the vision of women empowering women. This also involves R.M.A workshops and retreats on healing issues from sexual abuse by helping the practitioner develop a healthy body image.
I am presently working with many multimedia artists on video and large stage production for international festivals and events. I really look forward to spending more time in Europe and teaching Ritual Movement Arts at healing centers.
I wish to leave you with one of my favorite quotes:
“As the goddess is honored through ecstatic dance, our communities grow stronger. As we dance, we consecrate our bodies and the land on which we dance, we unite.”
Sunseri’s contact information and upcoming performances are at the following links:
Anahata June 15th Portland Oregon Performing http://www.anahatafestivalpdx.com/
Lightning in A Bottle Festival July 11-14 Performing http://lightninginabottle.org/
Nouveau Devadasi Temple Dance Festival Sept 27-29 Performing & teaching R.M.A workshop http://www.nouveaudevadasi.com/
Web Site: http://aradiasunseri.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aradia.Julia.Sunseri.Official.FanPage
Michell Spoden—Many people are fascinated by belly dancers. But how many of us know much about this art form? An interview with Aradia Julia Suneri gives us a perspective on this unique form of dance.
Temple Fusion belly dance artist, designer and instructor Aradia Julia Sunseri is a connoisseur of a form of dance that blends Hatha Yoga and Temple Fusion Belly Dance. As an interdisciplinary artist, lifelong yogini, and dancer who continues to study diverse forms of dance. Aradia’s art is rooted in yoga, dance therapy modalities, ritual performance & theatrical improvisation. Her constantly evolving style incorporates Tribal/ Temple fusion belly dance, modern dance, fire dance, ballet and butoh.
The following is my interview with Sunseri:
1.What is your name, age, nationality and occupation?
My name is Aradia Julia Sunseri. I am 34 years old and of Latvian, Irish, German and English heritage, an artist who wears many hats, rather like a “Jill of all trades.” I perform on stage and in film and have been acting modeling, stylizing and doing creative directing for dance and theater for the last 15 years.
2.Can you please explain to our viewers what “ Dance Fusion” is?
Dance Fusion is blending and borrowing of styles that create a new form of expression. This means making sure, however, to honor and understand as best as you can what dance form you are drawing from, then fuse your own creative interpretation. Dance is a universal language and one of the oldest forms of connecting body, mind and spirit. I have been active and interested in this dance form since 2000.
3. How long did it take for you to learn this style of dance? Did you attend some sort of school to learn it? If so where and for how long?
I would say its still an evolving process. I started my study of Tribal Fusion Belly Dance in Portland, Oregon in 2004. For two years I studied with different teachers that included Jane Archer of Euphoria Studios, Paulette Denis of Gypsy Caravan, caring the traditions of Caroleena Nireccio of Fat Chance Belly Dance and Suhalia Salimpour of the school of Dance.
In 2005 I co created my first Dark fusion belly dance troupe called “Serpentine.” I then began performing frequently from 2005 to 2008 while teaching workshops and co-creating monthly dance events within the belly dance community, after which came a tour of Europe and the United States in 2009 – 2010 with Faith and The Muse launching their new Ankoku-Butoh album.
In 2008 I created Ritual Movement Arts a blend of Yoga and Temple Fusion Belly dance. I had been practicing yoga for years, as a certified yoga instructor I felt called to deepen my understanding by seeing the direct connection of yoga enhancing and supporting my relationship to my dance. Then there’s ritual.
The word ritual is often misinterpreted. For me it is anything done with direct intention and conscious harmonizing with the natural world.
All indigenous cultures have honored and performed ritual as a main focus in there dance as a way to honor the seasons, heal individuals & celebrate the blessing of having a physical body with awareness of soul connectivity to all life force.
At the end of 2008 I moved from Portland to San Francisco to continue training with the luminous pioneers of the Tribal Belly dance Movement.
2008 to present 2013 I have had the honor to study with Jill Parker, Rachel Brice, Suhalia Sailmpour, Zoe Jakes, Miriam Pertz and many more amazing women.
In spring 2013 I was certified by Rachel Brice’s 8 Elements initiation.
4. Have you learned other forms of dance in your lifetime?
I first fell in love with dance when I was about five years old, seeing Sufi whirling dances my mother would take me to. At the time I had been studying ballet, jazz and modern dance. From the age of six until I was in my teenage years, I loved ballet. Being six feet tall it seemed a good match for me, yet the dance felt too rigid at times, leading me to explore other dance forms.
In 2000 I found the art of fire dancing and began making my own fire tools and performing with the Burning Man community in the conclaves. This was pure magic! I felt an outlet for wild self-expression, and my heart soared infusing all my years of dance training into a new form collaborating with other dancers & circus arts performers. Theatrical rituals, enacting myths and performing elements of butoh became the highlights of my performances.
This was the doorway that lead me directly to Tribal Fusion Belly dance In 2004 I instantly fell in love with the energy, costuming & community of this dance style.
I felt a soul kinship with these women whom wanted to empower one another and co create a supportive platform for sharing our ancestral lineages & beliefs about the Feminine divine.
