Sunday, August 28, 2016

Le Mirage by the Saffron Dance Company

Not everyone can say they know someone who belly dances. Well I can I do. My friend Diane, who I volunteer with at Food and Friends, is a belly dancer. She dances with the Saffron Dance Company.

Here's a little more about Saffron Dance:
Our Mission

Saffron Dance seeks to lead the belly dance community by continuing to elevate the artistic integrity of belly dance as an art form through the education and training of all aspects of belly dance via classes workshops, retreats, teacher trainings and studio-to-studio support.

Our Core Values

Community | Saffron Dance was created and continues to exist from a fundamental core value of artistic generosity. With a commitment to both artistic excellence and acceptance of women from all movement backgrounds, body types and ages, we are a community of “Saffronitas” - accomplished and diverse women who dance together, support one another, and discover our voices together. A Saffronita is a woman who shimmies in unexpected places without warning, is generous in spirit, is artistically supportive and is comfortable in her skin.

Curriculum | By creating and teaching from a living curriculum of five definitive levels, Saffron Dance has established a comprehensive pedagogy of movement and theory fundamental to preserving and sharing belly dance as art form. Because Saffron Dance believes that the dance is passed forward by generations and geographies of women, the Saffron Dance curriculum emphasizes attributing the styles and techniques to dancers and musicians who came before us. We believe that a multi-level living curriculum establishes standards for teaching and learning. This commitment to training dancers from an organized and disciplined methodology allows for dancers to develop the competence to ultimately enjoy the confidence this dance form inspires.

Collaboration | From its fundamental roots, Saffron Dance was created to nurture and cultivate growth. Saffron Dance believes that when artists work together and genuinely support one another, magic happens. We seek out faculty and staff who possess an authentic mindset and heart of valuing collaboration as an integral component of their dance environment. This culture manifests in dancers working together from a place of respect - understanding the value that each dancer brings to the community through their teaching, choreography and performing. By holding this value at its very core, our student community also reflects a group of women who project a positivity and generosity of spirit, the core of Saffron Dance.

Confidence | Saffron Dance believes that all women deserve support and encouragement to explore, expand and identify who they are through dance. This unique journey to defining and strengthening movement in one’s body directly correlates to a woman finding strength and confidence in her voice. By teaching via an Active Teaching Active Learning environment, Saffronitas take responsibility for their movement and become more aware of their power, strength and potential.

Commitment | Saffron Dance faculty members are genuinely committed to the artistic development of all faculty and students, irrespective of dance level, age or body type. Saffron Dance focuses on the dance growth of its students and faculty rather than enhancing the brand of any individual artist. At Saffron Dance, Master Level teachers are committed to introducing the fundamentals to beginner students, ensuring that the students start their dance journey with a strong foundation of dance fundamentals and a comprehensive understanding of Saffron’s values and culture. Saffron teachers are committed and trained to provide dancers constructive feedback and corrections from a place of love and support for the purpose of growing a student’s dance.

Here are some pictures from their performance last night. (One note on the pictures, I was in the back row so some of the pictures have the tops of people's heads in them. I was going to crop those out, but, on second thought, I decided it was better to be able to see all of the performer instead of cropping them at the knees.)

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