Kae Montgomery workshops in Helsinki

The last weekend of August was reserved for bellydance, but unlike usually (I most often take Tribal Fusion related classes) this was all about ATS® (American Tribal Style), which is a bellydance style developed by Carolena Nericcio that is all about group improvisation and strong women! I had taken a couple of short ATS workshops before, but this one was a proper, long, ATS focused weekend, and I was quite terrified to be totally out of place. Luckily enough, and even though my ATS vocabulary is extremely limited, I was able to feel the joy of group improvisation and be proud of myself for facing such a challenge! Of course the wonderful teacher Kae Montgomery (who is a member of the FatChanceBellyDance® performing group) and the encouragement and patience of the other lovely students helped a LOT, I don't know what I would have been able to do without them!

On saturday we got to perform at the main show with our student troupe Kaira Tribe, so here you go a "fangirl" picture of a few of us with Kae! :-)

Left to right: Tiitta, Julia, Kae and me

Tuesday, sweet tuesday!

Definitely one of my favourite days of the week, and that's because I get to DANCE! I've been studying a bellydance style called Tribal Fusion for the last two years, and I must confess I'm totally hooked (if you get to follow this blog you'll probably end up seeing a lot of posts about it). It's a relatively new bellydance style, that has its roots in another bellydance style called ATS (American Tribal Style) and mixes it with other dance styles such as flamenco, hip hop and indian traditional dances. The outcome is absolutely mindblowing! The movements look mesmerizing and unnatural, as if the human body wouldn't be meant to move that way, and of course this required TONS of hours of practicing!

Luckily I have a wonderful teacher that kicks out butts, and keeps us motivated :-)

Here goes a picture of some of the members of our tribe Kaira Tribe, with our hot redhead teacher Laura Luna in the middle! And the season has actually just started, so if you are interested in giving it a try I recommend you get in touch through her website or facebook account :-)

"The Allure" by Asko Rantanen