Melina's Seminar Platter
The following is a list of Melina’s seminars and choreographies. 
They can be mixed, matched, or modified depending on the interests of the dance group she is addressing. 

All of Melina’s seminars emphasize proper breathing, posture and body alignment to minimize injury and promote a long dance career.  Melina carefully explains and breaks down all movements with an emphasis on proper weight placement so that transitions from one move to the next are effortless, smooth and make sense.  As much as possible, Melina includes variations on how to adapt the movements to best suit your dance style.  Melina’s seminars are always enhanced by colorful, inspiring and ultimately useful (she hopes!) anecdotes of a bohemian childhood spent dancing professionally on Greek taverna stages at her mother Rhea’s hip in the ancient city of Athens, Greece.

SLOW WORK, PROP BALANCING:   An extravaganza of information on the art of balancing a prop on your head while in front of an audience.  This seminar covers centering and balancing techniques, slow moves and level changes.  Melina reveals family secrets on how to maximize stage presence with your prop, going over everything from how to introduce and present your prop to the audience to how to place it on your head and how to remove it.  Melina is internationally known for her expert balancing of a tray of burning candles while doing floorwork and while dipping into a deep back bend.  Please bring the prop of your choice to the workshop – sword, cane, tray, basket, or book.

 FINGER CYMBALS TO ENHANCE YOUR DANCE:  At their best, finger cymbals or zills are natural extensions of a dancer’s arms, her fingers and her dancing personality.  They are the perfect accent to her lifting, flashing hips. They are empowering: with cymbals and no other music, a dancer can accompany her own movements be completely self-sufficient.  In this seminar Melina goes over various zill patterns and connects them to a variety of dance moves.  Bring your finger cymbals and get ready to work both sides of your body and brain.

FLOOR WORK:  What to do after your Turkish Drop or other descent to the floor? This workshop covers how to move like a snake on the ground.  It includes knee walking, floor turns, isolations, and dramatic arms and poses.  This seminar challenges and builds your strength and flexibility.

 TRAVELING STEPS, FAST COMBOS AND LAYERING:  How can you use your stage to its fullest?  Melina will go over techniques for covering a stage and teach a variety of fast combinations and a myriad of hip movements and shimmies so that you can dance your best and most varied improvisational dance.  She will introduce how to layer movements, and then show how to put all the steps you have learned into sequence with smooth transitions. 

MELINA’S FAST GYPSY COMBOS:  Melina will break down the bounces, leaps, hip lifts and spins that characterize her gypsy-flamenco-fusion style to spike your spirits and spice up your dance.  For these gypsy-fantasy moves, channel your wild, raw, new, restless, spontaneous and fearless energy. Bring love to the moment.  Be bold, saucy, dramatic and enjoy yourself.  Practice them to find ways to express your own nature, and build strength and stamina to improve on the moves in the future and prepare yourself for new adventures of body, mind and spirit.

BELLY DANCE BASICS FOR BEGINNERS

VEIL WORKSHOP

ALIKI

This dynamic dance full of spins, drops and sassy moves is named for Melina’s Greek friend Aliki of Athens known for her sparkling personality, sprightly dancing and generous spirit.  Music: Hakim’s “El Bi Hebeni El" from Yaho CD.

 CLEOPATRA'S FRENZY

This 5 minute drum solo of wild abandonment is energetic and playful, empowering and shimmy-rich.  It features the captivating drum rhythms of Susu Pampanin’s Cairo Cats CD. 

 OMAR'S DELIGHT

Melina’s intricate and satisfying array of moves ranging from fast Turkish hips and jazzy shoulder shimmies to chest isolations with traveling steps and sassy gypsy walks! Performed to Omar Faruk Tekbilek’s “Egyptian Song”.

 I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

Theatrical techno-belly dance with jazz stylings.  Danced to “I Put a Spell on You” by Natacha Atlas from her Ayeshteni CD.  With this choreography, you learn some of the basics of belly dance in an atmosphere of frolic & fun, from step hips to snake arms to pelvic clutches with level changes.

 CHOBI

A male Iraqi Village folkdance re-imagined for women. Folkloric Choreography by Rhea and embellished by Melina.  Music: “Chobi” by Ali Arsoy (CD available from Daughters of Rhea).

 BAADIMA & A SIMPLE HEART

Slow and beautiful, these dances celebrate taking your time and living from your heart.  These belly dance choreographies incorporate stylings from flamenco, tai-chi, hip hop, jazz and modern dance.

  WARDA

Melina’s 3 ½ minute choreography to the classic song “Warda” from the Asena CD.  Dramatic arms swoops, tart shoulder accents, this dance responds satisfying to the music.

  WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

This playful choreography is Melina's campy homage to the wacky era that brought us high tops, ripped jeans, spandex, the Rubik's cube, legwarmers, headbands, and the Moonwalk. Melina's frisky dance complements Liam Sternberg's playful lyrics. It's the 80's to the max, habibi! Performed to Walk Like an Egytpian by The Bangles.

 PHO PHARONIC

Imagine an ancient, hieroglyphic priestess dance of the temple, then add precision snake hips, meticulous gaze placement and controlled body undulations and you’ve got the idea. Accompanied by the haunting and irresistible electronic music by Dimitri from Paris ("Un World Mysteriouse").  Melina created this dance as a duet with her sister Piper, and it is always met with quiet awe, then wild cheering.  It can be danced alone, or in a pair or group. 

Depending on the event and scope of Melina's performance, Melina's teaching as well as solo and troupe performance rates range from $300 - $2500.  Please contact Melina with your specific inquiries and she will get back to you with an precise estimate.

THE FOLLOWING RATES ARE DESIGNED TO GIVE YOU A GENERAL PRICE RANGE IDEA BUT ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE:

Generally, Melina's fee for a full-day of workshops begins at $500 and goes up from there, with a 3 hour teaching minimum and 6 hour teaching maximum in a single day. This price does not include travel time/expenses to location and is subject to change depending on location of event or workshop.

Depending on the event, Melina's fee is $300 for performance participation in a workshop show, either one long dance, 2 separate dances with costume changes, or 3 different performances with costume changes of 5-10 minutes each.  Melina’s performance specialties include: tray of burning candle balancing on the head, sword balancing, wild Isis Wings, Turkish drop with floorwork, master zill playing, veil work, gypsy-flamenco fusion, tribal fantasy, Turkish nightclub, Arabic cabaret. 

Travel expenses/housing negotiable.

Base rate for driving time is $50/hour.