Hip Expressions dance artists have been entertaining and educating audiences in the Tampa Bay Are for over ten years.  As performance artists, these dancers not only explore the realm of visual art but also three dimensional movement, interaction, and sound.  This creates a powerful experience for the audience member, who is immersed in the experience as not just an observer but participant in a moving energetic exchange.

 

The beauty of dance as an art form is that is it experiential... while it can be caught on video, the real experience is in the moment - the creation, the execution and performance simultaneously occur with a mood and power that can not ever be replicated or experienced the same again.  The performance can be repeated, but will take on a new energy depending on the audience, the venue, the stars, the moon, and the butterfly that flapped its wings in China on a different day.

 

While their dance and training is in traditional Middle Eastern dance and other cultural styles, their interpretation is contemporary and revolutionary.  Steeped in tradition, this dance is an art form like any other, constantly evolving and reacting to the modern world.  The common thread is community, the dance their common bond linking individuals to each other, and to the past, communicating their experience of life in an ancient language of movement.

 

Opening Ceremony "...and out of darkness, let there be light..." We begin with the birth of the flame, the first spark to light the imagination, the power to bring day into night.  Out of one we become many, out of many, we become one.

 

Shadow, light, movement, sound... catch it out of the corner of your eye, watch it dance in front of you, turn just in time to see it flutter away... be mezmerized by the sacred geometry of movement, fabric, body, image, circles and patterns of eternity...

 

Workshop Movement Playshop: the Human Energy Exchange Learn intention and communication through movement.  Explore how to experience your body, how it inhabits space, and how you can use it to relate to other's and their body, and their space.  No dance or movement experience necessary beyond what you already know.  Open to all ages, shapes, sizes, and genders.  Only prerequisites are curiosity, a willingness to try, an open mind, and respectful manner. We will play with principles of interaction through movement and gaze, using concepts from movement traditions around the world such as Qigong, Yoga, and Tribal Belly Dance. Elements learned in this workshop will serve you well after the Closing Ceremony in the interactive jam!

 

Experience the ultimate energy exchange... Tribal Belly Dance, group improvisation in action!  Though it looks choreographed, Hip Expressions' Tribal Dance Troupe, Loud Zoo, will present a completely improvisational performance piece.  Pay close attention and see where the cues and exchange happen between dancers to signal the changes. Tribal Belly Dance is group creativity in action; no two performance are ever alike, as the group shifts and changes moves and formations. Dancers become one as they share the creative process, together forming an intricate ritual of interaction that produces a living interactive sculpture.

 

Then join the dancers and drummers outside to practice your skills from the movement playshop; interact with other workshop participants and Hip Expressions dancers. Perhaps you'll see some of the ultimate energy exchange... as Hip Expressions dances with fire!