Mahasti - The Bellydance Emporium

I'm judging a competition in Norway + ✨YOU✨ get to pick the People's Choice champion. Votes due by this Wed noon CEST. All you have to do is click "like" ⭐

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8itPIDGfwbM&feature=youtu.be

or look up "The Elements Bellydance Competition" to see our 4 finalists.

You can also leave some love in the comment section. ❤️

All of these artists have my respect for showing up for themselves + their art. It's not easy to be so brave + vulnerable.

A few of you asked for my ✨secret ✨

I realized recently this person deserves my whole heart, too. I am enough as is. (You are, too!)

And that I can share all of myself without fear.

And that I can define what professional looks like.

I'm not any smaller. I am just talking to myself with radical love. I deserve the kindness + compassion I put out into the world, too.

If I am attacked or disrespected again, it's not because I'm "too" anything. I don't have to protectively, preemptively cut off parts of myself. It wasn't my fault ever 💔

I have also been feeling so nourished by platonic love, healthy masculinity, and energetic exchanges with the men/teachers in my life recently.
Recommend classes with
bellydance, weightlifting + comedy
hip hop + foundational dances + branches + more
🌊 🌊 🌊
waving, animation, life coaching +
bellydance + dabke
sagat
As much as I can love myself, community care always has a role to play in healing. Grateful to you all.

On the opposite note if you are looking for the hot feeds



All keep it 🔥🔥 🔥

I don't know if I'll keep posting content like this but I wanted to demystify it for myself, remove the fear + release the shame I was holding on to.

Love you.
Love me.
It's only a thirst trap if you're dehydrated. 🤣
Drink water.

I wanted to send some love out to anyone who wasn't cast for . 💚

I have been there! Something like four times? It stings. It's ok if you want to take a day or 2 or 7 + just feel or notice your thoughts.

Anyone who is an artist (or just not a coward) gets rejected. Over + over. We don't talk about it much. On social media we usually just champion wins.

I hope you can celebrate standing up for your art + auditioning. You were brave + daring. You're a champion. Not a lot of folks have the 🍓🍓 to do what you did.

All the growth + learning you did about yourself, your dance, your direction - you get to keep that + use it to propel yourself further. 🌱

I hope you can depersonalize the critique. It's not about YOU or your worth. I made this mistake (for literally years). I create false + harmful narratives about my work. I really attached my happiness to the outcome instead of the process + progress. 💔

I hope if the result isn't what you wanted you can (eventually) formulate a plan. I was stuck in a loop for a long time until I started to hire mentors. Find someone(s) doing what you want to do + ask for help. I personally prefer taking intensives or series. That is really is more helpful for my growth. ✨

Some folks had feelings about me using the word FAT in my inclusivity post.

We are a fat positive space.

I want to talk more about this - for studios cut the disordered eating/calorie/diet culture promo, straight sized teachers stop making jokes you are "fat" after covid, troupe directors make sure your costumes go beyond XL sizing + you don't have your lone fat dancer in the back wearing a random colour....But it seems like we first need to just talk about the word FAT itself.

"No matter how people use it, fat is not a bad word. Fat is not an indication of value, health, beauty, or performance. Fat is a descriptor in the same way that black and q***r are descriptors. And fat is somewhat similar to black and q***r in more than just that way; it's also a word that encompasses a marginalized identity. Yes, fat is a neutral and descriptive word, but when it's an identity, it's much more than that. To reclaim this word, or any word, is to lean into an identity as a form of revolution against fat phobia, racism, and so much more. For me, fat is a way of saying “f*ck you.”"

https://www.teenvogue.com/favicon.ico

"We need to talk about the word fat. Specifically, we as a collective society need to make room for understanding fat the way many plus-size people do: as a neutral, even affirming, term."

https://www.self.com/story/fat-isnt-bad-word

"The ‘f-a-t’ word hangs off your lips tentatively as you question if you should use it on this person you barely know. You’re unsure of how they’ll react so instead, you say ‘curvy’, ‘chubby’, ‘thick’, or like we say in Pidgin English: ‘you get body, small”. Those are safer options. But when you do this, you perpetuate the stigma built around the word and if they react negatively, they do too."

https://aninjusticemag.com/fat-is-not-a-bad-word-ac7f981099e4

You're made of stars.
You deserve to shine.
Grab your spot today ⭐

🌱MON
6-715PM Be a Dancer
745-9PM Be a Bellydancer

🌱TUES
10-1115AM Be a Bellydancer
1230-1 Be a Bellydancer*
6-715PM Be a Bellydancer

🌱WED
630-745PM Be a Bellydancer
815-930PM Be a Professional Bellydancer

🌱THURS
10-1115AM Be a Bellydancer
1230-1PM Be a Bellydancer*
5-615PM Be an Artist

🌱SAT
10-1045AM Be a Bellydancer (Caregiver & Me)*
1130-1PM Be a Professional Bellydancer

⭐FALL SESSION⭐

Sept 13- Dec 17th (each class will have at least 12 weeks)

1 class $200 or $70/month

2 classes $300 or $110/month

3 classes $400 or $140/month

Unlimited $500 or $160/month

*1 class $120 or $50/month

👑Be a Dancer – Great for anyone looking to up or start their dance game, get down with your bad self, we’ll be exploring all genres of music and movement

👑Be a Bellydancer – Isolations, rhythms, folklore foundations, learn everything that goes into the art of bellydance

👑Be a Professional Bellydancer – take your dance further, explore stage dynamics, levels, layers and more

👑Be an Artist – flex on your creativity, work on tools to develop your own voice while making art, increase confidence, play with your inner child, nourish your self.

All dancers will be given access to lifetime video recordings to explore the concepts used in class.

We are located at 576 A4 on Concession, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

In person classes strictly limited to 5 fully vaccinated people.

Masks mandatory at all times, including when you’re dancing.

These boundaries are non-negotiable.

Dancers unable to mask or vaccinate can join classes on Zoom (private or group)

Private zoom classes 30 mins $25 or 4 classes $80.

Contact [email protected] with any questions.