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Jennifer Neal, Yogini, Pilates & Belly Dance Instructor

AFAA Primary Group Exercice, Yoga & Pilates Certifications

Rachel Brice Master Class (Five-Day), Washington, DC, 2007

Tribal Intensive with Rachel Brice (Five-Day), Las Vegas, 2008

Preparing for the FCBD (FatChanceBellyDance) Teacher Training & Certification

Multiple Workshops with
Jillina,
Mardi Love,
Zoe Jakes,
BellyQueen,
Gypsy Soul, etc..

Photos courtesy of Katie Mikita

The Studio FAQ - Interview Style:

What styles of Yoga do you teach and explore?

In general, if we have to pigeon-hole the experience, I'd say this is a Vinyasa Studio... Flow, breath, the holistic & the therapeutic is the focus. Aspects of Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, Amrit, etc. are utilized especially when students are in need, ready, willing, or will benefit.

(Once, when the AC was hooked up wrong, we practiced a little Bikram. That's not a standard offering here though.)

Every day each class is adapted to the participants. The focus remains on the preventative, detoxifying, mind-centering therapy of Yoga... that's what's most important to me... but challenging ourselves and moving further both physically and mentally/emotionally is also a goal. Boring is a really bad word here... We consistently explore.



So Belly Dance, what do you teach and explore in that realm?

Deep Isolation & Technique is the starting point which prepares you for EVERY style of Belly Dance.

I'd have to say that Yoga and Belly Dance, for me, have also become tightly intertwined so once a student has the basics, I encourage particpation in Yoga & Conditioning for Belly Dancers.

My Background in BellyDance:

I was introduced to the world of "Bellydance" via what seems lately to be lumped into one category, "Cabaret" (some may call that a rather recent commercialization or even explotation of Egyptian, Turkish, even Greek folkloric dance, which used to be done within one’s tribe or their family/local community and eventually made its way to stages and became what you think of today when you hear the word "BellyDancer") and I constantly return to that "root".

However, I quickly jumped into Tribal & from there, quickly into Tribal Fusion. Rachel Brice, in particular, caught my attention immediately and when you study her, you realize Yoga isn’t just a stretching or strengthening exercise. Sure, it’s (belly dance is) about maximum flexibility, muscular and skeletal control, all necessary for Bellydance, but it’s also about being present, and it is also about breathing... prana... the life force within you and around you… feeling what you are doing and with that feeling, emoting outward... working with and even changing energy.

I suppose it’s that feeling of returning to the strength of the dance, not to mention the profound camaraderie amongst dancers that drew me in so fast and deep to all things "Tribal". The intensity of control within the body, really picking apart the skeletal and muscular structures and how they work together with the mind and the creative spirit… the collage of strength, control, sensuality, and "spinelessness" is nothing short of stunning… again, herein lies a never ending array of goals, opportunities and experiences.

So to make that long story of "what I teach" a bit shorter:
I start with teaching everyone the very basics of Isolation – what belly dance really is about - even if they've taken 3 years of Belly Dance, just in case they weren't aware, for example, that they could expand one side of their ribs while contracting the other whilst keeping the hips completely out of that movement and rotating the shoulders in such a way that it mesmerizes audiences... or that the heels are not involved in a deep maya and there is a great reason for that... If they skip ahead because they do indeed already have that foundation, fantastic!

Depending upon each student's own desire, they may end up in Cabaret or Cab-Fusion, Indi-Bhangra-Bharatanatyam-Fusion, Hip Hop-Fusion, Burlesque-Fusion, ATS and/or Tribal-Fusion… It really depends upon the student. If they want to do Drum Solos and only Drum Solos, obviously I work with them to that end all the while encouraging them to do Troupe pieces but ultimately they are here to learn whatever I can teach them to meet their own goals.

Bottom line: The world of “Belly Dance” is huge and while there are what some term “purists” out there who point one way or the other calling one style “real”, nothing in life is really purely one thing or another… not any art form, anyway. As long as the movements are those in the Bellydance repertoire, it’s really up to the students where they want me to take them individually… but taking them I am. There’s not a lot of “I just wanna do laybacks” or “let me use my heels doing mayas because it’s just so much easier”… I study fanatically because I love it and I'm here to pass it on.. else, why pay me…

I also have to add in a completely superficial aspect here, a more regimented format, while still a total blast (perhaps moreso than something so laid back it almost lacks format) also provides some serious health benefits. If a return to the natural, feminine, hourglass shape is your goal, this dance and this format is your best friend.

What does belly dance mean to you - spiritually, intellectually, physically, or otherwise?

Bellidance is souldance...

Beyond that basic root, I've realized that this dance returns all of us, every woman (and many men) to a true understanding of the feminine - femininity that is at once strong and vulnerable, beautiful in every life stage, in every size, shape and color. It is thee root dance of others and because of that, once you find that movement, it just feels right in the body.

What other things you are involved in or working toward?

I'm constantly working through the different limbs of yoga, slowly and surely, with great pleasure, and I'm very intrigued and challenged by Budo/the Martial Arts and am finally taking time in my life to delve into that. I won't spoil the surprise but at some point in the intermediate future there will be a class here that will appeal to both men and women incorporating some things that are rarely incorporated here in the West, at least not in "gyms" or the average "dance studio".

I’m also an Aromatherapist make (and sell here in the Boutique) my own line of body & massage oils, serums, perfumes, sprays and aromatherapy blends. I also stock only completely natural incense from India, Japan, and Native America, as well as carrying your basic ceremonial and medicinal herbs, teas, herbal tinctures, oils (i.e.: Oil of Oregano), etc.. So, Aromatherapy and Natural Medicine/Herbalism are huge parts of my life. I'm very much of the belief that if a problem exists on Earth, it started here and the solution is right here too. We just have to look for it.

Oh... and I don't know if I even have to mention that I'm a jewelry, clothing, accessory and textile junky? That seems to go with the words "Belly Dancer" I would guess, but keeping an array of eclectic jewelry and textiles around me, ready for purchase or project, is kind of the parallel business here at the Studio.

What do you hope to impart on students who take your classes?

Love for themselves!
Love for their body, their mind, their path. If their goal is physical fitness, that’s easy. I can flatten your belly or get rid of a saddlebag without much thought at all as long as you are as dedicated as I am to that goal, and doing so is very enjoyable for me. Nevertheless, far above that, I want them to find out that fitness is more than a diet or an exercise (which to my joyous surprise, many people already do know this before they’ve even gotten to one of my classes!).

With both Bellydance & Yoga as well as the other classes like Yogilates, Pilates, etc., I truly hope they fall in love with the movements and the feelings you experience when you practice...

A myriad of cultural contexts are also involved in all practices here which should be acknowledged in any personal practice. Beyond the long, interesting history behind these practices, the fact that as this globe shrinks more and more every day, we all are in desperate need of more cultural education, tolerance, and understanding... moreso - almost urgently - than we ever have needed it.. right here, right now!

There are also, sadly, some serious misperceptions that need to be discarded. Lots have come before us and I think we need to recognize that and learn from them, not to mention who is coming after we are gone… Is it not our job to prepare for the next phase? ...

I have to say that in Yoga, Pilates, BelliFit™, Wolrd Dance Workout, but especially in Bellydance, I find I’m constantly feeding a new outlook on body image and dismantling the strange, media-driven complexes people - whether it's a 14 year old girl or 67 year old man - have picked up and taken into their bodies and minds with judgment and even fear or shame.

Releasing those faulty images and negative feelings with the positive and the pure is priceless. I think that's a huge reason I'm even sitting here right now. It's beautiful.

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