Hey there…. crazy year, right? Yaaaaa…. some more classes are coming back. We’re stoked to have Liquid Rhythm Inc Salsa back in the house. Class space is limited and classes are running in 4 week sessions. Sign up early to secure your space on the dance floor. Check the calendar for details.
You may have noticed some price increases for drop in classes. The time we’ve had to reflect as a part of of the New Orleans dance community has resulted in a growing movement to value dance as much as yoga and barre classes are valued. Discounts are still available for multi-class sessions, series, and class cards. Sliding scales are in place for some classes as well. We want dance to be accessible to all.
Last change is a big, overdue, and complicated one. Belly Dance classes are now titled “MENAHT Transcultural Fusion Dance”. That’s a mouthful so MENAHT is the easiest option. Like all shifts in vocabulary, this is going to take a moment. MENAHT stands for Middle Eastern, North African, Hellenic(Greek) & Turkish. The social and folk dances of these regions have been the inspiration for MENAHT dance for decades. The dance is called “raks sharqi” in Egypt, “danse du ventre” in France, and Orientale Danse, Middle Eastern Dance, and Belly Dance, globally. For the past couple decades there has been a great deal of questioning and listening within our community. It has not been easy to see how and why the dance culture around “belly dance” has caused damage to the people of the cultures from which it originates. Over the past few years, MENAHT and Transcultural Fusion Dance, have emerged as terminology that encompasses the scope of the dance styles under its umbrella. Crescent Lotus is working to support this change. We hope you’ll join us.
OK, that was a lot for the Monday morning after the clocks jumped forward. Time to plan for tonight’s classes.