5. Can you please explain to us what tribal dance and butoh is?
The form of Tribal Belly dance is said to have begun in the west through the legendary Jamila Salimpour and her Traditional Tribal Belly dance Troupe Bal Anat, who was one of the earliest American dancers to begin formatting a Middle Eastern dance vocabulary. Jamila gathers the basis of these movements which she learned directly from oriental dancers from the Middle East as they migrated to the U.S in 1949 that enfused Turkish, Maya and basic Egyptian movements that were passed on woman to woman, becoming the form further enhanced as the American tribal style developed by Carolena Nerricio.
The roots of tribal fusion lie in American Tribal style, also referred to as ATS, created in San Francisco by Carolena Nericcio and her dance company Fat Chance Belly dance, with the legendary Tribal innovator Jamila Salimpour. One of the founding members of FCBD in 1989 Jill Parker, can be regarded as starting tribal fusion. She formed Ultra Gypsy Theatre in 1996, under Jill Parkers direction, then popularized in 2003 by Rachel Brice, forming the Indigo that combined all the above stylizations and a new form of Tribal Fusion.
Butoh Dance is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement inspired by the Ankoku-Butoh movement, according to Wikipedia. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion, with or without an audience. There is no set style, and it may be purely conceptual with no movement at all. Its origins have been attributed to Japanese dance legends Tatsumi Hijikata andKazuo Ohno. Butoh is known as the dance that frees the souls that are still trapped on this earthly plane.
6. Why dance fusion over other forms? Why is it better for you?
The thing I love so much about Fusion Belly dance in this day and age is because it is a more sought-after dance form because it encourages you to find your own voice and offering. You can dance at any age, any body type or even gender. This dance has roots that are deep and you can study as much as you like, but in Fusion you are always encouraged to express your individuality Improvisation and passion for sacred dance in all its forms. This is pure magic to have the freedom to draw upon what inspires you and fuse it with something such as ballet or modern and see what happens.
7. Do you think a lot of these dance forms are more rooted in spiritually or sexuality?
This lineage of dance comes from an integrated understanding of spirituality and sexuality. Many wise women taught others the powerful tools of dance as celebration of coming of age, as preparation for childbirth and as healing & collective community prayers.
Much is still left unspoken in the history of women and sacred dances, Luckily now much more is coming into the light and woman are remembering there birthright as women and what it means to be a woman through all the stages of her life.
8. Did you always know from the time you were young that you would be a dancer?
Art and dance have always been a huge part of my life. I love the whole process, and feel I am constantly learning and refining my craft.
9. The costumes you wear in many of your videos are very diverse, do you design them yourself?
Yes! Everything I am wearing is designed and handmade by me, except when I am gifted with my friends designs and antique jewelry. I draw a lot of my inspiration from mythology. Sometimes I will spend months hand sewing a belt or headdress.
10. Are you in any sort of films or videos?
Yes. I love film and have been collaborating with great cinematographers and directors to create some visual offerings. I also have acted in several music videos and some independent films.
11. If you teach please share with us where you currently do so.
I teach internationally at multiple studios, retreats and festivals. I am always booked somewhere and can be contacted on my website.
12. What sort of advice would you give those who want to learn this sort of dance style?
Ask yourself what draws you to this dance style. What inspires you? Is it costuming, community, performance, health, fun, healing, some or all of these? Then find a studio or community to take classes and workshops.
Next, study with teachers that inspire you to tune into your own body and express yourself. I highly recommend yoga with belly dance to help strengthen the knees and lower back.
13. What are some of your future goals?
I feel to blessed to be supported by the community and teachers of this art form.My goals are to continue studying with the visionaries in this field of dance and healing.I am currently collaborating with holistic prationers who share the vision of women empowering women. This also involves R.M.A workshops and retreats on healing issues from sexual abuse by helping the practitioner develop a healthy body image.
I am presently working with many multimedia artists on video and large stage production for international festivals and events. I really look forward to spending more time in Europe and teaching Ritual Movement Arts at healing centers.
I wish to leave you with one of my favorite quotes:
“As the goddess is honored through ecstatic dance, our communities grow stronger. As we dance, we consecrate our bodies and the land on which we dance, we unite.”
Sunseri’s contact information and upcoming performances are at the following links:
Anahata June 15th Portland Oregon Performing http://www.anahatafestivalpdx.com/
Lightning in A Bottle Festival July 11-14 Performing http://lightninginabottle.org/
Nouveau Devadasi Temple Dance Festival Sept 27-29 Performing & teaching R.M.A workshop http://www.nouveaudevadasi.com/
Web Site: http://aradiasunseri.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aradia.Julia.Sunseri.Official.FanPage
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Anandha Ray: Fusing Modern Dance & Tribal Bellydance
from tribalsecrets.net
Synthesizing the forms means so much more than just doing some bellydance and some modern interlaced. Ethnic dance is generally either social or folk forms of dance. Modern dance is an artistic form of dance. The differing forms have differing goals and reasons for existing, and so often they have little common ground. In my artistic vision I develop movement from the core source of body language, pushing the emotional expression of movement to it's most profound and touching moments. I enjoy artistic dance that speaks of human emotion and evokes the viewer to think, or feel, or understand something in a different way. To synthesize ethnic forms within this context requires that I analyze the ethnic movements and their expressive potential, and thus the dance that is derived has a pre-determined theme (based on the expression of the chosen ethnic movement).
This is a very interesting process...
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