http://www.bellygroove.com

Last week I filmed my “belly dance” teacher, Frederique David. This was a long standing desire of mine having taken her classes for nearly 4 years. Frederique is a very interesting woman! One rarely gets the chance to see so many different aspects of someone’s personality at a time. One minute Frederique is very articulately describing a dance move, and the next she is breaking into hysterical laughter at an unintended pun she made or funny memory she had (upon which she’ll often pause class to tell a story). Frederique unabashedly and unapologetically shows the world her many sides: giggly, playful and imaginative little girl, sexy and sometimes raunchy woman, actress, comic; cursing, burping, arm-pit smelling tom boy, accomplished dancer and teacher, and articulate and engaging speaker. As she says “I take my profession seriously, I just don’t take myself too seriously.” Frederique is one of the most self-expressed, free spirits I have ever known. Her openness, humility, humor, and light-hearted nature have been a source of personal inspiration to me. As far as her dancing goes, nothing short of mesmerizing!

Frederique doesn’t like calling what she does “belly dance” as it doesn’t accurately describe her style. While she spent many years teaching and performing “American Tribal Style” belly dance, and it undoubtedly influences her dancing today, her current style is very unique. Frederique mixes and edits her own music. She says the process of creating the music and knowing every beat so well enables her to effectively improv every performance. Combining classical with drum and bass, electronica, modern Middle Eastern, music box and even audio exerpts of old films, each dance feels like poetry in motion. A beautiful expression of her own private narrative.

http://www.mapriya.com

I first met Priya Assal at a New Year’s Eve party she threw at her house in San Francisco in 2007. At the time, I noticed all this cool art on the wall but didn’t realize until months later when I was there (for another party), that she was the artist. It was that night that I really took a closer look at the paintings and started to notice some themes I hadn’t noticed before. Most of the paintings (around 20) hanging throughout the house were of powerful female characters. Each one was very unique and had a distinct “personality” but nearly all had one thing in common, one eye open and one eye closed. This intrigued me so I asked Priya about it. She didn’t reveal what it meant right then. Instead she took me upstairs and showed me a book of photos of other paintings she had made. She remained silent as I looked them over and commented on them. Days later I was still thinking about those paintings and the possible embedded meanings. I looked up her website and was blown away by additional work I hadn’t seen and the writings that accompanied each collection of paintings (which I highly recommend you visit and read yourself).

Her “Stand”:

“I am committed to inspiring people to unleash their feminine expression: one of infinite love and profound wisdom.”

I would say this quote best represents Priya’s current path in life. And she is well on her way!

“[The goddess archaetype] is fully grounded in her Self and freely expresses her true nature. Her unshakable commitment to be remarkably great, is what gives her power to inspire others to be their fullest expression of themselves.”

Her openness about her desire as a woman to be in touch with her true self and to find the confidence and freedom to fully express who she is resonated deeply with me. To be who you truly are at all costs, I believe, is one of life’s biggest challenges. Thank God(dess) that there are people like Priya in this world to keep inspiring us to remain true.

Oh, and you’ll have to watch the video to find out what the one eye open, one eye shut represents! Enjoy!