Shoreline Arts Alliance Blog

“Belly dancing.” There’s an exotic flair and perhaps a mystique associated with the term, believed to have been coined in the late 19th century -- it’s a dance wherein you learn to move muscle groups you don’t use every day, and gain incredible control over many parts of your body. You learn to move freely, but with intention. 

Gia Khalsa believes that belly dancing is a healing art through which she teaches women power, freedom, and joy -- important aspects of life, she says, that can be gained from whatever passion you choose to follow, be it archery or bowling. But unique to belly dancing is a connection with your core, that increases your strength and your self-esteem.  You learn to move your body in new ways, and it’s not only a great workout, it’s also fairly simple to get into. 

A yoga instructor before she fell in love with belly dancing, Gia likens many of the health benefits of Belly dancing to those experienced in Yoga or Tai Chi; yes, you can exercise, but you also, Gia says, reconnect with your body, your sensual and emotional self, even as you get healthier physically. 

Our society is extremely left-brained, and when we’re learning how to dance, it can be very hard to learn disconnected moves and connect them however we choose.  Gia teaches sequenced dances, with the hope that students eventually feel comfortable with reorganizing the moves and creating their own spontaneous dances. 

Gia “doesn’t claim to teach any specific style,” she's not an Egyptian belly dancer, or a Tribal belly dancer, for example. Her main goal, she says, is “to have people internalize and interact with the dancing...”  She says you internalize the thing that you’re involved whether archery or checkers, but it is the arts, especially, like yoga, tai chi, poetry and belly dancing, where you begin to really use those tools to express yourself and access a part of yourself you haven’t.

In 1996, a friend invited her to a belly dance workshop that weekend; Gia couldn’t attend, but at a party later that month, the friends who’d attended showed off the few steps they’d learned at a class, and Gia was hooked. She started attending their Monday night practices, she signed up for the class in East Hartford, she sought out other dancers who told her about other workshops, and then still others at those workshops, and this continued for some time until Gia realized she had been bitten by the bug. While the friend who’d initially showed her the steps moved on to other things, Gia was in love with the dance and stayed. She traveled throughout New England to study with belly dancers, and started giving informal workshops herself: she wanted everyone to experience belly dancing. These workshops eventually grew into formal classes in Adult Recreation centers, and her style slowly began to shift: she says now, she no longer teaches belly dancing with the intent that each person will learn the exact steps, but rather that they will learn to move and to connect with themselves. 

The internet has revolutionized the way we learn, she remarks; you can call up Youtube videos of belly dancers at a glance, and find teachers just as quickly (visit her website here). Depending on where you are in Connecticut, and what sorts of classes you’re looking for, you’re certain to find a class near you. Come to the Westbrook Public library on Thursday evening at 6:30 pm, and try it out.

An interview with Joan Levy Hepburn      

“Right now a moment is fleeting by! Capture its reality in paint! 
To do that we must put all else out of our minds. We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate... give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time.”  

-- Paul Cézanne (attributed)

Hidden in the foothills of Killingworth, CT, right off Route 148 is Art at Murray Pond, and artist’s haven. Within minutes, you can escape from the hectic pace of I-95. For many years, Shoreline artist Joan Levy Hepburn has been living, painting and teaching in her Killingworth home. We met for an hour one blustery spring day at her beautiful study center, which she calls Art at Murray Pond.

Art at Murray Pond offers art classes, workshops, nature study, concerts, a film location, and an event and conference venue. Artists, musicians, writers, scientists, and others have come to work on projects in this inspiring place and share their talents and knowledge with others. Boy Scouts, ornithologists and artists alike come to her property, some shoving out in the kayak or the canoe to see the world off-shore, others to set up an easel in the woods or sit in a quiet spot. 

As a high school student Joan was mentored by artist Willem de Kooning. She learned directly from the master as they worked side-by-side. The title “The Color Doctor” was bestowed upon her by museum and gallery clients because of her expertise in color separation for art publications. She exhibits extreme care not to violate the integrity of the original art when preparing it for reproduction. Now Joan shares her knowledge of art with her students of all ages and levels of experience. Art is a visual language - so Joan teaches people that language by teaching them to see. She explains, “When we take the time to look more carefully at reality we realize that there is more to visual perception than a word can describe.”

Some artists enjoy the solitude of slipping out to compose underneath the stars, or write in the dawn. Sometimes, painters will meet up for an hour or so in the morning, and she’ll suggest techniques they might try out during the day, or books from her extensive art collection that they might find  inspiring.  Often, artists just need to cut themselves off from the busyness of their own lives, to jump-start a creative project. It’s all about what they want, she says, her one requirement is that she have a chance to hear the scope and nature of the project that the person hopes to pursue while visiting -- whether jumpstarting a novel, retreating to compose, or hiking and painting -- prior to their arrival. She also serves as a mentor to young artists putting together portfolios. An avid blues guitarist herself, taught by Dave Van Ronk (“the mayor of MacDougal Street” and the subject of the upcoming film Inside Llewyn Davis), and a cellist, Joan has hosted many musicians and concerts at her beautiful house, some of which have been recorded and put on youtube.  

Her summer camp programs, as with all of her classes and gatherings, are really about approaching the world in new ways, and trying something different. Often, people will come to take a class and spend some time together. The classes and concerts are hosted in a spacious, twelve-sided, glass building overlooking the water, fondly called ‘the Pond House.’ Visit her website for classes and events.

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An aspiring photojournalist, Miela favors using the relatively lightweight Canon Rebel T2i for its portability and compatibility with a wide range of lenses. An avid user of the photography software Lightroom, Miela regularly runs all of her photographs through the myriad of options there, tinting and adjusting, seeking out perfect combinations of subtle alterations.  She enjoys the process’ revelation of new images; in the case of her IMAGES photographs, the lack of color isolated competing bright patches and patterns, which she found ceased to be distractions, instead turning them into points of contrast that framed her subjects.

While she loved Fiji’s brilliant colors and smiling children, and took many pictures of them, Miela believes that the more serious poses of the people to whom she felt most connected are also the most meaningful. They enable each person’s past and future to shine through their eyes “without a masking smile.”  The young boy in Protector, Fiji and Greeting, Fiji, was one of the few, she said, who invited her only to the outside of his home, rather than inside to meet his family. But, she reflected, his tagging after her meant that she captured many pictures of him.

Miela has been exposed to photography since she was a “baby in a backpack” traveling around the world with her parents. She distinctly remembers beginning to take her own photographs on a family trip to Thailand, when she was four, and credits her mother, a professional photographer, and her father, a printer by hobby, for encouraging her interest by continuing to surround her with the tools of their trades. She is a Master Scuba Diver as well as a Rescue Diver and is eager to combine her talents and passions, envisioning a future in which her love of flying, dissection, helping others and photography come together in a first-responder search and rescue photojournalism. For now, Miela aspires to a solo show, while planning for her next trip with her family, perhaps to Mongolia.

Mame

Goodspeed Musicals

Now through July 7, by popular demand

Come along for the madcap adventures of Auntie Mame and her adoring nephew. Surrounded by an eccentric cast of characters, she celebrates the Roaring 20s, overcomes tragedy and sails through life without missing a fad or a dance step. Jerry Herman's delightful score is packed with favorites "Bosom Buddies," "We Need a Little Christmas" and more. Brimming with optimism and zest, Mame will keep you laughing while warming your heart!

CLICK HERE to read more  

Tickets are available through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open seven days a week, or on-line at goodspeed.org.