Blog

Thank you to all of our members who have already purchased tickets to our upcoming Festival in Palmerston North in April, we really appreciate your contribution, and are looking forward to celebrating our evolving dance style with you over this long weekend.

You should have received the notice of meeting in late February for our annual AGM. If not, the Notice of Meeting and Committee Nomination/ Remit forms are available on the website on the General Meetings page. Please do give some serious thought to volunteering for committee this year, by doing so it will allow MEDANZ to continue, you will make some new friends, and could be part of several fun projects for your belly dance community throughout the year.

FESTIVAL UPDATES:

The Festival Programme has been updated with several newly confirmed tutors and events, plus there is a time change for one workshop on Friday:

Core Control for Dancers with Lenna Rose has changed from 1pm to 3.10 pm on Friday by popular request.

NEW WORKSHOPS CONFIRMED:

On Friday, check out Bulkan Bonanza! with Gina at 1pm - get ready to explore this exciting new fusion with Gina, a new to MEDANZ tutor currently based in Wellington.

On Saturday at 9am, Mazana in her first workshop for MEDANZ, will be teaching a Tribal Choreography to ’Semblance' by Beats Antique in the Global Caravan style.

On Saturday afternoon at 12.30pm Shah, another new to MEDANZ tutor, but with many years of bellydance experience in the USA, will be teaching a Raqs Sayef (Sword) workshop aimed at the intermediate to advanced dancer.

On Sunday morning at 9.45am Jill from Christchurch invites you to bring your drums and other percussive instruments (or your didgeridoo) to her workshop for Basic Beats & Fabulous Fills.

Then rounding out the workshop offering on Sunday afternoon at 12 noon, Irina from Wellington, another new to MEDANZ tutor invites you to discover the Magic in your Arms.

ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL EVENTS - access to these events are included in your Festival Ticket:

Warm-up sessions with the Hipnotize Bellydance tutors from Palmerston North will happen at the beginning of each day (Friday at 12:30pm, Saturday at 8.30am and Sunday at 9:15am, so make sure you join them to help prepare your body for an enjoyable day of dance and learning.

FRIDAY:

If you have some friends in Palmerston North who you think would like to try a belly dance class, or you would like to go over some basics with new to you tutors, we invite all dancers to join the Hipnotize Bellydance tutors for a free dance class at 1pm on Friday 25 April in Studio 6 at the Danceworks Studios. Register your interest via email to: committee@medanz.org.nz

Immediately following this class, you are invited to shop till you drop at the belly dance souk / marketplace - Danceworks Studio 6 from 2-5pm on Friday 25 April. If you are interested in vending at this event, please email committee@medanz.org.nz to book your spot.

Flashmob announcement - yes we have a flashmob planned for the festival! Recordings are currently being made so you will have time to learn this before festival. To give you some confidence with this dance/drum item, and to have some fun putting it together we have set aside some time on Friday afternoon from 3.10pm - if you are attending the hafla and/or performing in the show, please consider attending this rehearsal.

Friday 5.15-5.45pm in Studio 6 - Rhythms, tempos and beats with Fernanda - before you skip off to get changed for the hafla at 7pm, we invite you to this short lecture with Fernanda who will explain the differences between these three musical concepts and may just set you up for a very successful weekend of learning.

And finally, on Sunday afternoon from 2pm, after the final workshops, we have set aside some time for members to get together, discuss the amazing experiences from festival, and to consider the possibilities for the 2026 festival - where, when etc, as well as any other MEDANZ meet-ups that may meet the needs of the membership in the coming year.

Check out the programme/workshops on the website, it’s going to be really hard to decide which 5 or 6 workshops you will be attending over this weekend - as one festival ticket purchaser said to me recently:

‘It’s like my dream festival, I couldn’t wish for better workshops with tutors I really admire’

So have you got your Festival Ticket yet? There are only 11 left now, and this is the final release.

Performers: you are required to have purchased a festival ticket to be eligible to perform in the show or Hafla, and yes we do check.

Due to the size of the Hafla venue, and the number of festival tickets sold, unfortunately there will be no single Hafla tickets available, sorry. The Hafla will be held at Fire Home, details and links are on the Festival Programme page. The Festival Ticket gives you access to the venue, Food (Central Asian inspired) and Drink (no alcohol) are at additional cost, performances and open floor dancing throughout the evening, with a drum jam later in the evening. You are encouraged to attend in costume, particularly if performing at this event as limited change space is available.

Show tickets are now available to purchase on our website at $28 per adult with concession tickets for seniors and children 2-12 years at $14 each. The Festival Show will be held at the Speirs Centre in Palmerston North Boys High School, and this venue has plenty of room for all of your family and supporters to come along and enjoy an evening of dance and entertainment.

Festival is fast approaching, and we are very much looking forward to spending the weekend dancing with you.